Method and apparatus for generating a proxy connection endpoint for operation administration and management (OAM) asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells

摘要

Methods and apparatus are provided for handling asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells sent from first user equipment through a plurality of ATM nodes and destined for second equipment, when the second equipment does not support ATM operations and maintenance (OAM) functionality. In particular, an ATM node connected to the second equipment is configured as an OAM proxy connection end-point for the second equipment such that ATM data cells which are destined for the second equipment are sent in a usual fashion, but ATM OAM cells destined for the second equipment are terminated and acted upon by the ATM node and are not forwarded to the second equipment. The proxy connection end- point functionality is preferably obtained by providing a user-friendly management information database (MIB) which stores configuration information for the ATM node. The configuration information is used by a management processor of the node for deciding when an incoming OAM cell intended for the second equipment is to be terminated by the ATM node.