Ciena Corporation
Control and data plane synchronization during Make Before Break operations in Multiprotocol Label Switching

Abstract:

Systems and methods include, in a first Label Edge Router (LER) in a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, creating a primary tunnel with a second LER; creating a Make Before Break (MBB) tunnel with the second LER for the primary tunnel; prior to switching to the MBB tunnel from the primary tunnel, sending an MPLS request to the second LER via the MBB tunnel and receiving an MPLS response from the second LER via the MBB tunnel indicating successfully creation of the MBB tunnel; switching to the MBB tunnel responsive to the successfully creation of the MBB tunnel; and, prior to tearing down the primary tunnel, checking statistics of the MBB tunnel to ensure traffic has moved to the MBB tunnel from the primary tunnel.