MPLS-TP - The New Technology for Packet Transport Networks

: The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) have undertaken a joint effort to standardize a new transport profile for the multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) technology that is intended to provide the basis for the next generation packet transport network. The fundamental idea of this activity is to extend MPLS where necessary with Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) tools that are widely applied in existing transport network technologies such as SONET/SDH or OTN. This paper provides a brief history of the MPLS-TP standardization activities and addresses the MPLS-TP OAM functions. These functions are targeted at making MPLS comparable to SONET/SDH and OTN in terms of reliability and monitoring capabilities, i.e., MPLS-TP will become a true carrier grade packet transport technology. An MPLS-TP network can be operated in an SDH-like fashion and a network management system...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: DFN
• Authors: Dieter Beller, Rolf Sperber
• Keywords: DFN 2008, DFN 2009, MPLS-TP Data Plane, Packet Transport Network, Transport Network