Relay-node based proactive load balancing method in MPLS network with service differentiation

If IP network only uses conventional routing protocols such as open shortest path first (OSPF), some portions of the network become congested while other portions remain underutilized depending on the variations of traffic demand. MPLS that provides explicit routing along pre-determined path can improve load balancing throughout the network, thus achieves effective network resource utilization. In this paper, we introduce the overlay path that passes through strategically placed relay-node. By selecting a suitable relay-node dynamically, the network can proactively keep pace with changing traffic demand. We show that relay-node based load balancing can achieve almost equivalent network performance as global optimization by Linear Programming, while reallocating only 20% of total traffic. Furthermore, by selecting two kinds of path, namely primary path as the shortest path and overlay path as a detour path, in reference to VPN label, service differentiation is achieved, thus realize user-centric network.