Patent ID: 8483220

Claim:
A method, comprising: a network ingress processor parsing an Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) label stack of a received MPLS packet to determine if an existing MPLS label of the MPLS label stack of the received MPLS packet needs to be replaced with an Implicit Null label; the network ingress processor checking to determine if there is any other MPLS label in the MPLS label stack, wherein said checking is performed in response to the network ingress processor determining that replacement of the existing MPLS label of the existing MPLS label with the Implicit Null label is required; the network ingress processor providing the received MPLS packet with an internal header including a pre-configured Internet Protocol (IP) flow identifier and thereafter sending said packet to a network egress processor in response to the network ingress processor determining that there is no other MPLS label in the MPLS label stack.