On the calculation of inter-domains point to multipoint paths in MPLS networks

Abstract

We propose a method to compute point to multipoint (P2MP) traffic engineered paths that cross several MPLS domains. It relies on the use of multiple path computation elements (PCEs), in the goal of calculating a P2MP tree along a given tree of domains by using a recursive path computation technique. Indeed, the calculation is started by the PCEs of the destination domains, i.e., those ones that are not connected to any domain downstream and it is continued upstream from PCE to PCE until reaching the P2MP tree source. The trade-off between the tree optimality and the number of paths to be calculated is hence highlighted and discussed by means of simulations.