Establishing virtual network routes in a computer network

A computer-implemented method for routing data packets according to different virtual network (VN) routes, comprising:

• receiving, at an edge router of a provider network and from a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller, a first VN label and first routing information indicating a first VN route;
• receiving, at the edge router and from a customer network, a first data packet, wherein the first data packet includes a first meta data field, and the first meta data field indicates that the first data packet is associated with the first VN label;
• and
• routing the first data packet according to the first VN route.

A Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller, comprising:

• a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions;
• and
• one or more hardware processors in communication with the memory storage, wherein the one or more hardware processors execute the instructions to:
• receive, from a customer network, a first routing request, wherein the first routing request includes a destination address for a virtual network (VN) and a first Quality of Service (QoS) indicator associated with a first service of the VN;
• determine a first VN route in a provider network based on the first QoS indicator and the destination address;
• associate a first VN label with the first VN route;
• transmit, to the customer network, a first routing response, wherein the first routing response includes the first VN label;
• and
• transmit, from the SDN controller to an edge router of the provider network, the first VN label and first routing information indicating the first VN route.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions for processing a data packet in a communication network, that when executed by one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors of a router to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, at a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller and from a customer network, a first routing request, wherein the first routing request includes a destination address for a VN and a first Quality of Service (QoS) indicator associated with a first service of the VN;
• determining, by the SDN controller, a first VN route in a provider network based on the first QoS indicator and the destination address;
• associating, by the SDN controller, a first VN label with the first VN route;
• transmitting, from the SDN controller to the customer network, a first routing response, wherein the first routing response includes the first VN label;
• and
• transmitting, from the SDN controller to an edge router of the provider network, the first VN label and first routing information indicating the first VN route.