OAM and its performance monitoring mechanisms for carrier ethernet transport networks

Ethernet technology is rapidly gaining importance as it becomes a dominant solution for a converged transport network. Ethernet OAM features defined in standards provide a means of performance improvement to meet carrier-class transport network requirements. This article outlines Ethernet OAM functions and mechanisms, and explains how its performance monitoring schemes work. In addition, this article introduces open issues and their potential solutions in the performance monitoring of Ethernet OAM for the next phase of standardization.