Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                           C. Shen
Request for Comments: 5979                                H. Schulzrinne
Category: Experimental                                       Columbia U.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                   S. Lee
                                                                Samsung
                                                                J. Bang
                                                            Samsung AIT
                                                             March 2011


                    NSIS Operation over IP Tunnels

Abstract

  NSIS Quality of Service (QoS) signaling enables applications to
  perform QoS reservation along a data flow path.  When the data flow
  path contains IP tunnel segments, NSIS QoS signaling has no effect
  within those tunnel segments.  Therefore, the resulting tunnel
  segments could become the weakest QoS link and invalidate the QoS
  efforts in the rest of the end-to-end path.  The problem with NSIS
  signaling within the tunnel is caused by the tunnel encapsulation
  that masks packets' original IP header fields.  Those original IP
  header fields are needed to intercept NSIS signaling messages and
  classify QoS data packets.  This document defines a solution to this
  problem by mapping end-to-end QoS session requests to corresponding
  QoS sessions in the tunnel, thus extending the end-to-end QoS
  signaling into the IP tunnel segments.

Status of This Memo

  This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
  published for examination, experimental implementation, and
  evaluation.

  This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
  community.  This document is a product of the Internet Engineering
  Task Force (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF
  community.  It has received public review and has been approved for
  publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not
  all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of
  Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

  Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
  and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
  http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5979.






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Copyright Notice

  Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
  document authors.  All rights reserved.

  This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
  Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
  (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
  publication of this document.  Please review these documents
  carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
  to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
  include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
  the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
  described in the Simplified BSD License.

  This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
  Contributions published or made publicly available before November
  10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
  material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
  modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
  Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
  the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
  outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
  not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
  it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
  than English.

























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Table of Contents

  1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
  2.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
  3.  Problem Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
    3.1.  IP Tunneling Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
    3.2.  NSIS QoS Signaling in the Presence of IP Tunnels . . . . .  7
  4.  Design Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    4.1.  Design Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    4.2.  Overall Design Approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
    4.3.  Tunnel Flow ID for Different IP Tunneling Protocols  . . . 13
  5.  NSIS Operation over Tunnels with Preconfigured QoS Sessions  . 14
    5.1.  Sender-initiated Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
    5.2.  Receiver-Initiated Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  6.  NSIS Operation over Tunnels with Dynamically Created QoS
      Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
    6.1.  Sender-Initiated Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
    6.2.  Receiver-Initiated Reservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  7.  NSIS-Tunnel Signaling Capability Discovery . . . . . . . . . . 22
  8.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  9.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  10. Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
    11.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
    11.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

1.  Introduction

  IP tunneling [RFC1853] [RFC2003] is a technique that allows a packet
  to be encapsulated and carried as payload within an IP packet.  The
  resulting encapsulated packet is called an IP tunnel packet, and the
  packet being tunneled is called the original packet.  In typical
  scenarios, IP tunneling is used to exert explicit forwarding path
  control (e.g., in Mobile IP [RFC5944]), implement secure IP data
  delivery (e.g., in IPsec [RFC4301]), and help packet routing in IP
  networks of different characteristics (e.g., between IPv6 and IPv4
  networks [RFC4213]).  Section 3.1 summarizes a list of common IP
  tunneling protocols.

  This document considers the situation when the packet being tunneled
  contains a Next Step In Signaling (NSIS) [RFC4080] packet.  NSIS is
  an IP signaling architecture consisting of a Generic Internet
  Signaling Transport (GIST) [RFC5971] sub-layer for signaling
  transport, and an NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol (NSLP) sub-layer
  customizable for different applications.  We focus on the Quality of
  Service (QoS) NSLP [RFC5974] which provides functionalities that
  extend those of the earlier RSVP [RFC2205] signaling.  In this
  document, the terms "NSIS" and "NSIS QoS" are used interchangeably.



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  Without additional efforts, NSIS signaling does not work within IP
  tunnel segments of a signaling path.  The reason is that tunnel
  encapsulation masks the original packet including its header and
  payload.  However, information from the original packet is required
  both for NSIS peer node discovery and for QoS data flow packet
  classification.  Without access to information from the original
  packet, an IP tunnel acts as an NSIS-unaware virtual link in the end-
  to-end NSIS signaling path.

  This document defines a mechanism to extend end-to-end NSIS signaling
  for QoS reservation into IP tunnels.  The NSIS-aware IP tunnel
  endpoints that support this mechanism are called NSIS-tunnel-aware
  endpoints.  There are two main operation modes.  On one hand, if the
  tunnel already has preconfigured QoS sessions, the NSIS-tunnel-aware
  endpoints map end-to-end QoS signaling requests directly to existing
  tunnel sessions as long as there are enough tunnel session resources;
  on the other hand, if no preconfigured tunnel QoS sessions are
  available, the NSIS-tunnel-aware endpoints dynamically initiate and
  maintain tunnel QoS sessions that are then associated with the
  corresponding end-to-end QoS sessions.  Note that whether or not the
  tunnel preconfigures QoS sessions, and which preconfigured tunnel QoS
  sessions a particular end-to-end QoS signaling request should be
  mapped to are policy issues that are out of scope of this document.

  The rest of this document is organized as follows.  Section 2 defines
  terminology.  Section 3 presents the problem statement including
  common IP tunneling protocols and existing behavior of NSIS QoS
  signaling over IP tunnels.  Section 4 introduces the design
  requirements and overall approach of our mechanism.  More details
  about how NSIS QoS signaling operates with tunnels that use
  preconfigured QoS and dynamic QoS signaling are provided in Sections
  5 and 6.  Section 7 describes a method to automatically discover
  whether a tunnel endpoint node supports the NSIS-tunnel
  interoperation mechanism defined in this document.  Section 8
  discusses IANA considerations, and Section 9 considers security.

2.  Terminology

  This document uses terminology defined in [RFC2473], [RFC5971], and
  [RFC5974].  In addition, the following terms are used:

  IP Tunnel:  A tunnel that is configured as a virtual link between two
     IP nodes and on which the encapsulating protocol is IP.

  Tunnel IP Header:  The IP header prepended to the original packet
     during encapsulation.  It specifies the tunnel endpoints as source
     and destination.




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  Tunnel-Specific Header:  The header fields inserted by the
     encapsulation mechanism after the tunnel IP header and before the
     original packet.  These headers may or may not exist depending on
     the specific tunnel mechanism used.  An example of such header
     fields is the Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) header for
     IPsec [RFC4301] tunneling mode.

  Tunnel Intermediate Node (Tmid):  A node that resides in the middle
     of the forwarding path between the tunnel entry-point node and the
     tunnel exit-point node.

  Flow Identifier (Flow ID):  The set of header fields that is used to
     identify a data flow.  For example, it may include flow sender and
     receiver addresses, and protocol and port numbers.

  End-to-End QoS Signaling:  The signaling process that manipulates the
     QoS control information in the end-to-end path from the flow
     sender to the flow receiver.  When the end-to-end flow path
     contains tunnel segments, this document uses end-to-end QoS
     signaling to refer to the QoS signaling outside the tunnel
     segments.  This document uses "end-to-end QoS signaling" and "end-
     to-end signaling" interchangeably.

  Tunnel QoS Signaling:  The signaling process that manipulates the QoS
     control information in the path inside a tunnel, between the
     tunnel entry-point and the tunnel exit-point nodes.  This document
     uses "tunnel QoS signaling" and "tunnel signaling"
     interchangeably.

  NSIS-Aware Node:  A node that supports NSIS signaling.

  NSIS-Aware Tunnel Endpoint Node:  A tunnel endpoint node that is also
     an NSIS node.

  NSIS-Tunnel-Aware Endpoint Node:  An NSIS-aware tunnel endpoint node
     that also supports the mechanism for NSIS operating over IP
     tunnels defined in this document.














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3.  Problem Statement

3.1.  IP Tunneling Protocols

                   Tunnel from node B to node D
                    <---------------------->
                 Tunnel       Tunnel        Tunnel
                 Entry-Point  Intermediate  Exit-Point
                 Node         Node          Node
  +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
  |A|-->--//-->--|B|=====>====|C|===//==>===|D|-->--//-->--|E|
  +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
  Original                                                 Original
  Packet                                                   Packet
  Source                                                   Destination
  Node                                                     Node

                           Figure 1: IP Tunnel

  The following description about IP tunneling is derived from
  [RFC2473] and adapted for both IPv4 and IPv6.

  IP tunneling (Figure 1) is a technique for establishing a "virtual
  link" between two IP nodes for transmitting data packets as payloads
  of IP packets.  From the point of view of the two nodes, this
  "virtual link", called an IP tunnel, appears as a point-to-point link
  on which IP acts like a link-layer protocol.  The two IP nodes play
  specific roles.  One node encapsulates original packets received from
  other nodes or from itself and forwards the resulting tunnel packets
  through the tunnel.  The other node decapsulates the received tunnel
  packets and forwards the resulting original packets towards their
  destinations, possibly itself.  The encapsulating node is called the
  tunnel entry-point node (Tentry), and it is the source of the tunnel
  packets.  The decapsulating node is called the tunnel exit-point node
  (Texit), and it is the destination of the tunnel packets.

  An IP tunnel is a unidirectional mechanism - the tunnel packet flow
  takes place in one direction between the IP tunnel entry-point and
  exit-point nodes.  Bidirectional tunneling is achieved by combining
  two unidirectional mechanisms, that is, configuring two tunnels, each
  in opposite direction to the other -- the entry-point node of one
  tunnel is the exit-point node of the other tunnel.

  Figure 2 illustrates the original packet and the resulting tunnel
  packet.  In a tunnel packet, the original packet is encapsulated
  within the tunnel header.  The tunnel header contains two components,
  the tunnel IP header and other tunnel-specific headers.  The tunnel
  IP header specifies the tunnel entry-point node as the IP source



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  address and the tunnel exit-point node as the IP destination address,
  causing the tunnel packet to be forwarded in the tunnel.  The tunnel-
  specific header between the tunnel IP header and the original packet
  is optional, depending on the tunneling protocol in use.

                        +----------------------------------//-----+
                        | Original |                              |
                        |          |   Original Packet Payload    |
                        | Header   |                              |
                        +----------------------------------//-----+
                         <            Original Packet            >
                                              |
                                              v
   <  Tunnel Headers   > <            Original Packet            >
  +---------+-----------+-------------------------//--------------+
  | Tunnel  | Tunnel-   |                                         |
  | IP      | Specific  |             Original Packet             |
  | Header  | Header    |                                         |
  +---------+-----------+-------------------------//--------------+
   <                        Tunnel IP Packet                     >

                    Figure 2: IP Tunnel Encapsulation

  Commonly used IP tunneling protocols include Generic Routing
  Encapsulation (GRE) [RFC1701][RFC2784], Generic Routing Encapsulation
  over IPv4 Networks (GREIPv4) [RFC1702] and IP Encapsulation within IP
  (IPv4INIPv4) [RFC1853][RFC2003], Minimal Encapsulation within IP
  (MINENC) [RFC2004], IPv6 over IPv4 Tunneling (IPv6INIPv4) [RFC4213],
  Generic Packet Tunneling in IPv6 Specification (IPv6GEN) [RFC2473]
  and IPsec tunneling mode [RFC4301] [RFC4303].  Among these tunneling
  protocols, the tunnel headers in IPv4INIPv4, IPv6INIPv4, and IPv6GEN
  contain only a tunnel IP header, and no tunnel-specific header.  All
  the other tunneling protocols have a tunnel header consisting of both
  a tunnel IP header and a tunnel-specific header.  The tunnel-specific
  header is the GRE header for GRE and GREIPv4, the minimum
  encapsulation header for MINENC, and the ESP header for IPsec
  tunneling mode.  As will be discussed in Section 4.3, some of the
  tunnel-specific headers may be used to identify a flow in the tunnel
  and facilitate NSIS operating over IP tunnels.

3.2.  NSIS QoS Signaling in the Presence of IP Tunnels

  Typically, applications use NSIS QoS signaling to reserve resources
  for a flow along the flow path.  NSIS QoS signaling can be initiated
  by either the flow sender or flow receiver.  Figure 3 shows an
  example scenario with five NSIS nodes, including flow sender node A,
  flow receiver node E, and intermediate NSIS nodes B, C, and D.  Nodes
  that are not NSIS QoS capable are not shown.



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   NSIS QoS       NSIS QoS     NSIS QoS      NSIS QoS       NSIS QoS
   Node           Node         Node          Node           Node
   +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
   |A|-->--//-->--|B|----->----|C|---//-->---|D|-->--//-->--|E|
   +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
   Flow                                                     Flow
   Sender                                                   Receiver
   Node                                                     Node

            Figure 3: Example Scenario of NSIS QoS Signaling

  Figure 4 illustrates a sender-initiated signaling sequence in the
  scenario of Figure 3.  Sender node A sends a RESERVE message towards
  receiver node E.  The RESERVE message gets forwarded by intermediate
  NSIS Nodes B, C, and D and finally reaches receiver node E.  Receiver
  node E then sends back a RESPONSE message confirming the QoS
  reservation, again through the previous intermediate NSIS nodes in
  the flow path.

  There are two important aspects in the above signaling process that
  are worth mentioning.  First, the flow sender does not initially know
  exactly which intermediate nodes are NSIS-aware and should be
  involved in the signaling process for a flow from node A to node E.
   Discovery of those nodes (namely, nodes B, C, and D) is accomplished
  by a separate NSIS peer discovery process (not shown above; see
  [RFC5971]).  The NSIS peer discovery messages contain special IP
  header and payload formats or include a Router Alert Option (RAO)
  [RFC2113] [RFC2711].  The special formats of NSIS discovery messages
  allow nodes B, C, and D to intercept the messages and subsequently
  insert themselves into the signaling path for the flow in question.
  After formation of the signaling path, all signaling messages
  corresponding to this flow will be passed to these nodes for
  processing.  Other nodes that are not NSIS-aware simply forward all
  signaling messages, as they would any other IP packets that do not
  require additional handling.
















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   Node A         Node B         Node C         Node D         Node E
     |              |              |              |              |
     |   RESERVE    |              |              |              |
     +------------->|              |              |              |
     |              |   RESERVE    |              |              |
     |              +------------->|              |              |
     |              |              |   RESERVE    |              |
     |              |              +------------->|              |
     |              |              |              |   RESERVE    |
     |              |              |              +------------->|
     |              |              |              |   RESPONSE   |
     |              |              |              |<-------------+
     |              |              |   RESPONSE   |              |
     |              |              |<-------------+              |
     |              |   RESPONSE   |              |              |
     |              |<-------------+              |              |
     |   RESPONSE   |              |              |              |
     |<-------------+              |              |              |
     |              |              |              |              |
     |              |              |              |              |

              Figure 4: Sender-Initiated NSIS QoS Signaling

  Second, the goal of QoS signaling is to install control information
  to give QoS treatment for the flow being signaled.  Basic QoS control
  information includes the data Flow ID for packet classification and
  the type of QoS treatment those packets are entitled to.  The Flow ID
  contains a set of header fields such as flow sender and receiver
  addresses, and protocol and port numbers.

  Now consider Figure 5 where nodes B, C, and D are endpoints and
  intermediate nodes of an IP tunnel.  During the signaling path
  discovery process, node B can still intercept and process NSIS peer
  discovery messages if it recognizes them before performing tunnel
  encapsulation; node D can identify NSIS peer discovery messages after
  performing tunnel decapsulation.  A tunnel intermediate node such as
  node C, however, only sees the tunnel header of the packets and will
  not be able to identify the original NSIS peer discovery message or
  insert itself in the flow signaling path.  Furthermore, the Flow ID
  of the original flow is based on IP header fields of the original
  packet.  Those fields are also hidden in the payload of the tunnel
  packet.  So, there is no way node C can classify packets belonging to
  that flow in the tunnel.








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                    Tunnel from node B to node D
                     <---------------------->
                  Tunnel       Tunnel        Tunnel
                  Entry-Point  Intermediate  Exit-Point
   NSIS QoS       NSIS QoS     NSIS QoS      NSIS QoS       NSIS QoS
   Node           Node         Node          Node           Node
   +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
   |A|-->--//-->--|B|=====>====|C|===//==>===|D|-->--//-->--|E|
   +-+            +-+          +-+           +-+            +-+
   Flow                                                     Flow
   Sender                                                   Receiver
   Node                                                     Node

     Figure 5: Example Scenario of NSIS QoS Signaling with IP Tunnel

  In summary, an IP tunnel segment normally appears like a QoS-unaware
  virtual link.  Since the best QoS of an end-to-end path is judged
  based on its weakest segment, we need a mechanism to extend NSIS into
  the IP tunnel segments, which should allow the tunnel intermediate
  nodes to intercept original NSIS signaling messages and classify
  original data flow packets in the presence of tunnel encapsulation.

4.  Design Overview

4.1.  Design Requirements

  We identify the following design requirements for NSIS operating over
  IP tunnels.

  o  The mechanism should work with all common IP tunneling protocols
     listed in Section 3.1.

  o  Some IP tunnels maintain preconfigured QoS sessions inside the
     tunnel.  The mechanism should work for IP tunnels both with and
     without preconfigured tunnel QoS sessions.

  o  The mechanism should minimize the required upgrade to existing
     infrastructure in order to facilitate its deployment.
     Specifically, we should limit the necessary upgrade to the tunnel
     endpoints.

  o  The mechanism should provide a method for one NSIS-tunnel-aware
     endpoint to discover whether the other endpoint is also NSIS-
     tunnel-aware, when necessary.

  o  The mechanism should learn from the design experience of previous
     related work on RSVP over IP tunnels (RSVP-TUNNEL) [RFC2746],
     while also addressing the following major differences of NSIS from



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     RSVP.  First, NSIS is designed as a generic framework to
     accommodate various signaling application needs, and therefore is
     split into a signaling transport layer and a signaling application
     layer; RSVP does not have a layer split and is designed only for
     QoS signaling.  Second, NSIS QoS NSLP allows both sender-initiated
     and receiver-initiated reservations; RSVP only supports receiver-
     initiated reservations.  Third, NSIS deals only with unicast; RSVP
     also supports multicast.  Fourth, NSIS integrates a new SESSION-ID
     feature which is different from the session identification concept
     in RSVP.

4.2.  Overall Design Approach

  The overall design of this NSIS signaling and IP tunnel interworking
  mechanism draws similar concepts from RSVP-TUNNEL [RFC2746], but is
  tailored and extended for NSIS operation.

  Since we only consider unidirectional flows, to accommodate flows in
  both directions of a tunnel, we require both tunnel entry-point and
  tunnel exit-point to be NSIS-tunnel-aware.  An NSIS-tunnel-aware
  endpoint knows whether the other tunnel endpoint is NSIS-tunnel-aware
  either through preconfiguration or through an NSIS-tunnel capability
  discovery mechanism defined in Section 7.

  Tunnel endpoints need to always intercept NSIS peer discovery
  messages and insert themselves into the NSIS signaling path so they
  can receive all NSIS signaling messages and coordinate their
  interaction with tunnel QoS.

  To facilitate QoS handling in the tunnel, an end-to-end QoS session
  is mapped to a tunnel QoS session, either preconfigured or
  dynamically created.  The tunnel session uses a tunnel Flow ID based
  on information available in the tunnel headers, thus allowing tunnel
  intermediate nodes to classify flow packets correctly.

  For tunnels that maintain preconfigured QoS sessions, upon receiving
  a request to reserve resources for an end-to-end session, the tunnel
  endpoint maps the end-to-end QoS session to an existing tunnel
  session.  To simplify the design, the mapping decision is always made
  by the tunnel entry-point, regardless of whether the end-to-end
  session uses sender-initiated or receiver-initiated NSIS signaling
  mode.  The details about which end-to-end session can be mapped to
  which preconfigured tunnel session depend on policy mechanisms
  outside the scope of this document.

  For tunnels that do not maintain preconfigured QoS sessions, the
  NSIS-tunnel-aware endpoints dynamically create and manage a
  corresponding tunnel QoS session for the end-to-end session.  Since



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  the initiation mode of both QoS sessions can be sender-initiated or
  receiver-initiated, to simplify the design, we require that the
  initiation mode of the tunnel QoS session follows that of the end-to-
  end QoS session.  In other words, the end-to-end QoS session and its
  corresponding tunnel QoS session are either both sender-initiated or
  both receiver-initiated.  To keep the handling mechanism consistent
  with the case for tunnels with preconfigured QoS sessions, the tunnel
  entry-point always initiates the mapping between the tunnel session
  and the end-to-end session.

  As the mapping initiator, the tunnel entry-point records the
  association between the end-to-end session and its corresponding
  tunnel session, both in tunnels with and without preconfigured QoS
  sessions.  This association serves two purposes, one for the
  signaling plane and the other for the data plane.  For the signaling
  plane, the association enables the tunnel entry-point to coordinate
  necessary interactions between the end-to-end and the tunnel QoS
  sessions, such as QoS adjustment in sender-initiated reservations.
  For the data plane, the association allows the tunnel entry-point to
  correctly encapsulate data flow packets according to the chosen
  tunnel Flow ID.  Since the tunnel Flow ID uses header fields that are
  visible inside the tunnel, the tunnel intermediate nodes can classify
  the data flow packets and apply appropriate QoS treatment.

  In addition to the tunnel entry-point recording the association
  between the end-to-end session and its corresponding tunnel session,
  the tunnel exit-point also needs to maintain the same association for
  similar reasons.  For the signaling plane, this association at the
  tunnel exit-point enables the interaction of the end-to-end and the
  tunnel QoS session such as QoS adjustment in receiver-initiated
  reservations.  For the data plane, this association tells the tunnel
  exit-point that the relevant data flow packets need to be
  decapsulated according to the corresponding tunnel Flow ID.

  In tunnels with preconfigured QoS sessions, the tunnel exit-point may
  also learn about the mapping information between the corresponding
  tunnel and end-to-end QoS sessions through preconfiguration as well.
  In tunnels without preconfigured QoS sessions, the tunnel exit-point
  knows the mapping between the corresponding tunnel and end-to-end QoS
  sessions through the NSIS signaling process that creates the tunnel
  QoS sessions inside the tunnel, with the help of appropriate QoS NSLP
  session-binding and message-binding mechanisms.

  One problem for NSIS operating over IP tunnels that dynamically
  create QoS sessions is that it involves two signaling sequences.  The
  outcome of the tunnel signaling session directly affects the outcome
  of the end-to-end signaling session.  Since the two signaling
  sessions overlap in time, there are circumstances when a tunnel



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  endpoint has to decide whether it should proceed with the end-to-end
  signaling session while it is still waiting for results of the tunnel
  session.  This problem can be addressed in two ways, namely
  sequential mode and parallel mode.  In sequential mode, end-to-end
  signaling pauses while it is waiting for results of tunnel signaling,
  and resumes upon receipt of the tunnel signaling outcome.  In
  parallel mode, end-to-end signaling continues outside the tunnel
  while tunnel signaling is still in process and its outcome is
  unknown.  The parallel mode may lead to reduced signaling delays if
  the QoS resources in the tunnel path are sufficient compared to the
  rest of the end-to-end path.  If the QoS resources in the tunnel path
  are more constraint than the rest of the end-to-end path, however,
  the parallel mode may lead to wasted end-to-end signaling or may
  necessitate renegotiation after the tunnel signaling outcome becomes
  available.  In those cases, the signaling flow of the parallel mode
  also tends to be complicated.  This document adopts a sequential mode
  approach for the two signaling sequences.

4.3.  Tunnel Flow ID for Different IP Tunneling Protocols

  A tunnel Flow ID identifies the end-to-end flow for packet
  classification within the tunnel.  The tunnel Flow ID is based on a
  set of tunnel header fields.  Different tunnel Flow IDs can be chosen
  for different tunneling mechanisms in order to minimize the
  classification overhead.  This document specifies the following Flow
  ID formats for the respective tunneling protocols.

  o  For IPv6 tunneling protocols (IPv6GEN), the tunnel Flow ID
     consists of the tunnel entry-point IPv6 address and the tunnel
     exit-point IPv6 address plus a unique IPv6 flow label [RFC3697].

  o  For IPsec tunnel mode (IPsec), the tunnel Flow ID contains the
     tunnel entry-point IP address and the tunnel exit-point IP address
     plus the Security Parameter Index (SPI).

  o  For all other tunneling protocols (GRE, GREIPv4, IPv4INIPv4,
     MINENC, IPv6INIPv4), the tunnel entry-point inserts an additional
     UDP header between the tunnel header and the original packet.  The
     Flow ID consists of the tunnel entry-point and tunnel exit-point
     IP addresses and the source port number in the additional UDP
     header.  The source port number is dynamically chosen by the
     tunnel entry-point and conveyed to the tunnel exit-point.  In
     these cases, it is especially important that the tunnel exit-point
     understands the additional UDP encapsulation, and therefore can
     correctly decapsulate both the normal tunnel header and the
     additional UDP header.  In other words, both tunnel endpoints need
     to be NSIS-tunnel-aware.




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  The above recommendations about choosing the tunnel Flow ID apply to
  dynamically created QoS tunnel sessions.  For preconfigured QoS
  tunnel sessions, the corresponding Flow ID is determined by the
  configuration mechanism itself.  For example, if the tunnel QoS is
  Diffserv based, the Diffserv Code Point (DSCP) field value may be
  used to identify the corresponding tunnel session.

5.  NSIS Operation over Tunnels with Preconfigured QoS Sessions

  When tunnel QoS is managed by preconfigured QoS sessions, both the
  tunnel entry-point and tunnel exit-point need to be configured with
  information about the Flow ID of the tunnel QoS session.  This allows
  the tunnel endpoints to correctly perform matching encapsulating and
  decapsulating operations.  The procedures of NSIS operating over
  tunnels with preconfigured QoS sessions depend on whether the end-to-
  end NSIS signaling is sender-initiated or receiver-initiated.  But in
  both cases, it is the tunnel entry-point that first creates the
  mapping between a tunnel session and an end-to-end session.

5.1.  Sender-initiated Reservation

  Figure 6 illustrates the signaling sequence when end-to-end signaling
  outside the tunnel is sender-initiated.  Upon receiving a RESERVE
  message from the sender, Tentry checks the tunnel QoS configuration,
  determines whether and how this end-to-end session can be mapped to a
  preconfigured tunnel session.  The mapping criteria are part of the
  preconfiguration and outside the scope of this document.  Tentry then
  tunnels the RESERVE message to Texit.  Texit forwards the RESERVE
  message to the receiver.  The receiver replies with a RESPONSE
  message that arrives at Texit, Tentry, and finally the sender.  If
  the RESPONSE message that Tentry receives confirms that the overall
  signaling is successful, Tentry starts to encapsulate all incoming
  packets of the data flow using the tunnel Flow ID corresponding to
  the mapped tunnel session.  Texit knows how to decapsulate the tunnel
  packets because it recognizes the mapped tunnel Flow ID based on
  information supplied during tunnel session preconfiguration.















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   Sender         Tentry          Tmid          Texit         Receiver

     |              |              |              |              |
     |   RESERVE    |              |              |              |
     +------------->|              |              |              |
     |              |           RESERVE           |              |
     |              +---------------------------->|              |
     |              |              |              |   RESERVE    |
     |              |              |              +------------->|
     |              |              |              |   RESPONSE   |
     |              |              |              |<-------------+
     |              |           RESPONSE          |              |
     |              |<----------------------------+              |
     |   RESPONSE   |              |              |              |
     |<-------------+              |              |              |
     |              |              |              |              |
     |              |              |              |              |

    Figure 6: Sender-Initiated End-to-End Session with Preconfigured
                           Tunnel QoS Sessions

5.2.  Receiver-Initiated Reservation

  Figure 7 shows the signaling sequence when end-to-end signaling
  outside the tunnel is receiver-initiated.  Upon receiving the first
  end-to-end Query message, Tentry examines the tunnel QoS
  configuration, then updates and tunnels the Query message to Texit.
  Texit decapsulates the QUERY message, processes it, and forwards it
  toward the receiver.  The receiver sends back a RESERVE message
  passing through Texit and arriving at Tentry.  Tentry decides on
  whether and how the QoS request for this end-to-end session can be
  mapped to a preconfigured tunnel session based on criteria outside
  the scope of this document.  Then, Tentry forwards the RESERVE
  message towards the sender.  The signaling continues until a RESPONSE
  message arrives at Tentry, Texit, and finally the receiver.  If the
  RESPONSE message that Tentry receives confirms that the overall
  signaling is successful, Tentry starts to encapsulate all incoming
  packets of the data flow using the tunnel Flow ID corresponding to
  the mapped tunnel session.  Similarly, Texit knows how to decapsulate
  the tunnel packets because it recognizes the mapped tunnel Flow ID
  based on information supplied during tunnel session preconfiguration.

  Since separate tunnel QoS signaling is not involved in preconfigured
  QoS tunnels, Figures 6 and 7 make the tunnel look like a single
  virtual link.  The signaling path simply skips all tunnel
  intermediate nodes.  However, both Tentry and Texit need to deploy
  the NSIS-tunnel-related functionalities described above, including
  acting on the end-to-end NSIS signaling messages based on tunnel QoS



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  status, mapping end-to-end and tunnel QoS sessions, and correctly
  encapsulating and decapsulating tunnel packets according to the
  tunnel protocol and the configured tunnel Flow ID.

   Sender         Tentry          Tmid          Texit         Receiver

     |              |              |              |              |
     |    QUERY     |              |              |              |
     +------------->|              |              |              |
     |              |            QUERY            |              |
     |              +---------------------------->|              |
     |              |              |              |    QUERY     |
     |              |              |              +------------->|
     |              |              |              |   RESERVE    |
     |              |              |              |<-------------+
     |              |           RESERVE           |              |
     |              |<----------------------------+              |
     |   RESERVE    |              |              |              |
     |<-------------+              |              |              |
     |   RESPONSE   |              |              |              |
     +------------->|              |              |              |
     |              |           RESPONSE          |              |
     |              +---------------------------->|              |
     |              |              |              |   RESPONSE   |
     |              |              |              +------------->|
     |              |              |              |              |
     |              |              |              |              |

   Figure 7: Receiver-Initiated End-to-End Session with Preconfigured
                           Tunnel QoS Sessions

6.  NSIS Operation over Tunnels with Dynamically Created QoS Sessions

  When there are no preconfigured tunnel QoS sessions, a tunnel can
  apply the same NSIS QoS signaling mechanism used for the end-to-end
  path to manage the QoS inside the tunnel.  The tunnel NSIS signaling
  involves only those NSIS nodes in the tunnel forwarding path.  The
  Flow IDs for the tunnel signaling are based on tunnel header fields.
  NSIS peer discovery messages inside the tunnel distinguish themselves
  using the tunnel header fields, which solves the problem for tunnel
  intermediate NSIS nodes to intercept signaling messages.

  When tunnel endpoints dynamically create tunnel QoS sessions, the
  initiation mode of the tunnel session always follows the initiation
  mode of the end-to-end session.  Specifically, when the end-to-end
  session is sender-initiated, the tunnel session should also be
  sender-initiated; when the end-to-end session is receiver-initiated,
  the tunnel session should also be receiver-initiated.



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  The tunnel entry-point conveys the corresponding tunnel Flow ID
  associated with an end-to-end session to the tunnel exit-point during
  the tunnel signaling process.  The tunnel entry-point also informs
  the exit-point of the binding between the corresponding tunnel
  session and end-to-end session through the BOUND_SESSION_ID QoS NSLP
  message object.  The reservation message dependencies between the
  tunnel session and end-to-end session are resolved using the MSG-ID
  and BOUND-MSG-ID objects of the QoS NSLP message binding mechanism.

6.1.  Sender-Initiated Reservation

  Figure 8 shows the typical messaging sequence of how NSIS operates
  over IP tunnels when both the end-to-end session and tunnel session
  are sender-initiated.  Tunnel signaling messages are distinguished
  from end-to-end messages by a prime symbol after the message name.
  The sender first sends an end-to-end RESERVE message (1) that arrives
  at Tentry.  Tentry chooses the tunnel Flow ID, creates the tunnel
  session, and associates the end-to-end session with the tunnel
  session.  Tentry then sends a tunnel RESERVE' message (2) matching
  the request of the end-to-end session towards Texit to reserve tunnel
  resources.  This RESERVE' message (2) includes a MSG-ID object that
  contains a randomly generated 128-bit MSG-ID.  Meanwhile, Tentry
  inserts a BOUND-MSG-ID object containing the same MSG-ID as well as a
  BOUND-SESSION-ID object containing the SESSION-ID of the tunnel
  session into the original RESERVE message, and sends this RESERVE
  message (3) towards Texit using normal tunnel encapsulation.  The
  Message_Binding_Type flags of both the MSG-ID and BOUND-MSG-ID
  objects in the RESERVE' and RESERVE messages (2, 3) are SET,
  indicating a bidirectional binding.  The tunnel RESERVE' message (2)
  is processed hop-by-hop inside the tunnel for the flow identified by
  the chosen tunnel Flow ID, while the end-to-end RESERVE message (3)
  passes through the tunnel intermediate nodes (Tmid) just like other
  tunneled packets.  These two messages could arrive at Texit in
  different orders, and the reaction of Texit in these different
  situations should combine the tunnel QoS message processing rules
  with the QoS NSLP processing principles for message binding
  [RFC5974], as illustrated below.

  The first possibility is shown in the example messaging flow of
  Figure 8, where the tunnel RESERVE' message (2), also known as the
  triggering message in QoS NSLP message binding terms, arrives first.
  Since the message binding is bidirectional, Texit records the MSG-ID
  of the RESERVE' message (2), enqueues it and starts a MsgIDWait timer
  waiting for the end-to-end RESERVE message (3), also known as the
  bound signaling message in QoS NSLP message binding terms.  The timer






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  Sender         Tentry         Tmid           Texit         Receiver

    |              |              |              |              |
    | RESERVE(1)   |              |              |              |
    +------------->|              |              |              |
    |              | RESERVE'(2)  |              |              |
    |              +=============>|              |              |
    |              |              | RESERVE'(2)  |              |
    |              |              +=============>|              |
    |              |          RESERVE(3)         |              |
    |              +---------------------------->|              |
    |              |              | RESPONSE'(4) |              |
    |              |              |<=============+              |
    |              | RESPONSE'(4) |              |              |
    |              |<=============+              |              |
    |              |              |              |  RESERVE(5)  |
    |              |              |              +------------->|
    |              |              |              | RESPONSE(6)  |
    |              |              |              |<-------------+
    |              |         RESPONSE(6)         |              |
    |              |<----------------------------+              |
    | RESPONSE(6)  |              |              |              |
    |<-------------+              |              |              |
    |              |              |              |              |
    |              |              |              |              |

    (1,5): RESERVE w/o BOUND-MSG-ID and BOUND-SESSION-ID
    (2): RESERVE' w/ MSG-ID
    (3): RESERVE w/ BOUND-MSG-ID and BOUND-SESSION-ID

  Figure 8: Sender-Initiated Reservation for Both End-to-End and Tunnel
                                Signaling

  value is set to the default retransmission timeout period
  QOSNSLP_REQUEST_RETRY.  When the end-to-end RESERVE message (3)
  arrives, Texit notices that there is an existing stored MSG-ID which
  matches the MSG-ID in the BOUND-MSG-ID object of the incoming RESERVE
  message (3).  Therefore, the message binding condition has been
  satisfied.  Texit resumes processing of the tunnel RESERVE' message
  (2), creates the reservation state for the tunnel session, and sends
  a tunnel RESPONSE' message (4) to Tentry.  At the same time, Texit
  checks the BOUND-SESSION-ID object of the end-to-end RESERVE message
  (3) and records the binding of the corresponding tunnel session with
  the end-to-end session.  Texit also updates the end-to-end RESERVE
  message based on the result of the tunnel session reservation,
  removes its tunnel BOUND-SESSION-ID and BOUND-MSG-ID object and
  forwards the end-to-end RESERVE message (5) along the path towards




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  the receiver.  When the receiver receives the end-to-end RESERVE
  message (5), it sends an end-to-end RESPONSE message (6) back to the
  sender.

  The second possibility is that the end-to-end RESERVE message arrives
  before the tunnel RESERVE' message at Texit.  In that case, Texit
  notices a BOUND-SESSION-ID object and a BOUND-MSG-ID object in the
  end-to-end RESERVE message, but realizes that the tunnel session does
  not exist yet.  So, Texit enqueues the RESERVE message and starts a
  MsgIDWait timer.  The timer value is set to the default
  retransmission timeout period QOSNSLP_REQUEST_RETRY.  When the
  corresponding tunnel RESERVE' message arrives with a MSG-ID matching
  that of the outstanding BOUND-MSG-ID object, the message binding
  condition is satisfied.  Texit sends a tunnel RESPONSE' message back
  to Tentry and updates the end-to-end RESERVE message by incorporating
  the result of the tunnel session reservation, as well as removing the
  tunnel BOUND-SESSION-ID and BOUND-MSG-ID objects.  Texit then
  forwards the end-to-end RESERVE message along the path towards the
  receiver.  When the receiver receives the end-to-end RESERVE message,
  it sends an end-to-end RESPONSE message back to the sender.

  Yet another possibility is that the tunnel RESERVE' message arrives
  at Texit first, but the end-to-end RESERVE message never arrives.  In
  that case, the MsgIDWait timer for the queued tunnel RESERVE' message
  will expire.  Texit should then send a tunnel RESPONSE' message back
  to Tentry indicating a reservation error has occurred, and discard
  the tunnel RESERVE' message.  The last possibility is that the end-
  to-end RESERVE message arrives at Texit first, but the tunnel
  RESERVE' message never arrives.  In that case, the MsgIDWait timer
  for the queued end-to-end RESERVE message will expire.  Texit should
  then treat this situation as a local reservation failure, and
  according to [RFC5974], Texit as a stateful QoS NSLP should generate
  an end-to-end RESPONSE message indicating RESERVE error to the
  sender.

  Once the end-to-end and the tunnel QoS session have both been
  successfully created and associated, the tunnel endpoints Tentry and
  Texit coordinate the signaling between the two sessions and make sure
  that adjustment or teardown of either session may trigger similar
  actions for the other session as necessary, by invoking appropriate
  signaling messages.

6.2.  Receiver-Initiated Reservation

  Figure 9 shows the typical messaging sequence of how NSIS signaling
  operates over IP tunnels when both end-to-end and tunnel sessions are
  receiver-initiated.  Upon receiving an end-to-end QUERY message (1)
  from the sender, Tentry chooses the tunnel Flow ID and sends a tunnel



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  Sender         Tentry          Tmid          Texit         Receiver

    |              |              |              |              |
    |   QUERY(1)   |              |              |              |
    +------------->|              |              |              |
    |              |  QUERY'(2)   |              |              |
    |              +=============>|              |              |
    |              |              |  QUERY'(2)   |              |
    |              |              +=============>|              |
    |              |              | RESPONSE'(3) |              |
    |              |              |<=============+              |
    |              | RESPONSE'(3) |              |              |
    |              |<=============+              |              |
    |              |           QUERY(4)          |              |
    |              +---------------------------->|              |
    |              |              |              |   QUERY(5)   |
    |              |              |              +------------->|
    |              |              |              |  RESERVE(6)  |
    |              |              |              |<-------------+
    |              |              | RESERVE'(7)  |              |
    |              |              |<=============+              |
    |              | RESERVE'(7)  |              |              |
    |              |<=============+              |              |
    |              |          RESERVE(8)         |              |
    |              |<----------------------------+              |
    |              | RESPONSE'(9) |              |              |
    |              +=============>|              |              |
    |              |              | RESPONSE'(9) |              |
    |              |              +=============>|              |
    | RESERVE(10)  |              |              |              |
    |<-------------+              |              |              |
    | RESPONSE(11) |              |              |              |
    +------------->|              |              |              |
    |              |         RESPONSE(11)        |              |
    |              +---------------------------->|              |
    |              |              |              | RESPONSE(11) |
    |              |              |              +------------->|
    |              |              |              |              |
    |              |              |              |              |
    (1), (5): QUERY w/ RESERVE-INIT
    (2): QUERY' w/ RII
    (4): QUERY w/ RESERVE-INIT and BOUND-SESSION-ID
    (6), (10): RESERVE w/o BOUND-SESSION-ID
    (7): RESERVE' w/ MSG-ID
    (8): RESERVE w/ BOUND-MSG-ID and BOUND-SESSION-ID

    Figure 9: Receiver-Initiated Reservation for Both End-to-end and
                            Tunnel Signaling



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  QUERY' message (2) matching the request of the end-to-end session
  towards Texit.  This tunnel QUERY' message (2) is meant to discover
  QoS characteristics of the tunnel path, rather than initiate an
  actual reservation.  Therefore, it includes a Request Identification
  Information (RII) object but does not set the RESERVE-INIT flag.  The
  tunnel QUERY' message (2) is processed hop-by-hop inside the tunnel
  for the flow identified by the tunnel Flow ID.  When Texit receives
  this tunnel QUERY' message (2), it replies with a corresponding
  tunnel RESPONSE' message (3) containing the tunnel path
  characteristics.  After receiving the tunnel RESPONSE' message (3),
  Tentry creates the tunnel session, generates an outgoing end-to-end
  QUERY message (4) considering the tunnel path characteristics,
  appends a tunnel BOUND-SESSION-ID object containing the tunnel
  SESSION-ID, and sends it toward Texit using normal tunnel
  encapsulation.  The end-to-end QUERY message (4) passes along tunnel
  intermediate nodes like other tunneled packets.  Upon receiving this
  end-to-end QUERY message (4), Texit notices the tunnel session
  binding, creates the tunnel session state, removes the tunnel BOUND-
  SESSION-ID object, and forwards the end-to-end QUERY message (5)
  further along the path.

  The end-to-end QUERY message (5) arrives at the receiver and triggers
  a RESERVE message (6).  When Texit receives the RESERVE message (6),
  it notices that the session is bound to a receiver-initiated tunnel
  session.  Therefore, Texit triggers a RESERVE' message (7) toward
  Tentry for the tunnel session reservation.  This tunnel RESERVE'
  message (7) includes a randomly generated 128-bit MSG-ID.  Meanwhile,
  Texit inserts a BOUND-MSG-ID object containing the same MSG-ID and a
  BOUND-SESSION-ID object containing the tunnel SESSION-ID into the
  end-to-end RESERVE message (8), and sends it towards Tentry using
  normal tunnel encapsulation.  The Message_Binding_Type flags of the
  MSG-ID and BOUND-MSG-ID objects in the RESERVE' and RESERVE messages
  (7,8) are SET, indicating a bidirectional binding.

  At Tentry, the tunnel RESERVE' message (7) and the end-to-end RESERVE
  message (8) could arrive in either order.  In a typical case shown in
  Figure 9, the tunnel RESERVE' message (7) arrives first.  Tentry then
  records the MSG-ID of the tunnel RESERVE' message (7) and starts a
  MsgIDWait timer.  When the end-to-end RESERVE message (8) with the
  BOUND-MSG-ID object containing the same MSG-ID arrives, the message
  binding condition is satisfied.  Tentry resumes processing of the
  tunnel RESERVE' message (7), creates the reservation state for the
  tunnel session, and sends a tunnel RESPONSE' message (9) to Texit.
  At the same time, Tentry creates the outgoing end-to-end RESERVE
  message (10) by incorporating results of the tunnel session
  reservation and removing the BOUND-SESSION-ID and BOUND-MSG-ID





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  objects, and forwards it along the path towards the sender.  When the
  sender receives the end-to-end RESERVE message (10), it sends an end-
  to-end RESPONSE message (11) back to the receiver.

  If the end-to-end RESERVE message arrives before the tunnel RESERVE'
  message at Tentry, or either of the two messages fails to arrive at
  Tentry, the processing rules at Tentry are similar to those of Texit
  in the situation discussed in Section 6.1.

  Once the end-to-end and the tunnel QoS session have both been
  successfully created and associated, the tunnel endpoints Tentry and
  Texit coordinate the signaling between the two sessions and make sure
  that adjustment or teardown of either session can trigger similar
  actions for the other session as necessary, by invoking appropriate
  signaling messages.

7.  NSIS-Tunnel Signaling Capability Discovery

  The mechanism of NSIS operating over IP tunnels requires the
  coordination of both tunnel endpoints in tasks such as special
  encapsulation and decapsulation of data flow packets according to the
  chosen tunnel Flow ID, as well as the possible creation and
  adjustment of the end-to-end and tunnel QoS sessions.  Therefore, one
  NSIS-tunnel-aware endpoint needs to know that the other tunnel
  endpoint is also NSIS-tunnel-aware before initiating this mechanism
  of NSIS operating over IP tunnels.  In some cases, especially for IP
  tunnels with preconfigured QoS sessions, an NSIS-tunnel-aware
  endpoint can learn about whether the other tunnel endpoint is also
  NSIS-tunnel-aware through preconfiguration.  In other cases where
  such preconfiguration is not available, the initiating NSIS-tunnel-
  aware endpoint may dynamically discover the other tunnel endpoint's
  capability through a QoS NSLP NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object defined
  in this section.

  The NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object is a zero-length object with a
  standard NSLP object header as shown in Figure 10.

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |A|B|r|r|         Type          |r|r|r|r|        Length         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

             Figure 10: NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL Object Format

  Type: NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL (0x015) from the shared NSLP object type
  space




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  Length: 0

  The bits marked 'A' and 'B' define the desired behavior for objects
  whose Type field is not recognized.  If a node does not recognize the
  NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object, the desired behavior is "Forward".
  That is, the object must be retained unchanged and forwarded as a
  result of message processing.  This is satisfied by setting 'AB' to
  '10'.

  The 'r' bit stands for 'reserved'.

  The NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object is included in a tunnel QUERY' or
  RESERVE' message by a tunnel endpoint that needs to learn about the
  other endpoint's capability for NSIS tunnel handling.  If the
  receiving tunnel endpoint is indeed NSIS-tunnel-aware, it recognizes
  this object and knows that the sending endpoint is NSIS-tunnel-aware.
  The receiving tunnel endpoint places the same object in a tunnel
  RESPONSE' message to inform the sending endpoint that it is also
  NSIS-tunnel-aware.  The use of the NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object in
  the cases of sender-initiated reservation and receiver-initiated
  reservation are as follows.

  First, assume that the end-to-end session is sender-initiated as in
  Figure 8, and the NSIS-tunnel-aware Tentry wants to discover the NSIS
  tunnel capability of Texit.  After receiving the first end-to-end
  RESERVE message (1), Tentry inserts an RII object and a
  NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object into the tunnel RESERVE' message (2)
  and sends it to Texit.  If Texit is NSIS-tunnel-aware, it learns from
  the NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object that Tentry is also NSIS-tunnel-
  aware and includes the same object into the tunnel RESPONSE' message
  (4) sent back to Tentry.

  Second, assume that the end-to-end session is receiver-initiated as
  in Figure 9, and the NSIS-tunnel-aware Tentry wants to discover the
  NSIS tunnel capability of Texit.  Upon receiving the first end-to-end
  QUERY message (1), Tentry inserts an RII object and a
  NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object in the tunnel QUERY' message (2) and
  sends it toward Texit.  If Texit is NSIS-tunnel-aware, it learns from
  the NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL object that Tentry is also NSIS-tunnel-
  aware and includes the same object tunnel RESPONSE' message (3) sent
  to Tentry.

8.  IANA Considerations

  This document defines a new object type called NODE_CAPABILITY_TUNNEL
  for QoS NSLP.  Its Type value (0x015) has been assigned by IANA.  The
  object format and the setting of the extensibility bits are defined
  in Section 7.



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9.  Security Considerations

  This NSIS and IP tunnel interoperation mechanism has two IPsec-
  related security implications.  First, NSIS messages may require per-
  hop processing within the IPsec tunnel, and that is potentially
  incompatible with IPsec.  A similar problem exists for RSVP
  interacting with IPsec, when the Router Alert option is used
  (Appendix A.1 of RFC 4302 [RFC4302]).  If this mechanism is indeed
  used for NSIS and IPsec tunnels, a so-called covert channel could
  exist where someone can create spurious NSIS signaling flows within
  the protected network in order to create signaling in the outside
  network, which then someone else is monitoring.  For highly secure
  networks, this would be seen as a way to smuggle information out of
  the network, and therefore this channel will need to be rate-limited.
  A similar covert channel rate-limit problem exists for using
  Differentiated Services (DS) or Explicit Congestion Notification
  (ECN) fields with IPsec (Section 5.1.2 of RFC 4301 [RFC4301]).

  Second, since the NSIS-tunnel-aware endpoint is responsible for
  adapting changes between the NSIS signaling both inside and outside
  the tunnel, there could be additional risks for an IPsec endpoint
  that is also an NSIS-tunnel-aware endpoint.  For example, security
  vulnerability (e.g., buffer overflow) on the NSIS stack of that IPsec
  tunnel endpoint may be exposed to the unprotected outside network.
  Nevertheless, it should also be noted that if any node along the
  signaling path is compromised, the whole end-to-end QoS signaling
  could be affected, whether or not the end-to-end path includes an
  IPsec tunnel.

  Several other documents discuss security issues for NSIS.  General
  threats for NSIS can be found in [RFC4081].  Security considerations
  for NSIS NTLP and QoS NSLP are discussed in [RFC5971] and [RFC5974],
  respectively.

10.  Acknowledgments

  The authors would like to thank Roland Bless, Francis Dupont, Lars
  Eggert, Adrian Farrel, Russ Housley, Georgios Karagiannis, Jukka
  Manner, Martin Rohricht, Peter Saint-Andre, Martin Stiemerling,
  Hannes Tschofenig, and other members of the NSIS working group for
  comments.  Thanks to Yaron Sheffer for pointing out the IPsec-related
  security considerations.









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11.  References

11.1.  Normative References

  [RFC2113]  Katz, D., "IP Router Alert Option", RFC 2113,
             February 1997.

  [RFC2473]  Conta, A. and S. Deering, "Generic Packet Tunneling in
             IPv6 Specification", RFC 2473, December 1998.

  [RFC2711]  Partridge, C. and A. Jackson, "IPv6 Router Alert Option",
             RFC 2711, October 1999.

  [RFC2746]  Terzis, A., Krawczyk, J., Wroclawski, J., and L. Zhang,
             "RSVP Operation Over IP Tunnels", RFC 2746, January 2000.

  [RFC3697]  Rajahalme, J., Conta, A., Carpenter, B., and S. Deering,
             "IPv6 Flow Label Specification", RFC 3697, March 2004.

  [RFC4080]  Hancock, R., Karagiannis, G., Loughney, J., and S. Van den
             Bosch, "Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS): Framework",
             RFC 4080, June 2005.

  [RFC4081]  Tschofenig, H. and D. Kroeselberg, "Security Threats for
             Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS)", RFC 4081, June 2005.

  [RFC5971]  Schulzrinne, H. and R. Hancock, "GIST: General Internet
             Signalling Transport", RFC 5971, October 2010.

  [RFC5974]  Manner, J., Karagiannis, G., and A. McDonald, "NSIS
             Signaling Layer Protocol (NSLP) for Quality-of-Service
             Signaling", RFC 5974, October 2010.

11.2.  Informative References

  [RFC1701]  Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D., and P. Traina, "Generic
             Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 1701, October 1994.

  [RFC1702]  Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D., and P. Traina, "Generic
             Routing Encapsulation over IPv4 networks", RFC 1702,
             October 1994.

  [RFC1853]  Simpson, W., "IP in IP Tunneling", RFC 1853, October 1995.

  [RFC2003]  Perkins, C., "IP Encapsulation within IP", RFC 2003,
             October 1996.





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  [RFC2004]  Perkins, C., "Minimal Encapsulation within IP", RFC 2004,
             October 1996.

  [RFC2205]  Braden, B., Zhang, L., Berson, S., Herzog, S., and S.
             Jamin, "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1
             Functional Specification", RFC 2205, September 1997.

  [RFC2784]  Farinacci, D., Li, T., Hanks, S., Meyer, D., and P.
             Traina, "Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 2784,
             March 2000.

  [RFC4213]  Nordmark, E. and R. Gilligan, "Basic Transition Mechanisms
             for IPv6 Hosts and Routers", RFC 4213, October 2005.

  [RFC4301]  Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the
             Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, December 2005.

  [RFC4302]  Kent, S., "IP Authentication Header", RFC 4302,
             December 2005.

  [RFC4303]  Kent, S., "IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP)",
             RFC 4303, December 2005.

  [RFC5944]  Perkins, C., Ed., "IP Mobility Support for IPv4, Revised",
             RFC 5944, November 2010.


























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Authors' Addresses

  Charles Shen
  Columbia University
  Department of Computer Science
  1214 Amsterdam Avenue, MC 0401
  New York, NY  10027
  USA

  Phone: +1 212 854 3109
  EMail: [email protected]


  Henning Schulzrinne
  Columbia University
  Department of Computer Science
  1214 Amsterdam Avenue, MC 0401
  New York, NY  10027
  USA

  Phone: +1 212 939 7004
  EMail: [email protected]


  Sung-Hyuck Lee
  Convergence Technologies & Standardization Lab
  Samsung Information System America, INC.
  95 West Plumeria Drive
  San Jose, CA  95134
  USA

  Phone: 1-408-544-5809
  EMail: [email protected]


  Jong Ho Bang
  SAMSUNG Advanced Institute of Technology
  San 14-1, Nongseo-ri, Giheung-eup
  Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do  449-712
  South Korea

  Phone: +82 31 280 9585
  EMail: [email protected]








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