Quality of service using traffic engineering over MPLS: An analysis

We compare the service received by TCP and UDP flows when they share either a link or a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) traffic trunk Since MPLS traffic trunks allow non-shortest path links also to be used the total network throughput goes up with proper traffic engineering. In this paper we found that if UDP and TCP flows are mixed in a trunk, TCP flows receive reduced service as the UDP flows increase their rates. Also, we found that in order to benefit from traffic engineering, MPLS trunks should be implemented end-to-end (first router to last router), if some part of the network is MPLS trunk-unaware, the benefits are reduced or eliminated.