SR Policies (RFC 9256) enable operators to steer traffic flows along preferred paths to satisfy KPIs such as lower latency, bandwidth guarantees, or traffic separation. When computed by a PCE, they provide PCE-driven path control that adapts to changes in network topology and traffic conditions.
An SR Policy links traffic to one or more candidate paths, each defined by a list of Segment Identifiers (SIDs). The headend selects the active candidate path based on preference and constraints.
A Path Computation Element (PCE) computes these paths using the topology learned through the IGP (IS-IS in our test) and interoperates with Path Computation Clients (PCCs) over the Path Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP) to set up and update them. The test covered multiple SR Policy scenarios, including PCC-initiated SR Policies, PCE-initiated SR Policies, PCC-initiated SR Policies delegated to the PCE, and SR Policy state reporting without delegation. In addition, SR Policy instantiation via a gRPC-based API was verified for the first time.
Across these scenarios, SR Policy computation, signaling, and state reporting between the PCC and the PCE were verified. Where applicable, the correct installation of the SR Policy on the PCC was also verified, including the associated candidate paths and SID lists.
The tests covered both SR-MPLS and SRv6 data planes, including SRv6 with full SIDs and µSID. In some test runs, latency was used as the optimization metric for path calculation. We also tested SR Policies with multiple candidate paths for redundancy, as well as candidate paths carrying multiple Segment Lists for multipath forwarding.

The following tables show the device combinations that have interoperated this year.