DATA COMMUNICATION

NETWORKS

ASSIGNMENT:01

B.S. (SE) 2016

Name Enrolment Seat number

RABBYA MANZAR 2016/Comp/BS(SE)/20034 1619817

Date: 21 March 2018

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

5-C NAZIMABAD, KARACHI 74600
 Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

 Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a type of data-carrying

technique for high-performance telecommunications networks. MPLS
directs data from one network node to the next based on short path
labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups
in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links (paths) between
distant nodes rather than endpoints. MPLS can encapsulate packets of
various network protocols, hence its name "multiprotocol".
 Often referred to as "Layer 2.5 protocol" MPLS technology operates
between the Data Link layer (Layer 2) and the Network Layer (Layer
2) of the OSI Model. MPLS is part of the family of packet-switched
networks. It was designed primarily to provide a unified data-carrying
service for Circuit-based as well as Circuit-switching clients. Both the
clients offer a datagram service model. ". MPLS supports a range of
access technologies, including T1/E1, ATM, Frame Relay, and DSL.
Multiprotocol Label Switching enables to carry diverse types of traffic
such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP)
packets, Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), and Ethernet
frames.
 With MPLS, the first time a packet enters the network, it’s assigned to
a specific forwarding equivalence class (FEC), indicated by
appending a short bit sequence (the label) to the packet. Each router in
the network has a table indicating how to handle packets of a specific
FEC type, so once the packet has entered the network, routers don’t
need to perform header analysis. Instead, subsequent routers use the
label as an index into a table that provides them with a new FEC for
that packet.
 MPLS is available in two types:
1. Layer 2 VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Services)
2. Layer 3 IP VPN (IP Virtual Private Network)
 The major benefits of MPLS networks include:
1. Traffic Engineering - The capacity to determine the path that the
traffic will take through the network.
2. MPLS VPN - Service providers can create IP tunnels all over their
networks using MPLS, which does not necessitate encryption or end-
user applications
3. Layer 2 services (ATM, ethernet, frame relay) can carried over the
MPLS core
4. Simplified network management through elimination of multiple
layers