CPC H04L 45/04 (2013.01) [H04L 12/4633 (2013.01); H04L 45/24 (2013.01); H04L 45/42 (2013.01); H04L 45/50 (2013.01); H04L 45/748 (2013.01)] | 10 Claims |
1. A method for routing communication traffic along a path in a communication network, being an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) shortcut, wherein the method comprising:
(a) providing an IGP shortcut prefix to a routing entity;
(b) storing the IGP shortcut prefix in a Routing Information Base (RIB) of the routing entity;
(c) associating a new flag with a Label-Switched Path (LSP) that is associated with the IGP shortcut prefix, wherein that newly added flag is adapted to indicate whether said LSP is configured to enable conveying the communication traffic towards its destination when implementing Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) connectivity in the communication network;
(d) storing information that relates to the new flag at the RIB of the routing entity;
(e) identifying one or more of said LSPs associated with respective IGP shortcut prefixes, which qualify as candidates to convey the communication traffic towards the communication traffic destination, wherein the one or more qualified LSPs are each associated with a flag indicating that the respective one or more qualified LSPs are MPLS reachable;
(f) selecting an LSP suitable for serving as a next hop routing path for conveying the communication traffic, wherein the selection is made from among qualified LSPs; and
(g) forwarding the communication traffic towards its designation along the selected path.
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