telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s, Multiprotocol Label Switching - Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) is a variant of the

MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on labels rather than network addresses. Whereas network addresses identify endpoints, the labels identi ...

protocol that is used in packet switched data networks. MPLS-TP is the product of a joint Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) / International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) effort to include an MPLS Transport Profile within the IETF MPLS and PWE3 architectures to support the capabilities and functionalities of a packet transport network.

Description

MPLS-TP is designed for use as a network layer technology in transport networks. It will be a continuation of the work started by the transport network experts of the

ITU-T The International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three Sectors (branches) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating Standardization, standards fo ...

, specifically SG15, as T-MPLS. Since 2008 the work is progressed in a cooperation between

and

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet standard, Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster ...

. The required protocol extensions to MPLS being designed by the IETF based on requirements provided by service providers. It will be a connection-oriented packet-switched (CO-PS) application. It will offer a dedicated MPLS implementation by removing features that are not relevant to CO-PS applications and adding mechanisms that provide support of critical transport functionality. MPLS-TP is to be based on the same architectural principles of layered networking that are used in longstanding transport network technologies like SDH,

SONET Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes ...

and OTN. Service providers have already developed management processes and work procedures based on these principles. MPLS-TP gives service providers a reliable packet-based technology that is based upon circuit-based transport networking, and thus is expected to align with current organizational processes and large-scale work procedures similar to other packet transport technologies. MPLS-TP is a low cost L2.5 technology (if the limited profile to be specified is implemented in isolation) that provides QoS, end-to-end OA&M and protection switching. In February 2008 the

and

agreed to work jointly on the design of MPLS-TP. Based on this agreement IETF and ITU-T experts will jointly work out the requirements and solutions. ITU-T in turn will update the existing T-MPLS standards based on the MPLS-TP related RFCs listed below.

ITU-T

The following

Recommendations exist for MPLS-TP. Some of those Recommendations are superseding the ones that applied to T-MPLS before this work was ceased.

RFC or drafts

The following

RFCs or drafts exist for MPLS-TP:

Solutions

The solutions for the above requirements and framework are as mentioned below and is under development: * An In-Band Data Communication Network For the MPLS Transport Profile * MPLS Generic Associated Channel- Defines GAL/G-ACH * "EXP field" renamed to "Traffic Class field" * MPLS Transport Profile Lock Instruct and Loopback Functions * A Thesaurus for the Interpretation of Terminology Used in MPLS Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) Internet-Drafts and RFCs in the Context of the ITU-T's Transport Network Recommendation
MPLS-TP ACH TLV
(IETF Draft)
Proactive continuity and connectivity verification
(Individual Draft) * Guidelines for the Use of the "OAM" Acronym in the IETF
MPLS-TP OAM based on Y.1731
(Individual Draft) * MPLS-TP Performance monitoring (Individual Draft) * MPLS Fault Management Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) * MPLS Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) Linear Protection * {{IETF RFC, 7347, link=no Pre-standard Linear Protection Switching in MPLS Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) * MPLS-TP P2MP traffic protection (Individual Draft) * MPLS-TP OAM Alarm suppression (Individual Draft) * MPLS-TP & IP/MPLS Interworking (Individual Draft)
MPLS-TP Ring Protection
(Individual Draft) * MPLS-TP LDP extension: No work * MPLS-TP RSVP-TE extensions: No work

References

External links

ITU-T series G recommendations

Current mailing list (back to MPLS mailing list)

Latest list of MPLS-TP standards
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