A method for receiving, by circuitry of an optical node adapted for wavelength multiplexing and wavelength switching, a signal over OSC comprising overhead information indicative of status of at least one of an optical layer in an OTN; wherein the signal utilizes OC-N frame format comprising a first STS frame, a second STS frame, and a third STS frame, the STS frames having a format wherein the information is assigned to a number of bits designated for OAM information, wherein the bits are assigned to bytes within a transport overhead portion of the STS frame format within the OC-N frame format; terminating, by circuitry of the optical node, the signal at the optical node; and notifying, by circuitry of the optical node, software of the status of the optical layer in the OTN.