Patent ID: 8483050

Claim:
An Ethernet Ring Protection (ERP) method, comprising: when a link on an Ethernet ring network is faulty, determining, by a ring node which detects the fault, whether a faulty link is a link where a normally blocked port is located; sending, by the ring node, a first control message which carries first indication information to other ring nodes on the Ethernet ring network if the faulty link is the link where the normally blocked port is located, wherein the first indication information indicates that a forwarding table is not desired to be cleared by the other ring nodes; when fault recovery occurs on the link and is detected by the ring node, determining, by the ring node, whether the link recovered from the faults is the link where the normally blocked port is located; sending, by the ring node, a third control message which carries the first indication information to the other ring nodes if the link recovered from the faults is the link where the normally blocked port is located; and sending, by the ring node, a second control message which carries second indication information to the other ring nodes on the Ethernet ring network if the link recovered from the faults is not the link where the normally blocked port is located, wherein the second indication information indicates that a forwarding table is desired to be cleared.