Patent ID: 8432833

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a first continuity check message (CCM), the first CCM being transmitted to a first network device by a second network device; determining, based on receiving the first CCM, that the first CCM includes a first maintenance association endpoint (MEP) identifier in a first field of a header of the first CCM; identifying, based on the first CCM including the first MEP identifier in the first field, a second MEP identifier in a second field of the header, the second MEP identifier being different from the first MEP identifier; determining whether the second MEP identifier is available to be assigned to the second network device; and transmitting a second CCM to the second network device when the second MEP identifier is not available to be assigned to the second network device, the second CCM indicating that the second MEP identifier is not available to be assigned to the second network device.