Differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks

摘要

The invention relates to enabling differential forwarding in address-based carrier networks such as Ethernet networks. There is described a method of and connection controller for establishing connections (76, 77) in a frame-based communications network comprising nodes (71-75 and 78) such as Ethernet switches. The connections are established by configuring, in various of the nodes, mappings for forwarding data frames, such as Ethernet frames. The mappings are from a combination of a) a destination (or source) address corresponding to a destination (or source) node (73) of the connection and b) an identifier, such as a VLAN tag. The mappings are to selected output ports of the various nodes. By using the combination of destination (or source) address AND identifier, the mappings enable data frames belonging to different connections (76, 77) to be forwarded differentially (ie forwarded on different output ports) at a node (75) despite the different connections having the same destination node. This enables flexibility in routing connections and the ability to perform traffic engineering.

主权项

1. A method of establishing a connection in a network including one or more nodes, the method comprising the step of:
configuring, in an intermediate node of the network, a first mapping for forwarding data frames to a selected output port of the intermediate node, based on a combination of:
a first network address uniquely identifying, within an addressing scheme of the network, a first node of the network, anda first identifier associated with the connection, the first identifier being allocated to the connection such that it is unique at least among connections to the first network address that diverge at the intermediate node; wherein data frames are received via an attachment interface having a service instance identifier, and wherein the service instance identifier is associated with the connection such that data frames received via the customer attachment interface are forwarded through the connection.