Ethernet Ring Protection Switching

ITU-T Ethernet specification Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS) is an effort at ITU-T under G.8032 Recommendation to provide sub-50ms protection and recovery switching for Ethernet traffic in a ring topology and at the same time ensuring that there are no loops formed at the Ethernet layer. This ITU-T specification is directly based on and derived from the Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching technology developed and patented by Extreme Networks. G.8032v1 supported a single ring topology and G.8032v2 supports multiple rings/ladder topology. Overview ERPS specifies protection switching mechanisms and a protocol for Ethernet layer network (ETH) rings. Ethernet Rings can provide wide-area multipoint connectivity more economically due to their reduced number of links. The mechanisms and protocol defined in this Recommendation achieve highly reliable and stable protection; and never form loops, which would fatally affect network operation and service availability. Each Ethernet Ring Node is connected to adjacent Ethernet Ring Nodes participating in the same Ethernet Ring, using two independent links. A ring link is bounded by two adjacent Ethernet Ring Nodes, and a port for a