Patent ID: 7734173

Claim:
A method performed by an optical network element, the method comprising: a first module entering an error detection mode, generating a first packet and counting using a bit counter a number of bits within the first packet that have a predetermined logical value; maintaining within the first module the first packet and a first value representing the number of bits of the first packet having a predetermined logical value; the first module altering a logical value of at least one bit of a first packet to form a second packet; transmitting the second packet and the first value to a second module over a communication link, wherein the first value is used by the second module to match a corresponding value representing a number of bits of the first packet received by the receiving module that have the predetermined logical value to determine whether the second packet has been transmitted successfully from the first module; receiving a third packet from the second module, the third packet mirroring the second packet; the first module comparing the first packet and the third packet to verify whether the first packet and the third packet are matched; and entering a retry mode by the first module to transmit the first packet to the second module if it is determined that the first packet and the third packet are not matched, such that an error detection functionality and a retry functionality of the first module are verified.