Ethernet oam fault propagation using y.1731/802.1ag protocol

A node in a communications network configured to include a maintenance endpoint belonging to a maintenance association and capable of propagating fault information to at least one peer maintenance endpoint within the maintenance association, the node comprising:

• a first network interface for receiving a first indication of the existence of a fault in a connection related to a service provided by the node;
• a processor configured to:
• determine that the connection related to the service provided by the node is located outside the scope of the maintenance association by determining that at least one node at which the connection having the fault terminates does not include a maintenance endpoint belonging to the maintenance association, and
• construct a message packet, the message packet including a second indication of the existence of the fault;
• and
• a second network interface for transmitting the message packet.

A machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for propagating fault information by a maintenance endpoint configured on a node in a communications network and belonging to a maintenance association to at least one peer maintenance endpoint within the maintenance association, the machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions for;

• receiving a first indication of the existence of a fault in a connection related to a service provided by the node on which the maintenance endpoint is configured;
• determining that the connection related to the service provided by the node is located outside the scope of the maintenance association by determining that at least one node at which the connection having the fault terminates does not include a maintenance endpoint belonging to the maintenance association;
• constructing a message packet, the message packet including a second indication of the existence of the fault;
• and
• transmitting the message packet to the at least one peer maintenance endpoint within the maintenance association.