A distributed and scalable MPLS architecture for next generation routers

In order to deal with the growing traffic on the Internet while minimizing the router management cost, the next generation routers are gradually replacing the current core routers, which are no longer scalable. They are built with enhanced memory capacity and computing resources, distributed across a very high speed switching fabric. However, the current routing software products, particularly those developed by third-party developers, do not fully exploit the distributed hardware platform of these routers, as they are designed on a centralized software architecture. This paper proposes a distributed software architecture of the MPLS module for the next generation routers. In particular, we investigate the ability to transfer components of the current centralized MPLS architectures on the line cards in order to balance the load between the control card and the line cards. This will improve the robustness, scalability and resiliency of the router. Performance evaluation, in terms of the CPU utilization, is also presented.