MANAGEMENT OF FRAME ALIGNMENT EVENTS IN OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS

1 . A method comprising:

receiving a plurality of frames by a network element;

detecting a frame alignment event by the network element;

receiving a characteristic information (CI) signal by the network element; and

disabling, based on the received CI signal, monitoring of a status field for a finite period.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the CI signal comprises a CI_FA_missing signal.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the finite period is based on a number of frames received by the network element.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the number of frames is based on a number of frames that include the CI signal.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the network element, whether the frame alignment event is resolved; and

based on the frame alignment event being resolved, enabling monitoring of the status field.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising enabling monitoring of the status field by the network element after receiving a number of frames.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising enabling monitoring of the status field by the network element after two consecutive correct frame alignments are detected.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the frame alignment event includes detecting that at least one frame is misaligned.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein status field is a portion of an Optical Data Unit (ODU) of an Optical Transport Unit (OTU) frame.

10 . A network element comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive a plurality of frames;

detect a frame alignment event;

receive a characteristic information (CI) signal; and

disable, based on the received CI signal, monitoring of a status field for a finite period.

11 . The network element of claim 10 , wherein the CI signal comprises a CI_FA_missing signal.

12 . The network element of claim 10 , wherein the finite period is based on a number of frames received by the network element.

13 . The network element of claim 12 , wherein the number of frames is based on a number of frames that include the CI signal.

14 . The network element of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, by the network element, whether the frame alignment event is resolved; and

based on the frame alignment event being resolved, enable monitoring of the status field.

15 . The network element of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to enable monitoring of the status field by the network element after receiving a number of frames.

16 . The network element of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to enable monitoring of the status field by the network element after two consecutive correct frame alignments are detected.

17 . A network element comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive a plurality of frames;

detect a frame alignment event; and

based on the frame alignment event, delay declaring a fault condition until a preset number of frames is received by the network element.

18 . The network element of claim 17 , wherein the preset number of frames is six frames.

19 . The network element of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

after the preset number of frames has been received, determine whether the frame alignment event is resolved; and

based on the frame alignment event not being resolved, declare a fault condition.

20 . The network element of claim 17 , wherein the frame alignment event includes detecting that at least one frame is misaligned.