Method and apparatus for indicating fault in flexible ethernet

A method comprising:

• detecting whether a fault occurs in at least one physical layer entity included in a flexible Ethernet group;
• and
• when a fault occurs in the at least one physical layer entity, periodically sending a fault indication code block to a flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs,
• wherein the periodically sending the fault indication code block to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs comprises:
• when the fault is detected, consecutively sending at least two of the fault indication code blocks to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs, periodically sending the fault indication code block to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs, and sending an idle code block between the fault indication code blocks in adjacent periods.

A method comprising:

• detecting whether a flexible Ethernet client signal comprises a fault indication code block;
• when a predetermined fault indication code block is detected, continuously sending a fault signal to a user-network interface corresponding to the flexible Ethernet client signal,
• after the predetermined fault indication code block is detected, continuously detecting the fault indication code block;
• and
• when no fault indication code block is detected, stopping sending the fault signal to the user-network interface,
• wherein the fault indication code block comprises a control type field and a fault identification field which is used to indicate an occurrence of a fault in at least one physical layer entity.

A method comprising:

• detecting whether a flexible Ethernet client signal comprises a fault indication code block;
• and
• when a predetermined fault indication code block is detected, continuously sending a fault signal to a user-network interface corresponding to the flexible Ethernet client signal,
• wherein that a predetermined fault indication code block is detected indicates that:
• one fault indication code block is detected;
• fault indication code blocks whose quantity is greater than a preset threshold are detected in a predetermined quantity of received code blocks;
• or
• fault indication code blocks whose quantity is greater than a preset threshold are detected within a predetermined time, and
• wherein that no fault indication code block is detected indicates that:
• no fault indication code block or fault indication code blocks whose quantity is less than the preset threshold are detected in the predetermined quantity of received code blocks;
• or
• no fault indication code block or fault indication code blocks whose quantity is less than the preset threshold are detected within the predetermined time.

An apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:

• detect whether a fault occurs in at least one physical layer entity included in a flexible Ethernet group;
• and
• when a fault occurs in the at least one physical layer entity, periodically send a fault indication code block to a flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs,
• wherein the periodically sending the fault indication code block to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs comprises:
• sending an idle code block between the fault indication code blocks in adjacent periods.

An apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:

• detect whether a fault occurs in at least one physical layer entity included in a flexible Ethernet group;
• and
• when a fault occurs in the at least one physical layer entity, periodically send a fault indication code block to a flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs,
• wherein the periodically sending the fault indication code block to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs comprises:
• when the fault is detected, consecutively sending at least two of the fault indication code blocks to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs, periodically sending the fault indication code block to the flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs, and sending an idle code block between two adjacent fault indication code blocks of the fault indication code blocks.