Metro ethernet service enhancements

Abstract

Numerous enhancements to metro Ethernet network (MEN) services include an enhancement of the overall MEN Quality of Service (QoS) architecture, an enhancement to classification at the provider edge, the use of Ethernet QoS classes, enhancements to policing and marking at ingress provider edge equipment, the provision of traffic management functions at egress provider edge equipment, the use of multiple Ethernet virtual connections (EVCs) and Aggregate EVCs, an enhancement to QoS across an external network-network interface and an enhancement to treatment of Ethernet service frames in a core network.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of determining forwarding treatment for an Ethernet frame received at a node in a provider network comprising:
 determining, based on information in a header of the Ethernet frame, a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame;   determining an identity of an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) to associate with the Ethernet frame;   selecting, based on the identity of the EVC, a service class map from a plurality of service class maps, where each service class map associates forwarding treatments with Bandwidth Profiles; and   determining a forwarding treatment for the Ethernet frame based on the Class of Service Identifier.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining an identity of an EVC is based, at least in part, on a port on which the Ethernet frame is received. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining an identify of an EVC is based, at least in part, on a Medium Access Control (MAC) address in the header of the Ethernet frame. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a Class of Service Identifier is based, at least in part, on information related to an Open System Interconnect (OSI) layer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the information related to an OSI layer is located in a user priority field of the Ethernet frame, and determining a Class of Service Identifier is based, at least in part, on values of bits in the user priority field. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the information related to an OSI layer is an Internet Protocol Differential Services Code Point. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a Class of Service Identifier comprises determining a Class of Service Identifier from a set of identifiers comprising Gold, Silver and Bronze identifiers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a forwarding treatment comprises determining a forwarding treatment from a set comprising expedited forwarding, assured forwarding and default forwarding. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the Ethernet frame over a user-network interface, wherein determining a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame comprises determining the Class of Service Identifier based, at least in part, on an identity of the user-network interface. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the Ethernet frame from a service provider network over a network-network interface. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory medium containing processor-executable instructions for execution by at least one processor in a provider edge equipment, the instructions comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to determine forwarding treatment for an Ethernet frame received at the provider edge equipment, the instructions comprising instructions executable:
 to determine, based on information in a header of the Ethernet frame, a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame;   to determine an identity of an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) to associate with the Ethernet frame;   to select, based on the identity of the EVC, a service class map from a plurality of service class maps, where each service class map associates forwarding treatments with Bandwidth Profiles; and   to determine a forwarding treatment for the Ethernet frame based on the Class of Service Identifier.   
     
     
         12 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine an identity of an EVC are instructions executable to determine the EVC based, at least in part, on a port on which the Ethernet frame is received. 
     
     
         13 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine an identity of an EVC are instructions executable to determine the EVC based, at least in part, on a Medium Access Control (MAC) address in the header of the Ethernet frame. 
     
     
         14 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine a Class of Service Identifier are instructions executable to determine the Class of Service Identifier based, at least in part, on information related to an Open System Interconnect (OSI) layer. 
     
     
         15 . The medium of  claim 14 , wherein the information related to an OSI layer is located in a user priority field of the Ethernet frame, and the instructions executable to determine a Class of Service Identifier are instructions to determine the Class of Service Identifier based, at least in part, on values of bits in the user priority field. 
     
     
         16 . The medium of  claim 14 , wherein the information related to an OSI layer is an Internet Protocol Differential Services Code Point. 
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine a Class of Service Identifier comprise instructions executable to determine a Class of Service Identifier from a set comprising Gold, Silver and Bronze identifiers. 
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine a forwarding treatment comprise instructions executable to determine a forwarding treatment from a set comprising expedited forwarding, assured forwarding and default forwarding. 
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions executable to determine a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame comprise instructions executable to determine the Class of Service Identifier based, at least in part, on an identity a user-network interface over which the Ethernet frame was received. 
     
     
         20 . Apparatus for determining forwarding treatment for an Ethernet frame received at a node in a provider network, the apparatus comprising a classifier operable:
 to determine, based on information in a header of the Ethernet frame, a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame;   to determine an identity of an Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) to associate with the Ethernet frame;   to select, based on the identity of the EVC, a service class map from a plurality of service class maps, where each service class map associates forwarding treatments with Bandwidth Profiles; and   to determine a forwarding treatment for the Ethernet frame based on the Class of Service Identifier.   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the classifier is operable to determine an identity of an EVC is based, at least in part, on a port on which the Ethernet frame is received. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the classifier is operable to determine an identify of an EVC is based, at least in part, on a Medium Access Control (MAC) address in the header of the Ethernet frame. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the classifier is operable to determine a Class of Service Identifier is based, at least in part, on information related to an Open System Interconnect (OSI) layer. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising a user-network interface operable to receive the Ethernet frame, wherein the classifier is operable to determine a Class of Service Identifier to associate with the Ethernet frame by determining the Class of Service Identifier based, at least in part, on an identity of the user-network interface. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising a network-network interface operable to receive the Ethernet frame from a service provider network.