Method and apparatus for updating multiple multiprotocol label switching (mpls) bidirectional forwarding detection (bfd) sessions

An egress network device for updating a plurality of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) sessions, wherein each one of the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions is established for a given Label Switched Path (LSP) between an ingress network device and the egress network device of an MPLS network, the egress network device comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• non-transitory computer readable medium that store instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the egress network device to:
• responsive to determining that an MPLS BFD session is in an up state, determine whether the MPLS BFD session is part of the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions, and
• responsive to determining that the MPLS BFD session is part of the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions, transmit towards the ingress network device a BFD control packet including an ingress group identifier that uniquely identifies the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions at the ingress network device, and wherein to transmit the BFD control packet causes an update of a set of two or more of MPLS BFD sessions from the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions identified based on the ingress group identifier.

An ingress network device for updating a plurality of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) sessions, wherein each one of the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions is established for a given Label Switched Path (LSP) between the ingress network device and an egress network device of an MPLS network, the ingress network device comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• non-transitory computer readable medium that store instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the egress network device to:
• receive a BFD control packet from the egress network device;
• and
• in response to determining that a state field of the BFD control packet has an UP value, and that a value of an ingress BFD session identifier field of the BFD control packet matches an ingress group identifier uniquely identifying the plurality of MPLS BFD sessions, update a set of two or more MPLS BFD sessions based on the ingress group identifier.