Connection-oriented Ethernet - T-MPLS (Transport MPLS)

T-MPLS (Transport MPLS)

T-MPLS, as its name implies, is a derivative of MPLS that renounces all MPLS signaling features and, like PBT, uses a centralized control-plane to perform routing and traffic engineering. T-MPLS is currently being standardized only at ITU-T and enjoys strong vendor support but little carrier support.

As a native MPLS derivative, T-MPLS can be easily implemented over existing MPLS routers. However, T-MPLS has been stripped of the characteristics which originally made it attractive to carriers—control-plane automation, signaling, and QoS—and therefore has yet to prove its benefits for the transport network. T-MPLS OAM, defined in ITU Y.1711, is different from MPLS OAM and lacks powerful management tools that carriers typically expect.