Patent ID: 8837521

Claim:
A method for configuring two nodes in a Multiple Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) network to transport Ethernet packets, said method comprising: configuring, by a Network Management System (NMS) terminal, a connection between a first node and a second node in the MPLS network to support one or more non-disjoint label switched paths (LSPs) and configuring said two nodes to perform Ethernet to MPLS protocol encapsulation in addition to MPLS switching, which results in the first node and the second node being Ethernet-enabled nodes and the one or more non-disjoint LSPs to be Ethernet enabled links; upon receiving at either the first node or the second node an Ethernet packet from an external Ethernet network, adding a dedicated label which is determined based upon traffic service specified in the received Ethernet packet before the Ethernet packet is encapsulated within a MPLS packet thereby forming an encapsulated packet, and forwarding the encapsulated packet over the Ethernet enabled links; and upon receiving at either the first node or the second node a conventional MPLS packet which does not contain the dedicated label, forwarding said conventional MPLS packet over at least one LSP which is not an Ethernet enabled link.