System and method for performing segment routing over an MPLS network

A method for controlling packet routing, comprising:

• receiving a packet at a switch of a data network;
• accessing first routing information from the packet;
• modifying the packet to include second routing information;
• and
• transmitting the packet from the switch based on the first routing information,
• wherein the packet includes a first multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) label field from which the first routing information is accessed, the first routing information including a first segment identification (ID) and at least a second segment ID, and wherein modifying the packet includes replacing the first routing information with the second routing information by replacing the first segment ID with one or more predetermined values in the first MPLS label field, the second routing information omitting the first segment ID and including at least the second segment ID, and the packet transmitted from the switch is based on the first segment ID.

A system for controlling packet routing in a network, comprising:

• a memory configured to store computer instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to execute the computer instructions to:
• identify segment identifications (IDs) for a number of switches, and
• arrange a first number of the segment IDs into a first field of a packet, wherein the first field is a first multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) label field that is M bits in length, each of the segment IDs being represented by N bits in length and identifying an output port of a respective one of the number of switches located along a network path between a source node and a destination node, M is greater than a cumulative sum of respective Ns for the first quantity of segment IDs, and the processor is configured to pad the first MPLS label field with one or more predetermined values for bits unoccupied by the segment IDs.

A system for controlling packet routing in a network, comprising:

• a memory configured to store computer instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to execute the computer instructions to:
• identify segment identifications (IDs) for a number of switches, and
• arrange a first number of the segment IDs into a first field of a packet, wherein the first field is a first multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) label field that is M bits in length, each of the segment IDs being represented by N bits in length and identifying an output port of a respective one of the number of switches located along a network path between a source node and a destination node, M is greater than a cumulative sum of respective Ns for the first quantity of segment IDs, the first MPLS field has a length of M bits, and each of the first number of segment IDs is compressed into N bits, where M≥3·N.