Pseudowire VCCV - BFD Vs Ethernet OAM

A PSN tunnel comprises of multiple pseudowires. Each pseudowire is diagnosed using virtual circuit connectivity verification mechanism. VCCV uses different connectivity verification mechanisms (ICMP Ping, LSP Ping, BFD, and ethernet OAM) to detect the fault on a pseudowire. Faster failure detection of a pseudowire can be achieved by using 'BFD' CV type, as it is a light weight hello protocol which can detect the path failure with in sub seconds. On the other hand Ethernet is fast emerging as a carrier grade PSN technology especially for metro networks. To monitor carrier grade Ethernet, apart from failure detection there is a need for other OAM functionalities like performance monitoring, remote maintenance, diagnostics etc. This can be achieved by using CV type as 'Ethernet OAM'. This paper primarily focuses on analyzing the capabilities of BFD and Ethernet OAM as VCCV connectivity verification mechanism and concludes the relevant applicability.