MPLS Network Requirements and Design for Carriers: Wireline and Wireless Case Studies

MPLS (multi-protocol label switching) has become the choice of packet transport technology to meet multiple service requirements in the next generation network. More and more service providers, both wireline and wireless, are starting to deploy MPLS as the common packet backbone. In this paper, we examine the key requirements for multi-class MPLS network design and how these requirements can be modeled and achieved with various MPLS configuration and design options. We present two case studies: one for a wireline MPLS TE design and another for a mobile greenfield MPLS design and SLA analysis. In these case studies, we analyze alternative design scenarios based on QoS and protection options, and consequent performance in terms of network efficiency, end-to-end delay/jitter, time of convergence, and service availability