Abstract: This present disclosure describes path probe methods and devices. The methods comprise receiving a first path probe packet; establishing a first association according to link information in the first path probe packet and a path label of a network path to be probed; determining a third association based on an IP address in the first path probe packet and the path label of the network path to be probed. The IP address includes an IP address of an adjacent network node of the first network node, and a third association includes an association of the path label with the IP address of the adjacent node. The path probe method may reduce system overhead. In the transmission process, the number of network nodes may also be set according to needs. An IP overlay network based on label switching is realized.

Abstract: This present disclosure describes data packet forwarding methods and devices. The methods comprise receiving a first data packet; acquiring the IP address of a second network node according to a path label in the first data packet; generating a second data packet according to the IP address of the second network node, and forwarding the second data packet. The data packet forwarding methods may reduce system overhead, for example, by reducing the number of header control bits used during packet exchange. In the transmission process, the number of network nodes may also be set according to needs. An IP overlay network based on label switching may also reduce costs, realize the sharing of transmission resources, and enable the integration of resources across operators, cloud service providers, and other types of network service providers.