Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) D. Papadimitriou

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) D. Papadimitriou
Request for Comments: 6001 M. Vigoureux
Updates: 4202, 4203, 4206, 4874, 4974, 5307 Alcatel-Lucent
Category: Standards Track K. Shiomoto
ISSN: 2070-1721 NTT
D. Brungard
ATT
JL. Le Roux
France Telecom
October 2010

Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) Protocol Extensions
for Multi-Layer and Multi-Region Networks (MLN/MRN)

Abstract

There are specific requirements for the support of networks
comprising Label Switching Routers (LSRs) participating in different
data plane switching layers controlled by a single Generalized Multi-
Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) control plane instance, referred to
as GMPLS Multi-Layer Networks / Multi-Region Networks (MLN/MRN).

This document defines extensions to GMPLS routing and signaling
protocols so as to support the operation of GMPLS Multi-Layer /
Multi-Region Networks. It covers the elements of a single GMPLS
control plane instance controlling multiple Label Switched Path (LSP)
regions or layers within a single Traffic Engineering (TE) domain.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

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). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in 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/rfc6001.

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Copyright Notice

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document authors. All rights reserved.

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not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
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RFC 6001 GMPLS Protocol Extensions for MLN/MRN October 2010

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................3
1.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................4
2. Summary of the Requirements and Evaluation ......................4
3. Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD) ...............5
3.1. Overview ...................................................5
3.2. Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD) ..........6
4. Multi-Region Signaling ..........................................9
4.1. XRO Subobjects ............................................10
5. Virtual TE Link ................................................12
5.1. Edge-to-Edge Association ..................................13
5.2. Soft Forwarding Adjacency (Soft FA) .......................16
6. Backward Compatibility .........................................18
7. Security Considerations ........................................18
8. IANA Considerations ............................................18
8.1. RSVP ......................................................18
8.2. OSPF ......................................................20
8.3. IS-IS .....................................................20
9. References .....................................................20
9.1. Normative References ......................................20
9.2. Informative References ....................................22
Acknowledgments....................................................23
Contributors ......................................................23

1. Introduction

Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) [RFC3945] extends
MPLS to handle multiple switching technologies: packet switching
(PSC), Layer 2 switching (L2SC), Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
Switching, wavelength switching (LSC) and fiber switching (FSC). A
GMPLS switching type (PSC, TDM, etc.) describes the ability of a node
to forward data of a particular data plane technology, and uniquely
identifies a control plane LSP region. LSP regions are defined in
[RFC4206]. A network comprised of multiple switching types (e.g.,
PSC and TDM) controlled by a single GMPLS control plane instance is
called a Multi-Region Network (MRN).

A data plane layer is a collection of network resources capable of
terminating and/or switching data traffic of a particular format.
For example, LSC, TDM VC-11, and TDM VC-4-64c represent three
different layers. A network comprising transport nodes participating
in different data plane switching layers controlled by a single GMPLS
control plane instance is called a Multi-Layer Network (MLN).

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The applicability of GMPLS to multiple switching technologies
provides the unified control and operations for both LSP provisioning
and recovery. This document covers the elements of a single GMPLS
control plane instance controlling multiple layers within a given TE
domain. A TE domain is defined as group of Label Switching Routers
(LSRs) that enforces a common TE policy. A Control Plane (CP)
instance can serve one, two, or more layers. Other possible
approaches, such as having multiple CP instances serving disjoint
sets of layers, are outside the scope of this document.

The next sections provide the procedural aspects in terms of routing
and signaling for such environments as well as the extensions
required to instrument GMPLS to provide the capabilities for MLN/MRN
unified control. The rationales and requirements for Multi-
Layer/Region networks are set forth in [RFC5212]. These requirements
are evaluated against GMPLS protocols in [RFC5339] and several areas
where GMPLS protocol extensions are required are identified.

This document defines GMPLS routing and signaling extensions so as to
cover GMPLS MLN/MRN requirements.

1.1. Conventions Used in This Document

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

In addition, the reader is assumed to be familiar with [RFC3945],
[RFC3471], [RFC4201], [RFC4202], [RFC4203], [RFC4206], and [RFC5307].

2. Summary of the Requirements and Evaluation

As identified in [RFC5339], most MLN/MRN requirements rely on
mechanisms and procedures (such as local procedures and policies, or
specific TE mechanisms and algorithms) that are outside the scope of
the GMPLS protocols, and thus do not require any GMPLS protocol
extensions.

Four areas for extensions of GMPLS protocols and procedures have been
identified in [RFC5339]:

o GMPLS routing extensions for the advertisement of the internal
adjustment capability of hybrid nodes. See Section 3.2.2 of
[RFC5339].

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o GMPLS signaling extensions for constrained multi-region signaling
(Switching Capability inclusion/exclusion). See Section 3.2.1 of
[RFC5339]. An additional eXclude Route Object (XRO) Label
subobject is also defined since it was absent from [RFC4874].

o GMPLS signaling extensions for the setup/deletion of virtual TE
links (as well as exact trigger for its actual provisioning). See
Section 3.1.1.2 of [RFC5339].

o GMPLS routing and signaling extensions for graceful TE link
deletion. See Section 3.1.1.3 of [RFC5339].

The first three requirements are addressed in Sections 3, 4, and 5 of
this document, respectively. The fourth requirement is addressed in
[RFC5710] with additional context provided by [RFC5817].

3. Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD)

In the MRN context, nodes that have at least one interface that
supports more than one switching capability are called hybrid nodes
[RFC5212]. The logical composition of a hybrid node contains at
least two distinct switching elements that are interconnected by
"internal links" to provide adjustment between the supported
switching capabilities. These internal links have finite capacities
that MUST be taken into account when computing the path of a multi-
region TE-LSP. The advertisement of the internal adjustment
capability is required as it provides critical information when
performing multi-region path computation.

3.1. Overview

In an MRN environment, some LSRs could contain multiple switching
capabilities, such as PSC and TDM or PSC and LSC, all under the
control of a single GMPLS instance.

These nodes, hosting multiple Interface Switching Capabilities (ISCs)
[RFC4202], are required to hold and advertise resource information on
link states and topology, just like other nodes (hosting a single
ISC). They may also have to consider some portions of internal node
resources use to terminate hierarchical LSPs, since in circuit-
switching technologies (such as TDM, LSC, and FSC) LSPs require the
use of resources allocated in a discrete manner (as predetermined by
the switching type). For example, a node with PSC+LSC hierarchical
switching capability can switch a lambda LSP, but cannot terminate
the Lambda LSP if there is no available (i.e., not already in use)
adjustment capability between the LSC and the PSC switching
components. Another example occurs when L2SC (Ethernet) switching
can be adapted in the Link Access Procedure-SDH (LAPS) X.86 and

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Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) for instance, before reaching the TDM
switching matrix. Similar circumstances can occur, for example, if a
switching fabric that supports both PSC and L2SC functionalities is
assembled with LSC interfaces enabling "lambda" encoding. In the
switching fabric, some interfaces can terminate Lambda LSPs and
perform frame (or cell) switching whilst other interfaces can
terminate Lambda LSPs and perform packet switching.

Therefore, within multi-region networks, the advertisement of the so-
called adjustment capability to terminate LSPs (not the interface
capability since the latter can be inferred from the bandwidth
available for each switching capability) provides the information to
take into account when performing multi-region path computation.
This concept enables a node to discriminate the remote nodes (and
thus allows their selection during path computation) with respect to
their adjustment capability, e.g., to terminate LSPs at the PSC or
LSC level.

Hence, we introduce the capability of discriminating the (internal)
adjustment capability from the (interface) switching capability by
defining an Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD).

A more detailed problem statement can be found in [RFC5339].

3.2. Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD)

The Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD) provides the
information for the forwarding/switching capability.

Note that the addition of the IACD as a TE link attribute does not
modify the format of the Interface Switching Capability Descriptor
(ISCD) defined in [RFC4202], and does not change how the ISCD sub-TLV
is carried in the routing protocols or how it is processed when it is
received [RFC4201], [RFC4203].

The receiving LSR uses its Link State Database to determine the
IACD(s) of the far end of the link. Different Interface Adjustment
Capabilities at two ends of a TE link are allowed.

3.2.1. OSPF

In OSPF, the IACD sub-TLV is defined as an optional sub-TLV of the TE
Link TLV (Type 2, see [RFC3630]), with Type 25 and variable length.

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The IACD sub-TLV format is defined as follows:

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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Lower SC | Lower Encoding| Upper SC | Upper Encoding|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 2 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 3 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 4 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 5 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 6 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Max LSP Bandwidth at priority 7 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Adjustment Capability-specific information |
| (variable) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Lower Switching Capability (SC) field (byte 1) - 8 bits

Indicates the lower switching capability associated with the
Lower Encoding field (byte 2). The value of the Lower
Switching Capability field MUST be set to the value of
Switching Capability of the ISCD sub-TLV advertised for this TE
link. If multiple ISCD sub-TLVs are advertised for that TE
link, the Lower Switching Capability (SC) value MUST be set to
the value of SC to which the adjustment capacity is associated.

Lower Encoding (byte 2) - 8 bits

Contains one of the LSP Encoding Type values specified in
Section 3.1.1 of [RFC3471] and updates.

Upper Switching Capability (SC) field (byte 3) - 8 bits

Indicates the upper switching capability. The Upper Switching
Capability field MUST be set to one of the values defined in
[RFC4202].

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Upper Encoding (byte 4) - 8 bits

Set to the encoding of the available adjustment capacity and to
0xFF when the corresponding SC value has no access to the wire,
i.e., there is no ISC sub-TLV for this upper switching
capability. The adjustment capacity is the set of resources
associated to the upper switching capability.

Max LSP Bandwidth

The Maximum LSP Bandwidth is encoded as a list of eight 4-octet
fields in the IEEE floating point format [IEEE], with priority
0 first and priority 7 last. The units are bytes per second.
Processing MUST follow the rules specified in [RFC4202].

The Adjustment Capability-specific information - variable

This field is defined so as to leave the possibility for future
addition of technology-specific information associated to the
adjustment capability.

Other fields MUST be processed as specified in [RFC4202] and
[RFC4203].

The bandwidth values provide an indication of the resources still
available to perform insertion/extraction for a given adjustment at a
given priority (resource pool concept: set of shareable available
resources that can be assigned dynamically).

Multiple IACD sub-TLVs MAY be present within a given TE Link TLV.

The presence of the IACD sub-TLV as part of the TE Link TLV does not
modify the format/messaging and the processing associated to the ISCD
sub-TLV defined in [RFC4203].

3.2.2. IS-IS

In IS-IS, the IACD sub-TLV is an optional sub-TLV of the Extended IS
Reachability TLV (see [RFC5305]) with Type 27.

The IACD sub-TLV format is identical to the OSPF sub-TLV format
defined in Section 3.2.1. The fields of the IACD sub-TLV have the
same processing and interpretation rules as defined in Section 3.2.1.

Multiple IACD sub-TLVs MAY be present within a given extended IS
reachability TLV.

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The presence of the IACD sub-TLV as part of the extended IS
reachability TLV does not modify format/messaging and processing
associated to the ISCD sub-TLV defined in [RFC5307].

4. Multi-Region Signaling

Section 6.2 of [RFC4206] specifies that when a region boundary node
receives a Path message, the node determines whether or not it is at
the edge of an LSP region with respect to the Explicit Route Object
(ERO) carried in the message. If the node is at the edge of a
region, it must then determine the other edge of the region with
respect to the Explicit Route Object (ERO), using the IGP database.
The node then extracts from the ERO the sub-sequence of hops from
itself to the other end of the region.

The node then compares the sub-sequence of hops with all existing
Forwarding Agency LSPs (FA-LSPs) originated by the node:

o If a match is found, that FA-LSP has enough unreserved bandwidth
for the LSP being signaled, and the Generalized PID (G-PID) of the
FA-LSP is compatible with the G-PID of the LSP being signaled, the
node uses that FA-LSP as follows. The Path message for the
original LSP is sent to the egress of the FA-LSP. The previous hop
(PHOP) in the message is the address of the node at the head-end of
the FA-LSP. Before sending the Path message, the ERO in that
message is adjusted by removing the subsequence of the ERO that
lies in the FA-LSP, and replacing it with just the endpoint of the
FA-LSP.

o If no existing FA-LSP is found, the node sets up a new FA-LSP.
That is, it initiates a new LSP setup just for the FA-LSP.

Note: compatible G-PID implies that traffic can be processed by
both ends of the FA-LSP without dropping traffic after its
establishment.

Applying the procedure of [RFC4206] in an MRN environment MAY lead to
the setup of single-hop FA-LSPs between each pair of nodes.
Therefore, considering that the path computation is able to take into
account richness of information with regard to the SC available on
given nodes belonging to the path, it is consistent to provide enough
signaling information to indicate the SC to be used and over which
link. Particularly, in case a TE link has multiple SCs advertised as
part of its ISCD sub-TLVs, an ERO does not provide a mechanism to
select a particular SC.

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In order to limit the modifications to existing RSVP-TE procedures
([RFC3473] and referenced), this document defines a new subobject of
the eXclude Route Object (XRO), see [RFC4874], called the Switching
Capability subobject. This subobject enables (when desired) the
explicit identification of at least one switching capability to be
excluded from the resource selection process described above.

Including this subobject as part of the XRO that explicitly indicates
which SCs have to be excluded (before initiating the procedure
described here above) over a specified TE link, solves the ambiguous
choice among SCs that are potentially used along a given path and
give the possibility to optimize resource usage on a multi-region
basis. Note that implicit SC inclusion is easily supported by
explicitly excluding other SCs (e.g., to include LSC, it is required
to exclude PSC, L2SC, TDM, and FSC).

The approach followed here is to concentrate exclusions in XRO and
inclusions in ERO. Indeed, the ERO specifies the topological
characteristics of the path to be signaled. Usage of Explicit
Exclusion Route Subobjects (EXRSs) would also lead in the exclusion
over certain portions of the LSP during the FA-LSP setup. Thus, it
is more suited to extend generality of the elements excluded by the
XRO but also prevent complex consistency checks as well as
transpositions between EXRS and XRO at FA-LSP head-ends.

4.1. XRO Subobjects

The contents of an EXCLUDE_ROUTE object defined in [RFC4874] are a
series of variable-length data items called subobjects.

This document defines the Switching Capability (SC) subobject of the
XRO (Type 35), its encoding, and processing. It also complements the
subobjects defined in [RFC4874] with a Label subobject (Type 3).

4.1.1. SC Subobject

XRO subobject Type 35: Switching Capability

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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|L| Type=35 | Length | Attribute | Switching Cap |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

L (1 bit)

0 indicates that the attribute specified MUST be excluded.

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1 indicates that the attribute specified SHOULD be avoided.

Type (7 bits)

The Type of the XRO SC subobject is 35.

Length (8 bits)

The total length of the subobject in bytes (including the Type
and Length fields). The Length of the XRO SC subobject is 4.

Attribute (8 bits)

0 reserved value.

1 indicates that the specified SC SHOULD be excluded or avoided
with respect to the preceding numbered (Type 1 or Type 2) or
unnumbered interface (Type) subobject.

Switching Cap (8 bits)

Switching Capability value to be excluded.

The Switching Capability subobject MUST follow the set of one or more
numbered or unnumbered interface subobjects to which this subobject
refers.

In the case of a loose-hop ERO subobject, the XRO subobject MUST
precede the loose-hop subobject identifying the tail-end
node/interface of the traversed region(s).

4.1.2. Label Subobject

The encoding of the XRO Label subobject is identical to the Label ERO
subobject defined in [RFC3473] with the exception of the L bit. The
XRO Label subobject is defined as follows:

XRO Subobject Type 3: Label Subobject

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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|L| Type=3 | Length |U| Reserved | C-Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Label |
| ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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L (1 bit)

0 indicates that the attribute specified MUST be excluded.

1 indicates that the attribute specified SHOULD be avoided.

Type (7 bits)

The Type of the XRO Label subobject is 3.

Length (8 bits)

The total length of the subobject in bytes (including the Type
and Length fields). The Length is always divisible by 4.

U (1 bit)

See [RFC3471].

C-Type (8 bits)

The C-Type of the included Label Object. Copied from the Label
Object (see [RFC3471]).

Label

See [RFC3471].

XRO Label subobjects MUST follow the numbered or unnumbered interface
subobjects to which they refer, and, when present, MUST also follow
the Switching Capability subobject.

When XRO Label subobjects are following the Switching Capability
subobject, the corresponding label values MUST be compatible with the
SC capability to be explicitly excluded.

5. Virtual TE Link

A virtual TE link is defined as a TE link between two upper-layer
nodes that is not associated with a fully provisioned FA-LSP in a
lower layer [RFC5212]. A virtual TE link is advertised as any TE
link, following the rules in [RFC4206] defined for fully provisioned
TE links. A virtual TE link represents thus the potentiality to set
up an FA-LSP in the lower layer to support the TE link that has been
advertised. In particular, the flooding scope of a virtual TE link
is within an IGP area, as is the case for any TE link.

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Two techniques can be used for the setup, operation, and maintenance
of virtual TE links. The corresponding GMPLS protocols extensions
are described in this section. The procedures described in this
section complement those defined in [RFC4206] and [HIER-BIS].

5.1. Edge-to-Edge Association

This approach, that does not require state maintenance on transit
LSRs, relies on extensions to the GMPLS RSVP-TE Call procedure (see
[RFC4974]). This technique consists of exchanging identification and
TE attributes information directly between TE link endpoints through
the establishment of a call between terminating LSRs. These TE link
endpoints correspond to the LSP head-end and tail-end points of the
LSPs that will be established. The endpoints MUST belong to the same
(LSP) region.

Once the call is established, the resulting association populates the
local Traffic Engineering DataBase (TEDB) and the resulting virtual
TE link is advertised as any other TE link. The latter can then be
used to attract traffic. When an upper-layer/region LSP tries to
make use of this virtual TE link, one or more FA LSPs MUST be
established using the procedures defined in [RFC4206] to make the
virtual TE link "real" and allow it to carry traffic by nesting the
upper-layer/region LSP.

In order to distinguish usage of such call from the call and
associated procedures defined in [RFC4974], a CALL_ATTRIBUTES object
is introduced.

5.1.1. CALL_ATTRIBUTES Object

The CALL_ATTRIBUTES object is used to signal attributes required in
support of a call, or to indicate the nature or use of a call. It is
modeled on the LSP_ATTRIBUTES object defined in [RFC5420]. The
CALL_ATTRIBUTES object MAY also be used to report call operational
state on a Notify message.

The CALL_ATTRIBUTES object class is 202 of the form 11bbbbbb. This
C-Num value (see [RFC2205], Section 3.10) ensures that LSRs that do
not recognize the object pass it on transparently.

One C-Type is defined, C-Type = 1 for Call Attributes. This object
is OPTIONAL and MAY be placed on Notify messages to convey additional
information about the desired attributes of the call.

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CALL_ATTRIBUTES class = 202, C-Type = 1

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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
// Call Attributes TLVs //
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The Call Attributes TLVs are encoded as described in Section 5.1.3.

5.1.2. Processing

If an egress (or intermediate) LSR does not support the object, it
forwards it unexamined and unchanged. This facilitates the exchange
of attributes across legacy networks that do not support this new
object.

5.1.3. Call Attributes TLVs

Attributes carried by the CALL_ATTRIBUTES object are encoded within
TLVs named Call Attributes TLVs. One or more Call Attributes TLVs
MAY be present in each object.

There are no ordering rules for Call Attributes TLVs, and no
interpretation SHOULD be placed on the order in which these TLVs are
received.

Each Call Attributes TLV carried by the CALL_ATTRIBUTES object is
encoded as follows:

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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
// Value //
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Type

The identifier of the TLV.

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Length

Indicates the total length of the TLV in octets. That is, the
combined length of the Type, Length, and Value fields, i.e.,
four plus the length of the Value field in octets.

The entire TLV MUST be padded with between zero and three
trailing zeros to make it four-octet aligned. The Length field
does not count any padding.

Value

The data field for the TLV padded as described above.

Assignment of Call Attributes TLV types MUST follow the rules
specified in Section 8 (IANA Considerations).

5.1.4. Call Attributes Flags TLV

The Call Attributes TLV of Type 1 defines the Call Attributes Flags
TLV. The Call Attributes Flags TLV MAY be present in a
CALL_ATTRIBUTES object.

The Call Attributes Flags TLV value field is an array of units of 32
flags numbered from the most significant bit as bit zero. The Length
field for this TLV MUST therefore always be a multiple of 4 bytes,
regardless of the number of bits carried and no padding is required.

Unassigned bits are considered reserved and MUST be set to zero on
transmission by the originator of the object. Bits not contained in
the Call Attributes Flags TLV MUST be assumed to be set to zero. If
the Call Attributes Flags TLV is absent, either because it is not
contained in the CALL_ATTRIBUTES object or because this object is
itself absent, all processing MUST be performed as though the bits
were present and set to zero. In other terms, assigned bits that are
not present either because the Call Attributes Flags TLV is
deliberately foreshortened or because the TLV is not included MUST be
treated as though they are present and are set to zero.

5.1.5. Call Inheritance Flag

This document introduces a specific Call Inheritance Flag at position
bit 0 (most significant bit) in the Call Attributes Flags TLV. This
flag indicates that the association initiated between the endpoints
belonging to a call results into a (virtual) TE link advertisement.

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The Call Inheritance Flag MUST be set to 1 in order to indicate that
the established association is to be translated into a TE link
advertisement. The value of this flag SHALL by default be set to 1.
Setting this flag to 0 results in a hidden TE link or in deleting the
corresponding TE link advertisement (by setting the corresponding
Opaque LSA Age to MaxAge) if the association had been established
with this flag set to 1. In the latter case, the corresponding FA-
LSP SHOULD also be torn down to prevent unused resources.

The Notify message used for establishing the association is defined
as per [RFC4974]. Additionally, the Notify message MUST carry an
LSP_TUNNEL_INTERFACE_ID Object, that allows identifying unnumbered
FA-LSPs ([RFC3477], [RFC4206], [HIER-BIS]) and numbered FA-LSPs
([RFC4206], [HIER-BIS]).

5.2. Soft Forwarding Adjacency (Soft FA)

The Soft Forwarding Adjacency (Soft FA) approach consists of setting
up the FA LSP at the control plane level without actually committing
resources in the data plane. This means that the corresponding LSP
exists only in the control plane domain. Once such an FA is
established, the corresponding TE link can be advertised following
the procedures described in [RFC4206].

There are two techniques to set up Soft FAs:

o The first one consists in setting up the FA LSP by precluding
resource commitment during its establishment. These are known as
pre-planned LSPs.

o The second technique consists in making use of path-provisioned
LSPs only. In this case, there is no associated resource demand
during the LSP establishment. This can be considered as the RSVP-
TE equivalent of the Null service type specified in [RFC2997].

5.2.1. Pre-Planned LSP Flag

The LSP ATTRIBUTES object and Attributes Flags TLV are defined in
[RFC5420]. The present document defines a new flag, the Pre-Planned
LSP flag, in the existing Attributes Flags TLV (numbered as Type 1).

The position of this flag is bit 6 in accordance with IANA
assignment. This flag, part of the Attributes Flags TLV, follows
general processing of [RFC5420] for LSP_REQUIRED_ATTRIBUTE object.
That is, LSRs that do not recognize the object reject the LSP setup
effectively saying that they do not support the attributes requested.
Indeed, the newly defined attribute requires examination at all
transit LSRs along the LSP being established.

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The Pre-Planned LSP flag can take one of the following values:

o When set to 0, this means that the LSP MUST be fully provisioned.
Absence of this flag (hence corresponding TLV) is therefore
compliant with the signaling message processing per [RFC3473]).

o When set to 1, this means that the LSP MUST be provisioned in the
control plane only.

If an LSP is established with the Pre-Planned flag set to 1, no
resources are committed at the data plane level.

The operation of committing data plane resources occurs by re-
signaling the same LSP with the Pre-Planned flag set to 0. It is
RECOMMENDED that no other modifications are made to other RSVP
objects during this operation. That is each intermediate node,
processing a flag transiting from 1 to 0 shall only be concerned with
the commitment of data plane resources and no other modification of
the LSP properties and/or attributes.

If an LSP is established with the Pre-Planned flag set to 0, it MAY
be re-signaled by setting the flag to 1.

5.2.2. Path Provisioned LSPs

There is a difference between an LSP that is established with 0
bandwidth (path provisioning) and an LSP that is established with a
certain bandwidth value not committed at the data plane level (i.e.,
pre-planned LSP).

Mechanisms for provisioning (pre-planned or not) LSP with 0 bandwidth
is straightforward for PSC LSP: in the SENDER_TSPEC/FLOWSPEC object,
the Peak Data Rate field of IntServ objects (see [RFC2210]) MUST be
set to 0. For L2SC LSP: the Committed Information Rate (CIR), Excess
Information Rate (EIR), Committed Burst Size (CBS), and Excess Burst
Size (EBS) values MUST be set to 0 in the Type 2 sub-TLV of the
Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV. In both cases, upon LSP resource
commitment, actual traffic parameter values are used to perform
corresponding resource reservation.

However, mechanisms for provisioning (pre-planned or not) a TDM or
LSC LSP with 0 bandwidth is currently not possible because the
exchanged label value is tightly coupled with resource allocation
during LSP signaling (e.g., see [RFC4606] for a SONET/SDH LSP). For
TDM and LSC LSP, a NULL Label value is used to prevent resource
allocation at the data plane level. In these cases, upon LSP
resource commitment, actual label value exchange is performed to
commit allocation of timeslots/ wavelengths.

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6. Backward Compatibility

New objects and procedures defined in this document are running
within a given TE domain, defined as group of LSRs that enforces a
common TE policy. Thus, the extensions defined in this document are
expected to run in the context of a consistent TE policy.
Specification of a consistent TE policy is outside the scope of this
document.

In such TE domains, we distinguish between edge LSRs and intermediate
LSRs. Edge LSRs MUST be able to process Call Attributes as defined
in Section 5.1 if this is the method selected for creating edge-to-
edge associations. In that domain, intermediate LSRs are by
definition transparent to the Call processing.

In case the Soft FA method is used for the creation of virtual TE
links, edge and intermediate LSRs MUST support processing of the LSP
ATTRIBUTE object per Section 5.2.

7. Security Considerations

This document does not introduce any new security considerations from
the ones already detailed in [RFC5920] that describes the MPLS and
GMPLS security threats, the related defensive techniques, and the
mechanisms for detection and reporting. Indeed, the applicability of
the proposed GMPLS extensions is limited to single TE domain. Such a
domain is under the authority of a single administrative entity. In
this context, multiple switching layers comprised within such TE
domain are under the control of a single GMPLS control plane
instance.

Nevertheless, Call initiation, as depicted in Section 5.1, MUST
strictly remain under control of the TE domain administrator. To
prevent any abuse of Call setup, edge nodes MUST ensure isolation of
their call controller (i.e., the latter is not reachable via external
TE domains). To further prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, security
associations MUST be established between edge nodes initiating and
terminating calls. For this purpose, Internet Key Exchange (IKE)
protocol [RFC5996] MUST be used for performing mutual authentication
and establishing and maintaining these security associations.

8. IANA Considerations

8.1. RSVP

IANA has made the following assignments in the "Class Names, Class
Numbers, and Class Types" section of the "RSVP PARAMETERS" registry
available from http://www.iana.org.

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This document introduces a new class named CALL_ATTRIBUTES, which has
been created in the 11bbbbbb range with the following definition:

Class Number Class Name Reference
------------ ----------------------- ---------
202 CALL ATTRIBUTES [RFC6001]

Class Type (C-Type):

1 Call Attributes [RFC6001]

IANA has established a "Call Attributes TLV" registry. The following
types are defined:

TLV Value Name Reference
--------- ------------------------- ---------
0 Reserved [RFC6001]
1 Call Attributes Flags TLV [RFC6001]

The values should be allocated based on the following allocation
policy as defined in [RFC5226].

Range Registration Procedures
----- ------------------------
0-32767 RFC Required
32768-65535 Reserved for Private Use

IANA has established a "Call Attributes Flags" registry. The
following flags are defined:

Bit Number 32-bit Value Name Reference
---------- ------------ --------------------- ---------
0 0x80000000 Call Inheritance Flag [RFC6001]

The values should be allocated based on the "RFC Required" policy as
defined in [RFC5226].

This document introduces a new Flag in the Attributes Flags TLV
defined in [RFC5420]:

Bit Number Name Reference
---------- -------------------- ---------
6 Pre-Planned LSP Flag [RFC6001]

This document introduces two new subobjects for the EXCLUDE_ROUTE
object [RFC4874], C-Type 1.

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Subobject Type Subobject Description
-------------- -------------------------
3 Label
35 Switching Capability (SC)

8.2. OSPF

IANA maintains the "Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) Traffic
Engineering TLVs" registries including the "Types for sub-TLVs of TE
link TLV (Value 2)" registry.

This document defines the following sub-TLV of TE link TLV (Value 2).

Value Sub-TLV
----- -------------------------------------------------
25 Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD)

8.3. IS-IS

This document defines the following new sub-TLV type of top-level TLV
22 that has been reflected in the ISIS sub-TLV registry for TLV 22,
141, and 222:

Type Description Length
---- ------------------------------------------------- ------
27 Interface Adjustment Capability Descriptor (IACD) Var.

9. References

9.1. Normative References

[IEEE] IEEE, "IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point
Arithmetic", Standard 754-1985, 1985.

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

[RFC2210] Wroclawski, J., "The Use of RSVP with IETF Integrated
Services", RFC 2210, September 1997.

[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

[RFC2997] Bernet, Y., Smith, A., and B. Davie, "Specification of the
Null Service Type", RFC 2997, November 2000.

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[RFC3471] Berger, L., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Functional Description", RFC
3471, January 2003.

[RFC3473] Berger, L., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Resource ReserVation Protocol-
Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) Extensions", RFC 3473,
January 2003.

[RFC3477] Kompella, K. and Y. Rekhter, "Signalling Unnumbered Links
in Resource ReSerVation Protocol - Traffic Engineering
(RSVP-TE)", RFC 3477, January 2003.

[RFC3630] Katz, D., Kompella, K., and D. Yeung, "Traffic Engineering
(TE) Extensions to OSPF Version 2", RFC 3630, September
2003.

[RFC3945] Mannie, E., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS) Architecture", RFC 3945, October 2004.

[RFC4201] Kompella, K., Rekhter, Y., and L. Berger, "Link Bundling
in MPLS Traffic Engineering (TE)", RFC 4201, October 2005.

[RFC4202] Kompella, K., Ed., and Y. Rekhter, Ed., "Routing
Extensions in Support of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label
Switching (GMPLS)", RFC 4202, October 2005.

[RFC4203] Kompella, K., Ed., and Y. Rekhter, Ed., "OSPF Extensions
in Support of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS)", RFC 4203, October 2005.

[RFC4206] Kompella, K. and Y. Rekhter, "Label Switched Paths (LSP)
Hierarchy with Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS) Traffic Engineering (TE)", RFC 4206, October 2005.

[RFC4606] Mannie, E. and D. Papadimitriou, "Generalized Multi-
Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Extensions for
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and Synchronous
Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Control", RFC 4606, August 2006.

[RFC4874] Lee, CY., Farrel, A., and S. De Cnodder, "Exclude Routes -
Extension to Resource ReserVation Protocol-Traffic
Engineering (RSVP-TE)", RFC 4874, April 2007.

Papadimitriou, et al. Standards Track [Page 21]

RFC 6001 GMPLS Protocol Extensions for MLN/MRN October 2010

[RFC4974] Papadimitriou, D. and A. Farrel, "Generalized MPLS (GMPLS)
RSVP-TE Signaling Extensions in Support of Calls", RFC
4974, August 2007.

[RFC5226] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
May 2008.

[RFC5305] Li, T. and H. Smit, "IS-IS Extensions for Traffic
Engineering", RFC 5305, October 2008.

[RFC5307] Kompella, K., Ed., and Y. Rekhter, Ed., "IS-IS Extensions
in Support of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS)", RFC 5307, October 2008.

[RFC5420] Farrel, A., Ed., Papadimitriou, D., Vasseur, JP., and A.
Ayyangarps, "Encoding of Attributes for MPLS LSP
Establishment Using Resource Reservation Protocol Traffic
Engineering (RSVP-TE)", RFC 5420, February 2009.

[RFC5996] Kaufman, C., Hoffman, P., Nir, Y., and P. Eronen,
"Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2)", RFC
5996, September 2010.

9.2. Informative References

[HIER-BIS] Shiomoto, K., Ed., and A. Farrel, "Procedures for
Dynamically Signaled Hierarchical Label Switched Paths",
Work in Progress, February 2010.

[RFC5212] Shiomoto, K., Papadimitriou, D., Le Roux, JL., Vigoureux,
M., and D. Brungard, "Requirements for GMPLS-Based Multi-
Region and Multi-Layer Networks (MRN/MLN)", RFC 5212, July
2008.

[RFC5339] Le Roux, JL., Ed., and D. Papadimitriou, Ed., "Evaluation
of Existing GMPLS Protocols against Multi-Layer and Multi-
Region Networks (MLN/MRN)", RFC 5339, September 2008.

[RFC5710] Berger, L., Papadimitriou, D., and JP. Vasseur, "PathErr
Message Triggered MPLS and GMPLS LSP Reroutes", RFC 5710,
January 2010.

[RFC5817] Ali, Z., Vasseur, JP., Zamfir, A., and J. Newton,
"Graceful Shutdown in MPLS and Generalized MPLS Traffic
Engineering Networks", RFC 5817, April 2010.

Papadimitriou, et al. Standards Track [Page 22]

RFC 6001 GMPLS Protocol Extensions for MLN/MRN October 2010

[RFC5920] Fang, L., Ed., "Security Framework for MPLS and GMPLS
Networks", RFC 5920, July 2010.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr. Wataru Imajuku for the
discussions on adjustment between regions.

Contributors

Eiji Oki
University of Electro-Communications
1-5-1 Chofugaoka
Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan
EMail: [email protected]

Ichiro Inoue
NTT Network Service Systems Laboratories
3-9-11 Midori-cho
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8585, Japan
Phone: +81 422 596076
EMail: [email protected]

Emmanuel Dotaro
Alcatel-Lucent France
Route de Villejust
91620 Nozay, France
Phone: +33 1 69634723
EMail: [email protected]

Gert Grammel
Alcatel-Lucent SEL
Lorenzstrasse, 10
70435 Stuttgart, Germany
EMail: [email protected]

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RFC 6001 GMPLS Protocol Extensions for MLN/MRN October 2010

Authors' Addresses

Dimitri Papadimitriou
Alcatel-Lucent
Copernicuslaan 50
B-2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
Phone: +32 3 2408491
EMail: [email protected]

Martin Vigoureux
Alcatel-Lucent
Route de Villejust
91620 Nozay, France
Phone: +33 1 30772669
EMail: [email protected]

Kohei Shiomoto
NTT
3-9-11 Midori-cho
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8585, Japan
Phone: +81 422 594402
EMail: [email protected]

Deborah Brungard
ATT
Rm. D1-3C22 - 200 S. Laurel Ave.
Middletown, NJ 07748, USA
Phone: +1 732 4201573
EMail: [email protected]

Jean-Louis Le Roux
France Telecom
Avenue Pierre Marzin
22300 Lannion, France
Phone: +33 2 96053020
EMail: [email protected]

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