ITU Telecom World 2003 Special: Using MPLS to Seize the Ethernet Opportunity

October 14, 2003

By Jason Deign, News@Cisco

How do you get to Ethernet?

Businesses are interested in its potential because it provides flexible and symmetrical bandwidth which can be easily increased or decreased using software, without needing to deploy service vehicles and technicians in the field every time, and which makes deploying advanced services such as voice, video and storage over IP more effective.

And by using the same technology as enterprises are already using today to build a converged infrastructure, service providers can develop these services in their own network and provide them as network-based managed services to customers.

Ethernet is the most widely-deployed networking technology that network managers in businesses are familiar with. And as most of the services offered are very similar for business, government and residential customers, it has sparked a trend of utility companies working with municipalities and service providers around Europe to develop Ethernet-to-the-Home and Ethernet-to-the-Business models.

This is encouraging many service providers to consider preparing their networks to offer business customers high-bandwidth Ethernet services, either using fiber to provide Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet, or over existing copper assets using technologies such as Cisco Long Reach Ethernet.

More than just a new broadband access alternative, Metro Ethernet provides a new paradigm of prioritizing and processing packet data as soon as it leaves the customer's premises, so that traffic can be handled and switched locally.

This local processing enhances the way that peer-to-peer traffic can be supported and means that packet classification, security and Quality of Service (QoS) can be applied in the customer's basement, turning traditionally dumb access equipment into revenue-generating devices.

In taking advantage of this opportunity, however, service providers do not want to throw away the infrastructure they already have - and which their customers have invested in - so they need an evolutionary approach.

This migration path looks set to be a critical question for many service providers at ITU Telecom World being held from October 12-18 in Geneva, Switzerland.

During an invitation-only press event at ITU Telecom World, Cisco Systems® will discuss an evolution path that allows service providers to roll out Ethernet services without scrapping ATM and Frame Relay infrastructure.

And one of the keys to smoothing the transition lies in Multiprotocol Label Switching, or MPLS.

It is sometimes said that MPLS combines the intelligence of routing with the power of switching. Routers require intelligence about a network to determine where to send data. Switches are simpler and faster because they only send data to the next place.

With MPLS, the route that data will take from point A to point B on the network is predetermined. MPLS encodes that information with a label that the network switches understand.

Because route planning occurs at the edges of a network, MPLS-labeled data can travel to its destination using less router horsepower. The labels also tell the network what sort of data is contained in a transmission, so the network can prioritize traffic based on QoS.

For example, the network can prioritize voice or video traffic—which requires more network bandwidth and is more adversely affected by latency or network delay—to route it more efficiently than routine, low-bandwidth e-mail or data traffic.

Furthermore, having an MPLS backbone can allow service providers to incorporate Layer 2 (data link) and Layer 3 (network) services over a common infrastructure.

Simultaneous with this advantage is the fact that MPLS can be implemented on top of existing Layer 2 or Layer 3 networks. There is no need to build a separate network, as MPLS and ATM can run at the same time, even on the same physical port.

Because MPLS uses frames or cells, it can work in IP-over-ATM networks and IP-over-MPLS networks. MPLS is agnostic in its ability to accommodate protocols. Therefore, service providers can run IP-over-ATM networks and incrementally implement MPLS to their network.

Implementing MPLS is high on the agenda for many telecommunications service providers, which are adding it to their service offerings for enterprises. MPLS appeals to service providers because it lets them use a single network to handle a variety of services, rather than separate networks for each. Also, it allows service providers to supply customers with more applications and services via the provider's network infrastructure, thus reducing the hardware necessary at customer sites and delivering a wider variety of high-value services.

Clearly, MPLS is also a critical pre-requisite for any service provider wishing to build out a Metro Ethernet network and link it to an existing ATM or Frame Relay infrastructure, as it allows traffic to be carried seamlessly across the different network platforms.

Cisco is actively developing and promoting standards for MPLS and regularly submits MPLS technical documentation to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the standards body that governs Internet standards for MPLS.

Cisco is also publishing other technical documentation to build open standards for MPLS to facilitate such services as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The company has also developed Any Transport over MPLS (AToM), a powerful technology that allows service providers to offer Layer 2 connectivity over MPLS networks, increasing revenue opportunities by eliminating many of the drawbacks of existing Layer 2 technologies.

Combining AToM with QoS and Traffic Engineering allows service providers to build value-added services such as virtual leased lines, transparent LAN, and inter-working on a single, common infrastructure.

The AToM product set accommodates many types of Layer 2 frames, including Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, PPP and HDLC, across various Cisco router platforms, such as the Cisco 12000 Series Routers and the Cisco 7600, 7500 and 7200 Routers.

More recently, Cisco announced enhancements to its industry-leading carrier IP/MPLS edge portfolio of products, giving service providers greater network efficiency and the ability to further evolve their service portfolio with increased revenue-generating services for broadband, wireless, private line and metro Ethernet.

New intelligent modules for the Cisco 12000 Series Routers help to significantly enhance their functionality at the network edge by integrating both core and edge functions onto one platform, delivering up to an 80 percent reduction in power and rack space use while decreasing operational costs for carriers.

These are just a sample of the innovations that Cisco is carrying out in the field. The process of MPLS technology research and design is ongoing.

Cisco will be updating the story with a number of major announcements at ITU Telecom World 2003 and News@Cisco will be reporting on the developments as they happen.

Press Event

Cisco will be tackling the issue of Ethernet migration at a special invitation-only press event on October 14, fronted by Cisco Vice President of Service Provider Marketing Sameer Padhye, head of EMEA VPN Services Consulting Jaak Defour and Raymond Battistella, the chief executive of Services Industriels de Genhve, which is deploying 10 Mbps Ethernet services to residential and business customers in Geneva over a fiber-to-the-home infrastructure. For more information on the press event and to register, journalists should contact Matt Cartmell at Band & Brown Communications cisco@bbpr.com, +44 20 7419 7000 or their local Cisco PR agency.

Jason Deign is a freelance writer based in Barcelona, Spain.