Abstract: An in-band diagnostic tool and method are described herein that are capable of retrieving subscriber information from one or more nodes located within a layer 2 aggregation network. In one application, the diagnostic tool and method can be used by a customer service representative to retrieve subscriber information (e.g., user privileges, current bandwidth usage, available bandwidth) related to a customer that receives television, Internet etc. from an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network (which is an application-specific layer 2 aggregation network).

Abstract: A system and method for multi-nodal APS (MN-APS) protection switching for a virtual private LAN service (VPLS) using a redundant pair of PE (provider edge) nodes is provided. In the event of an APS switchover, the previously active node of the redundant pair sends explicit requests to the other provider edge nodes to flush their MAC address entries that they had previously learned through the previously active node, facilitating quicker re-convergence and reduction of black-holing.

Abstract: An in-band diagnostic tool and method are described herein that are capable of retrieving subscriber information from one or more nodes located within a layer 2 aggregation network. In one application, the diagnostic tool and method can be used by a customer service representative to retrieve subscriber information (e.g., user privileges, current bandwidth usage, available bandwidth) related to a customer that receives television, Internet etc. from an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network (which is an application-specific layer 2 aggregation network).