Method and apparatus for internetworking ethernet and mpls networks

Abstract

MPLS networks offering PW or VPLS services may be interconnected with Ethernet networks implemented according to 802.1ah or 802.1Qay. The MPLS network may be a core and offer services to the Ethernet access networks, or vise-versa. Additionally, a mixture of different types of access networks may be interconnected by an MPLS core or an Ethernet core. Both network interworking and service interworking are provided. OAM fault detection may be implemented via maintenance entities extending across the network or end to end depending on the combination of networks and services offered by the networks.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of transporting customer Ethernet frames over a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network implementing a pseudo-wire service, the method comprising:
 receiving a customer frame on a network port, the customer frame including a customer destination MAC address (C-DA) and a customer source MAC address (C-SA);   identifying a customer service instance based on at least one of the network port and a VLAN associated with the frame;   encapsulating the customer frame with a backbone destination MAC address (B-DA), a backbone source MAC address (B-SA), and information identifying the customer service instance associated with the frame, the B-DA being selected based on the customer service instance;   further encapsulating the customer frame with a Label Switched Path (LSP) label and a pseudo-wire label, the pseudo-wire label being selected based on the information identifying the customer service instance and the LSP label being selected based on the B-DA; and   forwarding the encapsulated frame toward a network node associated with the B-DA based on the LSP label.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the customer frame with the B-DA, the B-SA and the information identifying the customer service instance comprises MAC-in-MAC encapsulation. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the customer service instance comprises an I-SID. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the customer service instance comprises a Virtual Local Area Network identifier (VLAN-ID). 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the VLAN-ID is part of a B-Tag. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving the customer frame on the network port comprises receiving the customer frame at an edge node of a first access network;   encapsulating the customer frame with the B-DA, B-SA and information identifying the customer service instance comprises encapsulating the customer frame at the edge node for forwarding over the first access network; and   further encapsulating the customer frame with an LSP label and a pseudo-wire label comprises further encapsulating the customer frame at an edge node of a core network for forwarding over the core network to a second access network.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the information identifying the customer service instance comprises an I-SID. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the edge node of the first access network identifies the I-SID based on a Virtual Local Area Network identifier (VLAN-ID) of the customer frame. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the VLAN-ID is part of a B-Tag. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising forwarding the customer frame over the second access network toward its destination. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 decapsulating the further encapsulated customer frame by removing the LSP label, the pseudo-wire label, the B-DA, the B-SA, the information identifying the customer service instance; and   forwarding the customer frame toward its destination over the second access network based at least on the C-DA.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the frame comprises a customer Virtual Local Area Network identifier (C-VLAN); and   forwarding the customer frame toward its destination over the second access network based at least on the C-DA comprises forwarding the customer frame based on its C-DA and its C-VLAN.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first access network comprises a Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) network. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first access network is a Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB) network. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the first access network is a Provider Link State Bridging (PLSB) network. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the second access network comprises a Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) network. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the second access network is a Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB) network. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the second access network is a Provider Link State Bridging (PLSB) network. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the second access network is an MPLS network.