Patent ID: 8422364

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving at a router, a multicast label distribution protocol message comprising local node information for a protected node and one or more leaf nodes downstream of the protected node in a primary label switched path, said multicast label distribution protocol message comprising a forwarding equivalence class, a local label, and a path vector comprising a node identifier, a local label, and a time-to-live value for each node in a path to said one or more leaf nodes and said leaf node, wherein said time-to-live value for said leaf node is reduced by one at each of the nodes so that node protection information from said leaf node is removed from the path vector at the router if the router is a point of local repair; creating one or more backup label switched paths to said one or more leaf nodes, wherein said one or more backup label switched paths do not pass through the protected node; detecting a failure at the protected node; and forwarding at the router, traffic for said one or more leaf nodes to said one or more backup label switched paths.