US Patent 9749187 Segment routing into a label distribution protocol domain

A method, apparatus and memory for forwarding packets through a network domain containing nodes that are label distribution protocol (LDP) enabled and nodes that are segment routing (SR) enabled. In one embodiment, the method may include receiving at a hybrid node a packet with an attached segment identifier and detaching the segment identifier from the packet. This embodiment of the method continues with attaching a first LDP label to the packet after the segment identifier is detached and forwarding the packet with the attached first LDP label on a path toward a first LDP enabled node.