Patent ID: 8755277

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving at a network device in a core network, information on layer 2 topologies and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) sets, said layer 2 topology comprising nodes and metrics for links connecting the nodes, said VLAN set comprising a group of VLANs configured to use similar services in the core network; mapping said VLAN sets to said layer 2 topologies to provide differentiated services in said layer 2 topologies; defining multiple paths for each of said layer 2 topologies to provide multipath services on each of said layer 2 topologies, said multiple paths comprising Equal Cost Multipaths (ECMPs) for unicast frames and multicast graphs for multicast frames; and forwarding a packet received at the network device on one of said multiple paths defined for said layer 2 topology mapped to said VLAN set associated with the packet.