A technique for implementing VLANs across a service provider network
involves establishing logical ports that have bindings to transport
tunnels. The logical ports are then treated the same as physical ports in
defining broadcast domains at particular service provider edge devices.
Logical ports can be established for Layer 2 transport tunnels that use
stacked VLAN tunneling and MPLS tunneling. Establishing a logical port
that uses stacked VLAN tunneling involves binding a physical port and a
stacked VLAN tunnel to the logical port. Establishing a logical port that
uses MPLS tunneling involves binding an MPLS tunnel to a logical port. In
one embodiment, the logical port is bound to a static MPLS tunnel and in
another embodiment, the logical port is bound to a dynamic MPLS tunnel
and the destination IP address of the destination service provider edge
device.