Operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) systems and methods for packet switched data networks

Abstract

The invention includes a protocol, systems and methods for operating, administering, and maintaining (OAM) physical links in a network that carries packet switched data. A network control point implementing the protocol assigns addresses to all ports of the network, discovers network topology and capabilities, and initializes remote parameters through OAM frames sent to the ports. The OAM protocol maintains all physical transmission links through the communication of OAM frames with information concerning link errors and the status of ports and boxes. The OAM frame has a preamble that is an inverse of a preamble of a data frame, allowing decoupling of the OAM and data services. The OAM frames are initiated and terminated at the physical layer of the network. Ports of the network may include ASIC integrated circuits that create, transmit, receive, and process the OAM frames at the physical layer of the ports.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.