Supporting Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Applications Over Ethernet Switch Paths

Abstract

Described are communications network, a network element, and a method for transporting any type of multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) application over an Ethernet switch path (ESP). A network element connected to a packet-switched network comprises a service processor receiving a packet associated with an MPLS application of any type. An encapsulator encapsulates the packet within an Ethernet frame for transport over an ESP established between the network element and a second network element at a remote end of the packet-switched network. The Ethernet frame includes an Ethertype field with an Ethertype value signifying that the Ethernet frame is carrying an MPLS packet. In one embodiment, the Ethertype value is equal to 8847.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages of this invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like structural elements and features in various figures. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a communications network embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the communications network of FIG. 1 showing a general frame format for encapsulating a multi-protocol label switch (MPLS) packet having an MPLS label stack, for forwarding over an Ethernet switch path.

FIG. 3A is a diagram of an embodiment of a frame format used to encapsulate MPLS packets for a specific type of Ethernet connection, namely, 802.1q (i.e., virtual local area networks).

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an embodiment of a frame format used to encapsulate MPLS packets for a specific type of Ethernet connection, namely a provider backbone transport trunk.

FIG. 4A is a diagram of the communications network of FIG. 1 showing a general format of an Ethernet frame for transmitting MPLS packets over a pseudo-wire through an Ethernet switch path.

FIG. 4B is a diagram of an embodiment of a frame format used to encapsulate MPLS packets for transport through a pseudo-wire over a provider backbone transport trunk.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the communications network of FIG. 1 showing a general format of an Ethernet frame for transmitting MPLS packets associated with an MPLS virtual private network application.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process for transporting MPLS packets across an Ethernet packet-switched network through an Ethernet switch path.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In brief overview, communications networks embodying the invention can transport packets associated with a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) application over an Ethernet switch path (ESP) established across a packet-switched network (PSN). Such communication networks encapsulate the MPLS packets within an Ethernet frame. The encapsulation includes an MPLS-in-ESP header that enables the transporting of MPLS packets over an ESP. The MPLS-in-ESP header includes an Ethertype field to indicate the particular protocol of the packet encapsulated in the Ethernet frame. In accordance with the principles of the invention, the Ethertype field contains an Ethertype value that identifies the particular protocol as MPLS. This Ethertype value can be used for packets associated with any type of MPLS application and for transport across any type of ESP, an advantageous recognition that a different Ethertype value does not need to be used for each different type of MPLS application or for each different type of ESP.

In one embodiment, the particular Ethertype value in the Ethertype field is equal to 8847. The Request for Comments: 3032 (RFC 3032), entitled “MPLS Label Stack Encoding” defines and uses this particular value for transporting MPLS labeled packets over connectionless local area network (LAN) data links. In brief, the Ethertype value appears after the MAC source address field in the Ethernet frame, and the particular Ethertype value of 8847 indicates that the Ethernet frame is carrying exactly one MPLS unicast packet.

This embodiment of the present invention recognizes and establishes a new use for this particular Ethertype value, namely, for transporting packets associated with any type of MPLS application across a connection-oriented ESP. The reuse of this Ethertype value for a new purpose has the beneficial advantage of facilitating adoption of the present invention within existing service provider networks. That is, enabling network elements to support the transport of any type of MPLS application across an ESP can be accomplished with a software upgrade, without requiring hardware changes—provided such equipment already recognizes the 8847 Ethertype in accordance with RFC 3032.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary communications network 10 in which the principles of the invention may be practiced. The communications network 10 includes one or more customer networks 12-1, 12-2, 12-n (generally, 12) in communication with a packet-switched network (PSN) 14. The customer networks 12 can be carrying traffic associated with any type of MPLS application. The MPLS applications supported by the customer network 12-1 can be the same as or different from those supported by the customer network 12-n. Each customer network 12 includes a customer edge (CE) device 20-1, 20-2, 20-n (generally, 20), each of which is a device at which a network service originates or terminates (or both).

The PSN 14 corresponds to a network domain managed by a service provider. The PSN 14 includes first and second provider edge (PE) devices 16-1, 16-2 (generally, 16). In general, a PE device 16 is a network element—also referred to as a device or a node—that communicates with one or more customer edge (CE) devices connected to a customer network 12. For example, PE device 16-1 is in communication with CE 20-1 and CE 20-n. Each CE 20-1, 20-2, 20-n is in communication with a PE 16 over respective links (e.g., attachment circuits) 18-1, 18-2, 18-n. For purposes of describing the invention, the PE device 16-1 may be referred to as ingress PE device 16-1, and the PE device 16-2 as egress PE device 16-2.

Generally, an attachment circuit is part of a user-to-network interface between the PE device 16-1 and a CE device 20 and comprises a physical or logical link configured for the particular technology of the network service. Example embodiments of attachment circuits include, but are not limited to, a frame relay DLCI (data link connection identifier), an ATM VPI/VCI (virtual path identifier/virtual channel identifier), an Ethernet port, a VLAN (virtual LAN), an HDLC (high-level data link control) link, a PPP (point-to-point protocol) connection on a physical interface, a PPP session from an L2TP (Layer 2 tunneling protocol) tunnel, and an MPLS LSP (label switch path).

In general, the PE devices 16 are switches adapted to support communications over an ESP. In general, an ESP is a point-to-point or a point-to-multipoint Ethernet connection established between Ethernet-capable network elements. The ESP may be established through manual or automatic provisioning (e.g., through a control plane, such as GMPLS (generalized multi-protocol label switching)).

In the illustrated example, the ingress PE device 16-1 is in communication with the egress PE device 16-2 over an ESP 22. The type of the ESP 22 depends upon the particular technology used to implement the ESP. For example, when GMPLS is used to establish the ESP 22, the ESP 22 is an Ethernet label switch path (E-LSP). As other examples, when the PSN 14 is employing PBT technology, the ESP 22 is a PBT trunk, and when the PSN 14 is employing PBB (802.1ah) technology, the ESP 22 is a PBB (802.1ah) trunk. Not shown are the various intermediate devices (or nodes) in the ESP 22 between the PE devices 16.

In general, the PE devices 16 are able to receive MPLS packets associated with any type of MPLS application from a customer network 20-1, 20-n and process them for transport over the ESP 22. Examples of types of MPLS applications include, but are not limited to, MPLS, virtual private LAN service (VPLS), Layer 3 virtual private network (VPN) as described in RFC 4364, and pseudo-wire (single and multi-segment).

For processing MPLS packets, the PE device 16-1 includes a service processor 24 and an encapsulator 26. In general, the service processor 24 receives and processes labeled packets from the customer networks 12-1, 12-n in accordance with the type of MPLS application of those packets, and delivers the packets to the encapsulator 26. The encapsulator 26 produces an Ethernet frame 28 for transmission over the ESP 22 to the PE device 16-2. As part of the encapsulation, the ingress PE device 16-1 uses the (foreknown) MAC address of the egress PE device 16-2 at the remote end of the ESP 22.

The Ethernet frame 28 includes a service payload (i.e., message body 34) encapsulated with an MPLS-in-ESP header 30 and an MPLS label stack 32 (as defined in RFC 3032). Whereas the contents of the MPLS-in-ESP header 30 depend upon the particular type of ESP 22, the header 30 of the Ethernet frame 28 includes an Ethertype indicator signifying that the Ethernet frame 28 encapsulates an MPLS packet. The contents of the MPLS label stack 32 within that Ethernet frame 28 depend upon the particular type of MPLS application. The label stack 32 can have one or more labels and, in accordance with the principles of the invention, such label or labels can pertain to any type of MPLS application. Although described herein as being part of the MPLS-in-ESP header 30, the Ethertype field may be deemed separate from the MPLS-in-ESP header 30 (e.g., a standalone header or part of the MPLS label stack).

In brief overview, the ingress PE device 16-1 receives packets of an MPLS application from a customer network (e.g., 12-1), encapsulates each packet within an Ethernet frame, and forwards the encapsulated packets to the egress PE device 16-2 over the ESP 22. Upon receiving the packets over the ESP 22, the egress PE device 16-2 de-encapsulates the MPLS packet from the Ethernet frame for forwarding to the customer network 12-2. It is to be understood that the roles of the PE devices 16-1, 16-2 reverse when transporting traffic in the opposite direction over the ESP 22 from the customer network 12-2 to the customer network 12-1. That is, the egress PE device 16-2 operates as a packet-encapsulating ingress PE device and the ingress PE device 16-1 operates as a packet-de-encapsulating egress device.

FIG. 2 shows the communications network 10 of FIG. 1 and illustrates a general example of forwarding MPLS packets over the ESP 22. In this example, the customer networks 12-1, 12-n are different MPLS networks, each employing its own set of labels and running its own MPLS protocol. For example, the customer network 12-1 can be running MPLS in accordance with RFC 3031, while customer network 12-n runs an MPLS TE (traffic engineering) protocol that computes a TE-LSP (traffic engineering label switched path) for forwarding traffic therethrough. In this example, the PE devices 16 are label switch routers (LSRs) and the links 18-1, 18-n are label switch paths (LSPs).

In support of these MPLS applications, the PE device 16-1 produces the Ethernet frame 28 (of FIG. 1) with an MPLS-in-ESP header 30, MPLS label stack 32, and payload 34. A general format of the MPLS-in-ESP header 30 includes a MAC Destination Address (DA) 50 of the egress PE device 16-2, the MAC Source Address (SA) 52 of the ingress PE device 16-1, and an Ethertype field 54. In one embodiment (shown), this Ethertype field 54 contains the Ethertype value of 8847 (defined in RFC 3032) to signify that the Ethernet frame 28 includes an MPLS packet (i.e., the MPLS label stack 32 in combination with the payload 34). Another Ethertype value (other than 8847) could be defined for this specific purpose without departing from the principles of the invention.

FIG. 3A shows an embodiment of an Ethernet frame 28′ for forwarding MPLS labeled packets over a specific type of ESP or Ethernet connection, namely, a virtual LAN or 802.1q connection. The Ethernet frame 28′ includes an embodiment of an MPLS-in-ESP header 30′ with a MAC DA field 50, a MAC SA field 52, Ethertype field 70 for holding a value signifying Ethertype 802.1q, and a VID (VLAN ID) field 72. The MPLS-in-ESP header 30′ also includes a second Ethertype field 54 with an Ethertype value (e.g., 8847) that signifies the Ethernet frame 28′ contains an MPLS packet. The Ethernet frame 28′ also includes the MPLS label stack 32 and the payload 34.

FIG. 3B shows another embodiment of an Ethernet frame 28″ for forwarding MPLS packets over another type of ESP, namely a PBT trunk. The Ethernet frame 28″ includes an embodiment of an MPLS-in-ESP header 30″ having a B-MAC DA field 80, a B-MAC SA field 82, an Ethertype field 84 for holding a value equal to 88A8 to signify PBT, and a B-VID field 86. Here, as an example, considered part of the MPLS-in-ESP header 30″, the Ethertype field 54 holds the Ethertype value (e.g., 8847) signifying that the Ethernet frame 28″ contains an MPLS labeled packet. The Ethernet frame 28″ also includes the MPLS label stack 32 and the payload 34.

FIG. 4A shows the communications network 10 of FIG. 1 and illustrates an example of carrying MPLS packets over the ESP 22 using a pseudo-wire technology. In general, a pseudo-wire (PW) emulates the attributes of a native service supported across the PSN. In effect, the PW decouples the native service, i.e., the protocols and applications, from the underlying facilities that carry the service. The types of emulated services that may be carried by a PW include, but are not limited to, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Frame Relay (FR), Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), High Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), X.25, TDM (Time Division Multiplexing), DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), and Ethernet.

In this example, the ingress PE 16-1 and egress PE 16-2 have established a PW 100 in accordance with a control protocol, such as the protocol described in Martini, L. et al, “Pseudowire Setup and Maintenance using the Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)”, RFC 4447, April 2006. The PW 100 traverses the PSN 14 from the ingress PE device 16-1 to the egress PE device 16-2 through the ESP 22. Again, intermediate devices in the ESP 22 are not shown.

In one embodiment, the customer network 12-1 is running an MPLS application in support of any one of a variety of native services (e.g., ATM, Ethernet, Frame Relay, T1/T3, TDM, etc.). The type of link 18-1 between the CE device 20-1 and the ingress PE device 16-1 depends upon the technology of the emulated service. For example, if the customer network 12-1 is supporting an ATM native service, the link 18-1 is an ATM link. The ingress PE device 16-1 provides an interface between this native service and the PW 100. The CE device 20-1 operates unaware that the PSN 14 is employing the PW 100 to provide an emulated service instead of a native service; in this embodiment, the PW 100 is a single segment (SS) PW.

In another embodiment, the customer network (e.g., 12-n) establishes a PW in order to emulate a native service within the customer network 12-n. The link 18-n between the CE device 20-n and the ingress PE device 16-1 is an extension of the established PW. The ingress PE device 16-1 accomplishes a hand-off from the PW of the customer network 12-1 and the PW 100 traversing the PSN 14; in this embodiment, the PW 100 is a segment of a multi-segment (MS) PW.

For either SS PW or MS PW, the ingress PE device 16-1 produces an Ethernet frame 28′″ with an MPLS-in-ESP header 30′″ comprised of ESP-dependent fields 102, the Ethertype field 54 with the Ethertype value (e.g., 8847) signifying that the Ethernet frame contains an MPLS packet, a MPLS service stack 104, an optional control word 106, and the payload 108. The contents of the ESP-dependent fields 102 depend upon the particular type of ESP 22 (e.g., a PBT trunk, PBT/PBB trunk, an 802.1q connection). Such contents typically include source and destination MAC addresses, an Ethertype that corresponds to the type of ESP, and other identifiers such as VIDs and B-VIDs. The control word 106 is an optional header used in some encapsulations to carry per-packet information (e.g., to distinguish PW payload from standard IP payload). The Ethernet frame format 28′″ shown in FIG. 4A applies also to VPLS applications.

FIG. 4B shows an embodiment of an Ethernet frame 28^iv for transporting MPLS packets over a PBT trunk through a PW. The Ethernet frame 28^iv includes an embodiment of an MPLS-in-ESP header 30″ (FIG. 3B) with the B-MAC DA field 80, B-MAC SA field 82, Ethertype field 84 for holding a value equal to 88A8 to signify PBT, and the B-VID field 86. Again, the Ethertype field 54 holds the Ethertype value (e.g., 8847) signifying that the Ethernet frame 28^iv contains an MPLS packet. The Ethernet frame 28^iv also includes the MPLS service stack 104, control word 106, and payload 108. Architecture and procedures for the operation of PWs over PBT are described “Pseudo Wires over Provider Backbone Transport”, IETF Internet Draft, draft-allan-pw-o-pbt-02.txt, by Allan et al., February 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 5 shows the communications network 10 of FIG. 1 and illustrates an example of forwarding MPLS packets associated with a virtual private network (VPN) application over the ESP 22. In this example, the customer networks 12-1, 12-n are separate, independent networks, one or more of which is running VPN in accordance with RFC 2547 or RFC 4364. MPLS packets associated with a VPN service arrive at the PE device 16-1 over an IP link (e.g., 18-1). The PE device 16-1 produces an Ethernet frame 28^v with an MPLS-in-ESP header 30^v having ESP-dependent fields 120, the Ethertype field 54 with the Ethertype value (e.g., 8847) signifying that the Ethernet frame contains an MPLS packet, a MPLS VPN label 122, and an IP packet 124. The contents of the ESP-dependent field 120 depend upon the particular type of ESP 22 (e.g., a PBT trunk, PBT/PBB trunk, an 802.1q connection).

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a process 150 for forwarding MPLS packets over a non-MPLS packet-switched network. For purposes of illustrating the process 150, reference is also made to elements of FIG. 1. At step 154, the ESP 22 between the ingress PE device 16-1 and an egress PE device 16-2 is established (e.g., manually provisioned, dynamically configured) through the PSN 14. The ingress PE device 16-1 receives (step 158) a packet associated with an MPLS application running on a customer network 12. The MPLS application may be of any type. The ingress PE device 16-1 generates (step 162) an Ethernet frame 28 that includes the packet and an Ethertype value (e.g., equal to 8847) to signify that the Ethernet frame includes an MPLS packet.

At step 166, the ingress PE device 16-1 forwards the Ethernet frame over the ESP 22. Typically, one or more intermediate nodes route the Ethernet frame 28 to the egress PE device 16-2 in accordance with the type of ESP 22 (i.e., based on the information in the MAC DA and VID fields in the MPLS-in-ESP header 30). Upon receiving the Ethernet frame 28, the egress PE device 16-2 extracts (step 170) the MPLS packet from the frame and forwards the packet to the CE device 20-2 of the customer network 12-2.

Aspects of the present invention may be embodied in hardware or software (i.e., program code). Program code may be embodied as computer-executable instructions on or in one or more articles of manufacture, or in or on computer-readable medium. A computer, computing system, or computer system, as used herein, is any programmable machine or device that inputs, processes, and outputs instructions, commands, or data. In general, any standard or proprietary, programming or interpretive language can be used to produce the computer-executable instructions. Examples of such languages include C, C++, Pascal, JAVA, BASIC, Visual Basic, and Visual C++.

Examples of articles of manufacture and computer-readable medium in which the computer-executable instructions may be embodied include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, a hard-disk drive, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a flash memory card, a USB flash drive, an non-volatile RAM (NVRAM or NOVRAM), a FLASH PROM, an EEPROM, an EPROM, a PROM, a RAM, a ROM, a magnetic tape, or any combination thereof. The computer-executable instructions may be stored as, e.g., source code, object code, interpretive code, executable code, or combinations thereof. Further, although described predominantly as software, embodiments of the described invention may be implemented in hardware (digital or analog), software, or a combination thereof.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A network element connected to a packet-switched network, the network element comprising: a service processor receiving a packet associated with a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) application of any type; andan encapsulator encapsulating the packet within an Ethernet frame for transport over an Ethernet switch path (ESP) established between the network element and a second network element at a remote end of the packet-switched network, the Ethernet frame including an Ethertype field with an Ethertype value signifying that the Ethernet frame is carrying an MPLS packet.

2. The network element of claim 1, wherein the Ethertype value is equal to 8847.

3. The network element of claim 1, wherein the MPLS application is pseudo-wire over MPLS.

4. The network element of claim 1, wherein the MPLS application is a virtual private LAN service (VPLS) application.

5. The network element of claim 1, wherein the MPLS application is a virtual private network (VPN) application.

6. The network element of claim 1, wherein the Ethernet switch path is a provider backbone transport (PBT) trunk.

7. The network element of claim 1, wherein the Ethernet switch path is a provider backbone bridging (PBB) trunk.

8. A communications network comprising a first provider edge (PE) device in communication with a second PE device over an Ethernet switch path (ESP), the first PE device receiving a packet associated with a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) application of any type, the first PE device encapsulating the packet for transmission to the second PE device over the ESP in an Ethernet frame having an MPLS-in-ESP header, the MPLS-in-ESP header including an Ethertype field with an Ethertype value that indicates the Ethernet frame is carrying an MPLS packet.

9. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the Ethertype value is equal to 8847.

10. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the MPLS application is a pseudo-wire over MPLS application.

11. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the MPLS application is a virtual private LAN service (VPLS) application.

12. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the MPLS application is a virtual private network (VPN) application.

13. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the Ethernet Switch Path is a provider backbone transport (PBT) trunk.

14. The communications network of claim 8, wherein the Ethernet Switch Path is a provider backbone bridging (PBB) trunk.

15. A method of transporting multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) packets across a packet-switched network (PSN), the method comprising: establishing an Ethernet switch path (ESP) between a first provider edge (PE) device and a second PE device on the PSN;receiving an MPLS packet associated with an MPLS application of any type at the first PE device for forwarding to the second PE device over the ESP; andencapsulating the MPLS packet within an Ethernet frame for transport over the ESP, the Ethernet frame including an Ethertype field with an Ethertype value signifying that the Ethernet frame contains an MPLS packet.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the Ethertype value is equal to 8847.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the MPLS application includes a pseudo-wire over MPLS application.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the MPLS application is a virtual private LAN service (VPLS) application.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the Ethernet Switch Path is a provider backbone transport (PBT) trunk.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the Ethernet Switch Path is a provider backbone bridging (PBB) trunk.