Label switched path (LSP) protection across multiple domains of a segment routing (SR) network

A controller comprising:

• a processing device;
• and
• a memory device configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the processing device to
• create a traffic policy that defines a Label Switched Path (LSP) configured to route data traffic in a unitary direction in a data plane of a telecommunications network including a plurality of network domains, the LSP configured to route the data traffic from a source router of an initial network domain to a destination router of a final network domain, wherein the initial network domain and the final network domain are controlled by different controllers,
• create a protection policy that defines one or more backup protection paths for routing the data traffic around one or more faulty nodes or links in a Segment Routing (SR) architecture of the telecommunications network, and
• distribute the traffic policy and protection policy in the telecommunications network via the Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP), wherein the protection policy is described in an additional flag in a Label Switched Path Association (LSPA) object that is communicated between the different controllers.

A method comprising the steps of:

• creating a traffic policy that defines a Label Switched Path (LSP) configured to route data traffic in a unitary direction in a data plane of a telecommunications network, the LSP configured to route the data traffic from a source router of an initial network domain to a destination router of a final network domain, wherein the initial network domain and the final network domain are controlled by different controllers;
• creating a protection policy that defines one or more backup protection paths for routing the data traffic around one or more faulty nodes or links in a Segment Routing (SR) architecture of the telecommunications network;
• and
• distributing the traffic policy and protection policy in the telecommunications network via the Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP), wherein the protection policy is described in an additional flag in a Label Switched Path Association (LSPA) object that is communicated between the different controllers.