Method and system for ethernet and ATM service interworking

An interworking device for supporting service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the service interworking device comprising:

• a first network interface operable to communicate with the Ethernet communication network using an Ethernet communication protocol;
• a second network interface operable to communicate with the ATM communication network using an ATM protocol;
• and
• a processing unit in communication with the first network interface and the second network interface, the processing unit:
• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames,
• wherein mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames includes:
• classifying parameters of a received frame;
• mapping and marking the parameters of a received frame into a frame to be transmitted;
• and
• forwarding the frame to one of the first and second network interfaces for transmission.

A method for service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the method comprising:

• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames, the connection configuration control plane information including at least one of connection mapping information, class of service mapping information, and traffic parameters information;
• determining a correction factor to map data rates between the Ethernet frames and the ATM frames;
• and
• using traffic parameters from one of the ATM and Ethernet networks to calculate traffic parameters for the other of the ATM and Ethernet networks.

A method for service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the method comprising:

• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames;
• wherein data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames include at least one of a MAC address/virtual LAN identifier mapping to/from an ATM VPI/VCI, class of service indicators, congestion information, discard eligibility and a frame length;
• and
• wherein discard eligibility mapping includes mapping a cell loss priority (CLP) field in the ATM frame with a p-bit in the Ethernet frame.

A method for service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the method comprising:

• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames, data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames including at least one of a MAC address/virtual LAN identifier mapping to/from an ATM VPI/VCI, class of service indicators, congestion information, discard eligibility and a frame length,
• wherein the discard eligibility mapping is based on an Ethernet per hop behavior.

A method for service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the method comprising:

• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames, data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames including at least one of a MAC address/virtual LAN identifier mapping to/from an ATM VPI/VCI, class of service indicators, congestion information, discard eligibility and a frame length;
• and
• dropping ATM frames that exceed a maximum supported Ethernet frame length for frames traveling in the ATM to Ethernet direction;
• and
• dropping Ethernet frames that exceed a maximum supported ATM MTU for frames traveling in the Ethernet to ATM direction.

A method for service interworking between an Ethernet communication network and an ATM network, the method comprising:

• terminating frames received from a one of the ATM communication network and the Ethernet communication network;
• and
• mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames, the mapped parameters including connection configuration control plane information and data plane parameters corresponding to individual frames,
• wherein mapping parameters corresponding to the received one of the ATM and Ethernet frames into the other of the ATM and Ethernet frames includes:
• classifying parameters of a received frame;
• mapping and marking the parameters of a received frame into a frame to be transmitted;
• and
• forwarding the frame to one of the first and second network interfaces for transmission.