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MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro -

A Unified Future
WHITE PAPER

Author: Gayathri Manoj, Kandasamy Varadharaj, Shri Krishan and


RamNarayan S

Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) are defined as networks spanning distances up to several
hundred kilometers, typically serving large, concentrated metropolitan areas. Current metro-
area network topologies are largely ring-based. SONET/SDH is the technology used in the
metro area, using point-to-point or add-drop multiplexer (ADM) ring topologies. Connections are
either permanent or semi-permanent with access rates ranging from OC-3 to OC-48.

Metro networks present many engineering challenges, especially as there is a large base of
legacy SONET/SDH (Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) infrastructure
prevalent in current metro-area networks. These traditional TDM (time-division multiplexing)
networks were originally designed to transport a limited set of traffic types, mainly multiplexed
voice and private line services (such as DS-1 and DS-3). Today’s metro market is under pressure
to handle the rapidly growing capacity demands and increasingly varying traffic patterns. The
increase in long-haul DWDM capacity coupled with the rise of (access) IP bandwidth demand
has placed a focus on the metro network to provide additional capacity.

This white paper tries to envision a metro network where technologies such as Multi Protocol
Label Switching (MPLS), Resilient Packet Ring, (RPR) and Automatically Switched Optical
Network (ASON) would work together and remove bottlenecks and streamline network efficiency.
The paper begins with a brief description of a typical current metro network, the technologies
used and typical metro provider requirements. A brief description of the newer technologies that
are being considered follows along with their individual advantages; a unified network where all
these technologies co-exist & work in unison and the inherent advantages and disadvantages
of such a network.

Wipro Technologies
Innovative Solutions, Quality Leadership
WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 3

THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES .................................................................................. 4

MULTI-PROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING ................................................... 4

RESILIENT PACKET RINGS (RPR) ............................................................. 5

AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED OPTICAL NETWORKS (ASON) ................. 7

THE UNIFIED NETWORK ...................................................................................... 8

BENEFITS OF THE UNIFIED SOLUTION ............................................................ 10

COMPLEXITIES INVOLVED ................................................................................ 10

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 10

GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................... 11

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 12

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ...................................................................................... 12

ABOUT WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES ....................................................................... 12

WIPRO TELECOM AND INTERNETWORKING ................................................... 13

Table
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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

Introduction
Metropolitan Area Networks bridge the space between long haul and access networks,
interconnecting a full-range of client protocols from enterprise/private customers in access
networks to backbone service provider networks.

A typical metro network can be categorized as follows.

• A regional/metro core transport ring that is typically SONET/SDH based at bandwidth


rates from OC-12 to OC-48 with DWDM being starting to make an appearance. This ring
is used to connect the cities or large urban concentrations in a larger metropolitan area.
This is also called the metro backbone. The backbone typically connects to a long haul
network for interconnection between different MANs.

• A citywide aggregation network that feeds the metro backbone. This is typically a TDM or
a leased line network that runs at rates from T1 to DS-3. This is also called the metro
edge that indicates the interface between the metro and the access network. The access
network rates span a broad spectrum like T1, DS-3, 10 Mb/s Ethernet, OC-3 and OC-12
that the metro network grooms and uses in intra-metro as well as inter-metro connectivity.

The challenges that a metro network provides for service providers are

Service Breadth where the providers must be able to offer a variety of offerings like IP,
Frame Relay, Ethernet, ATM etc. with flexibility for new services without heavy additional cost.

Service Delivery where the network is optimized for changing access requirements with
easy and quick provisioning.

Service Awareness where requirements as Quality of Service, Class of Service, Protection


levels take higher precedence.

Scalability where the network capacity should be able to scale much higher than the capital
costs for upgrades.

Network Reliability where the capability of a SONET network must be maintained with
regard to protection and restoration.

Co-existence with existing infrastructure to carry voice as well as data traffic as well as
interfacing with existing infrastructure.

Topological flexibility where the equipment must be able to support different physical
topologies thereby supporting flexible application traffic flows.

Reduction in operational and network costs since the metro network is driven by central
office access and transmission equipment costs. Newer equipment must offer increased
functionality and performance without proportional cost increase.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

The New Technologies


Multi-Protocol Label Switching

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) was developed as a packet-based technology and is


rapidly becoming the key for use in core networks, including converged data and voice
networks. MPLS does not replace IP routing, but works alongside existing and future routing
technologies to provide very high-speed data forwarding between Label-Switched Routers
(LSRs) together with reservation of bandwidth for traffic flows with differing Quality of Service
(QoS) requirements. MPLS uses a technique known as label switching to forward data
through the network. A small, fixed-format label is inserted in front of each data packet on
entry into the MPLS network. At each hop across the network, the packet is routed based on
the value of the incoming interface and label, and dispatched to an outgoing interface with a
new label value.

The path that data follows through a network are defined by the transition in label values as
the label is swapped at each LSR. Since the mapping between labels is constant at each
LSR, the complete path is determined by the initial label value. Such a path is called a Label
Switched Path (LSP). A set of packets that should be labeled with the same label value on
entry to the MPLS network, and that will therefore follow the same LSP, is known as a
Forwarding Equivalence Class (FEC).

LSR D
IP

Host Z
IP IP 21 IP 47

Host X
LSR A LSR B
IP IP 17 IP 11

IP

Host Y
LSR C

Figure 1: A MPLS Network in action

The figure shows how data flows from host X to Y, and to Z. Two LSPs are shown.

LSR A is the ingress point into the MPLS network for data from host X. When it receives
packets from X, LSR A determines the FEC for each packet, deduces the LSP to use and
adds a label to the packet. LSR A then forwards the packet on the appropriate interface for
the LSP.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

LSR B is an intermediate LSR in the MPLS network. It simply takes each labeled packet and
uses the pairing {incoming interface, label value} to decide the pairing {outgoing interface,
label value} with which to forward the packet. This procedure can use a simple lookup table
and can be performed in hardware, along with the swapping of label value and forwarding
of the packet. In the example, each packet with label value 21 will be dispatched out of the
interface towards LSR D, bearing label value 47. Packets with label value 17 will be re-
labeled with value 11 and sent towards LSR C.

LSR C and LSR D act as egress LSRs from the MPLS network. These LSRs perform the
same lookup as the intermediate LSRs, but the {outgoing interface, label value} pair marks
the packet as exiting the LSP. The egress LSRs strip the labels from the packets and
forward them using Layer 3 routing.

An LSP can be established that crosses multiple Layer 2 transports such as ATM, Frame
Relay or Ethernet. Thus, one of the true promises of MPLS is the ability to create end-to-end
circuits, with specific performance characteristics, across any type of transport medium,
eliminating the need for overlay networks or Layer 2 only control mechanisms.

The exact format of a label and how it is added to the packet depends on the Layer 2 link
technology used in the MPLS network. For example, a label could correspond to an ATM VPI/
VCI, a Frame Relay DLCI. For other Layer 2 types (such as Ethernet and PPP) the label is
added to the data packet as a MPLS shim header, which is placed between the Layer 2 and
Layer 3 headers.

In a similar way, a label could correspond to a fiber, a DWDM wavelength, or a TDM timeslot.
A generalized label has been proposed for extending this concept into optical networks to
encompass TDM, wavelength switching (lambdas) and spatial switching (at a fiber level)
and is called Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)

The benefits offered by a MPLS based network are as follows.

• Simplified and fast forwarding


• Separation of routing and forwarding in IP networks
- facilitates evolution of routing techniques by fixing the forwarding method
- new routing functionality can be deployed without changing the forwarding
techniques of every router in the Internet
• Traffic engineering
- Constraint-based routing
• Virtual private networks
- Controllable tunneling mechanism

Resilient Packet Rings (RPR)


Metropolitan and WAN networks are widely deployed on an optical ring network. These rings
use protocols that are neither optimized nor scalable to the demands of packet networks
that include speed of deployment, bandwidth allocation and throughput, resiliency to faults
and reduced equipment and operational costs. RPR provides advantage over those protocols
by removing the shortcomings of those protocols.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

RPR is a Media Access Control protocol providing a scalable LAN/MAN/WAN architecture


with a shared access method, spatial re-use, resiliency through fault protection, scalability
across a large number of stations and dynamic topology learning. It also provides media
independent service interface from MAC to PHY layer. RPR uses a bi-directional ring. This
can be seen as two symmetric counter-rotating rings.

A node on a ring needs to do three packet handling operations, viz. adding a packet into the
ring, forwarding a packet and taking a packet off the ring. This reduces the amount of work
that individual nodes have to do compared to a mesh network where each node has a lot of
decisions to make before forwarding. In addition, the assumption of a ring topology allows
better resiliency, multicasting, and bandwidth sharing as compared with a broadcast media
as Ethernet. RPR technology is the key for integration of legacy and Ethernet technologies
as they interact with existing SONET or DWDM transport deployments.

A brief description of the parameters associated with a RPR follows.

Fairness
RPR uses a fairness algorithm to regulate the bandwidth usage by each node by ensuring
fair usage of the ring bandwidth thereby maximizing ring utilization. If congestion is
experienced in a node, congestion intimation will be sent to the upstream node so that node
may throttle its rate of packet transmission. This is an easy method of preventing neighboring
nodes from acting as ‘bandwidth hogs’.

Resiliency
RPR, through Intelligent Protection Switching recovers fully from any disturbance like fiber
cut within 50ms of its occurrence by wrapping data packets away from the failed span. The
wrapped data can reach the destination by going around the ring in opposite direction. The
following figure shows a typical ring protection in action. Topology discovery will discover the
new topology as soon as a wrap happens so that new optimal path for all nodes in the ring
will be learnt.

Fiber Cut

Wrapped Wrapped

Outer Ring

Packet Ring

Inner Ring

Figure 2: RPR protection illustrated

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

RPR will
• Support a minimum data rate of 155Mb/s, scalable to higher speeds
• Support dual counter rotating ring over fiber optic
• Efficient use of bandwidth by the use of spatial reuse and minimal protocol overhead
• Support for three traffic classes
• Scalability across a large number of stations attached to a ring
• “Plug and play” design without a software based station management transfer
(SMT) protocol or ring master negotiation as seen in other ring based MAC protocols
• Fairness among nodes using the ring (Each station can be assigned a proportion
of the ring bandwidth).
• Support for ring based redundancy (error detection, ring wrap etc.)
• Provide media independent service interface from MAC to PHY layer

Automatically Switched Optical Networks (ASON)


The existing transport networks that provide SONET/SDH and WDM services have
connections that are provisioned via network management protocols. This process is both
slow (takes weeks to months) and proves costly to the network providers. The growing trend
of data traffic is also posing challenges not only in terms of volumes but also related to the
burst and asymmetrical nature of such traffic. The emergence of enterprise networking and
end-user applications causes abrupt fall and rise in bandwidth demand. The transport
networks should fulfill new emerging requirements such as fast and automatic end-to-end
provisioning, optical re-routing and restoration, support of multiple clients, deployment of
Optical Virtual Private Networks (OVPN) and interworking of IP-based and Optical Transport
Networks. An Automatically Switched Optical Network meets these given requirements.

• Quick and dynamic end-to-end connection management to create end-to-end


connections of different connection types and granularity, delete connections, modify
connections and status enquiry of connections
Neighbor discovery to provide automatic discovery of the physical interfaces and
properties of directly connected routers or cross-connects and service discovery to
provide automatic discovery of the services available over a UNI
• Different path computation mechanisms based on service classes with the information
from neighbor discovery and service discovery
• Path restoration mechanisms in case of link failures with localization of faults and
application of different restoration mechanisms
• Client-driven provisioning functionality for addition/deletion of bandwidth. Upon request,
automatic provisioning is done without manual intervention

The optical transport network (OTN) needs to provide a User-to-Network Interface (UNI) that
allows client network devices to request connections across it dynamically. An ASON may
be typically realized using a GMPLS based control plane for signaling.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

The ASON control plane defines a set of interfaces:


• User-Network Interface (UNI): UNI runs between the optical client and the network
• Internal Node-to-Node Interface (I-NNI): I-NNI defines the interface between the signaling
network elements
• External Node-to-Node Interface (E-NNI): E-NNI defines the interface between ASON
control planes in different administrative domains

Signaling and routing within the


optical network (could be GMPLS)

Optical Network
Optical
Subnet

NNI

UNI NNI

Optical
Optical Path Subnet
Optical
Subnet UNI

End-to-end path (LSP)

UNI - User to Network Interface


UNI - Network to Network Interface

Figure 3: An architecture diagram of an ASON

The Unified Network


Metro networks are currently predominantly SONET based rings with mesh networks also
making appearance because of their advantages. For quite some time these two different
network architectures will co-exist as they both have advantages and disadvantages.

The figure below shows how various technologies that are being discussed will work
together to achieve a unified solution for the Metro Networks. This network uses existing
optical infrastructure that was primarily designed for voice traffic (SONET) and enhances
the same for carrying data. It also assumes a mesh-based architecture for the core, which
probably would be the architecture of the future considering a proliferation of DWDM into the
metro area.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

UNI
RRR DWDM

LONG
HAI II

MPLS Core
TDM router

UNI

MPLS
RRR GMPLS

UNI GMPLS GMPLS RRR


GMPLS

LONG HAUL
NETWORK UNI
ADJACENT
SONET Inter metro METROPOLITAN
NETWORK Connectivity AREA
MPLS
RRR

RRR enabled router GMPL enabled OXC / Client device - Router


SONET node

Enterprise Network RRR based ring through


the network

Figure 4: The unified future network

The optical transport network is ASON enabled using GMPLS. This optical network will
provide dynamic and fast provisioning of connections as and when requested. An RPR can
be configured over this transport network as shown in the figure. A virtual ring is formed from
a setup of LSPs through the network connecting the RPR nodes. The RPR nodes get input
from the MPLS enabled routers connected to the enterprise network. RPR will enhance the
bandwidth utilization and provides effective protection to deal with any failure or faults occurring
in the RPR ring. The route through which the RPR traffic is transported over the transport
network will be transparent to the RPR nodes. An edge node of a TDM network element
connected to the transport network as in the figure can request for bandwidth from the core
optical network dynamically when configured as a UNI client. The GMPLS enabled optical
network creates an LSP from the source node to the destination for the requested bandwidth
and appropriate QoS.

A typical example of the use of UNI is for connecting a network data center and an enterprise.
The enterprise may configure to backup the data at pre-determined intervals and the
enterprise router which is UNI enabled can request the transport network for additional
bandwidth to the associated router in the data center for transfer of information. When the
transfer is complete, the enterprise router may request a deletion of the connection thereby
releasing network bandwidth that may otherwise not be used until the next transfer. This is
an example of a typical bandwidth-on-demand service that can be realized by using this
network.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

Benefits of the Unified Solution


• Better utilization of the bandwidth in the network
• Faster and dynamic connection provisioning because of less manual intervention
• Rapid fault restoration based on different classes of service and priorities
• Scalability: The network can be re-organized based on client needs
• Coexistence with already existing legacy infrastructure
• Reduction in the operational cost

Complexities Involved
• Network management will be complex due to the different technologies, their associated
architectures and existence of the multiple level control plane
• RPR doesn’t lend itself to traffic engineering well as it always takes the shortest path
available from source to destination irrespective of the traffic load

Conclusion
The paper is an attempt to project a typical metro network into the future when all the
technologies which are under various stages of development come into play. MPLS is already
established in the network and RPR and ASON are expected to be in the network in a short
span of time. Integration of DWDM in the metro will provide more value to the provider in
terms of increased network utilization for a relatively lower establishment cost.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

Glossary
ADM Add Drop Multiplexer, a device that adds and drops digital/optical signals
in a typical ring based network.

ASON Automatically Switched Optical Network.

DS-3 Digital Signal Level 3 (44.7 Mbps, data rate, 672 voice channels).

DWDM Dense WDM, technology that puts data from different sources together on
an optical fiber, with each signal carried at the same time on its own
separate light wavelength.

E-NNI External NNI, interface between two networking subnetwork domains.

GMPLS Generic Multi-Protocol Label Switching.

I-NNI Internal NNI interfaces between networking elements in the same sub
network domain.

LDP Label Distribution Protocol, a protocol to distribute label information


between MPLS peer routers

MAC Media Access Control is a data link sub-layer which is different for each
physical device and controls access to the device.

MAN Metropolitan Area Networks.

MON Metropolitan Optical Network.

MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching is a technology for speeding up network


traffic flow by switching at Layer 2 rather than looking up and routing at
Layer 3 of the OSI stack.

NNI Network-Network Interface

OC-3/OC-48 Optical Carrier 3/48 (155 Mbps/2.48 Gbps). An optical signal rate typically
used in metros.

OTN Optical Transport Network.

RPR Resilient Packet Ring.

SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, International standard technology for


synchronous data transmission on optical media.

SMT Station Management Transfer.

SONET Synchronous Optical Network, a North American based technology for


synchronous data transmission on optical media.

TDM Time Division Multiplexing, a scheme in which numerous signals are


combined for transmission on a single communications line.

UNI User Network Interface, the interface between a client device and the
network device.

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WHITE PAPER MPLS, RPR and ASON in the Metro - A Unified Future

References
1) ‘How Ethernet, RPR, and MPLS work together: The Unified Future of Metro Networking’
By Tim Wu, Riverstone Networks
2) ‘RFC 2892 - The Cisco SRP (Spatial Reuse Protocol) MAC Layer Protocol)’
3) ‘MPLS in Optical Networks : An analysis of the features of MPLS and GMPLS and their
application to Optical Networks ,with Reference to the Link Management Protocol and
Optical UNI” by Neil Jerram and Adrian Farrel, Data Connection’
4) ‘Metropolitan Optical Networks: Overview and Requirements’ by Sorrento Networks.

About the Authors


Gayathri Manoj, Kandasamy Varadharaj, Shri Krishan and RamNarayan S are design
engineers at Wipro Technologies and they work with various technologies across different
domains ranging from voice switching, routers, network management and optical ADMs.

About Wipro Technologies


Wipro is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMMi Level 5 certified IT Services Company globally.
Wipro provides comprehensive IT solutions and services (including systems integration, IS
outsourcing, package implementation, software application development and maintenance)
and Research & Development services (hardware and software design, development and
implementation) to corporations globally.

Wipro’s unique value proposition is further delivered through our pioneering Offshore
Outsourcing Model and stringent Quality Processes of SEI and Six Sigma.

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