Indicates whether the PVC is currently used to carry IP traffic or not, and whether it has failed. The possible states are: 'active (1)' : Channel is healthy and is currently designated to carry IP traffic. A channel can only be active if it is also unlocked. 'standby (2)' : Channel is healthy but not designated to carry IP traffic. Switchover to this channel is allowed. 'failed (3)' : Channel is unable to carry any traffic. 'unknown (4)' : Channel is unprotected and hence health of the channel is not monitored. The default value upon creation of the row will be 'standby (2)' for a protected channel and 'unknown (4)' for an unprotected channel. VISM may then transition a 'protected (1)' channel to active if it determines that this channel should be the one carrying the traffic.