A methodology of L2 Ethernet network ring protection that can support flexible topology and shorter the switchover time.

[JackWang]

Currently L2 Ethernet network ring protection protocols, such as ERPS (G.8032), RSTP have the following limitations:

• RSTP have a long switchover time when the topology is big;
• ERPS can’t support flexible topology.

In this invention, we propose Link Status Ring Protection (LSRP) which is a methodology that can support flexible topology and shorter switchover time.