Análise comparativa entre os protocolos MPLS e Segment Routing: aplicações de engenharia de tráfego em núcleos de redes de telecomunicações

Abstract

This work aims to develop a study on methods and applications of Traffic Engineering, using the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Segment Routing (SR) protocols. To this end, three case studies are addressed, with architectures as similar as possible, aiming to demonstrate the main characteristics of these protocols, as well as to discuss their differences in order to propose the best solution for communication network scenarios. In this context, virtualization tools were employed to build the network architectures, implementing services commonly offered by the industry. Thus, implementations of data traffic manipulation using the MPLS protocol are presented, which relies on two auxiliary protocols: the Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) and the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). Furthermore, it is necessary to define explicit paths within the topology, making it evident that MPLS is a technology that requires high signaling data rates and has a complex implementation for large-scale networks. Therefore, it is shown that SR is a more suitable technology for label-switching-based networks, as it is a protocol enabled through extensions of the existing routing protocol, which results in a lower amount of signaling data. Additionally, SR offers greater scalability by enabling policy-based traffic redirection.