RFC 5586 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2009

MPLS Generic Associated Channel

Overview

RFC 5586, “MPLS Generic Associated Channel”, is a Proposed Standard document published in June 2009 by M. Bocci, M. Vigoureux, S. Bryant. It updates RFC 3032, RFC 4385, RFC 5085. It has since been updated by RFC 6423, RFC 7026, RFC 7214, RFC 7274. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This document generalizes the applicability of the pseudowire (PW) Associated Channel Header (ACH), enabling the realization of a control channel associated to MPLS Label Switched Paths (LSPs) and MPLS Sections in addition to MPLS pseudowires. In order to identify the presence of this Associated Channel Header in the label stack, this document also assigns one of the reserved MPLS label values to the Generic Associated Channel Label (GAL), to be used as a label based exception mechanism.

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Proposed Standard” means

An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 5586 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Relationships to other RFCs
This RFC updates
RFC 3032 RFC 4385 RFC 5085
Other RFCs from 2009

Who Is Online

In total there are 59 users online: 0 registered, 52 guests and 7 bots.

Most users ever online was 5,555 on 17 Jul 2026, 3:23 am.

Bots: AhrefsBot Applebot Baiduspider Other Bot Other Spider PetalBot SemrushBot

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 372