MPLS Protection: Required Enhancements for Carrier-Grade Functionality

The article investigates the protection characteristics of MPLS Fast Reroute (FRR), which is the predominant protection and restoration scheme in today's MPLS networks. It examines whether fast reroute provides the level of protection that a network operator expects and is used to. Capabilities of FRR are compared with those of SDH protection schemes. Developing a functional model of FRR it is shown where weaknesses of FRR exist and what means are necessary to further enhance this scheme to become carrier-grade.