scope:

This Recommendation specifies operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) mechanisms based on the tools defined for multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) in IETF Requests for Comments, for data-plane OAM in MPLS transport profile (MPLS-TP) networks to meet the MPLS-TP OAM requirements defined in [IETF RFC 5860]. It also specifies the MPLS-TP OAM packet formats, syntax and semantics of MPLS-TP OAM packet fields.

The OAM mechanisms defined in this Recommendation assume common forwarding of the MPLS-TP user packets and MPLS-TP OAM packets. In transport networks using co-routed bidirectional point-to-point connections, the OAM return path is always in-band.

This Recommendation provides a representation of the MPLS-TP technology using the methodologies that have been used for other transport technologies [e.g., synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), optical transport network (OTN) and Ethernet].1  

1 This ITU-T Recommendation is intended to be aligned with the IETF RFCs applicable to MPLS normatively referenced by this Recommendation.