Packet networks have led to an explosion of data traffic and have changed the daily life of consumers, households and office workers. Virtually any information is now available at your fingertips. No matter what type of data or how big the file size, the packet networks deliver it fast and accurate to any device. But there were some inherent flaws to the initial technology, flaws that didn't matter to the majority of users but did bother the industrial users. Real-time data, deterministic traffic, instantaneous reconfigurations: ouch!
With the release of MPLS-TP standard (Multi Protocol Label Switching - Transport Profile), the IETF and ITU-T have resolved the paradox. MPLS-TP offers QoS that deals with real-time data, end-to-end OA&M (Operation, Administration and Management) and protection switching. Exactly what the industrial users had been waiting for.
