The IEEE 802.1ad-2005 standard allows drop eligibility to be conveyed separately from priority in Service VLAN TAGs (S-TAGs) so that all of the previously introduced traffic types can be marked as drop eligible. The S-TAG has a new format where the priority and discard eligibility parameters are conveyed in the 3-bit Priority Code Point (PCP) field and, respectively, in the DE bit (Figure: DE bit in the 802.1ad S-TAG).
The DE bit allows the S-TAG to convey eight forwarding classes/distinct emission priorities, each with a drop eligible indication.
When the DE bit is set to 0 (DE=FALSE), the related packet is not discarded eligible. This is the case for the packets that are within the CIR limits and must be prioritized in case of congestion. If the DEI is not used or backwards compliance is required, the DE bit should be set to zero on transmission and ignored on reception.
When the DE bit is set to 1 (DE=TRUE), the related packet is discarded eligible. This is the case for the packets that are sent above the CIR limit (but below the PIR). In case of congestion, these packets are the first ones to be dropped.