Patent ID: 7391734

Claim:
A method for obtaining logical performance data for a network circuit in a data network, comprising: obtaining logical performance data for the network circuit at a network management module, wherein the network circuit comprises a physical circuit and logical circuit and wherein the logical performance data comprises a frame size, a frame rate, and at least one of a green, red, and yellow octet condition for the logical circuit; based on the logical performance data, determining whether data frames are being transmitted over the network circuit and determining whether the logical performance data may be used to troubleshoot the network circuit without unnecessarily taking the network circuit out of service by determining whether the logical performance data includes red octets or green octets; if it is determined that the logical performance data includes red octets, then determining that the logical circuit is communicating the data frames above a Committed Information Rate (CIR), determining that the logical circuit is congested, and communicating the logical performance data to a physical element module for testing of the physical circuit by taking the network service out of service; and if it is determined that the logical performance data includes green octets, then determining that the physical element module can not safely test the network circuit by taking it out of service.