The basic principle is that each IP packet is identified according to the type of information it carries - a telephone conversation, a videoconferencing bridge or a rush e-mail message. Based on this, identification routers "know" which traffic has priority and regulate the traffic flow accordingly.
It may be possible to deploy MPLS across the entire fabric of the Internet because all Web traffic is routed. Setting up identification rules as well is just around the corner, since MPLS is about to become a standard. Once the standard is established, all devices running the protocol would know what each packet identification stands for.
Since MPLS is a labeling protocol, not a routing protocol like Border Gateway Protocol, it can work over any kind of data network. It could provide much needed end-to-end continuity for the Internet as it rides over networks that are modern or antiquated, slow or fast. But that scenario can only play out if network operators agree to include MPLS in their peering arrangements.
By engineering peering exchanges to support the labeling protocol, network operators could answer users' pleas for application-specific, dependable performance. Today, carriers peer their networks, or barter long-distance traffic, based on volume.
The introduction of MPLS suggests carriers would have to begin exchanging videoconferencing traffic for videoconferencing traffic, voice for voice or perhaps renegotiate deals based on which company is sending best-effort traffic and which is sending "premium" traffic.
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