Patent ID: 7283529

Claim:
A method for transmitting a data packet from a first site to a second site over a shared Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) network, the shared MPLS network comprising a plurality of routers, the plurality of routers including an ingress router in communication with the first site and an egress router in communication with the second site, the method comprising the steps of: (a) configuring a plurality of label switched paths between the ingress router and the egress router over a plurality of label switching devices; (b) upon receiving the data packet from the first site, performing a first lookup on at least one private virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) table stored in the ingress router, wherein the first lookup identifies one routing table from a plurality of routing tables stored in the ingress router, wherein each routing table is associated with one of the plurality of label switched paths; and (c) performing a second lookup on the one routing table, wherein the one routing table defines the associated label switched path between the ingress router and the egress router for a virtual private network (VPN) between the first site and the second site.