Patent ID: 7990945

Claim:
A method for provisioning a label switched path between a first endpoint and a second endpoint, the first endpoint and the second endpoint executing a first set of MPLS functions, the method comprising: associating a first node with the first endpoint and a second node with the second endpoint based on an association rule relating to the first node being able to communicate using a full suite of MPLS functions and being closest to a physical location of the first endpoint, the second node able to communicate using the full suite of MPLS functions, wherein the full suite of MPLS functions comprises the first set of MPLS functions and a second set of MPLS functions not included in the first set of MPLS functions; provisioning, by the first node, a first MPLS path between the first node and the first endpoint; provisioning, by the first node, a second MPLS path between the first node and the second node; and provisioning, by the second node, a third MPLS path between the second node and the second endpoint, the third MPLS path being a different MPLS path from the first MPLS path.