The Reasons for Selecting a Single Solution for MPLS Transport Profile Operations, Administration, and Maintenance

Abstract

The MPLS Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) is a profile of the MPLS technology for use in transport network deployments. The work on MPLS-TP has extended the MPLS technology with additional architectural elements and functions that can be used in any MPLS deployment. MPLS-TP is a set of functions and features selected from the extended MPLS toolset and applied in a consistent way to meet the needs and requirements of operators of packet transport networks.

During the process of development of the profile, additions to the MPLS toolset have been made to ensure that the tools available met the requirements. These additions were motivated by MPLS-TP, but form part of the wider MPLS toolset such that any of them could be used in any MPLS deployment.

One major set of additions provides enhanced support for Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM). This enables fault management and performance monitoring to the level needed in a transport network. Many solutions and protocol extensions have been proposed to address the requirements for MPLS-TP OAM, and this document sets out the reasons for selecting a single, coherent set of solutions for standardization. This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes.

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

What “Informational” means

Published for the general information of the community. It does not define an IETF standard and carries no standards-track status.