US Patent 11271849 Service-based tunnel selection scheme for mapping services to tunnels

Techniques are disclosed for service-based tunnel selection for forwarding network traffic. In one example, a network device obtains, based on service parameters associated with a network service, a tunnel selection scheme. The tunnel selection scheme identifies a primary mapping mode including a primary service color for mapping the network service to a primary service color transport tunnel and at least one fallback service color for mapping the network service to at least one fallback service color transport tunnel. The tunnel selection scheme also identifies at least one fallback mapping mode for mapping the network service to fallback transport tunnels. The primary mapping mode is categorized according to a first type comprising tunnel colorization, while the at least one fallback mapping mode is categorized according to a type other than tunnel colorization.