Path Computation Element in Telecom Networks: Recent Developments and Standardization Activities

The recent attention that Path Computation Element (PCE) architectures have received is mainly because of its potential to provide feasible solutions for multi-layer networks and to solve the interconnection of services into multiple domains. In particular, complex routing problems emerge when light-paths cross multiple domains combined with multi-layer traffic engineering. This work aims to provide an up to date overview of efforts made by the research community and the IETF standardization body to increase the performance of a complex PCE-based network architecture. The issues are considered both from the control and the management planes.