METHOD, COMMUNICATION NETWORK ELEMENT AND ETHERNET SYSTEM FOR ESTABLISHING VIRTUAL LINK

摘要

A method,a communication network element (NE) and an Ethernet system for establishing a virtual link are provided in the present invention. The method for establishing a virtual link between the first communication NE and the second communication NE includes steps: the first communication NE receives a communication request from the second communication NE; the first communication NE allocates the first virtual MAC address to itself, and the first communication NE also allocates the second virtual MAC address to the second communication NE; the first virtual MAC address is the virtual MAC address for identifying the first communication NE in the virtual link, and the second virtual MAC address is the virtual MAC address for identifying the second communication NE in the virtual link; the first communication NE sends a response message to the second communication NE as reply to the said communication request, wherein the response message carries the first virtual MAC address and the second virtual MAC address; the first communication NE and the second communication NE locate in an Ethernet. Using the present invention, two communication NEs in Ethernet can communicate through Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE).