Multi Protocol Lambda Switching (MPλS)

Luc Ceuppens Calient Networks Abstract Realizing the important role that photonic switches can play in data-centric networks, a number of leading router and optical equipment vendors are collaborating to combine the control plane of MPLS with the point-and-click provisioning capabilities of photonic switches. This document describes how MPλS (Multi Protocol Lambda Switching) will enable the service layer (Routers, ATM switches, SONET/SDH ADMs, etc.) to dynamically request bandwidth services from the transport layer using existing control plane techniques. Beyond simple advertising and establishment of optical paths through the network, MPλS includes performance information about the network. The service equipment at the edges of the photonic network will use this information to dynamically manage the wavelengths available in the photonic layer.