Multi-point and rooted multi-point protection switching

Abstract

The present invention relates to techniques for allowing one or more edge nodes in a backbone network to quickly and efficiently switch traffic delivery from a first virtual network to a second virtual network in response to a failure occurring in association with the first virtual network. In certain embodiments, an edge node is capable of independently detecting that a failure has occurred on the first virtual network and quickly transitioning from the first virtual network to the second virtual network for receiving or delivering traffic. Upon detecting the failure in the first virtual network, the edge node will begin delivering traffic over the second virtual network. If control messages are not already being provided over the second network, the edge node may begin providing the control messages over the second virtual network.

1 . A backbone network for serving a plurality of edge nodes, a first edge node being associated with a first virtual network and a second virtual network that are supported by the backbone network, the first edge node being operable to:
 forward traffic over the first virtual network while receiving control messages from a first source over the first virtual network before a failure associated with the first virtual network; and   forward traffic over the second virtual network while receiving control messages from a second source over the second virtual network after the failure associated with the first virtual network.   
     
     
         2 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is operable to:
 detect the failure associated with the first virtual network based on loss of control messages received from the first source over the first virtual network; and   switch from forwarding traffic over the first virtual network to forwarding traffic over the second virtual network in response to detection of the failure associated with the first virtual network.   
     
     
         3 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is operable to:
 detect the failure associated with the first virtual network based on receipt of the control messages received from the second source over the second virtual network; and   switch from forwarding traffic over the first virtual network to forwarding traffic over the second virtual network in response to detection of the failure associated with the first virtual network.   
     
     
         4 . The backbone network of  claim 3 , wherein the control messages received from the second source over the second virtual network are provided only in response to the failure associated with the first virtual network. 
     
     
         5 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the control messages comprises a failure indicator and the first edge node is operable to:
 detect the failure indicator in a received control message; and   switch from forwarding traffic over the first virtual network to forwarding traffic over the second virtual network in response to detection of the failure indicator.   
     
     
         6 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the backbone network is an Ethernet-based network and the first and second virtual networks are Ethernet virtual connections of the Ethernet-based network. 
     
     
         7 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is further operable to:
 receive traffic over the first virtual network while receiving the control messages from the first source over the first virtual network; and   receive traffic over the second virtual network while receiving the control messages from the second source over the second virtual network.   
     
     
         8 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is operable to:
 exchange traffic with a second edge node of the backbone network over the first virtual network; and   exchange traffic with a third edge node of the backbone network over the second virtual network.   
     
     
         9 . The backbone network of  claim 8 , wherein the first edge node is a spoke edge node and the second and third edge nodes are hub edge nodes in a rooted multi-point architecture 
     
     
         10 . The backbone network of  claim 9 , wherein the first virtual network and the second virtual network represent separate tree-configured virtual Ethernet connections of an Ethernet-based network. 
     
     
         11 . The backbone network of  claim 9 , wherein the first virtual network and the second virtual network represent separate E-LAN configured virtual Ethernet connections of an Ethernet-based network. 
     
     
         12 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of edge nodes is an edge node in a multi-point architecture. 
     
     
         13 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first edge node is operable to receive a series of control messages over at least one of the of the first virtual network and the second virtual network, the series of control messages comprising a source address that is associated with a source of the series of control messages; and   forwarding the traffic comprises addressing the traffic to the source address and sending the traffic over the at least one of the first virtual network and the second virtual network toward the source of the series of control messages.   
     
     
         14 . The backbone network of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the series of control messages comprises a first series of control messages received over the first virtual network from a first source prior to the failure and a second series of control messages received over the second virtual network from a second source after the failure; and   the source address of the first series of control messages received over the first virtual network is different from the source address for the second series of control messages received over the second virtual network, such that the traffic sent over the first virtual network prior to the detecting the failure is addressed to the first source and the traffic sent over the second virtual network after the detecting the failure is addressed to the second source.   
     
     
         15 . The backbone network of  claim 13 , wherein the control messages of the series of control messages from the source are normally received at a rate substantially higher than one every 50 milliseconds. 
     
     
         16 . The backbone network of  claim 13 , wherein the control messages of the series of control messages from the source are normally received at a rate around about one every 10 milliseconds. 
     
     
         17 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is operable to send control messages to the at least one of the plurality of edge nodes at a rate substantially higher than one every 50 milliseconds. 
     
     
         18 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first edge node is operable to:
 send a series of control messages to at least one of the plurality of edge nodes over the first virtual network; and   upon detecting the failure associated with the first virtual network, provide a failure indicator in control messages of the series of control messages.   
     
     
         19 . The backbone network of  claim 1 , wherein the first virtual network and the second virtual network are configured to not share intermediate nodes, such that no intermediate node of either of the first virtual network and the second virtual network is part of a shared risk link group.