Systems and methods include receiving a plurality of symbols that are part of a defined Digital Signal Processing (DSP) frame for coherent optical communication, wherein the DSP frame structure has a messaging channel incorporated therein that includes a subset of the plurality of symbols; capturing multiple samples of the messaging channel; and determining a message in the messaging channel based on analysis of the multiple samples. The method can further include transmitting, in the messaging channel, a reply to the message with the reply being repeated multiple times. The analysis is performed prior to Forward Error Correction (FEC) decoding on the data path.

A first network element includes trail trace identifier information in an optical network frame. The first network element obtains data to transmit over an optical network link to a second network element. The first network element generates an optical network frame with alignment marker bytes, which are followed by padding bytes. The optical network frame also includes overhead bytes following the padding bytes. The overhead bytes include a Multi-Frame Alignment Signal (MFAS) byte, a link status byte, and reserved bytes. The optical network frame also includes a payload bytes following the overhead bytes. The payload bytes encode at least a portion of the data to transmit to the second network element. The first network element inserts trail trace identifier information into the reserved bytes in the overhead bytes. The trail trace identifier information identifies the first network element as a source of the optical network frame.

Systems and methods include receiving first power snapshot from a receiving end of a foreign controlled link of the one or more foreign controlled optical links when there are no faults thereon; responsive to obtaining second power snapshot from the receiving end of the foreign controlled link, detecting a fault on one of at least one channel and part of the spectrum traversing the foreign controlled link; correlating the second power snapshot with the first power snapshots; and raising an indication of fault for the foreign controlled link based on the correlating.

Disclosed is an operations, administration and management (OAM) information processing method. The method comprises: obtaining at a flexible Ethernet (FlexE) layer a data code block sent by a communication opposite end, and determining a first OAM data code block in a data code block according to a preset first determination rule; determining, according to a preset second determination rule, an OAM function corresponding to the first OAM data code block; parsing, according to the function type corresponding to the first OAM data code block, the parsing data in the first OAM data code block by using a preset parsing rule; and executing the OAM function by using the parsing data. Disclosed is an OAM information processing device, and a storage medium.

A communication method is provided. In embodiments of this application, first fault information is obtained by using a first port, and second fault information is sent based on the first fault information by using a second port. The first port is a first-type port, the first-type port transmits information according to a standard Ethernet protocol, the first fault information is first-type fault information, the second port is a second-type port, the second-type port transmits information according to a flexible Ethernet protocol, the first-type fault information includes at least one of local fault information and remote fault information, the second fault information is second-type fault information, and the second-type fault information is used to indicate that a link corresponding to the standard Ethernet protocol is faulty.

The present subject matter relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for indicating a fault in flexible Ethernet. The method for indicating a fault includes: detecting whether a fault occurs in at least one physical layer entity included in a flexible Ethernet group; and when a fault occurs in the at least one physical layer entity, periodically sending a fault indication code block to a flexible Ethernet client corresponding to the at least one physical layer entity in which the fault occurs. Not all bandwidth of a downstream transmission path in the flexible Ethernet is occupied, and data transmission on a non-faulty channel in a same flexible Ethernet group is not affected, thereby reducing a quantity of affected flexible Ethernet clients.

Systems and methods for Tandem Connection Monitor (TCM) control for the physical layer on Optical Transport Unit (OTU) ports provide the ability of the TCM status to directly control client laser state (on/off) so that protection engines and coordination between modules is not required. The systems and methods include receiving a specific defect such as a Tandem Connection Monitor (TCM) defect or a Server Signal Fail (SSF) defect from interface circuitry; propagating the TCM defect or the SSF defect from the interface circuitry to an interface associated with a modem including a physical port connected to a network; and selectively disabling a laser in the modem based on the specific defect, e.g., the TCM defect or the SSF defect from the interface circuitry.

Systems and methods include receiving first power snapshot from a receiving end of a foreign controlled link of the one or more foreign controlled optical links when there are no faults thereon; responsive to obtaining second power snapshot from the receiving end of the foreign controlled link, detecting a fault on one of at least one channel and part of the spectrum traversing the foreign controlled link; correlating the second power snapshot with the first power snapshots; and raising an indication of fault for the foreign controlled link based on the correlating.

A communication method, a communications device, and a storage medium, where, in the method, a first communications device receives, by using a link corresponding to a first FlexE group, first indication information sent by a second communications device, where for a slot in N slots of the first FlexE group, the first indication information is used to indicate that the second communications device has assigned a FlexE client to the slot, or used to indicate that the second communications device has not assigned a FlexE client to the slot, and the first communications device assigns the FlexE client to the slot in the N slots of the first FlexE group, or cancels, based on the first indication information, the FlexE client that has been assigned to the slot.

A network element configured to operate in an Optical Transport Network (OTN) network includes one or more modules including a first regenerator port and a second regenerator port, wherein the one or more modules are configured to provide a Low Order (LO) regenerator function; and circuitry configured to detect the one or more modules are part of the LO regenerator function, and, responsive to detection of a fault on the first regenerator port, cause forward traffic conditioning at a High Order (HO) path to the second regenerator port. The forward traffic conditioning can include an Alarm Indication Signal (AIS) on the HO path.