Patent ID: 8761053

Claim:
A link state network comprising: a plurality of interconnected nodes; and a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) tree established amongst at least some of the interconnected nodes, wherein the MPLS tree is associated with an MPLS label, wherein the interconnected nodes are configured to deterministically forward a plurality of replicated link state update (LSU) packets comprising the MPLS label over the MPLS tree, wherein at least one of the interconnected nodes comprise an MPLS nodal control processor and a plurality of interfaces used to link other interconnected nodes, and wherein the MPLS nodal control processor is configured to: replicate a received LSU packet that comprises the MPLS label to produce one or more of the replicated LSU packets; and forward the replicated LSU packets via interfaces that correspond to the MPLS tree without forwarding the packets via interfaces that do not correspond to the MPLS tree.