<s>
Label	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
technique	O
of	O
network	B-Architecture
relaying	O
to	O
overcome	O
the	O
problems	O
perceived	O
by	O
traditional	O
IP-table	O
switching	O
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
traditional	O
layer	B-Application
3	I-Application
hop-by-hop	O
routing	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Here	O
,	O
the	O
switching	O
of	O
network	B-Protocol
packets	I-Protocol
occurs	O
at	O
a	O
lower	O
level	B-Protocol
,	O
namely	O
the	O
data	B-Protocol
link	I-Protocol
layer	I-Protocol
rather	O
than	O
the	O
traditional	O
network	B-Application
layer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
packet	B-Protocol
is	O
assigned	O
a	O
label	O
number	O
and	O
the	O
switching	O
takes	O
place	O
after	O
examination	O
of	O
the	O
label	O
assigned	O
to	O
each	O
packet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
switching	O
is	O
much	O
faster	O
than	O
IP-routing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
Multiprotocol	B-Protocol
Label	I-Protocol
Switching	I-Protocol
(	O
MPLS	B-Protocol
)	O
use	O
label	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
established	O
ATM	O
protocol	O
also	O
uses	O
label	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
at	O
its	O
core	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Examples	O
of	O
the	O
label	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
(	O
or	O
virtual	B-Protocol
circuit	I-Protocol
)	O
model	O
include	O
Frame	O
Relay	O
,	O
ATM	O
,	O
and	O
MPLS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
model	O
path	O
forwarding	O
state	O
and	O
traffic	O
management	O
or	O
quality	O
of	O
service	O
(	O
QoS	O
)	O
state	O
is	O
established	O
for	O
traffic	O
streams	O
on	O
each	O
hop	O
along	O
a	O
network	B-Architecture
path	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Traffic	O
aggregates	O
of	O
varying	O
granularity	O
are	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
label	O
switched	O
path	O
at	O
an	O
ingress	O
node	O
,	O
and	O
packets/cells	O
within	O
each	O
label	O
switched	O
path	O
are	O
marked	O
with	O
a	O
forwarding	O
label	O
that	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
look	O
up	O
the	O
next-hop	O
node	O
,	O
the	O
per-hop	O
forwarding	O
behavior	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
replacement	O
label	O
at	O
each	O
hop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
model	O
permits	O
finer	O
granularity	O
resource	O
allocation	O
to	O
traffic	O
streams	O
,	O
since	O
label	O
values	O
are	O
not	O
globally	O
significant	O
but	O
are	O
only	O
significant	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
link	O
;	O
therefore	O
resources	O
can	O
be	O
reserved	O
for	O
the	O
aggregate	O
of	O
packets/cells	O
received	O
on	O
a	O
link	O
with	O
a	O
particular	O
label	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
label	B-Protocol
switching	I-Protocol
semantics	O
govern	O
the	O
next-hop	O
selection	O
,	O
allowing	O
a	O
traffic	O
stream	O
to	O
follow	O
a	O
specially	O
engineered	O
path	O
through	O
the	O
network.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
related	O
topic	O
is	O
"	O
Multilayer	B-Application
Switching	I-Application
,	O
"	O
which	O
discusses	O
silicon-based	O
wire-speed	O
routing	B-Protocol
devices	O
that	O
examine	O
not	O
only	O
layer	B-Application
3	I-Application
packet	B-Protocol
information	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
layer	O
4	O
(	O
transport	O
)	O
and	O
layer	O
7	O
(	O
application	O
)	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
