An Efficient Fault Tolerance Model for Path Recovery in MPLS Networks

Increasing demand of complex and data demanding Internet services has negatively affected the quality of service of data transfers in the network. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is an architecture developed to combine the dynamic nature of IP routing protocols and the efficiency of label switching. A significant issue in nowadays networks is the support of real-time services or multimedia applications even in the presence of node or link failures. MPLS employs basic techniques for network protection from such failures: (i) protection switching where a pre-computed alternative path (usually disjoint from the working path) is set up for every flow, and (ii) rerouting where an alternative path is dynamically recomputed after a fault is detected. For both techniques, the alternative path can be either global or local. In recent years several algorithms have been developed to provide fault recovery in virtual-circuit based networks, including MPLS. The effectiveness of the recovery depends on the choice of the protection mechanism that the algorithm implements. The two mechanisms present both advantages and disadvantages depending on the application or the topology of the network they are employed upon. We are combining the above mentioned techniques to develop a new routing algorithm to handle single or multiple faults in MPLS network. This approach achieves less recovery time, reduced packet loss, and high throughput.