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RFC 3031

Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture

Pages: 61
Proposed Standard
Errata
Updated by:  61786790
Part 1 of 3 – Pages 1 to 9
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Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 1
Network Working Group                                           E. Rosen
Request for Comments: 3031                           Cisco Systems, Inc.
Category: Standards Track                                 A. Viswanathan
                                                  Force10 Networks, Inc.
                                                               R. Callon
                                                  Juniper Networks, Inc.
                                                            January 2001


               Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This document specifies the architecture for Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

Table of Contents

1 Specification ...................................... 3 2 Introduction to MPLS ............................... 3 2.1 Overview ........................................... 4 2.2 Terminology ........................................ 6 2.3 Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................... 9 2.4 Acknowledgments .................................... 9 3 MPLS Basics ........................................ 9 3.1 Labels ............................................. 9 3.2 Upstream and Downstream LSRs ....................... 10 3.3 Labeled Packet ..................................... 11 3.4 Label Assignment and Distribution .................. 11 3.5 Attributes of a Label Binding ...................... 11 3.6 Label Distribution Protocols ....................... 11 3.7 Unsolicited Downstream vs. Downstream-on-Demand .... 12 3.8 Label Retention Mode ............................... 12 3.9 The Label Stack .................................... 13 3.10 The Next Hop Label Forwarding Entry (NHLFE) ........ 13 3.11 Incoming Label Map (ILM) ........................... 14
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 2
   3.12       FEC-to-NHLFE Map (FTN)  .............................  14
   3.13       Label Swapping  .....................................  15
   3.14       Scope and Uniqueness of Labels  .....................  15
   3.15       Label Switched Path (LSP), LSP Ingress, LSP Egress  .  16
   3.16       Penultimate Hop Popping  ............................  18
   3.17       LSP Next Hop  .......................................  20
   3.18       Invalid Incoming Labels  ............................  20
   3.19       LSP Control: Ordered versus Independent  ............  20
   3.20       Aggregation  ........................................  21
   3.21       Route Selection  ....................................  23
   3.22       Lack of Outgoing Label  .............................  24
   3.23       Time-to-Live (TTL)  .................................  24
   3.24       Loop Control  .......................................  25
   3.25       Label Encodings  ....................................  26
   3.25.1     MPLS-specific Hardware and/or Software  .............  26
   3.25.2     ATM Switches as LSRs  ...............................  26
   3.25.3     Interoperability among Encoding Techniques  .........  28
   3.26       Label Merging  ......................................  28
   3.26.1     Non-merging LSRs  ...................................  29
   3.26.2     Labels for Merging and Non-Merging LSRs  ............  30
   3.26.3     Merge over ATM  .....................................  31
   3.26.3.1   Methods of Eliminating Cell Interleave  .............  31
   3.26.3.2   Interoperation: VC Merge, VP Merge, and Non-Merge  ..  31
   3.27       Tunnels and Hierarchy  ..............................  32
   3.27.1     Hop-by-Hop Routed Tunnel  ...........................  32
   3.27.2     Explicitly Routed Tunnel  ...........................  33
   3.27.3     LSP Tunnels  ........................................  33
   3.27.4     Hierarchy: LSP Tunnels within LSPs  .................  33
   3.27.5     Label Distribution Peering and Hierarchy  ...........  34
   3.28       Label Distribution Protocol Transport  ..............  35
   3.29       Why More than one Label Distribution Protocol?  .....  36
   3.29.1     BGP and LDP  ........................................  36
   3.29.2     Labels for RSVP Flowspecs  ..........................  36
   3.29.3     Labels for Explicitly Routed LSPs  ..................  36
   3.30       Multicast  ..........................................  37
   4          Some Applications of MPLS  ..........................  37
   4.1        MPLS and Hop by Hop Routed Traffic  .................  37
   4.1.1      Labels for Address Prefixes  ........................  37
   4.1.2      Distributing Labels for Address Prefixes  ...........  37
   4.1.2.1    Label Distribution Peers for an Address Prefix  .....  37
   4.1.2.2    Distributing Labels  ................................  38
   4.1.3      Using the Hop by Hop path as the LSP  ...............  39
   4.1.4      LSP Egress and LSP Proxy Egress  ....................  39
   4.1.5      The Implicit NULL Label  ............................  40
   4.1.6      Option: Egress-Targeted Label Assignment  ...........  40
   4.2        MPLS and Explicitly Routed LSPs  ....................  42
   4.2.1      Explicitly Routed LSP Tunnels  ......................  42
   4.3        Label Stacks and Implicit Peering  ..................  43
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 3
   4.4        MPLS and Multi-Path Routing  ........................  44
   4.5        LSP Trees as Multipoint-to-Point Entities  ..........  44
   4.6        LSP Tunneling between BGP Border Routers  ...........  45
   4.7        Other Uses of Hop-by-Hop Routed LSP Tunnels  ........  47
   4.8        MPLS and Multicast  .................................  47
   5          Label Distribution Procedures (Hop-by-Hop)  .........  47
   5.1        The Procedures for Advertising and Using labels  ....  48
   5.1.1      Downstream LSR: Distribution Procedure  .............  48
   5.1.1.1    PushUnconditional  ..................................  49
   5.1.1.2    PushConditional  ....................................  49
   5.1.1.3    PulledUnconditional  ................................  49
   5.1.1.4    PulledConditional  ..................................  50
   5.1.2      Upstream LSR: Request Procedure  ....................  51
   5.1.2.1    RequestNever  .......................................  51
   5.1.2.2    RequestWhenNeeded  ..................................  51
   5.1.2.3    RequestOnRequest  ...................................  51
   5.1.3      Upstream LSR: NotAvailable Procedure  ...............  52
   5.1.3.1    RequestRetry  .......................................  52
   5.1.3.2    RequestNoRetry  .....................................  52
   5.1.4      Upstream LSR: Release Procedure  ....................  52
   5.1.4.1    ReleaseOnChange  ....................................  52
   5.1.4.2    NoReleaseOnChange  ..................................  53
   5.1.5      Upstream LSR: labelUse Procedure  ...................  53
   5.1.5.1    UseImmediate  .......................................  53
   5.1.5.2    UseIfLoopNotDetected  ...............................  53
   5.1.6      Downstream LSR: Withdraw Procedure  .................  53
   5.2        MPLS Schemes: Supported Combinations of Procedures  .  54
   5.2.1      Schemes for LSRs that Support Label Merging  ........  55
   5.2.2      Schemes for LSRs that do not Support Label Merging  .  56
   5.2.3      Interoperability Considerations  ....................  57
   6          Security Considerations  ............................  58
   7          Intellectual Property  ..............................  58
   8          Authors' Addresses  .................................  59
   9          References  .........................................  59
   10         Full Copyright Statement  ...........................  61

1. Specification

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

2. Introduction to MPLS

This document specifies the architecture for Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). Note that the use of MPLS for multicast is left for further study.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 4

2.1. Overview

As a packet of a connectionless network layer protocol travels from one router to the next, each router makes an independent forwarding decision for that packet. That is, each router analyzes the packet's header, and each router runs a network layer routing algorithm. Each router independently chooses a next hop for the packet, based on its analysis of the packet's header and the results of running the routing algorithm. Packet headers contain considerably more information than is needed simply to choose the next hop. Choosing the next hop can therefore be thought of as the composition of two functions. The first function partitions the entire set of possible packets into a set of "Forwarding Equivalence Classes (FECs)". The second maps each FEC to a next hop. Insofar as the forwarding decision is concerned, different packets which get mapped into the same FEC are indistinguishable. All packets which belong to a particular FEC and which travel from a particular node will follow the same path (or if certain kinds of multi-path routing are in use, they will all follow one of a set of paths associated with the FEC). In conventional IP forwarding, a particular router will typically consider two packets to be in the same FEC if there is some address prefix X in that router's routing tables such that X is the "longest match" for each packet's destination address. As the packet traverses the network, each hop in turn reexamines the packet and assigns it to a FEC. In MPLS, the assignment of a particular packet to a particular FEC is done just once, as the packet enters the network. The FEC to which the packet is assigned is encoded as a short fixed length value known as a "label". When a packet is forwarded to its next hop, the label is sent along with it; that is, the packets are "labeled" before they are forwarded. At subsequent hops, there is no further analysis of the packet's network layer header. Rather, the label is used as an index into a table which specifies the next hop, and a new label. The old label is replaced with the new label, and the packet is forwarded to its next hop. In the MPLS forwarding paradigm, once a packet is assigned to a FEC, no further header analysis is done by subsequent routers; all forwarding is driven by the labels. This has a number of advantages over conventional network layer forwarding.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 5
      -  MPLS forwarding can be done by switches which are capable of
         doing label lookup and replacement, but are either not capable
         of analyzing the network layer headers, or are not capable of
         analyzing the network layer headers at adequate speed.

      -  Since a packet is assigned to a FEC when it enters the network,
         the ingress router may use, in determining the assignment, any
         information it has about the packet, even if that information
         cannot be gleaned from the network layer header.  For example,
         packets arriving on different ports may be assigned to
         different FECs.  Conventional forwarding, on the other hand,
         can only consider information which travels with the packet in
         the packet header.

      -  A packet that enters the network at a particular router can be
         labeled differently than the same packet entering the network
         at a different router, and as a result forwarding decisions
         that depend on the ingress router can be easily made.  This
         cannot be done with conventional forwarding, since the identity
         of a packet's ingress router does not travel with the packet.

      -  The considerations that determine how a packet is assigned to a
         FEC can become ever more and more complicated, without any
         impact at all on the routers that merely forward labeled
         packets.

      -  Sometimes it is desirable to force a packet to follow a
         particular route which is explicitly chosen at or before the
         time the packet enters the network, rather than being chosen by
         the normal dynamic routing algorithm as the packet travels
         through the network.  This may be done as a matter of policy,
         or to support traffic engineering.  In conventional forwarding,
         this requires the packet to carry an encoding of its route
         along with it ("source routing").  In MPLS, a label can be used
         to represent the route, so that the identity of the explicit
         route need not be carried with the packet.

   Some routers analyze a packet's network layer header not merely to
   choose the packet's next hop, but also to determine a packet's
   "precedence" or "class of service".  They may then apply different
   discard thresholds or scheduling disciplines to different packets.
   MPLS allows (but does not require) the precedence or class of service
   to be fully or partially inferred from the label.  In this case, one
   may say that the label represents the combination of a FEC and a
   precedence or class of service.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 6
   MPLS stands for "Multiprotocol" Label Switching, multiprotocol
   because its techniques are applicable to ANY network layer protocol.
   In this document, however, we focus on the use of IP as the network
   layer protocol.

   A router which supports MPLS is known as a "Label Switching Router",
   or LSR.

2.2. Terminology

This section gives a general conceptual overview of the terms used in this document. Some of these terms are more precisely defined in later sections of the document. DLCI a label used in Frame Relay networks to identify frame relay circuits forwarding equivalence class a group of IP packets which are forwarded in the same manner (e.g., over the same path, with the same forwarding treatment) frame merge label merging, when it is applied to operation over frame based media, so that the potential problem of cell interleave is not an issue. label a short fixed length physically contiguous identifier which is used to identify a FEC, usually of local significance. label merging the replacement of multiple incoming labels for a particular FEC with a single outgoing label label swap the basic forwarding operation consisting of looking up an incoming label to determine the outgoing label, encapsulation, port, and other data handling information. label swapping a forwarding paradigm allowing streamlined forwarding of data by using labels to identify classes of data packets which are treated indistinguishably when forwarding.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 7
      label switched hop        the hop between two MPLS nodes, on which
                                forwarding is done using labels.

      label switched path       The path through one or more LSRs at one
                                level of the hierarchy followed by a
                                packets in a particular FEC.

      label switching router    an MPLS node which is capable of
                                forwarding native L3 packets

      layer 2                   the protocol layer under layer 3 (which
                                therefore offers the services used by
                                layer 3).  Forwarding, when done by the
                                swapping of short fixed length labels,
                                occurs at layer 2 regardless of whether
                                the label being examined is an ATM
                                VPI/VCI, a frame relay DLCI, or an MPLS
                                label.

      layer 3                   the protocol layer at which IP and its
                                associated routing protocols operate
                                link layer synonymous with layer 2

      loop detection            a method of dealing with loops in which
                                loops are allowed to be set up, and data
                                may be transmitted over the loop, but
                                the loop is later detected

      loop prevention           a method of dealing with loops in which
                                data is never transmitted over a loop

      label stack               an ordered set of labels

      merge point               a node at which label merging is done

      MPLS domain               a contiguous set of nodes which operate
                                MPLS routing and forwarding and which
                                are also in one Routing or
                                Administrative Domain

      MPLS edge node            an MPLS node that connects an MPLS
                                domain with a node which is outside of
                                the domain, either because it does not
                                run MPLS, and/or because it is in a
                                different domain.  Note that if an LSR
                                has a neighboring host which is not
                                running MPLS, that that LSR is an MPLS
                                edge node.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 8
      MPLS egress node          an MPLS edge node in its role in
                                handling traffic as it leaves an MPLS
                                domain

      MPLS ingress node         an MPLS edge node in its role in
                                handling traffic as it enters an MPLS
                                domain

      MPLS label                a label which is carried in a packet
                                header, and which represents the
                                packet's FEC

      MPLS node                 a node which is running MPLS.  An MPLS
                                node will be aware of MPLS control
                                protocols, will operate one or more L3
                                routing protocols, and will be capable
                                of forwarding packets based on labels.
                                An MPLS node may optionally be also
                                capable of forwarding native L3 packets.

      MultiProtocol Label Switching  an IETF working group and the
                                     effort associated with the working
                                     group

      network layer             synonymous with layer 3

      stack                     synonymous with label stack

      switched path             synonymous with label switched path

      virtual circuit           a circuit used by a connection-oriented
                                layer 2 technology such as ATM or Frame
                                Relay, requiring the maintenance of
                                state information in layer 2 switches.

      VC merge                  label merging where the MPLS label is
                                carried in the ATM VCI field (or
                                combined VPI/VCI field), so as to allow
                                multiple VCs to merge into one single VC

      VP merge                  label merging where the MPLS label is
                                carried din the ATM VPI field, so as to
                                allow multiple VPs to be merged into one
                                single VP.  In this case two cells would
                                have the same VCI value only if they
                                originated from the same node.  This
                                allows cells from different sources to
                                be distinguished via the VCI.
Top   ToC   RFC3031 - Page 9
      VPI/VCI                   a label used in ATM networks to identify
                                circuits

2.3. Acronyms and Abbreviations

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode BGP Border Gateway Protocol DLCI Data Link Circuit Identifier FEC Forwarding Equivalence Class FTN FEC to NHLFE Map IGP Interior Gateway Protocol ILM Incoming Label Map IP Internet Protocol LDP Label Distribution Protocol L2 Layer 2 L3 Layer 3 LSP Label Switched Path LSR Label Switching Router MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching NHLFE Next Hop Label Forwarding Entry SVC Switched Virtual Circuit SVP Switched Virtual Path TTL Time-To-Live VC Virtual Circuit VCI Virtual Circuit Identifier VP Virtual Path VPI Virtual Path Identifier

2.4. Acknowledgments

The ideas and text in this document have been collected from a number of sources and comments received. We would like to thank Rick Boivie, Paul Doolan, Nancy Feldman, Yakov Rekhter, Vijay Srinivasan, and George Swallow for their inputs and ideas.


(page 9 continued on part 2)

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