LOGO

MULTI-PROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING

(MPLS)
Contents

MPLS Basics

Components and protocols

MPLS Operation

Protocol Stack Architecture

Benefits and Applications

 Background

vIP Routing disadvantages

§ Connectionless - e.g. no QoS
§ Each router has to make independent forwarding decisions
based on the IP-address
§ Large IP Header - At least 20 bytes
§ Routing in Network Layer - Slower than Switching
§ Usually designed to obtain shortest path
- Do not take into account additional metrics
 cont..

vATM
§ connection oriented
- Supports QoS
§ fast packet switching with fixed length packets (cells)
§ integration of different traffic types (voice, data, video)
… but there are also disadvantages
v ATM disadvantages
§ Complex
§ Expensive
§ Not widely adopted

v Idea: Combine the forwarding algorithm used in ATM with IP.

 Contd..

v IP over ATM
v IP Switching by Ipsilon
v Cell Switching Router (CSR) by Toshiba
v Tag switching by Cisco
v Aggregate Route-based IP Switching (IBM)
v IETF – MPLS
§ [Link]
§ RFC3031 – MPLS Architecture
§ RFC2702 – Requirements for TE over MPLS
§ RFC3036 – LDP Specification
 Conventional IP Networks & Routing

vClient networks are connected to backbone via edge

routers
§ LAN, PSTN, ADSL
vData packets are routed based on IP address and other
information in the header
vFunctional components
§ Forwarding
• responsible for actual forwarding across a router
• consists of set of procedures to make forwarding decisions
§ Control
• responsible for construction and maintenance of the forwarding table
• consists of routing protocols such as OSPF, BGP and PIM
 Label Switching

vDecomposition of network layer routing into control and

forwarding components applicable
vLabel switching forwarding component algorithm uses
§ forwarding table
§ label carried in the packet
vWhat is a Label ?
§ Short fixed length entity

7
 Need for Multiprotocol Label
Switching (MPLS)

vForwarding function of a conventional router

§ a capacity demanding procedure
§ constitutes a bottle neck with increase in line speed
v MPLS simplifies forwarding function by taking a totally different
approach by introducing a connection oriented mechanism inside
the connectionless IP networks
v Multi Protocol Label Switching is arranged between Layer 2 and
Layer 3

8
 MPLS (cont.)

vMPLS Characteristics
§ Mechanisms to manage traffic flows of various granularities
(Flow Management)
§ Is independent of Layer-2 and Layer-3 protocols
§ Maps IP-addresses to fixed length labels
§ Interfaces to existing routing protocols (RSVP, OSPF)
§ Supports ATM, Frame-Relay and Ethernet
 MPLS (Contents..)

vMotivation
vMPLS Basics
vMPLS Components and Protocols
vMPLS Operation
vMPLS Protocol Stack Architecture
vAdvantages and Disadvantages
 Label

vGeneric label format

 Label (cont.)

vLabel distribution
§ MPLS does not specify a single method for label distribution
§ BGP has been enhanced to piggyback the label information
within the contents of the protocol
§ RSVP has also been extended to support piggybacked exchange
of labels.
§ IETF has also defined a new protocol known as the label
distribution protocol (LDP) for explicit signaling and
management
§ Extensions to the base LDP protocol have also been defined to
support explicit routing based on QoS requirements.
 Label (cont.)

Position of MPLS Label

 Basic Model for MPLS Network

Internet

LER

LER
IP
LSR

LSR

MPLS
LSR
LSR
MPLS

LER
IP

LSR = Label Switched Router

LER = Label Edge Router
 Label Edge Router - LER

vResides at the edge of an MPLS network and assigns and

removes the labels from the packets.
vSupport multiple ports connected to dissimilar networks
(such as frame relay, ATM, and Ethernet).

Label Switching Router - LSR

v Is a high speed router in the core on an MPLS network.
v ATM switches can be used as LSRs without changing
their hardware. Label switching is equivalent to VP/VC
switching.
Positions of LERs & LSRs
 Forward Equivalence Class - FEC

vIs a representation of a group of packets that share the

same requirements for their transport.
vThe assignment of a particular packet to a particular FEC
is done just once (when the packet enters the network).
 Label-Switched Paths - LSPs

vA path is established before the data transmission starts.

vA path is a representation of a FEC.

Establishing Label Switched Path

vLSPs are generated and maintained in a distributed

fashion
vEach LSR negotiates a label for each Forwarding
Equivalence Class (FEC) with its upstream and
downstream neighbors using a distribution method
vLabel Information Base (LIB) - Result of negotiation
 LSP Details

vMPLS provides two options to set up an LSP

§ hop-by-hop routing
Each LSR independently selects the next hop for a given FEC.
LSRs support any available routing protocols (OSPF, ATM …).
§ explicit routing
Is similar to source routing. The ingress LSR specifies the list of
nodes through which the packet traverses.

vThe LSP setup for an FEC is unidirectional. The return

traffic must take another LSP!
 Label Distribution Protocol - LDP

v An application layer protocol for the distribution of label binding

information to LSRs.
§ It is used to map FECs to labels, which, in turn, create LSPs.
§ LDP sessions are established between LDP peers in the MPLS network (not
necessarily adjacent).
§ Sometimes employs OSPF or BGP.
v LDP message types:
§ discovery messages—announce and maintain the presence of an LSR in a
network
§ session messages—establish, maintain, and terminate sessions between
LDP peers
§ advertisement messages—create, change, and delete label mappings for
FECs
§ notification messages—provide advisory information and signal error
information
 CR-LDP

vTa k e s i n t o a c c o u n t p a r a m e t e r s , s u c h a s l i n k
characteristics (bandwidth, delay, etc.), hop count, and
QoS.

vIt is entirely possible that a longer (in terms of cost) but

less loaded path is selected.

vD ra w b a c k : I t a d d s m o re c o m p l ex i t y t o ro u t i n g
calculations.
 MPLS (Contents..)

vMotivation
vMPLS Basics
vComponents and Protocols
vOperation
vProtocol Stack Architecture
vAdvantages and Disadvantages
 How does it work?

remove label at
Add label at the
the egress LER
ingress LER
LSR LSR LER
LER

IP IP #L1 IP #L2 IP #L3 IP

IP Label Label IP
Routing Switching Switching Routing
 MPLS Operation

vThe following steps must be taken for a data packet to

travel through an MPLS domain.
§ label creation and distribution
§ table creation at each router
§ label-switched path creation
§ label insertion/table lookup
§ packet forwarding
 Step 1

vLabel creation and label distribution

§ Before any traffic begins the routers make the decision to bind
a label to a specific FEC and build their tables.

§ In LDP, downstream routers initiate the distribution of labels

and the label/FEC binding.

§ In addition, traffic-related characteristics and MPLS capabilities

are negotiated using LDP.

§ A reliable and ordered transport protocol should be used for

the signaling protocol.
 Step 2

vTable creation
§ On receipt of label bindings each LSR creates entries in the
label information base (LIB).
§ The contents of the table will specify the mapping between a
label and an FEC.
• mapping between the input port and input label table to the output
port and output label table.
• The entries are updated whenever renegotiation of the label bindings
occurs.

Ex: LIB Table

Incoming Output Outgoing
Input Port
Port Label Port Port Label
1 3 3 6

2 9 1 7
 Step 3

vLabel switched path creation

§ The LSPs are created in the reverse direction to the creation of
entries in the LIBs.
 Step 4

vLabel insertion/table-lookup
§ The first router (LER1) uses the LIB table to find the next hop
and request a label for the specific FEC.
§ Subsequent routers just use the label to find the next hop.
§ Once the packet reaches the egress LSR (LER4), the label is
removed and the packet is supplied to the destination.
 Step 5
v Packet forwarding
§ LER1 may not have any labels for this packet as it is the first occurrence of this
request. In an IP network, it will find the longest address match to find the next hop.
Let LSR1 be the next hop for LER1.
§ LER1 will initiate a label request toward LSR1.
§ This request will propagate through the network as indicated by the broken green
lines.
v Each intermediary router will receive a label from its downstream router starting from
LER2 and going upstream till LER1. The LSP setup is indicated by the broken blue lines
using LDP or any other signaling protocol. If traffic engineering is required, CR–LDP will
be used in determining the actual path setup to ensure the QoS/CoS requirements are
complied with.
v LER1 will insert the label and forward the packet to LSR1.
v Each subsequent LSR, i.e., LSR2 and LSR3, will examine the label in the received packet,
replace it with the outgoing label and forward it.
 Step 5 (cont.)
§ When the packet reaches LER4, it will remove the label
because the packet is departing from an MPLS domain and
deliver it to the destination.
§ The actual data path followed by the packet is indicated by the
broken red lines.
 Tunneling in MPLS

vControl the entire path

o f a p a c ket w i t h o u t
explicitly specifying the
intermediate routers.
§ Creating tunnels
t h r o u g h t h e
intermediary routers
that can span multiple
segments.
vMPLS based VPNs.
 MPLS (Contents..)

vMotivation
vMPLS Basics
vComponents and Protocols
vOperation
vProtocol Stack Architecture
vAdvantages and Disadvantages
MPLS Protocol Stack Architecture
IP/MPLS over Ethernet Overlay Network
: Protocol Stack
 MPLS (Contents..)

vMotivation
vBasics
vComponents and Protocols
vOperation
vProtocol Stack Architecture
vAdvantages and Disadvantages
 MPLS Advantages

vImproves packet-forwarding performance in the network

vSupports QoS and CoS for service differentiation
vSupports network scalability
vIntegrates IP and ATM in the network
vBuilds interoperable networks
 MPLS Disadvantages

vAn additional layer is added

vThe router has to understand MPLS
 MPLS Applications

vTraffic Engineering
vVirtual Private Network
vQuality of Service (QoS)
 Traffic Engineering

v Traffic engineering allows a network administrator to make the

path deterministic and bypass the normal routed hop-by-hop
paths. An administrator may elect to explicitly define the path
between stations to ensure QoS or have the traffic follow a
specified path to reduce traffic loading across certain hops.
v The network administrator can reduce congestion by forcing the
frame to travel around the overloaded segments. Traffic
engineering, then, enables an administrator to define a policy
for forwarding frames rather than depending upon dynamic
routing protocols.
v Traffic engineering is similar to source-routing in that an explicit
path is defined for the frame to travel. However, unlike source-
routing, the hop-by-hop definition is not carried with every
frame. Rather, the hops are configured in the LSRs ahead of
time along with the appropriate label values.
 Traffic Engineering

v In MPLS, traffic engineering is inherently provided using explicitly

routed paths.
v The LSPs are created independently, specifying different paths that
are based on user-defined policies. However, this may require
extensive operator intervention.
v RSVP-TE and CR-LDP are two possible approaches to supply
dynamic traffic engineering and QoS in MPLS.
RSVP-TE
v Request bandwidth and traffic conditions on a defined path.
v Drawback:
§ Requires regular refreshes
§ Scalability
 MPLS – Traffic Engineering

Overload !!

LER 1 LER 4
Overload !! IP
IP
IP L
IP L
Forward to IP L
LSR 2
LSR 3
LSR 4
LSR X LSR 2 LSR 3

n End-to-End forwarding decision determined by

ingress node.
n Enables Traffic Engineering
 MPLS-based VPN

vOne of most popular MPLS applications is the

implementation of VPN.
vThe basic concept is the same as ATM transparent LAN.
vUsing label (instead of IP address) to interconnect
multiple sites over a carrier’s network. Each site has its
own private IP address space.
vDifferent VPNs may use the same IP address space.
vSame as Frame Relay separation of different user
traffic… but more” fashionable” to use word “VPN”
today.
 MPLS VPN Connection Model
MPLS MPLS
Edge Edge

VPN_A MPLS Core VPN_A

[Link] [Link]

VPN_B VPN_A
[Link]
[Link]

VPN_A

[Link]
VPN_B

[Link]
VPN_B

[Link]

VPN_A: [Link]/24, [Link]/24, [Link]/24

VPN_B: [Link]/24, [Link]/24, [Link]/24
 MPLS VPN - Example
[Link] [Link]

E1 E1

[Link] E3 E3
[Link]
E1 E2 E2
E2

-- E1 10 E3 10 E1 30 E2 30 E3 -- E1
-- E2 20 E3 20 E1 40 E2 40 E3 -- E2
LSP LSP

70 E3 -- E1 50 E2 70 E1 -- E1 50 E3
80 E3 -- E1 60 E2 80 E1 -- E2 60 E3
 MPLS and QoS
v An important proposed MPLS capability is quality of service
(QoS) support.
v QoS mechanisms:
§ Pre-configuration based on physical interface
§ Classification of incoming packets into different classes
§ Classification based on network characteristics (such as
congestion, throughput, delay, and loss)
v A label corresponding to the resultant class is applied to the
packet.
v Labeled packets are handled by LSRs in their path without
needing to be reclassified.
v MPLS enables simple logic to find the state that identifies how
the packet should be scheduled.
v The exact use of MPLS for QoS purposes depends a great deal on
how QoS is deployed.
v Support various QoS protocols, such as IntServ, DiffServ, and
RSVP.
 FEC QoS Classification

LER LSR

A priority scheme for

MPLS label based on different label switch path (LSP)
1. physical interface
2. Source IP address
3. Destination IP address
4. Type of Service (ToS)
5. Protocol information
6. etc.
 IP Differentiated Model

Layer 3
IPV4

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

IP Precedence Unused
Bits;

0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Label | EXP |S| TTL |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 MPLS between Carriers?

Carrier Carrier
-A -B

Carrier Internet Carrier

-C -D

Q: Does LDP work on different carriers’ network?

A (short): not yet
A (long): no network-to-network interface (NNI) signaling