Method and system for forwarding data in layer-2 network

A network comprising a management domain, which comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein

• a first edge node of the plurality of nodes is configured to:
• receive a first data packet from a first customer equipment (CE) outside the management domain, wherein the first data packet comprises a media access control (MAC) address of the first CE as a source MAC address of the first data packet and a MAC address of a second CE outside the management domain as a destination MAC address of the first data packet;
• generate a second data packet comprising a virtual MAC address of the first edge node as a source MAC address of the second data packet and at least part of the first data packet, wherein the at least part of the first data packet comprises the MAC address of the first CE and the MAC address of the second CE;
• and
• forward the second data packet to a parent node of the first edge node in order that the parent node forwards the second data packet without inserting any additional source virtual MAC address into the second packet;
• wherein the parent node is able to use the virtual MAC address of the first edge node when the parent node forwards the second data packet and the virtual MAC address of the first edge node belongs to a virtual MAC address space indicated by a virtual MAC address of the parent node.

An edge node device in a management domain of a layer-2 network, comprising a central processing unit (CPU),

• wherein the CPU is configured to:
• receive a first data packet from a first customer equipment (CE) outside the management domain, wherein the first data packet comprises a media access control (MAC) address of the first CE as a source MAC address of the first data packet and a MAC address of a second CE outside the management domain as a destination MAC address of the first data packet;
• generate a second data packet comprising a virtual MAC address of the edge node device as a source MAC address of the second data packet and at least part of the first data packet, wherein the at least part of the first data packet comprises the MAC address of the first CE and the MAC address of the second CE;
• and
• forward the second data packet to a parent node of the edge node device in order that the parent node forwards the second data packet without inserting any additional virtual MAC address into the second packet;
• wherein the parent node is able to use the virtual MAC address of the edge node device when the parent node forwards the second data packet and the virtual MAC address of the edge node device belongs to a virtual MAC address space indicated by a virtual MAC address of the parent node.