On distributed and centralised multicast path calculation in multi protocol label switched networks

Abstract

Point to multi-point (P2MP) multicast paths in multi protocol label switched (MPLS) networks can be calculated by using whether centralised or distributed algorithms. Although centralised algorithms are very useful in optimising network resources and in deploying traffic engineering features (e.g. bandwidth reservation and fast reroute), they generally cause a heavy burden on the CPU and memory of network nodes. On the other hand, distributed algorithms are simpler and they do not impact the network nodes' performance (i.e. CPU, memory) at the expense of the absence of guarantee on the network performance (i.e. resource optimisation and traffic engineering deployment). The paper attempts to discover the performance of hybrid solutions based on extending distributed algorithms in order to achieve better network performance with a small impact on the nodes' performance. Two hybrid solutions are presented and valuable comparisons with the existing algorithms are performed. This contribution helps in deciding when and how to use each algorithm.