Label distribution protocol supporting multiple classes of service in a multi protocol label switching (MPLS) network, methods and MPLS network using thereof
View Patent ↗A multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) packet network, methods and traffic engineering extensions to label distribution protocol are provided, capable of carrying traffic of multiple classes of service over the same label switch path.
1. A method for signalling between nodes in an MPLS network comprising nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
(i) generating signalling messages, each message comprising;
a set-up message object comprising:
a set-up message object header having a field for identifying a multi-class-of-service message object type; and
a multi-class-of-service set-up message object contents, including:
a field identifying the number of classes of service in the object contents, and
a traffic profile field for each class of service; and
(ii) exchanging the signalling messages between the network nodes.
2. The method as described in claim 1 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein each of the traffic profile fields comprises a traffic profile sub-field identifying a Per-Hop-Behaviour (PHB) scheduling class associated with the corresponding class of service.
3. The method as described in claim 2 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein each of the traffic profile fields further comprises sub-fields, characterizing a packet stream associated with the corresponding class of service.
4. The method as described in claim 3 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein the number of sub-fields, characterizing a packet stream associated with the corresponding class of service is equal to five.
5. The method as described in claim 4 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein the five sub-fields, characterizing the packet stream are the Token Bucket parameters used in Resource ReServation Protocol traffic engineering extension (RSVP-TE).
6. The method as described in claim 4 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein the five sub-fields, characterizing the packet stream are the fields used in traffic parameter fields in constraint based label distribution protocol (CR-LDP).
7. The method as described in claim 3 , the step (i) comprising generating the signalling message, wherein the sub-fields, characterizing the packet stream are the fields used in traffic parameter fields in CR-LDP.
8. The method as described in claim 1 , the method being used for establishing a label switched path in the MPLS network.
9. A method for establishing a label switched path (LSP) to carry traffic of more than one class of service on the same LSP in an MPLS network having a plurality of nodes connected by links, the method comprising the steps of:
exchanging signalling messages between the network nodes according to the method of claim 1 ;
keeping track of per-class available resources on each link and advertising them to the rest of the network;
computing a path for a call request taking into account the available resources and traffic profile of the object contents of the multi-class-of-service set-up message; and providing call admission control (CAC).
10. A method for packet forwarding at a link in an MPLS network comprising nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) in each node, associating a packet with a Per-Hop-Behaviour (PHB) scheduling class, defined in a label distribution protocol for signalling between the nodes, for the label switched path of the packet, the label distribution protocol comprising a message including:
a set-up message object, comprising;
a set-up message object header having a field for identifying a multi-class-of-service message object type; and
a multi-class-of-service set-up message object contents, including;
a field identifying the number of classes of service in the object contents, and a traffic profile field for each class of service;
wherein each of the traffic profile fields comprises a traffic profile sub-field identifying the Per-Hop-Behaviour (PHB) scheduling class associated with the corresponding class of service; and
(b) adjusting PHB scheduling and buffer management parameters according to a per-class resource usage of the link defined in the step (a).
11. A method for packet forwarding in an MPLS network comprising nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) in each edge node (LER), associating a packet with the traffic profile, defined in a label distribution protocol for signalling between the nodes, for the label switched path of the packet, the label distribution protocol comprising a message including;
a set-up message object, comprising:
a set-up message object header having a field for identifying a multi-class-of-service message object type; and
a multi-class-of-service set-up message object contents, including;
a field identifying the number of classes of service in the object contents, and a traffic profile field for each class of service; and
(b) selecting policing parameters for each class of the LSP at the edge (LER) node according to the traffic profile defined in the step (a).
12. An MPLS network comprising nodes, each node having a control processor, comprising:
(i) means for generating signalling messages, each message comprising:
a set-up message object, comprising:
a set-up message object header having a field for identifying a multi-class-of-service message object type; and
a multi-class-of-service set-up message object contents, including:
a field identifying the number of classes of service in the object contents, and a traffic profile field for each class of service; and
(ii) means for exchanging the signalling messages between the network nodes.