This white paper is the first issue in a series of
articles that intend to describe Carrier Ethernet
Services as specified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF).
The series targets anyone who wants to get acquainted
with the MEF and its work, and also people who need an
accompanying overview when reading the MEF specifications.
It is intended as in introduction to the basic concepts
behind Carrier Ethernet Services and to the vocabulary
used by the MEF. The papers focus on the description of
the end-to-end Ethernet services, that is, the service
subscriber's view.
The first paper provides an introduction to
Carrier Ethernet and its architectural design.
This white paper provides an introduction into the
topic of Carrier Ethernet Services. It gives a motivation
for Carrier Ethernet and explains what distinguishes this
carrier-class Ethernet from traditional LAN-based Ethernet.
The architectural design of Carrier Ethernet, which allows
Ethernet frames to be transported across multiple carrier
networks, is shown.