Method and system for supporting a dedicated label switched path for a virtual private network over a label switched communication network

A computer readable medium containing program instructions for transmitting a data packet from a first site to a second site over a shared Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) network, the shared MPLS network comprising a plurality of routers, the plurality of routers including an ingress router in communication with the first site and an egress router in communication with the second site, comprising the instructions for:

• (a) configuring a plurality of label switched paths between the ingress router and the egress router over a plurality of label switching devices;
• (b) upon receiving the data packet from the first site, performing a first lookup on at least one private virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) table stored in the ingress router, wherein the first lookup identifies one routing table from a plurality of routing tables stored in the ingress router, wherein each routing table is associated with one of the plurality of label switched paths;
• and
• (c) performing a second lookup on the one routing table, wherein the one routing table defines the associated label switched path between the ingress router and the egress router for a virtual private network (VPN) between the first site and the second site.

A system for transmitting data from a first site to a second site over a shared Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) network, comprising:

• a plurality of routers in communication with the shared MPLS network, the plurality of routers comprising an ingress router in communication with the first site and an egress router in communication with the second site;
• a plurality of label switching devices defining a plurality of label switched paths between the ingress router and the egress router;
• at least one virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) tables stored in the ingress router, wherein one of the at least one VRF tables is associated with the first site and identifies a virtual private network (VPN) between the first site and the second site;
• and
• a plurality of routing tables stored in the ingress router, wherein each of the routing tables is associated with one of the plurality of label switched paths between the ingress router and the egress router.