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Note: The implementation of MPLS on Juniper Networks EX3200 and EX4200 Ethernet
Switches supports only single-label packets. However, MPLS on Juniper Networks EX8200
Ethernet Switches supports packets with as many as three labels.
Figure 1 shows the encoding of a single label. The encoding appears after data link layer headers, but before any
network layer header.
Figure 1: Label Encoding
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Reserved Labels
Labels range from 0 through 1,048,575. Labels 0 through 999,999 are for internal use.
Some of the reserved labels (in the range 0 through 15) have well-defined meanings. The following reserved
labels are used by the switches:
0, IPv4 Explicit Null labelThis value is valid only when it is the sole label entry (no label stacking). It indicates that the
label must be popped on receipt. Forwarding continues based on the IP version 4 (IPv4) packet.
1, Router Alert labelWhen a packet is received with a top label value of 1, it is delivered to the local software module for
processing.
2, IPv6 Explicit Null labelThis value is legal only when it is the sole label entry (no label stacking). It indicates that the
label must be popped on receipt.
3, Implicit Null labelThis label is used in the signaling protocol (RSVP) only to request label popping by the downstream
switch. It never actually appears in the encapsulation. Labels with a value of 3 must not be used in the data packet as real
labels. No payload type (IPv4 or IPv6) is implied with this label.
The push operation affixes a new label to the top of the IP packet. For IPv4 packets, the new label is the first label.
The time to live (TTL) field value in the packet header is derived from the IP packet header. The push operation
cannot be applied to a packet that already has an MPLS label.
The pop operation removes a label from the beginning of the packet. Once the label is removed, the TTL is copied
from the label into the IP packet header, and the underlying IP packet is forwarded as a native IP packet
The swap operation removes an existing MPLS label from an IP packet and replaces it with a new MPLS label,
based on the following:
Incoming interface
Label
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Figure 2 shows an IP packet without a label arriving on the customer edge interface (ge-0/0/1) of the ingress PE
switch. The ingress PE switch examines the packet and identifies that packets destination as the egress PE
switch. The ingress PE switch applies label 100 to the packet and sends the MPLS packet to its outgoing MPLS
core interface (ge-0/0/5). The MPLS packet is transmitted on the MPLS tunnel through the provider switch,
where it arrives at interface ge-0/0/5 with label 100. The provider switch swaps label 100 to label 200 and
forwards the MPLS packet through its core interface (ge-0/0/7) to the next hop on the tunnel, which is the
egress PE switch. The egress PE switch receives the MPLS packet through its core interface (ge-0/0/7), removes
the MPLS label, and sends the IP packet out of its customer edge interface (ge-0/0/1) to a destination that is
beyond the tunnel.
Figure 2: MPLS Label Swapping
Figure 2 shows the path of a packet as it passes in one direction from the ingress PE switch to the egress PE
switch. However, the MPLS configuration also allows traffic to travel in the reverse direction. Thus, each PE
switch operates as both an ingress switch and an egress switch.
Published: 2011-03-28
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