Monday, November 14, 2005

Ethernet over MPLS specification

The MFA Forum announced today it is sending to final ballot a specification for Multi-Service Interworking-Ethernet over MPLS. The specification will enable service providers to introduce new Ethernet services in a heterogeneous network of ATM, Frame Relay, HDLC and PPP using MPLS as a communication broker. In addition, the specification will allow service providers to preserve critical ATM and Frame Relay infrastructure and ease migration to MPLS networks. Read more news by clicking on the title link.

2 comments:

John Jackson said...

I'm glad to see progress being made, but I wonder have we forgoten about the payload? I mean, if we have IP over Ethernet over MPLS over ATM over Sonnet, are we starting to run out of room for the payload, the reason for the packet anyway? Or is bandwidth and cpu cycles getting so cheap that we can afford fragmented payloads and High header to payload ratio's?

Just some thoughts

Amitabha said...

An excellent thought. Definitely the payload overhead increases as we move towards these "tunnelling" technologies. I guess, Ethernet over MPLS is more driven by the growing ubiquity of Ethernet, and the fact that everyone wishes to provide end-to-end Ethernet solutions.