Patent ID: 7643409

Claim:
A computer network comprising: an Internet Protocol/Multi-protocol label switching (IP/MPLS) core network having a full mesh of pseudowires (PWs); first and second Ethernet access domain networks connected to the IP/MPLS core network, each of Ethernet access domain networks including: a user-facing provider edge (u-PE) device, the u-PE device running a spanning-tree protocol (STP) algorithm; a primary network-facing provider edge (n-PE) device; a redundant n-PE device, the u-PE device being coupled with the n-PE device and the redundant n-PE device, the primary and redundant n-PE devices not running the STP algorithm; a primary data path for data packet traffic including a primary pseudowire (PW) connected across the IP/MPLS core network between the primary n-PE devices of the first and second Ethernet access domain networks, the primary PW being included in the full mesh, the primary data path being flooded and learned; and first and second redundant data paths that include first and second redundant Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS) PWs, respectively, connected across the IP/MPLS core network, the first and second redundant EoMPLS PWs being flooded and not learned, replicated Ethernet frames crossing the first and second redundant data paths being blocked by the STP algorithm at an opposite end of either the first and second Ethernet access domain networks when the primary data path is available, the STP algorithm unblocking either the first redundant data path or the second redundant data path in response to a failure of the primary data path, the failure occurring in either the first Ethernet access domain network or the second Ethernet access domain network.