Method and apparatus for performing multicast traces in MPLS networks

• Main Authors: Jain Pradeep G, Singh Kanwar, Venkataraman Srikrishnan
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.03.2017
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHICCOMMUNICATION

A multicast path trace capability is provided for tracing a multicast path from a root node to a leaf node where the trace originates at the leaf node. The leaf node sends a multicast trace request to the root node. The root node receives the multicast trace request and initiates a path trace request for collecting path information associated with the multicast path. The root node receives at least one path trace response, in response to the path trace request, which includes path information associated with the multicast path. The root node sends a multicast trace response, including the collected path information, to the leaf node. The leaf node receives the multicast trace response including the path information. The leaf node derives end-to-end path information for the multicast path using the path information received in the multicast trace response. The multicast path trace capability may be used for tracing an MPLS multicast path (e.g., a P2MP LSP) from a root node to a leaf node of the MPLS multicast tree. The multicast path trace capability may be used for tracing multicast paths in other types of multicast networks.