Routing methods, systems, and computer program products for mapping a node-scope specific identifier

• US 10,212,076 B1
• Filed: 04/24/2018
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MORRIS ROUTING TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
• Original Assignee: Sitting Man LLC
• Inventors: Morris, Robert Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Jimmy H
• Application Number:
  US15/961,818
• Time in Patent Office: 301 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/126 minimising geographical or physical path length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/34 Source routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/50 using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/38 adapting due to varying relative distances between nodes

Abstract

One or more techniques are provided to: receive network path information for use in transmitting first data along a network path, and being received based on a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a first node, where the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, a particular node in the network path; determine a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a second node that identifies, for the second node, the particular node in the network path; map the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node; and transmit the first data from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one non-transitory memory configured to store instructions; and

one or more processors in communication with the at least one non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors is configured to execute the instructions to;

receive, by a current node and from a previous node each in a network path along which first data is transmitted from a transmitting node to a receiving node in a network, network path information that is based on a first policy and is in a header of a first packet that is specified according to a label switching forwarding paradigm, the network path information in the header of the first packet being for use by the current node in transmitting the first data along the network path from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network, where the network path information in the header of the first packet is received based on a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, a particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

determine, by the current node, a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a second node that identifies, for the second node, the particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

map the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node; and

transmit, based on the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, the first data from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the mapping is performed regardless as to whether the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical or not.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is identical to a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, thus creating a virtual scoped identifier space that includes an identical identifier that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, and the virtual scoped identifier space has a span within a region of the network that includes the first node and the second node, where the identical identifier in the virtual scoped identifier space is a region-scoped identifier that identifies the particular node to each of one or more nodes in the region.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that, in a region that includes the first node and the second node, the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is capable of being identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are capable of being identically set in a region that includes the particular node and the second node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured such that, in the event that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are configured to be identical, a region-scoped identifier space is realized, for the region that further includes the first node, that includes a region-scoped identifier that, in the event of the identical configuration, is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, where the region-scoped identifier identifies the particular node for one or more nodes in the region other than the first node and other than the second node.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node, where respective node-specific identifier spaces for the first node and the second node are implemented via respective tables stored in respective memories of the first node and the second node.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node share a same value as a region-scoped identifier of the particular node in a scoped identifier space of a region that includes the first node and the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the mapping results in the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, being replaced by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the mapping results in a modification of the network path information.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the mapping results in a modification of the network path information without changing the network path along which the first data is transmitted from the transmitting node to the receiving node.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that a first virtual identifier space for a first plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the first plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the first plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the node-specific identifier space for the each node in the first plurality matches the particular identifier in the node specific identifier space for every other node in the first plurality.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality with the particular node;

and the first virtual identifier space includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scoped identifier with a scope that spans within the first plurality, and that identifies the particular node within a span of the first virtual identifier space.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is configured such that a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, and the apparatus is configured to map the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality, the particular node is not included in the first plurality, the first virtual identifier space includes a scope specific identifier space that is specific to the first plurality, and the particular identifier takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that identifies the particular node for the first plurality.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein first plurality of nodes is in a first region of a network.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the current node is a border node of the first region.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the particular node is in a second region of the network, and the receiving node is not in the network.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the apparatus is configured such that a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, and the apparatus is configured to map the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the second plurality of nodes is in a second region of the network.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the transmitting node is not in the second region.

27. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that at least one of:

the mapping involves a metric space;

the mapping involves a mapping rule;

the mapping involves identifying based on an association;

the mapping involves identifying a particular identifier based on an association thereof with another identifier;

the mapping reduces a number of lookup tables that must be maintained;

the mapping reduces a number of records that must be maintained;

the mapping reduces a number of lookup tables that must be accessed;

the mapping reduces a number of records that must be accessed;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is included in the header of the first packet when the first packet is received by the current node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is included in the first packet when the first packet is received by the current node;

an identifier of each node-specific identifier space does not define a scope for the identifier;

each identifier space includes an address space;

each identifier includes an address;

each identifier of each node-specific identifier space does not define a scope thereof;

knowledge of only the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is insufficient to know a scope of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node;

knowledge of only the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is insufficient to know a scope of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

knowledge of the first node is required to know a scope of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node;

knowledge of the second node is required to know a scope of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node does not identify any node inside the first node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node does not identify any node inside the second node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node only identifies the particular node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node only identifies the particular node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies the particular node by identifying a certain node inside the particular node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node identifies the particular node by identifying a particular node inside the particular node;

each node-specific identifier space includes a network interface-specific identifier space;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, the particular node, by identifying the particular node itself;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, the particular node, by identifying at least one aspect of the particular node as it relates to at least one other node;

a loop-back internet address is associated with the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

a loop-back internet address is associated with the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, by virtue of the loop-back internet address and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, both being specific to the second node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, being included in the mapping as a result of a decision made by the current node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, being included in the mapping as a result of a decision made by another node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, being included in the mapping as a result of a decision made by the previous node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, being included in the mapping as a result of an inclusion thereof in the header by another node;

the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, being included in the mapping as a result of an inclusion thereof in the header by the previous node;

the network path includes a physical network path;

the network path includes a virtual network path;

the network path information is based on the first policy, by one or more identifiers of the network path information being selected based the first policy;

the network path information is based on the first policy, by one or more identifiers of the network path information being determined based the first policy;

the network path information is based on the first policy, by one or more identifiers of the network path information representing the first policy;

the network path information is based on the first policy, by one or more identifiers of the network path information constituting the first policy;

the first data is transmitted from the current node in another packet that is a copy of the first packet;

the first data is transmitted from the current node in another packet that is at least partially similar to the first packet;

the particular node identified by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is the same as the particular node identified by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

the particular node identified by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is different from the particular node identified by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

the mapping results in the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, being replaced by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

the mapping includes replacing the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, with the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node;

the mapping includes using the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, instead of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node;

the network path information in the header of the first packet is for use by the current node in transmitting the first data along only a portion of the network path from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network;

the network path information in the header of the first packet is for use by the current node in transmitting the first data along an entirety of the network path from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network;

the particular node is separate from the current node;

the apparatus is part of the current node;

the apparatus constitutes at least a portion of the current node;

the apparatus includes the current node;

the apparatus is part of a system that includes the current node;

the current node includes a device of the apparatus having a network interface component;

the current node includes a portion of the apparatus including at least a network interface component;

the current node includes at least a network interface component of the apparatus;

the label switching forwarding paradigm includes a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network protocol;

the label switching includes Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS);

the forwarding paradigm includes a network protocol;

the forwarding paradigm includes a routing protocol;

the apparatus is configured to not use a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) control plane protocol;

the first node is the previous node and the second node is the current node;

the first node is the current node and the second node is a next node;

or

the first node is the previous node and the second node is the next node.

28. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the network path information includes the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the network path information is configured for use in identifying the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the network path information includes a particular identifier.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the particular identifier includes a symbolic identifier.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the particular identifier represents at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the one or more processors is configured to execute the instructions to:

identify the particular identifier in the header of the first packet; and

determine, utilizing the particular identifier, at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the network path information includes no identifier other than the particular identifier, and the particular identifier represents the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus is configured such that at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is not represented by the particular identifier.

36. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is advertised to at least one other node so the at least one other node knows a meaning thereof.

37. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node identifies a sequence of identifiers, and a last identifier of the sequence, that is preceded by any other one or more identifiers in the sequence, is a scope-specific identifier that is in an identifier space specific to another node and that identifies, for the another node, the particular node.

38. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is included in the header of the first packet when the first packet is received from the previous node.

39. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is not included with the first data when the first data is transmitted from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

40. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a current node and from a previous node each in a network path along which first data is transmitted from a transmitting node to a receiving node in a network, network path information that is based on a first policy and is in a header of a first packet that is specified according to a label switching forwarding paradigm, the network path information in the header of the first packet being for use by the current node in transmitting the first data along the network path from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network, where the network path information in the header of the first packet is received based on a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, a particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

determining, by the current node, a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a second node that identifies, for the second node, the particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

mapping the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node; and

transmitting, based on the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, the first data from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the mapping is performed regardless as to whether the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical or not.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is identical to a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, thus creating a virtual scoped identifier space that includes an identical identifier that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, and the virtual scoped identifier space has a span within a region of the network that includes the first node and the second node, where the identical identifier in the virtual scoped identifier space is a region-scoped identifier that identifies the particular node to each of one or more nodes in the region.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein, in a region that includes the first node and the second node, the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is capable of being identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

45. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are capable of being identically set in a region that includes the particular node and the second node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein, in the event that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are configured to be identical, a region-scoped identifier space is realized, for the region that further includes the first node, that includes a region-scoped identifier that, in the event of the identical configuration, is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, where the region-scoped identifier identifies the particular node for one or more nodes in the region other than the first node and other than the second node.

47. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

48. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node, where respective node-specific identifier spaces for the first node and the second node are implemented via respective tables stored in respective memories of the first node and the second node.

49. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

50. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node share a same value as a region-scoped identifier of the particular node in a scoped identifier space of a region that includes the first node and the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

51. The method of claim 40, wherein the mapping results in the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, being replaced by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

52. The method of claim 40, wherein the mapping results in a modification of the network path information.

53. The method of claim 40, wherein the mapping results in a modification of the network path information without changing the network path along which the first data is transmitted from the transmitting node to the receiving node.

54. The method of claim 40, wherein a first virtual identifier space for a first plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the first plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the first plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the node-specific identifier space for the each node in the first plurality matches the particular identifier in the node specific identifier space for every other node in the first plurality.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality with the particular node;

and the first virtual identifier space includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scoped identifier with a scope that spans within the first plurality, and that identifies the particular node within a span of the first virtual identifier space.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, wherein the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space is mapped to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

58. The method of claim 54, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality, the particular node is not included in the first plurality, the first virtual identifier space includes a scope specific identifier space that is specific to the first plurality, and the particular identifier takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that identifies the particular node for the first plurality.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein first plurality of nodes is in a first region of a network.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the current node is a border node of the first region.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the particular node is in a second region of the network, and the receiving node is not in the network.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, wherein the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space is mapped to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the second plurality of nodes is in a second region of the network.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the transmitting node is not in the second region.

66. The method of claim 40, wherein the network path information includes the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

67. The method of claim 40, wherein the network path information is configured for use in identifying the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the network path information includes a particular identifier.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the particular identifier includes a symbolic identifier.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the particular identifier represents at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

71. The method of claim 70, and further comprising:

identifying the particular identifier in the header of the first packet; and

determining, utilizing the particular identifier, at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the network path information includes no identifier other than the particular identifier, and the particular identifier represents the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

73. The method of claim 68, wherein at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is not represented by the particular identifier.

74. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is advertised to at least one other node so the at least one other node knows a meaning thereof.

75. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node identifies a sequence of identifiers, and a last identifier of the sequence, that is preceded by any other one or more identifiers in the sequence, is a scope-specific identifier that is in an identifier space specific to another node and that identifies, for the another node, the particular node.

76. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is included in the header of the first packet when the first packet is received from the previous node.

77. The method of claim 40, wherein the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is not included with the first data when the first data is transmitted from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

78. A non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a current node in a network path along which first data is transmitted from a transmitting node to a receiving node in a network, cause the current node to:

receive, from a previous node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network, network path information that is based on a first policy and is in a header of a first packet that is specified according to a label switching forwarding paradigm, the network path information in the header of the first packet being for use by the current node in transmitting the first data along the network path from the transmitting node to the receiving node in the network, where the network path information in the header of the first packet is received based on a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node identifies, for the first node, a particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

determine a node-scope specific identifier in a node-specific identifier space of a second node that identifies, for the second node, the particular node in the network path along which the first data is transmitted;

map the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node; and

transmit, based on the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, the first data from the current node along the network path including the particular node.

79. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical.

80. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the mapping is performed regardless as to whether the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, are identical or not.

81. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is identical to a particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, thus creating a virtual scoped identifier space that includes an identical identifier that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and that is identical to the particular identifier of the node-specific identifier of the particular node in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, and the virtual scoped identifier space has a span within a region of the network that includes the first node and the second node, where the identical identifier in the virtual scoped identifier space is a region-scoped identifier that identifies the particular node to each of one or more nodes in the region.

82. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that, in a region that includes the first node and the second node, the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is capable of being identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

83. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are capable of being identically set in a region that includes the particular node and the second node, despite the node-specific identifier space of the second node being a particular identifier space defined for the second node and further being specific to the second node.

84. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 83, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that, in the event that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node are configured to be identical, a region-scoped identifier space is realized, for the region that further includes the first node, that includes a region-scoped identifier that, in the event of the identical configuration, is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, where the region-scoped identifier identifies the particular node for one or more nodes in the region other than the first node and other than the second node.

85. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

86. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node, where respective node-specific identifier spaces for the first node and the second node are implemented via respective tables stored in respective memories of the first node and the second node.

87. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is identical to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

88. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node is mapped to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, even though the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node share a same value as a region-scoped identifier of the particular node in a scoped identifier space of a region that includes the first node and the second node, because the node-specific identifier space of the second node is a particular identifier space defined for the second node and is specific to the second node.

89. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the mapping results in the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, being replaced by the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

90. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the mapping results in a modification of the network path information.

91. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the mapping results in a modification of the network path information without changing the network path along which the first data is transmitted from the transmitting node to the receiving node.

92. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that a first virtual identifier space for a first plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the first plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the first plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the node-specific identifier space for the each node in the first plurality matches the particular identifier in the node specific identifier space for every other node in the first plurality.

93. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 92, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality with the particular node;

and the first virtual identifier space includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scoped identifier with a scope that spans within the first plurality, and that identifies the particular node within a span of the first virtual identifier space.

94. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 93, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

95. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 94, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, and the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, are configured to cause a mapping of the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

96. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 92, wherein the second node is included in the first plurality, the particular node is not included in the first plurality, the first virtual identifier space includes a scope specific identifier space that is specific to the first plurality, and the particular identifier takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that identifies the particular node for the first plurality.

97. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 96, wherein first plurality of nodes is in a first region of a network.

98. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 97, wherein the current node is a border node of the first region.

99. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 98, wherein the particular node is in a second region of the network, and the receiving node is not in the network.

100. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 99, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that a second virtual identifier space for a second plurality of nodes is realized by configuring each node in the second plurality to have a respective node-specific identifier space that includes a particular identifier that identifies, for the each node in the second plurality, the particular node, where the particular identifier in the respective node-specific identifier space for the each node in the second plurality matches the particular identifier in the respective node specific identifier space for every other node in the second plurality.

101. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 100, wherein the first node is included in the second plurality, the second virtual identifier space includes a scope-specific identifier space specific to the second plurality and further includes the particular identifier that takes the form of a scope-specific identifier that, for the each node in the second plurality, identifies the particular node, and the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, are configured to cause a mapping of the particular identifier in the second virtual identifier space to the particular identifier in the first virtual identifier space by the mapping of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, to the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

102. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 101, wherein the second plurality of nodes is in a second region of the network.

103. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 102, wherein the transmitting node is not in the second region.

104. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the network path information includes the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

105. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the network path information is configured for use in identifying the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

106. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 105, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the network path information includes a particular identifier.

107. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 106, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the particular identifier includes a symbolic identifier.

108. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 106, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the particular identifier represents at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

109. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 108, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to:

identify the particular identifier in the header of the first packet; and

determine, utilizing the particular identifier, at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

110. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 109, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the network path information includes no identifier other than the particular identifier, and the particular identifier represents the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, and the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node.

111. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 106, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that at least one of the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, or the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is not represented by the particular identifier.

112. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node is advertised to at least one other node so the at least one other node knows a meaning thereof.

113. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node identifies a sequence of identifiers, and a last identifier of the sequence, that is preceded by any other one or more identifiers in the sequence, is a scope-specific identifier that is in an identifier space specific to another node and that identifies, for the another node, the particular node.

114. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the second node, is included in the header of the first packet when the first packet is received from the previous node.

115. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 78, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the current node, cause the current node to operate such that the node-scope specific identifier in the node-specific identifier space of the first node, is not included with the first data when the first data is transmitted from the current node along the network path including the particular node.