Systems and methods for reliably transporting ethernet virtual circuit information

A system, comprising:

• a chassis having a plurality of slots;
• a first module inserted into one of the slots of the chassis, the first module having memory for storing sets of virtual circuit (VC) attribute data respectively associated with a plurality of virtual circuits of a packet network;
• and
• a second module inserted into one of the slots of the chassis and coupled to at least one subscriber line, the second module having memory for storing a request list including a plurality of virtual circuit (VC) identifiers, each of the VC identifiers identifying a respective one of the virtual circuits, the second module having logic configured to transmit a plurality of VC requests to the first module via a backplane of the chassis based on the request list, each of the VC requests identifying a respective one of the virtual circuits, wherein the logic is configured to receive a shadow of one of the sets of the VC attribute data and to update the request list based on the shadow, wherein the logic is configured to repetitively transmit, to the first module, a VC request identifying the virtual circuit associated with the one set of the VC attribute data until the logic updates the request list in response to the shadow, wherein the logic is configured to automatically provision based on the shadow the second module to process data packets carried by the virtual circuit associated with the one set of VC attribute data, and wherein the logic is configured to receive a first data packet in accordance with a first protocol and to encapsulate data from the first data packet into a second data packet in accordance with a second protocol based on the shadow.

A method, comprising the steps of:

• storing, by a first module inserted into a slot of a chassis, sets of virtual circuit (VC) attribute data in memory of the first module, the set of the VC attribute data respectively associated with a plurality of virtual circuits of a packet network;
• storing, by a second module inserted into a slot of the chassis and coupled to at least one subscriber line, a request list in memory of the second module, the request list including a plurality of VC identifiers, wherein each of the VC identifiers identifies a respective one of the virtual circuits;
• transmitting a plurality of VC requests to the first module via a backplane of the chassis based on the request list, each of the VC requests identifying a respective one of the virtual circuits;
• receiving shadows of the sets of the VC attribute data at the second module;
• updating the request list based on the received shadows;
• ensuring based on the request list that a shadow for each of the virtual circuits identified by the request list is requested and received by the second module;
• receiving at the second module a first data packet in accordance with a first protocol;
• and
• encapsulating, by the second module, data from the first data packet into a second data packet in accordance with a second protocol based on one of the shadows received at the second module.

A system, comprising:

• a chassis having a plurality of slots;
• a first module inserted into one of the slots of the chassis, the first module having memory for storing sets of virtual circuit (VC) attribute data respectively associated with a plurality of virtual circuits of a packet network;
• and
• a second module inserted into one of the slots of the chassis and coupled to at least one subscriber line, the second module having memory for storing a request list including a plurality of virtual circuit (VC) identifiers, each of the VC identifiers identifying a respective one of the virtual circuits, the second module having logic configured to transmit a plurality of VC requests to the first module via a backplane of the chassis based on the request list, each of the VC requests identifying a respective one of the virtual circuits, wherein the logic is configured to receive shadows of the sets of the VC attribute data from the first module in response to the VC requests, wherein for each of the received shadows the logic is configured to update the request list, wherein the logic is configured to ensure based on the request list that a shadow for each of the virtual circuits identified by the request list is requested and received by the second module, wherein the logic is configured to receive a first data packet in accordance with a first protocol and to encapsulate data from the first data packet into a second data packet in accordance with a second protocol based on one of the shadows received by the second module, wherein the logic is configured to assign to the second data packet one of the VC identifiers identified by one of the VC requests transmitted by the logic based on the request list for requesting the one shadow, and wherein the logic is configured to control overhead of the second data packet based on the one shadow.