Patent ID: 7461165

Claim:
Communications network apparatus comprising: a non-label switched user network including a first terminal device; a multiprotocol label switching network including a second communications device having label switching logic; and a gateway connected between the user network and the multiprotocol label switching network by only a single label switched path, the gateway including a plurality of user interfaces for coupling the gateway to appliances in the user network; only one multiprotocol label switching interface for coupling the gateway to the multiprotocol label switching network via the single label switched path; and multiprotocol label logic including label edge logic but excluding label switching logic because only a single label switching interface and single label switched path are available, the multiprotocol label logic operably coupled between the user interface and the multiprotocol label switching interface for routing information between the user interface and the multiprotocol label switching interface, the label edge logic being operative to receive data from the first terminal device via the user interface, associate a label with the data, and transmit the labeled data via the label switching interface to the second communications device over a pre-established label switched path, the second communications device being operative to direct the data based on the label.