US Patent 11425022 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 service-specific tunnel selection scheme. The tunnel selection scheme identifies a primary mapping mode for mapping the network service to a primary transport tunnel and fallback mapping modes 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 fallback mapping modes are categorized according to types other than tunnel colorization. In response to determining that the network service cannot be mapped to the primary transport tunnel according to the primary mapping mode, the network device, maps, based on the fallback mapping modes, the network service to the fallback transport tunnels. The network device forwards network traffic associated with the network service via the fallback transport tunnels.