Automatic setup of reflector instances

1. A method of establishing a service operations administration and maintenance (OAM) session between an originator and a reflector in a communication network, comprising:

continuously monitoring, by the reflector, any test packets transmitted by the originator;

transmitting at a time indicated by a first timestamp, by the originator to the reflector, a test packet;

receiving at a time indicated by a second timestamp, by the reflector, the test packet;

generating, by the reflector, a unique flow identifier which identifies the reflector;

assigning, by the reflector, a sequence number to the test packet transmitted by the reflector;

transmitting at a time indicated by a third timestamp, by the reflector, the test packet back to the originator; and

receiving at a time indicated by a fourth timestamp, by the originator, the test packet,

wherein the reflector stores the unique flow identifier at least for the duration of the OAM session.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow identifier is defined automatically by the reflector; via a signaling exchange including a TWAMP control plane or via configuration methods, including CLI, web-based configuration or XML.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow identifier is created using various methods, including pair of MAC addresses, unique OAM protocol identifier, using additional OAM fields, IPv4 data or IPv6 data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow identifier is generated without a setup exchange, explicit negotiation or preliminary configuration steps between the originator and the reflector.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if the reflector does not receive a subsequent test packet from the originator for a predetermined time period, discarding, by the reflector, the unique flow identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if a delay between the receipt of the test packet and a subsequent packet by the reflector from the originator exceeds a predetermined threshold, stopping a reflector instance and restarting a new reflector instance preserving the previously assigned unique flow identifier.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reflector includes an incarnation number associated therewith prior.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

incrementing the flow identifier when the reflector is restarted;

assigning, by the reflector, a second incarnation number for the incremented flow identifier; and

transmitting, by the reflector to the originator, the second incarnation number.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reflector includes a first incarnation number associated therewith prior to re-starting the reflector and wherein the reflector includes a second incarnation number associated therewith after re-starting the reflector, the first incarnation number being different from the second incarnation number.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the originator is configured to detect a restart of the reflector.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the originator detects the restart of the reflector by examining the first, second, third and fourth timestamps and the sequence number.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

measuring, by the originator, a gap between the first and the second timestamp; and

if the gap exceeds a predetermined threshold, determining, by the originator, that the reflector has been restarted.

13. A method of establishing a service operations administration and maintenance (OAM) session between an originator and a reflector in a communication network, comprising:

continuously monitoring, by the reflector, any test protocol data units transmitted by the originator;

receiving a test protocol data unit by the reflector;

generating, by the reflector, a unique flow identifier which identifies the reflector;

relaying the test protocol data unit to the originator by the reflector; and

assigning, by the reflector, a sequence number to the test protocol data unit relayed by the reflector,

wherein the reflector stores the unique flow identifier at least for the duration of the OAM session.

14. A system for establishing a service operations administration and maintenance (OAM) session between an originator and a reflector in a communication network, comprising:

an originator configured to generate a test protocol data unit and to transmit the test protocol data unit along a test path to a reflector; and

the reflector configured to receive the test protocol data unit from the originator and to relay the test protocol data unit to the originator, the reflector being further configured to generate a unique flow identifier identifying the reflector and to store the unique flow identifier at least for the duration of the OAM session, the reflector being further configured to assign a sequence number to the test protocol data unit transmitted by the reflector,

wherein the originator is configured to receive the test protocol data unit from the reflector.