Systems and methods for operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) in the physical coding sublayer (PCS)

A system for operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) of data message transmission, the system comprising:

• a memory unit;
• a processor communicatively coupled to the memory unit, the processor being configured to:
• read a transmit register of a transmitter associate with a first management entity to determine a transmit status of the transmit register;
• load a data message into the transmit register when the transmit status of the transmit register indicates availability;
• embed the data message as an out-of-band message with physical code sublayer modulation;
• transmit the out-of-band message on the physical code sublayer to a receiver associated with a second management entity,
• wherein a transmit state machine of the transmitter and a receive state machine of the receiver establish a handshake to allow the out-of-band message to be passed asynchronously.

A method for operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) of data message transmission, the method comprising:

• Loading, at a first management entity, a data message into a transmit register for transmission over a physical layer;
• embedding the data message as an out-of-band message with physical code sublayer modulation;
• transmitting the out-of-band message on the physical code sublayer to a receiver associated with a second management entity,
• wherein the first management entity passes a physical layer health status information to a link partner and uses the physical layer health status information to maintain a connection with the link partner.