Patent ID: 7782761

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a plurality of Ethernet network interfaces, including: a first network interface configured for communicating with a first Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) area including a first plurality of network devices, and a second network interface configured for communicating with a second CFM area including a second plurality of network devices; wherein the first CFM area is operating according to a CFM version not fully compatible with a CFM version according to which the second CFM area is operating; and a CFM translator configured to translate incompatible CFM messages communicated between the first and second CFM areas; wherein the CFM translator is configured to add an identification of the CFM version of the first CFM area to one or more messages being sent from the first CFM area to the second CFM area to inform one or more devices in the second CFM area of said CFM version of the first CFM area.