Maintenance entity group end point of a subnetwork within a multi-domain network

A Maintenance Entity Group, MEG, End Point, MEP, of a subnetwork within a multi-domain network, said MEP comprising:

• an encapsulation unit configured to encapsulate SOAM frames received by a passive Service Access Point, SAP, of the MEP and
• a decapsulation unit configured to decapsulate encapsulated SOAM frames received by an active Service Access Point, SAP, of the MEP.

An interface device of a multi-domain network comprising a Maintenance Entity Group End Point, MEP, of a Maintenance Entity Group, MEG, said MEP comprising:

• an encapsulation unit configured to encapsulate Service Operation Administration Maintenance, SOAM, frames received at a passive Service Access Point, SAP, of the MEP and
• a decapsulation unit configured to decapsulate encapsulated SOAM frames received at an active SAP of the MEP.

A method for transporting Service Operation Administration Maintenance, SOAM, frames through a multi-domain network comprising subnetworks delimited by Maintenance Entity Group, MEG, End Points, MEPs, of a Maintenance Entity Group, MEG, the method comprising:

• encapsulating received SOAM frames by a MEP and
• forwarding the encapsulated SOAM frames to a peer MEP of said MEP within the same Maintenance Entity Group, MEG.