An optical network, which includes edge and switching nodes, optically communicate information formatted into bursts that are included in one or more optical channel transport unit (OTU) frames that are based on ITU-T recommendation G.709. The overhead portion of the OTU frame can include all of the fields defined in the G.709 standard, except that the two reserved bits are used to define an OTU frame type. When the FEC function is not used, the OTU frame can be arbitrarily partitioned to carry optical burst information. The information can be either control and/or data bursts or metadata related to the optical network and/or optical burst flow. When the FEC function is used, the OTU frame is used to include optical control or data bursts or optical metadata in the payload portion of the G.709 OTU frame.