Pseudowire control channel for signaling events

A network device, comprising:

• a plurality of physical interfaces;
• a memory storing path routing information for a network;
• and
• a processor, coupled to the plurality of physical interfaces and the memory, configured to:
• monitor control channels associated with the plurality of physical interfaces between the network device and a plurality of provider edge devices, wherein each physical interface is associated with a separate control channel and at least one pseudowire, wherein the at least one pseudowire is associated with virtual local area networks (VLANs),
• reserve a common VLAN identifier for the control channels for all of the physical interfaces,
• detect an interruption in service over a first control channel having the common VLAN identifier and associated with a first physical interface,
• determine, based upon the detected interruption, whether an impending event will occur at a first provider edge device associated with the first physical interface,
• adjust, in response to determining the impending event will occur, routing metrics of each VLAN associated with the first physical interface, wherein the adjusting causes ingress traffic to be routed a second provider edge device associated with a second physical interface, and
• reroute traffic prior to the occurrence of the impending event to at least one remote customer edge device over at least one pseudowire associated with the second physical interface, wherein the rerouting avoids lost packets over the first physical interface that would otherwise result from the occurrence of the impending event.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• monitor control channels associated with physical interfaces between a client edge device and a plurality of provider edge devices, wherein each physical interface is associated with a separate control channel and at least one pseudowire is associated with virtual local area networks (VLANs);
• reserve a common VLAN identifier for the control channels for all of the physical interfaces;
• detect an interruption in service over a first control channel having the common VLAN identifier and associated with a first physical interface;
• determine, based upon the detected interruption, whether an impending event will occur at a first provider edge device associated with the first physical interface;
• adjust, in response to determining the impending event will occur, routing metrics of each VLAN associated with the first physical interface, wherein the adjusting causes ingress traffic to the first provider edge device to be routed to a second provider edge device associated with a second physical interface;
• and
• reroute traffic prior to the occurrence of the impending event to at least one remote customer edge device over at least one pseudowire associated with the second physical interface, wherein the rerouting avoids lost packets over the first physical interface that would otherwise result from the occurrence of the impending event.