Patent ID: 8902757

Claim:
A packet processing device comprising: a first memory device in the packet processing device, said first memory device storing a forwarding information database that includes only addresses after forwarding state reduction, each said address aggregating many customer service instances, a second memory device in the packet processing device, said second memory device storing a service instance storage database containing all customer service instances, storing an original un-reduced address for each said customer service instance, the service instance storage database for use for periodic operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) operations; a processor in the packet processing device determining that said packet is a data packet or an OAM packet; the processor in the packet processing device forwarding data packets using said forwarding information database, when the packet is determined to be a data packet; and the processor in the packet processing device performing a search in said service instance storage database for a specific, un-pruned customer tag associated with said OAM packet, if the packet is determined to be an OAM packet; wherein a client side Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) determines that said packet is a data packet or an OAM packet based on a service tag which is tagged to the incoming data packet according to a customer Media Access Control (MAC) address, and wherein the MAC address is learnt by the CPE and not by edge bridges.