Label switching using the IPv6 address hierarchy

Current label switching protocols can use routing, address, and address hierarchy information to group flows for cut-throughs that bypass IP forwarding. This paper examines a label switching solution that uses the IP version 6 (IPv6) address structure to classify and cut-through flows based on address hierarchy. The performance of this approach is examined using actual backbone traffic traces with associated hierarchical address information obtained from Internet address registries, routing arbiter databases and route servers. This hierarchical address information is used to map a hierarchical address structure over the packet level trace. We investigate the relationship between aggregation bit-mask size versus label switching performance. We show that aggregation greater than IPv6 destination site address does not significantly improve performance. Our trace driven simulation studies show that it is possible to reduce the network layer packet forwarding requirements to below 0.15% of total packets at boundary routers within the core network by using IPv6 address hierarchy linked label switching