Loop prevention technique for MPLS using service labels
US7664013B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 28, 2005 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/50
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A local fast reroute (FRR) technique is implemented at the edge of a computer network. In accordance with the technique, if an edge device detects a node or link failure that prevents it from communicating with a neighboring routing domain, the edge device reroutes at least some data packets addressed to that domain to a backup edge device which, in turn, forwards the packets to the neighboring domain. The rerouted packets are designated as being “protected” (i.e., rerouted) data packets before they are forwarded to the backup edge device. The backup edge device identifies protected data packets as those which contain a predetermined “service” label in their MPLS label stacks. In other words, the service label is used as an identifier for packets that have been FRR rerouted. Upon receiving a data packet containing a service label, the backup edge device is not permitted to reroute the packet a second time, e.g., in response to another inter-domain node or link failure, thereby preventing loops from developing at the edge of the network.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.