Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on the short path labels rather than long network addresses, thus avoiding complex lookups in a routing table and speeding traffic flows.
- Labels identify virtual links (paths) between distant nodes rather than endpoints.
- Can encapsulate packets of various network protocols, hence multiprotocol.
In a MPLS network, data packets are assigned lables. Packet forwarding decisions are made solely on the contents of this label, without the need to examine the packet itself.