Open vSwitch 2014 Fall Conference: MPLS LDP based LSR and LER using OpenFlow

Open vSwitch 2014 Fall Conference: MPLS LDP based LSR and LER using OpenFlow

presented by: Vikram Dham, Kamboi Technologies

Multipath Label Switching (MPLS) has been used in the core of the networks to enable faster switching and traffic engineering. In MPLS based networks, integer labels are prefixed to the packets at ingress. The switching in core networks is done based upon labels prefixed to the packets instead of the ip addresses thus resulting in faster lookups and switching. At the egress, the prefixed labels are removed and delivered to the destination network.
MPLS labels can be generated either by using a distributed protocol such as Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) or by using a centralized service. Centralized solutions involving a controller for generating labels are easier to implement in Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm but face interoperability challenges when connecting with the traditional networks which are based on distributed protocols such as LDP. This necessitates taking a hybrid approach whereby the nodes can support both the traditional networking protocols which are mostly peer to peer in nature as well as support the approach of controlling the networks using a centralized controller.
In this talk, we will present the architecture of LDP based MPLS system implemented using OpenFlow-enabled switches. Each switch acts as a MPLS router and has its control plane implemented using RouteFlow. We will demonstrate the MPLS label generation and MPLS traffic routing using Open vSwitch-based mininet test bed.