Fast reroute (frr) protection at the edge of a rfc 2547 network

A system comprising:

• a first edge device in a first routing domain;
• a second edge device in the first routing domain;
• a data link coupling the second edge device to a second routing domain;
• and
• a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Fast Reroute (FRR) backup path coupling the first edge device to the second edge device,
• wherein the second edge device is configured to receive a data packet from the first edge device via the MPLS FRR backup path, the data packet containing a destination address that is reachable via the second routing domain and an indication that the data packet is a protected packet that was previously rerouted from the first edge device,
• wherein the second edge device is further configured to determine if communication with the second routing domain is still available via the data link, and if so, remove the indication that the data packet is a protected packet and forward the data packet over the second data link to the second routing domain, and, if not, drop the data packet to prevent the data packet from being rerouted a second time in the first routing domain on another MPLS FRR backup path.

An edge device in a first routing domain, comprising:

• means for communicating with a second routing domain;
• means for receiving a data packet containing a destination address that is reachable via the second routing domain and an indication that the data packet is a protected packet that was previously rerouted from another edge device in the first routing domain via a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Fast Reroute (FRR) backup path;
• and
• means for determining if communication with the second routing domain is still available, and if so, forwarding the data packet over the means for communicating to the second routing domain, and, if not, dropping the data packet to prevent the data packet from being rerouted a second time in the first routing domain on another MPLS FRR backup path.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at an edge device in a first routing domain, a data packet containing a destination address that is reachable via a second routing domain and an indication that the data packet is a protected packet that was previously rerouted from another edge device in the first routing domain via a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Fast Reroute (FRR) backup path;
• and
• determining if communication with the second routing domain is still available, and
• if so, removing the indication that the data packet is a protected packet and forwarding the data packet to the second routing domain, and,
• if not, dropping the data packet to prevent the data packet from being rerouted a second time in the first routing domain on another MPLS FRR backup path.