Patent ID: 8867363

Claim:
A packet switching device, comprising: a plurality of interfaces configured to send and receive packets; memory; and one or more processing elements; wherein the packet switching device is configured to: perform a lookup operation, based on a particular per-CE label (per-Customer Edge label) included in a particular packet, in a forwarding data structure to identify forwarding information for the particular packet; wherein said forwarding information includes an output interface when a particular link corresponding to the particular per-CE label is available; and wherein said forwarding information includes an identification to perform a per-VRF (per-Virtual Routing and Forwarding) lookup operation in a VRF data structure identified based on the particular per-CE label when the particular link is not available; perform the per-VRF lookup operation, based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address of an IP packet encapsulated in the particular packet, to identify particular forwarding information in response to said forwarding information including an identification to perform the per-VRF lookup operation; and send an outgoing packet, corresponding to the particular packet, from the packet switching device based on said forwarding information or said particular forwarding information.