MPLS Architecture

MPLS Network Model

Internet

LER

LSR
LSR

LER

IP

MPLS

LSR

LSR LER

MPLS IP

LSR = Label Switched Router LER = Label Edge Router

MPLS Benefits
Comparing MPLS with existing IP core and IP/ATM technologies, MPLS has many advantages and benefits: The performance characteristics of layer 2 networks The connectivity and network services of layer 3 networks Improves the price/performance of network layer routing Improved scalability

MPLS Benefits (contd)

Improves the possibilities for traffic engineering Supports the delivery of services with QoS guarantees Avoids need for coordination of IP and ATM address allocation and routing information

Necessity of L3 Forwarding
For security
To allow packet filtering at firewalls Requires examination of packet contents, including the IP header

For forwarding at the initial router - used when hosts dont support MPLS For Scaling
Forward on a finer granularity than the labels can provide

MPLS Architecture
Down stream label assignment for unicast traffic Path selection Ordered vs. independent control Loop detection and prevention mechanisms
Hop by hop Explicit

On demand Unsolicited

Label Distribution Protocol (LDP)

Set of procedures used by LSRs to establish LSPs Mapping between network-layer routing information directly to data-link layer switched paths LDP peers:
Two LSRs which use LDP to exchange label/stream mapping Information exchange known as LDP Session

LDP Messages
Discovery messages Session/Adjacency messages
Used to announce and maintain the presence of an LSR
Used to establish, maintain and terminate sessions between LDP peers Used to create, change, and delete label mappings Used to provide advisory information and to signal error information

Advertisement messages
Notification messages

Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC)

Introduced to denote packet forwarding classes Comprises traffic
To a particular destination To destination with distinct service requirements

LSP - FEC Mapping

FEC specified as a set of two elements
IP Address Prefix - any length from 0 32 Host Address - 32 bit IP address

A given packet matches a particular LSP if and only if IP Address Prefix FEC element matches packets IP destination address

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Label Spaces
Useful for assignment and distribution of labels Two types of label spaces

Per interface label space: Interface-specific labels used for interfaces that use interface resources for labels Per platform label space: Platform-wide incoming labels used for interfaces that can share the same label space

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LDP Discovery
A mechanism that enables an LSR to discover potential LDP peers Avoids unnecessary explicit configuration of LSR label switching peers Two variants of the discovery mechanism
Basic discovery mechanism: used to discover LSR neighbors that are directly connected at the link level Extended discovery mechanism: used to locate LSRs that are not directly connected at the link level

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LDP Discovery (Contd)

Basic discovery mechanism
To engage - send LDP Hellos periodically LDP Hellos sent as UDP packets for all routers on that subnet

Extended discovery mechanism

To engage - send LDP targeted Hellos periodically Targeted Hellos are sent to a specific address Targeted LSR decides whether to respond or to ignore the targeted Hello

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Session Establishment
Exchange of LDP discovery Hellos triggers session establishment Two step process
Transport connection establishment
If LSR1 does not already have a LDP session for the exchange of label spaces LSR1:a and LSR2:b, it attempts to open a TCP connection with LSR2 LSR1 determines the transport addresses at its end (A1) and LSR2s end (A2) of the TCP connection If A1>A2, LSR1 plays the active role; otherwise it is passive Negotiate session parameters by exchanging LDP initialization messages

Session initialization

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Label Distribution and Management

Two label distribution techniques

Both can be used in the same network at the same time; however, each LSR must be aware of the distribution method used by its peer

Downstream on demand label distribution: An LSR can distribute a FEC label binding in response to an explicit request Downstream Unsolicited label distribution: Allows an LSR to distribute label bindings to LSRs that have not explicitly requested them

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Label Distribution Control Mode

Independent Label Distribution Control
Each LSR may advertise label mappings to its neighbors at any time Independent Downstream on Demand mode - LSR answers without waiting for a label mapping from next hop Independent Downstream Unsolicited mode - LSR advertises label mapping for a FEC whenever it is prepared Consequence: upstream label can be advertised before a downstream label is received

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Distribution Control Mode (contd)

Ordered Label Distribution Control
Initiates transmission of label mapping for a FEC only if it has next FEC next hop or is the egress If not, the LSR waits till it gets a label from downstream LSR LSR acts as an egress for a particular FEC, if
Next hop router for FEC is outside of label switching network FEC elements are reachable by crossing a domain boundary

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Label Retention Mode

Conservative Label Retention Mode
Advertised label mappings are retained only if they are used for forwarding packets Downstream on Demand Mode typically used with Conservative Label Retention Mode Advantage: only labels required are maintained Disadvantage: a change in routing causes delay All label mappings are retained regardless of whether LSR is next hop or not Faster reaction to routing changes

Liberal Retention Mode

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Label Information Base

LSR maintains learned labels in Label Information Base (LIB) Each entry of LIB associates an FEC with an (LDP Identifier, label) pair When next hop changes for a FEC, LSR will retrieve the label for the new next hop from the LIB

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Hierarchical Routing in MPLS

External Routers A,B,C,D,E,F - Talk BGP

Internal Routers 1,2,3,4,5,6 - Talk OSPF

C
1 Domain #2 6

D
2 3 4 5

E
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Domain #1

Domain #3

Note: Internal routers in domains 1 and 3 not shown

Hierarchical Routing (contd)

When IP packet traverses domain #2, it will contain two labels, encoded as a label stack Higher level label used between routers C and D, which is encapsulated inside a lower level label used within Domain #2 Operation at C

C needs to swap BGP label to put label that D expects C also needs to add an OSPF label that 1 expects C therefore pushes down the BGP label and adds a lower level label

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Explicit Routing in MPLS

Two options for route selection: Explicit Routing (Source Routing) is a very powerful technique
Hop by hop routing Explicit routing

With pure datagram routing, overhead of carrying complete explicit route is prohibitive MPLS allows explicit route to be carried only at the time the LSP is setup, and not with each packet MPLS makes explicit routing practical

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Explicit Routing (Contd)

In an explicitly routed LSP
LSP next hop is not chosen by the local node Selected by a single node, usually the ingress Configuration (e.g., by an operator or by a centralized server)

The sequence of LSRs may be chosen by

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Loops and Loop Handling

Routing protocols used in conjunction with MPLS are based on distributed computation which may contain loops Loops handling - 3 categories
Loop Mitigation/Survival Loop Detection Loop Prevention

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Loop Mitigation
Minimizes the impact of loops by limiting the amount of resources consumed by the loop Method
Based on use of TTL field which is decremented at each hop Use of dynamic routing protocol converging rapidly to non-looping paths

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Loop Detection
Loops may be setup but they are subsequently detected The detected loop is then broken by dropping label relationship Broken loops now necessitates packets to be forwarded using L3 forwarding

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Loop Detection (Contd)

Method is based on transmitting a Loop Detection Control Packet (LDCP) whenever a route changes LDCP is forwarded towards the destination until
Last MPLS node along the path is reached TTL of the LDCP expires It returns to the node which originated it

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Loop Prevention
Ensures that loops are never set up Labels are not used until it is sure to be loop free Methods
Labels are propagated starting at the egress switch Use source routing to set up label bindings from the egress switch to each ingress switch

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