Patent ID: 8879385

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of a shared backup path computation in a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network, the shared backup path to be used upon a failure of at least one working path of the MPLS network, the method comprising the steps of: determining if a link from a first node of a path list in a MPLS network topology to a second node in the MPLS network topology is link shared as a backup link between the first node and a third node in the MPLS network topology; creating a cross-connecting label associated with an egress link if the egress link is a shared backup link; creating a sub-path maintenance element (SPME) label to be pushed onto a packet to be sent from the first node to the second node of the MPLS network to create the shared backup path, wherein the SPME label includes a business priority indication if the egress link is a shared backup link and indicates a path over the shared backup link, wherein the business priority indication is to be encoded in a traffic class (TC) field of the SPME label; and storing the shared backup path in a database of a router in the MPLS network.