Patent ID: 7158524

Claim:
A method of setting up a session from a first node, across a network that uses direct virtual path routing, to a second node, comprising: receiving at the first node a request to set up the session; identifying the second node as the destination of the session, based on the request; obtaining a first stack of labels that defines a first path from the first node across the network to the second node, and a second stack of labels that defines a second path from the second node across the network to the first node; selecting a first label identifier that identifies the session in a first direction from the first node to the second node; selecting a second label identifier that identifies the session in a second direction from the second node to the first node; and transmitting data from the first node to the second node using the first stack of labels and the first label identifier, and transmitting data from the second node to the first node using the second stack of labels and the second label identifier.