Metro Ethernet

Chapter 8. GMPLS Architecture

This chapter covers the following topics:

• GMPLS Interfaces

• Modification of Routing and Signaling

• Inclusion of Technology-Specific Parameters

• Link Management Protocol

• GMPLS Protection and Restoration Mechanisms

• Summary of Differences Between MPLS and GMPLS

Optical networks present some added challenges that do not normally exist in packet-switched networks (PSNs) and hence cannot be fully addressed by the traditional MPLS schemes. Here are a few examples of these challenges:

• Optical/TDM bandwidth allocation is done in discrete amounts, whereas in PSNs, bandwidth can be allocated from a continuous spectrum.

• The number of links in an optical network can be orders of magnitude larger than in a traditional network, due to ...