Enhanced loop-breaking protocol to support connectionless and connection-oriented ethernet

1. A method for breaking loops in an Ethernet network, comprising:

using a loop-breaking protocol to select a first port of a network element to block in order to break a network loop among a plurality of network elements that form a network;

determining whether traffic egressing from the first port is connectionless Ethernet traffic or connection-oriented Ethernet traffic;

blocking connectionless Ethernet traffic at the first port of the network element to break the network loop;

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permitting connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the first port of the network element;

determining whether a second network loop exists among the plurality of network elements due to a connection-oriented Ethernet link within the plurality of network elements;

using the loop-breaking protocol to select a second port to block in order to break the second network loop;

blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic at the second port to break the second network loop; and

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permitting connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the second port,

wherein the loop-breaking protocol is a spanning tree protocol or an Ethernet Ring Protection Switching protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the loop-breaking protocol accounts for a connection-oriented Ethernet link within the network in determining whether the network loop exists.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a starting port and an ending port of a connection-oriented Ethernet link within the network are considered separate ports of the network element by the loop-breaking protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of a virtual local area network tag, a bit flag, and a protocol extension is used to determine whether Ethernet traffic is connectionless Ethernet traffic or connection-oriented Ethernet traffic.

5. A network element in an Ethernet network, comprising:

a processor;

non-transitory computer readable memory media accessible to the processor, wherein the memory media store processor-executable instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

execute a loop-breaking protocol to select a first port of the network element to block in order to break a network loop among a plurality of network elements that form a network;

block the connectionless Ethernet traffic at the first port of the network element to break the network loop;

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permit a connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the first port of the network element;

analyze a connection-oriented Ethernet link within a plurality of network elements to determine if a second network loop exists among the plurality of network elements;

block the connectionless Ethernet traffic at a second port to break the network loop; and

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permit a connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the second port,

wherein the loop-breaking protocol is a spanning tree protocol or an Ethernet Ring Protection Switching protocol.

6. The network element of claim 5 , wherein the loop-breaking protocol accounts for a connection-oriented Ethernet link within the network in determining whether the network loop exists.

7. The network element of claim 6 , wherein a starting port and an ending port of a connection-oriented Ethernet link within the network are considered separate ports of the network element by the loop-breaking protocol.

8. The network element of claim 5 , wherein at least one of a virtual local area network tag, a bit flag, and a protocol extension is used to determine whether Ethernet traffic is connectionless Ethernet traffic or connection-oriented Ethernet traffic.

9. A network system, comprising:

a first customer sub-network;

a second customer sub-network;

a service provider network comprising a plurality of network elements, wherein the service provider network is configured to communicatively couple the first customer sub-network and the second customer sub-network through one or more connectionless Ethernet and connection-oriented Ethernet links across the plurality of network elements; and

a network element, among the plurality of network elements, is configured to:

execute a loop-breaking protocol to select a port of the network element to block in order to break a network loop among the plurality of network elements of the service provider network;

block the connectionless Ethernet traffic at the port of the network element to break the network loop;

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permit a connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the port of the network element;

analyze a connection-oriented Ethernet link within a plurality of network elements to determine if a second network loop exists among the plurality of network elements;

block the connectionless Ethernet traffic at a second port to break the network loop; and

while blocking the connectionless Ethernet traffic, permit a connection-oriented Ethernet traffic to pass through the second port,

wherein the loop-breaking protocol is a spanning tree protocol or an Ethernet Ring Protection Switching protocol.

10. The network system of claim 9 , wherein the loop-breaking protocol accounts for the connection-oriented Ethernet links between the plurality of network elements of the service provider network in determining whether the network loop exists.

11. The network element of claim 9 , wherein at least one of a virtual local area network tag, a bit flag, and a protocol extension is used to determine whether Ethernet traffic is connectionless Ethernet traffic or connection-oriented Ethernet traffic.