One document matched: draft-ietf-mpls-ldp-dod-06.xml


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<rfc category="std" docName="draft-ietf-mpls-ldp-dod-06" ipr="trust200902">
  <front>
    <title abbrev="LDP DoD">LDP Downstream-on-Demand in Seamless MPLS</title>

    <author fullname="Thomas Beckhaus" initials="T" surname="Beckhaus">
      <organization>Deutsche Telekom AG</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>Heinrich-Hertz-Strasse 3-7</street>

          <city>Darmstadt</city>

          <code>64307</code>

          <country>Germany</country>
        </postal>

        <phone>+49 6151 58 12825</phone>

        <email>thomas.beckhaus@telekom.de</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <author fullname="Bruno Decraene" initials="B" surname="Decraene">
      <organization>France Telecom</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>38-40 rue du General Leclerc</street>

          <city>Issy Moulineaux cedex 9</city>

          <code>92794</code>

          <country>France</country>
        </postal>

        <email>bruno.decraene@orange.com</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <author fullname="Kishore Tiruveedhula" initials="K"
            surname="Tiruveedhula">
      <organization>Juniper Networks</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>10 Technology Park Drive</street>

          <city>Westford</city>

          <region>Massachusetts</region>

          <code>01886</code>

          <country>USA</country>
        </postal>

        <phone>1-(978)-589-8861</phone>

        <email>kishoret@juniper.net</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <author fullname="Maciek Konstantynowicz" initials="M"
            surname="Konstantynowicz">
      <organization>Cisco Systems, Inc.</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>10 New Square Park, Bedfont Lakes</street>

          <city>London</city>

          <country>United Kingdom</country>
        </postal>

        <email>maciek@cisco.com</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <author fullname="Luca Martini" initials="L" surname="Martini">
      <organization>Cisco Systems, Inc.</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>9155 East Nichols Avenue, Suite 400</street>

          <city>Englewood</city>

          <region>CO</region>

          <code>80112</code>

          <country>USA</country>
        </postal>

        <email>lmartini@cisco.com</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <date day="10" month="May" year="2013"/>

    <abstract>
      <t>Seamless MPLS design enables a single IP/MPLS network to scale over
      core, metro and access parts of a large packet network infrastructure
      using standardized IP/MPLS protocols. One of the key goals of Seamless
      MPLS is to meet requirements specific to access, including high number
      of devices, their position in network topology and their compute and
      memory constraints that limit the amount of state access devices can
      hold.This can be achieved with LDP Downstream-on-Demand (LDP DoD) label
      advertisement. This document describes LDP DoD use cases and lists
      required LDP DoD procedures in the context of Seamless MPLS design.</t>

      <t>In addition, a new optional TLV type in the LDP Label Request message
      is defined for fast-up convergence.</t>
    </abstract>

    <note title="Requirements Language">
      <t>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 <xref
      target="RFC2119">RFC2119</xref>.</t>
    </note>
  </front>

  <middle>
    <section title="Introduction">
      <t><xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS
      design</xref> enables a single IP/MPLS network to scale over core, metro
      and access parts of a large packet network infrastructure using
      standardized IP/MPLS protocols. One of the key goals of Seamless MPLS is
      to meet requirements specific to access, including high number of
      devices, their position in network topology and their compute and memory
      constraints that limit the amount of state access devices can hold.</t>

      <t>In general MPLS Label Switching Routers implement either LDP or RSVP
      for MPLS label distribution.</t>

      <t>The focus of this document is on LDP, as Seamless MPLS design does
      not include a requirement for general purpose explicit traffic
      engineering and bandwidth reservation. Document concentrates on the
      unicast connectivity only. Multicast connectivity is subject for further
      study.</t>

      <t>In <xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design
      </xref>, IP/MPLS protocol optimization is possible due to a relatively
      simple access network topologies. Examples of such topologies involving
      access nodes (AN) and aggregation nodes (AGN) include:</t>

      <t><list style="letters">
          <t hangText="">A single AN homed to a single AGN.</t>

          <t>A single AN dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>

          <t>Multiple ANs daisy-chained via a hub-AN to a single AGN.</t>

          <t>Multiple ANs daisy-chained via a hub-AN to two AGNs.</t>

          <t>Two ANs dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>

          <t>Multiple ANs chained in a ring and dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>
        </list></t>

      <t>The amount of IP RIB and FIB state on ANs can be easily controlled in
      the listed access topologies by using simple IP routing configuration
      with either static routes or dedicated access IGP. Note that in all of
      the above topologies AGNs act as the access border routers (access ABRs)
      connecting the access topology to the rest of the network. Hence in many
      cases it is sufficient for ANs to have a default route pointing towards
      AGNs in order to achieve complete network connectivity from ANs to the
      network.</t>

      <t>The amount of MPLS forwarding state however requires additional
      consideration. In general MPLS routers implement LDP Downstream
      Unsolicited (LDP DU) label advertisement <xref target="RFC5036"/> and
      advertise MPLS labels for all valid routes in their RIB. This is seen as
      an inadequate approach for ANs, which requires a small subset of the
      total routes (and associated labels) based on the required connectivity
      for the provisioned services. And although filters can be applied to
      those LDP DU labels advertisements, it is not seen as a suitable tool to
      facilitate any-to-any AN-driven connectivity between access and the rest
      of the MPLS network.</t>

      <t>This document describes an access node driven "subscription model"
      for label distribution in the access. The approach relies on the
      standard LDP Downstream-on-Demand (LDP DoD) label advertisements as
      specified in <xref target="RFC5036"/>. LDP DoD enables on-demand label
      distribution ensuring that only required labels are requested, provided
      and installed. Procedures described in this document are equally
      applicable to LDP IPv4 and IPv6 address families. For simplicity the
      document provides examples based on LDP IPv4 address family.</t>

      <t>The following sections describe a set of reference access topologies
      considered for LDP DoD usage and their associated IP routing
      configurations, followed by LDP DoD use cases and LDP DoD procedures in
      the context of Seamless MPLS design.</t>
    </section>

    <section anchor="sec_reference_topologies" title="Reference Topologies">
      <t>LDP DoD use cases are described in the context of a generic reference
      end-to-end network topology based on <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design </xref> shown
      in <xref target="fig_seamless_mpls_e2e_ref_network_topology"/></t>

      <t><figure align="center"
          anchor="fig_seamless_mpls_e2e_ref_network_topology"
          title="Seamless MPLS end-to-end reference network topology.">
          <artwork><![CDATA[               +-------+  +-------+  +------+  +------+
            ---+ AGN11 +--+ AGN21 +--+ ABR1 +--+ LSR1 +--> to LSR/AGN
 +--------+/   +-------+  +-------+  +------+  +------+
 | Access |             \/                   \/
 | Network|             /\                   /\
 +--------+    +-------+  +-------+  +------+  +------+
           \---+ AGN12 +--+ AGN22 +--+ ABR2 +--+ LSR2 +--> to LSR/AGN
               +-------+  +-------+  +------+  +------+

    static routes
    or access IGP        IGP area             IGP area
   <----Access----><--Aggregation Domain--><----Core----->
   <------------------------- MPLS ---------------------->
]]></artwork>

          <postamble/>
        </figure></t>

      <t>The access network is either single or dual homed to AGN1x, with
      either a single or multiple parallel links to AGN1x.</t>

      <t>Seamless MPLS access network topologies can range from a single- or
      dual-homed access node to a chain or ring of access nodes, and use
      either static routing or access IGP ( ISIS or OSPF ). The following
      sections describe reference access topologies in more detail.</t>

      <section title="Access Topologies with Static Routing">
        <t>In most cases access nodes connect to the rest of the network using
        very simple topologies. Here static routing is sufficient to provide
        the required IP connectivity. The following topologies are considered
        for use with static routing and LDP DoD:</t>

        <t><list style="letters">
            <t>[I1] topology - a single AN homed to a single AGN.</t>

            <t>[I] topology - multiple ANs daisy-chained to a single AGN.</t>

            <t>[V] topology - a single AN dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>

            <t>[U2] topology - two ANs dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>

            <t>[Y] topology - multiple ANs daisy-chained to two AGNs.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>The reference static routing and LDP configuration for [V] access
        topology is shown in <xref
        target="fig_v_access_topology_with_static_routes"/>. The same static
        routing and LDP configuration also applies to [I1] topology.</t>

        <t><figure align="center"
            anchor="fig_v_access_topology_with_static_routes"
            title="[V] access topology with static routes.">
            <artwork><![CDATA[     +----+                        +-------+
     |AN1 +------------------------+ AGN11 +-------
     |    +-------\    /-----------+       +-\    /
     +----+        \  /            +-------+  \  /
                    \/                         \/
                    /\                         /\
     +----+        /  \            +-------+  /  \
     |AN2 +-------/    \-----------+ AGN12 +-/    \
     |    +------------------------+       +-------
     +----+                        +-------+
  
     --(u)->                        <-(d)--
  
        <----- static routing -------> <--- IGP ---->
                                       <-- LDP DU -->
        <--------- LDP DoD ----------> <-- BGP LU -->

 (u) static routes: 0/0 default, (optional) /32 routes
 (d) static routes: AN loopbacks
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>

        <t>In line with the Seamless MPLS design, static routes configured on
        AGN1x and pointing towards the access network are redistributed in
        either IGP or <xref target="RFC3107">BGP labeled unicast
        (BGP-LU)</xref>.</t>

        <t>The reference static routing and LDP configuration for [U2] access
        topology is shown in <xref
        target="fig_u2_access_topology_with_static_routes"/>.</t>

        <t><figure align="center"
            anchor="fig_u2_access_topology_with_static_routes"
            title="[U2] access topology with static routes.">
            <artwork><![CDATA[             +----+                        +-------+
       (d1)  |AN1 +------------------------+ AGN11 +-------
        |    |    +                        +       +-\    /
        v    +-+--+                        +-------+  \  /
               |                                       \/
               |                                       /\
        ^    +-+--+                        +-------+  /  \
        |    |AN2 +                        + AGN12 +-/    \
       (d2)  |    +------------------------+       +-------
             +----+                        +-------+

             --(u)->                        <-(d)--

             <------- static routing --------> <--- IGP ---->
                                               <-- LDP DU -->
             <----------- LDP DoD -----------> <-- BGP LU -->

 (u)  static route 0/0 default, (optional) /32 routes
 (d)  static route for AN loopbacks
 (d1) static route for AN2 loopback and 0/0 default with 
      lower preference
 (d2) static route for AN1 loopback and 0/0 default with
      lower preference
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>

        <t>The reference static routing and LDP configuration for [Y] access
        topology is shown in <xref
        target="fig_y_access_topology_with_static_routes"/>. The same static
        routing and LDP configuration also applies to [I] topology.</t>

        <t><figure align="center"
            anchor="fig_y_access_topology_with_static_routes"
            title="[Y] access topology with static routes.">
            <artwork><![CDATA[                                     +-------+
                                     |       |---/
                                /----+ AGN11 |
  +----+   +----+   +----+     /     |       |---\
  |    |   |    |   |    +----/      +-------+
  |ANn +...|AN2 +---+AN1 |                    
  |    |   |    |   |    +----\      +-------+
  +----+   +----+   +----+     \     |       |---/
                                \----+ AGN12 |
         <-(d2)--  <-(d1)--          |       |---\
  --(u)-> --(u)->   --(u)->          +-------+
                                     <-(d)--

        <------- static routing -------> <--- IGP ---->
                                         <-- LDP DU -->
        <---------- LDP DoD -----------> <-- BGP LU -->
  
 (u) static routes: 0/0 default, (optional) /32 routes
 (d) static routes: AN loopbacks [1..n]
 (d1) static routes: AN loopbacks [2..n]
 (d2) static routes: AN loopbacks [3..n]
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>

        <t>Note that in all of the above topologies parallel ECMP (or L2 LAG)
        links can be used between the nodes.</t>

        <t>ANs support <xref target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref> in order
        to use the IP default route to match the LDP FEC advertised by AGN1x
        and other ANs.</t>
      </section>

      <section title="Access Topologies with Access IGP">
        <t>A dedicated access IGP instance is used in the access network to
        perform the internal routing between AGN1x and connected AN devices.
        Example of such IGP could be ISIS, OSPFv2&v3, RIPv2&RIPng.
        This access IGP instance is distinct from the IGP of the aggegation
        domain.</t>

        <t>The following topologies are considered for use with access IGP
        routing and LDP DoD:</t>

        <t><list style="letters">
            <t>[U] topology - multiple ANs chained in an open ring and
            dual-homed to two AGNs.</t>

            <t>[Y] topology - multiple ANs daisy-chained via a hub-AN to two
            AGNs.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>The reference access IGP and LDP configuration for [U] access
        topology is shown in <xref
        target="fig_u_access_topology_with_access_igp"/>.</t>

        <t><figure align="center"
            anchor="fig_u_access_topology_with_access_igp"
            title="[U] access topology with access IGP.">
            <artwork><![CDATA[                                +-------+
 +-----+   +-----+   +----+     |       +---/
 | AN3 |---| AN2 |---|AN1 +-----+ AGN11 |
 +-----+   +-----+   +----+     |       +---\
    .                           +-------+
    .                                    
    .                           +-------+
 +-----+   +-----+   +----+     |       +---/
 |ANn-2|---|ANn-1|---|ANn +-----+ AGN12 |
 +-----+   +-----+   +----+     |       +---\
                                +-------+
                                 
 <---------- access IGP ------------> <--- IGP ---->
                                      <-- LDP DU -->
 <------------ LDP DoD -------------> <-- BGP LU -->
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>

        <t>The reference access IGP and LDP configuration for [Y] access
        topology is shown in <xref
        target="fig_y_access_topology_with_access_igp"/>.</t>

        <t><figure align="center"
            anchor="fig_y_access_topology_with_access_igp"
            title="[Y] access topology with access IGP.">
            <artwork><![CDATA[                                    +-------+
                                    |       |---/
                               /----+ AGN11 |2 
 +----+   +----+   +----+     /     |       |---\
 |    |   |    |   |    +----/      +-------+
 |ANn +...|AN2 +---+AN1 |                    
 |    |   |    |   |    +----\      +-------+
 +----+   +----+   +----+     \     |       |---/
                               \----+ AGN12 |
                                    |       |---\
                                    +-------+
                                    
  <---------- access IGP ------------> <--- IGP ---->
                                       <-- LDP DU -->
  <------------ LDP DoD -------------> <-- BGP LU -->
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>

        <t>Note that in all of the above topologies parallel ECMP (or L2 LAG)
        links can be used between the nodes.</t>

        <t>In both of the above topologies, ANs (ANn ... AN1) and AGN1x share
        the access IGP and advertise their IPv4 and IPv6 loopbacks and link
        addresses. AGN1x advertise a default route into the access IGP.</t>

        <t>ANs support <xref target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref> in order
        to use the IP default route for matching the LDP FECs advertised by
        AGN1x or other ANs.</t>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section anchor="sec_ldp_dod_use_cases" title="LDP DoD Use Cases">
      <t>LDP DoD use cases described in this document are based on the
      Seamless MPLS scenarios listed in <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design</xref>. This
      section illustrates these use cases focusing on services provisioned on
      the access nodes and clarifies expected LDP DoD operation on the AN and
      AGN1x devices. Two representative service types are used to illustrate
      the service use cases: MPLS PWE3 <xref target="RFC4447"/> and BGP/MPLS
      IPVPN <xref target="RFC4364"/>.</t>

      <t>Described LDP DoD operations apply equally to all reference access
      topologies described in <xref target="sec_reference_topologies"/>.
      Operations that are specific to certain access topologies are called out
      explicitly.</t>

      <t>References to upstream and downstream nodes are made in line with the
      definition of upstream and downstream LSR <xref target="RFC3031"/>.</t>

      <t>LDP DoD procedures follow the LDP specification <xref
      target="RFC5036"/>, and are equally applicable to LDP IPv4 and IPv6
      address families. For simplicity examples are provided for LDP IPv4
      address family only.</t>

      <section anchor="sec_initial_network_setup"
               title="Initial Network Setup">
        <t>An access node is commissioned without any services provisioned on
        it. The AN may request labels for loopback addresses of any AN, AGN or
        other nodes within Seamless MPLS network for operational and
        management purposes. It is assumed that AGN1x has required IP/MPLS
        configuration for network-side connectivity in line with <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design</xref>.</t>

        <t>LDP sessions are configured between adjacent ANs and AGN1x using
        their respective loopback addresses.</t>

        <section title="AN with Static Routing">
          <t>If access static routing is used, ANs are provisioned with the
          following static IP routing entries (topology references from <xref
          target="sec_reference_topologies"/> are listed in square
          brackets):</t>

          <t><list style="letters">
              <t>[I1, V, U2] - Static default route 0/0 pointing to links
              connected to AGN1x. Requires support for <xref
              target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref>.</t>

              <t>[U2] - Static /32 routes pointing to the other AN. Lower
              preference static default route 0/0 pointing to links connected
              to the other AN. Requires support for <xref
              target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref>.</t>

              <t>[I, Y] - Static default route 0/0 pointing to links leading
              towards AGN1x. Requires support for <xref
              target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref>.</t>

              <t>[I, Y] - Static /32 routes to all ANs in the daisy-chain
              pointing to links towards those ANs.</t>

              <t>[I1, V, U2] - Optional - Static /32 routes for specific nodes
              within Seamless MPLS network, pointing to links connected to
              AGN1x.</t>

              <t>[I, Y] - Optional - Static /32 routes for specific nodes
              within the Seamless MPLS network, pointing to links leading
              towards AGN1x.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>Upstream AN/AGN1x should request labels over LDP DoD session(s)
          from downstream AN/AGN1x for configured static routes if those
          static routes are configured with LDP DoD request policy and if they
          are pointing to a next-hop selected by routing. It is expected that
          all configured /32 static routes to be used for LDP DoD are
          configured with such policy on AN/AGN1x.</t>

          <t>Downstream AN/AGN1x should respond to the Label Request from the
          upstream AN/AGN1x with a Label Mapping if requested route is present
          in its RIB, and there is a valid label binding from its downstream
          or it is the egress node. In such case downstream AN/AGN1x must
          install the advertised label as an incoming label in its label table
          (LIB) and its forwarding table (LFIB). Upstream AN/AGN1x must also
          install the received label as an outgoing label in their LIB and
          LFIB. If the downstream AN/AGN1x does have the route present in its
          RIB, but does not have a valid label binding from its downstream, it
          should forward the request to its downstream.</t>

          <t>In order to facilitate ECMP and IPFRR LFA local-repair, the
          upstream AN/AGN1x must also send LDP DoD label requests to alternate
          next-hops per its RIB, and install received labels as alternate
          entries in its LIB and LFIB.</t>

          <t>AGN1x node on the network side may use <xref target="RFC3107">BGP
          labeled unicast</xref> in line with <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">the Seamless MPLS
          design</xref>. In such a case AGN1x will be redistributing its
          static routes pointing to local ANs into BGP labeled unicast to
          facilitate network-to-access traffic flows. Likewise, to facilitate
          access-to-network traffic flows, AGN1x will be responding to
          access-originated LDP DoD label requests with label mappings based
          on its BGP labeled unicast reachability for requested FECs.</t>
        </section>

        <section anchor="sec_an_with_access_igp" title="AN with Access IGP">
          <t>If access IGP is used, AN(s) advertise their loopbacks over the
          access IGP with configured metrics. AGN1x advertise a default route
          over the access IGP.</t>

          <t>Routers request labels over LDP DoD session(s) according to their
          needs for MPLS connectivity (LSPs). In particular if AGNs, as per
          <xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS
          design</xref>, redistribute routes from the IGP into <xref
          target="RFC3107">BGP labeled unicast</xref>, they should request
          labels over LDP DoD session(s) for those routes.</t>

          <t>Identically to the static route case, downstream AN/AGN1x should
          respond to the Label Request from the upstream AN/AGN1x with a Label
          Mapping (if the requested route is present in its RIB, and there is
          a valid label binding from its downstream), and must install the
          advertised label as an incoming label in its LIB and LFIB. Upstream
          AN/AGN1x must also install the received label as an outgoing label
          in their LIB and LFIB.</t>

          <t>Identically to the static route case, in order to facilitate ECMP
          and IPFRR LFA local-repair, upstream AN/AGN1x must also send LDP DoD
          label requests to alternate next-hops per its RIB, and install
          received labels as alternate entries in its LIB and LFIB.</t>

          <t>AGN1x node on the network side may use <xref target="RFC3107">BGP
          labeled unicast</xref> in line with <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design</xref>. In
          such case AGN1x will be redistributing routes received over the
          access IGP (and pointing to local ANs), into BGP labeled unicast to
          facilitate network-to-access traffic flows. Likewise, to facilitate
          access-to-network traffic flows AGN1x will be responding to access
          originated LDP DoD label requests with label mappings based on its
          BGP labeled unicast reachability for requested FECs.</t>
        </section>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_service_provisioning_and_activation"
               title="Service Provisioning and Activation">
        <t>Following the initial setup phase described in <xref
        target="sec_initial_network_setup"/>, a specific access node, referred
        to as AN*, is provisioned with a network service. AN* relies on LDP
        DoD to request the required MPLS LSP(s) label(s) from downstream
        AN/AGN1x node(s). Note that LDP DoD operations are service agnostic,
        that is, they are the same independently of the services provisioned
        on the AN*.</t>

        <t>For illustration purposes two service types are described: MPLS
        PWE3 <xref target="RFC4447"/> service and BGP/MPLS IPVPN <xref
        target="RFC4364"/>.</t>

        <t>MPLS PWE3 service - for description simplicity it is assumed that a
        single segment pseudowire is signaled using targeted LDP FEC128
        (0x80), and it is provisioned with the pseudowire ID and the loopback
        IPv4 address of the destination node. The following IP/MPLS operations
        need to be completed on the AN* to successfully establish such PWE3
        service:<list style="letters">
            <t>LSP labels for destination /32 FEC (outgoing label) and the
            local /32 loopback (incoming label) need to be signaled using LDP
            DoD.</t>

            <t>Targeted LDP session over an associated TCP/IP connection needs
            to be established to the PWE3 destination PE. This is triggered by
            either an explicit targeted LDP session configuration on the AN*
            or automatically at the time of provisioning the PWE3
            instance.</t>

            <t>Local and remote PWE3 labels for specific FEC128 PW ID need to
            be signaled using targeted LDP and PWE3 signaling procedures <xref
            target="RFC4447"/>.</t>

            <t>Upon successful completion of the above operations, AN*
            programs its RIB/LIB and LFIB tables, and activates the MPLS PWE3
            service.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>Note - only minimum operations applicable to service connectivity
        have been listed. Other non IP/MPLS connectivity operations that may
        be required for successful service provisioning and activation are out
        of scope in this document.</t>

        <t>BGP/MPLS IPVPN service - for description simplicity it is assumed
        that AN* is provisioned with a unicast IPv4 IPVPN service (VPNv4 for
        short) <xref target="RFC4364"/>. The following IP/MPLS operations need
        to be completed on the AN* to successfully establish VPNv4
        service:</t>

        <t><list style="letters">
            <t>BGP peering sessions with associated TCP/IP connections need to
            be established with the remote destination VPNv4 PEs or Route
            Reflectors.</t>

            <t>Based on configured BGP policies, VPNv4 BGP NLRIs need to be
            exchanged between AN* and its BGP peers.</t>

            <t>Based on configured BGP policies, VPNv4 routes need to be
            installed in the AN* VRF RIB and FIB, with corresponding BGP
            next-hops.</t>

            <t>LSP labels for destination BGP next-hop /32 FEC (outgoing
            label) and the local /32 loopback (incoming label) need to be
            signaled using LDP DoD.</t>

            <t>Upon successful completion of above operations, AN* programs
            its RIB/LIB and LFIB tables, and activates the BGP/MPLS IPVPN
            service.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>Note - only minimum operations applicable to service connectivity
        have been listed. Other non IP/MPLS connectivity operations that may
        be required for successful service provisioning are out of scope in
        this document.</t>

        <t>To establish an LSP for destination /32 FEC for any of the above
        services, AN* looks up its local routing table for a matching route,
        selects the best next-hop(s) and associated outgoing link(s).</t>

        <t>If a label for this /32 FEC is not already installed based on the
        configured static route with LDP DoD request policy or access IGP RIB
        entry, AN* must send an LDP DoD Label Mapping request. Downstream
        AN/AGN1x LSR(s) checks its RIB for presence of the requested /32 and
        associated valid outgoing label binding, and if both are present,
        replies with its label for this FEC and installs this label as
        incoming in its LIB and LFIB. Upon receiving the Label Mapping the AN*
        must accept this label based on the exact route match of advertised
        FEC and route entry in its RIB or based on the longest match in line
        with <xref target="RFC5283">Inter-area LDP</xref>. If the AN* accepts
        the label it must install it as an outgoing label in its LIB and
        LFIB.</t>

        <t>In access topologies [V] and [Y], if AN* is dual homed to two AGN1x
        and routing entries for these AGN1x are configured as equal cost
        paths, AN* must send LDP DoD label requests to both AGN1x devices and
        install all received labels in its LIB and LFIB.</t>

        <t>In order for AN* to implement IPFRR LFA local-repair, AN* must also
        send LDP DoD label requests to alternate next-hops per its RIB, and
        install received labels as alternate entries in its LIB and LFIB.</t>

        <t>When forwarding PWE3 or VPNv4 packets AN* chooses the LSP label
        based on the locally configured static /32 or default route, or
        default route signaled via access IGP. If a route is reachable via
        multiple interfaces to AGN1x nodes and the route has multiple equal
        cost paths, AN* must implement Equal Cost Multi-Path (ECMP)
        functionality. This involves AN* using hash-based load-balancing
        mechanism and sending the PWE3 or VPNv4 packets in a flow-aware manner
        with appropriate LSP labels via all equal cost links.</t>

        <t>ECMP mechanism is applicable in an equal manner to parallel links
        between two network elements and multiple paths towards the
        destination. The traffic demand is distributed over the available
        paths.</t>

        <t>AGN1x node on the network side may use <xref target="RFC3107">BGP
        labeled unicast</xref> in line with <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS design </xref>. In
        such case AGN1x will be redistributing its static routes (or routes
        received from the access IGP) pointing to local ANs into BGP labeled
        unicast to facilitate network-to-access traffic flows. Likewise, to
        facilitate access-to-network traffic flows AGN1x will be responding to
        access originated LDP DoD label requests with label mappings based on
        its BGP labeled unicast reachability for requested FECs.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_service_changes_and_decommissioning"
               title="Service Changes and Decommissioning">
        <t>Whenever AN* service gets decommissioned or changed and
        connectivity to specific destination is not longer required, the
        associated MPLS LSP label resources should be released on AN*.</t>

        <t>MPLS PWE3 service - if the PWE3 service gets decommissioned and it
        is the last PWE3 to a specific destination node, the targeted LDP
        session is not longer needed and should be terminated (automatically
        or by configuration). The MPLS LSP(s) to that destination is no longer
        needed either.</t>

        <t>BGP/MPLS IPVPN service - deletion of a specific VPNv4 (VRF)
        instance, local or remote re-configuration may result in specific BGP
        next-hop(s) being no longer needed. The MPLS LSP(s) to that
        destination is no longer needed either.</t>

        <t>In all of the above cases the following LDP DoD related operations
        apply:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>If the /32 FEC label for the aforementioned destination node
            was originally requested based on either tLDP session
            configuration and default route or required BGP next-hop and
            default route, AN* should delete the label from its LIB and LFIB,
            and release it from downstream AN/AGN1x by using LDP DoD
            procedures.</t>

            <t>If the /32 FEC label was originally requested based on the
            static /32 route configuration with LDP DoD request policy, the
            label must be retained by AN*.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t/>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_service_failure" title="Service Failure">
        <t>A service instance may stop being operational due to a local or
        remote service failure event.</t>

        <t>In general, unless the service failure event modifies required MPLS
        connectivity, there should be no impact on the LDP DoD operation.</t>

        <t>If the service failure event does modify the required MPLS
        connectivity, LDP DoD operations apply as described in <xref
        target="sec_service_provisioning_and_activation"/> and <xref
        target="sec_service_changes_and_decommissioning"/>.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_network_transport_failure"
               title="Network Transport Failure">
        <t>A number of different network events can impact services on AN*.
        The following sections describe network event types that impact LDP
        DoD operation on AN and AGN1x nodes.</t>

        <section title="General Notes">
          <t>If service on any of the ANs is affected by any network failure
          and there is no network redundancy, the service must go into a
          failure state. When the network failure is recovered from, the
          service must be re-established automatically.</t>

          <t>The following additional LDP-related functions should be
          supported to comply with <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS </xref> fast
          service restoration requirements as follows:<list style="letters">
              <t>Local-repair - AN and AGN1x should support local-repair for
              adjacent link or node failure for access-to-network,
              network-to-access and access-to-access traffic flows.
              Local-repair should be implemented by using either IPFRR LDP
              LFA, simple ECMP or primary/backup switchover upon failure
              detection.</t>

              <t>LDP session protection - LDP sessions should be configured
              with LDP session protection to avoid delay upon the recovery
              from link failure. LDP session protection ensures that FEC label
              binding is maintained in the control plane as long as LDP
              session stays up.</t>

              <t>IGP-LDP synchronization - If access IGP is used, LDP sessions
              between ANs, and between ANs and AGN1x, should be configured
              with IGP-LDP synchronization to avoid unnecessary traffic loss
              in case the access IGP converged before LDP and there is no LDP
              label binding to the downstream best next-hop.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t/>
        </section>

        <section title="AN Node Failure">
          <t>AN node fails and all links to adjacent nodes go down.</t>

          <t>Adjacent AN/AGN1x nodes remove all routes pointing to the failed
          link(s) from their RIB tables (including /32 loopback belonging to
          the failed AN and any other routes reachable via the failed AN).
          This in turn triggers the removal of associated outgoing /32 FEC
          labels from their LIB and LFIB tables.</t>

          <t>If access IGP is used, the AN node failure will be propagated via
          IGP link updates across the access topology.</t>

          <t>If a specific /32 FEC(s) is not reachable anymore from those
          AN/AGN1x, they must also send LDP Label Withdraw to their upstream
          LSRs to notify about the failure, and remove the associated incoming
          label(s) from their LIB and LFIB tables. Upstream LSRs upon
          receiving Label Withdraw should remove the signaled labels from
          their LIB/LFIB tables, and propagate LDP Label Withdraw across their
          upstream LDP DoD sessions.</t>

          <t>In [U] topology there may be an alternative path to routes
          previously reachable via the failed AN node. In this case adjacent
          AN/AGN1x should invoke local-repair (IPFRR LFA, ECMP) and switchover
          to alternate next-hop to reach those routes.</t>

          <t>AGN1x gets notified about the AN failure via either access IGP
          (if used) and/or cascaded LDP DoD label withdraw(s). AGN1x must
          implement all relevant global-repair IP/MPLS procedures to propagate
          the AN failure towards the core network. This should involve
          removing associated routes (in access IGP case) and labels from its
          LIB and LFIB tables, and propagating the failure on the network side
          using BGP-LU and/or core IGP/LDP-DU procedures.</t>

          <t>Upon AN coming back up, adjacent AN/AGN1x nodes automatically add
          routes pointing to recovered links based on the configured static
          routes or access IGP adjacency and link state updates. This should
          be then followed by LDP DoD label signaling and subsequent binding
          and installation of labels in LIB and LFIB tables.</t>
        </section>

        <section title="AN/AGN Link Failure">
          <t>Depending on the access topology and the failed link location
          different cases apply to the network operation after AN link failure
          (topology references from <xref target="sec_reference_topologies"/>
          in square brackets):</t>

          <t><list style="letters">
              <t>[all] - link failed, but at least one ECMP parallel link
              remains - nodes on both sides of the failed link must stop using
              the failed link immediately (local-repair), and keep using the
              remaining ECMP parallel links.</t>

              <t>[I1, I, Y] - link failed, and there are no ECMP or
              alternative links and paths - nodes on both sides of the failed
              link must remove routes pointing to the failed link immediately
              from the RIB, remove associated labels from their LIB and LFIB
              tabels, and must send LDP label withdraw(s) to their upstream
              LSRs.</t>

              <t>[U2, U, V, Y] - link failed, but at least one ECMP or
              alternate path remains - AN/AGN1x node must stop using the
              failed link and immediately switchover (local-repair) to the
              remaining ECMP path or alternate path. AN/AGN1x must remove
              affected next-hops and labels from its tables and invoke LDP
              Label Withdraw as per point (a) above. If there is an AGN1x node
              terminating the failed link, it must remove routes pointing to
              the failed link immediately from the RIB, remove associated
              labels from their LIB and LFIB tabels, and must propagate the
              failure on the network side using BGP-LU and/or core IGP
              procedures.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>If access IGP is used AN/AGN1x link failure will be propagated
          via IGP link updates across the access topology.</t>

          <t>LDP DoD will also propagate the link failure by sending label
          withdraws to upstream AN/AGN1x nodes, and Label Release messages
          downstream AN/AGN1x nodes.</t>
        </section>

        <section title="AGN Node Failure">
          <t>AGN1x fails and all links to adjacent access nodes go down.</t>

          <t>Depending on the access topology, following cases apply to the
          network operation after AGN1x node failure (topology references from
          <xref target="sec_reference_topologies"/> in square brackets):</t>

          <t><list style="letters">
              <t>[I1, I] - ANs are isolated from the network - AN adjacent to
              the failure must remove routes pointing to the failed AGN1x node
              immediately from the RIB, remove associated labels from their
              LIB and LFIB tabels, and must send LDP label withdraw(s) to
              their upstream LSRs. If access IGP is used, an IGP link update
              should be sent.</t>

              <t>[U2, U, V, Y] - at least one ECMP or alternate path remains -
              AN adjacent to failed AGN1x must stop using the failed link and
              immediately switchover (local-repair) to the remaining ECMP path
              or alternate path. AN must remove affected routes and labels
              from its tables and invoke LDP Label Withdraw as per point (a)
              above.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>Network side procedures for handling AGN1x node failure have been
          described in <xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless
          MPLS</xref>.</t>
        </section>

        <section title="AGN Network-side Reachability Failure">
          <t>AGN1x loses network reachability to a specific destination or set
          of network-side destinations.</t>

          <t>In such event AGN1x must send LDP Label Withdraw messages to its
          upstream ANs, withdrawing labels for all affected /32 FECs. Upon
          receiving those messages ANs must remove those labels from their LIB
          and LFIB tables, and use alternative LSPs instead if available as
          part of global-repair. In turn ANs should also sent Label Withdraw
          messages for affected /32 FECs to their upstream ANs.</t>

          <t>If access IGP is used, and AGN1x gets completely isolated from
          the core network, it should stop advertising the default route 0/0
          into the access IGP.</t>
        </section>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section title="LDP DoD Procedures">
      <t>Label Distribution Protocol is specified in <xref target="RFC5036"/>,
      and all LDP Downstream-on-Demand implementations follow <xref
      target="RFC5036"/> specification. This section does not update <xref
      target="RFC5036"/> procedures, but illustrates LDP DoD operations in the
      context of use cases identified in <xref
      target="sec_ldp_dod_use_cases"/> in this document, for information
      only.</t>

      <t>In <xref target="RFC3031">the MPLS architecture</xref>, network
      traffic flows from upstream to downstream LSR. The use cases in this
      document rely on the downstream assignment of labels, where labels are
      assigned by the downstream LSR and signaled to the upstream LSR as shown
      in <xref target="ldp_label_assignment_direction"/>.</t>

      <t><figure align="center" anchor="ldp_label_assignment_direction"
          title="LDP label assignment direction">
          <artwork><![CDATA[           +----------+      +------------+
           | upstream |      | downstream |
     ------+   LSR    +------+    LSR     +----
 traffic   |          |      |            |  address 
 source    +----------+      +------------+  (/32 for IPv4)
                                             traffic
          label distribution for IPv4 FEC    destination
            <-------------------------      
                                            
                   traffic flow             
            ------------------------->
]]></artwork>

          <postamble/>
        </figure></t>

      <section title="LDP Label Distribution Control and Retention Modes">
        <t><xref target="RFC5036">LDP protocol specification</xref> defines
        two modes for label distribution control, following the definitions in
        <xref target="RFC3031">MPLS architecture</xref>:<list style="symbols">
            <t>Independent mode – an LSR recognizes a particular FEC and
            makes a decision to bind a label to the FEC independently from
            distributing that label binding to its label distribution peers. A
            new FEC is recognized whenever a new route becomes valid on the
            LSR.</t>

            <t>Ordered mode – an LSR needs to bind a label to a
            particular FEC if it knows how to forward packets for that FEC (
            i.e. it has a route corresponding to that FEC ) and if it has
            already received at least one Label Request message from an
            upstream LSR.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>Using independent label distribution control with LDP DoD and
        access static routing would prevent the access LSRs from propagating
        label binding failure along the access topology, making it impossible
        for upstream LSR to be notified about the downstream failure and for
        an application using the LSP to switchover to an alternate path, even
        if such a path exists.</t>

        <t><xref target="RFC5036">LDP protocol specification</xref> defines
        two modes for label retention, following the definitions in <xref
        target="RFC3031">MPLS architecture</xref>:<list style="symbols">
            <t>Conservative mode - If operating in Downstream on Demand mode,
            an LSR will request label mappings only from the next hop LSR
            according to routing. The main advantage of the conservative mode
            is that only the labels that are required for the forwarding of
            data are allocated and maintained. This is particularly important
            in LSRs where the label space is inherently limited, such as in an
            ATM switch. A disadvantage of the conservative mode is that if
            routing changes the next hop for a given destination, a new label
            must be obtained from the new next hop before labeled packets can
            be forwarded.</t>

            <t>Liberal mode - When operating in Downstream on Demand mode with
            Liberal Label retention, an LSR might choose to request label
            mappings for all known prefixes from all peer LSRs. The main
            advantage of the Liberal Label retention mode is that reaction to
            routing changes can be quick because labels already exist. The
            main disadvantage of the liberal mode is that unneeded label
            mappings are distributed and maintained.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>Note that the conservative label retention mode would prevent LSRs
        from requesting and maintaining label mappings for any backup routes
        that are not used for forwarding. This in turn would prevent the
        access LSRs (AN and AGN1x nodes) from implementing any local
        protection schemes that rely on using alternate next-hops in case of
        the primary next-hop failure. Such schemes include IPFRR LFA if access
        IGP is used, or a primary and backup static route configuration. Using
        LDP DoD in combination with liberal retention mode allows the LSR to
        request labels for the specific FEC from primary next-hop LSR(s) and
        the alternate next-hop LSR(s) for this FEC.</t>

        <t>Note that even though LDP DoD operates in a liberal retention mode,
        if used with access IGP and if no LFA exists, the LDP DoD will
        introduce additional delay in traffic restoration as the labels for
        the new next-hop will get requested only after the access IGP
        convergence.</t>

        <t>Adhering to the overall design goals of <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS</xref>,
        specifically achieving a large network scale without compromising fast
        service restoration, all access LSRs (AN and AGN1x nodes) use LDP DoD
        advertisement mode with:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>Ordered label distribution control - enables propagation of
            label binding failure within the access topology.</t>

            <t>Liberal label retention - enables pre-programming of alternate
            next-hops with associated FEC labels.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>In <xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls">Seamless MPLS</xref>
        AGN1x node acts as an access ABR connecting access and metro domains.
        To enable failure propagation between those domains, access ABR
        implements ordered label distribution control when redistributing
        routes/FEC between the access-side (using LDP DoD and static or access
        IGP) and the network-side ( using <xref target="RFC3107">BGP labeled
        unicast</xref> or core IGP with LDP Downstream Unsolicited label
        advertisement.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_ldp_dod_session_negotiation"
               title="LDP DoD Session Negotiation">
        <t>Access LSR/ABR should propose the Downstream-on-Demand label
        advertisement by setting "A" value to 1 in the Common Session
        Parameters TLV of the Initialization message. The rules for
        negotiating the label advertisement mode are specified in <xref
        target="RFC5036">LDP protocol specification</xref>.</t>

        <t>To establish a Downstream-on-Demand session between the two access
        LSR/ABRs, both should propose the Downstream-on-Demand label
        advertisement mode in the Initialization message. If the access LSR
        only supports LDP DoD and the access ABR proposes Downstream
        Unsolicited mode, the access LSR should send a Notification message
        with status "Session Rejected/Parameters Advertisement Mode” and
        then close the LDP session as specified in <xref target="RFC5036">LDP
        protocol specification</xref>.</t>

        <t>If an access LSR is acting in an active role, it should re-attempt
        the LDP session immediately. If the access LSR receives the same
        Downstream Unsolicited mode again, it should follow the exponential
        backoff algorithm as defined in the <xref target="RFC5036">LDP
        protocol specification</xref> with delay of 15 seconds and subsequent
        delays growing to a maximum delay of 2 minutes.</t>

        <t>In case a PWE3 service is required between the adjacent access
        LSR/ABR, and LDP DoD has been negotiated for IPv4 and IPv6 FECs, the
        same LDP session should be used for PWE3 FECs. Even if LDP DoD label
        advertisement has been negotiated for IPv4 and IPv6 LDP FECs as
        described earlier, LDP session should use Downstream Unsolicited label
        advertisement for PWE3 FECs as specified in <xref
        target="RFC4447">PWE3 LDP</xref>.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="sec_label_request" title="Label Request Procedures">
        <t/>

        <section title="Access LSR/ABR Label Request">
          <t>Upstream access LSR/ABR will request label bindings from adjacent
          downstream access LSR/ABR based on the following trigger events:
          <list style="letters">
              <t>Access LSR/ABR is configured with /32 static route with LDP
              DoD Label Request policy in line with initial network setup use
              case described in <xref
              target="sec_initial_network_setup"/>.</t>

              <t>Access LSR/ABR is configured with a service in line with
              service use cases described in <xref
              target="sec_service_provisioning_and_activation"/> and <xref
              target="sec_service_changes_and_decommissioning"/>.</t>

              <t>Configuration with access static routes - Access LSR/ABR link
              to adjacent node comes up and LDP DoD session is established. In
              this case access LSR should send Label Request messages for all
              /32 static routes configured with LDP DoD policy and all /32
              routes related to provisioned services that are covered by
              default route.</t>

              <t>Configuration with access IGP - Access LSR/ABR link to
              adjacent node comes up and LDP DoD session is established. In
              this case access LSR should send Label Request messages for all
              /32 routes learned over the access IGP and all /32 routes
              related to provisioned services that are covered by access IGP
              routes.</t>

              <t>In all above cases requests must be sent to next-hop LSR(s)
              and alternate LSR(s).</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>Downstream access LSR/ABR will respond with Label Mapping message
          with a non-null label if any of the below conditions are met: <list
              style="letters">
              <t>Downstream access LSR/ABR - requested FEC is an IGP or static
              route and there is an LDP label already learnt from the
              next-next-hop downstream LSR (by LDP DoD or LDP DU). If there is
              no label for the requested FEC and there is an LDP DoD session
              to the next-next-hop downstream LSR, downstream LSR must send a
              Label Request message for the same FEC to the next-next-hop
              downstream LSR. In such case downstream LSR will respond back to
              the requesting upstream access LSR only after getting a label
              from the next-next-hop downstream LSR peer.</t>

              <t>Downstream access ABR only - requested FEC is a BGP labelled
              unicast route <xref target="RFC3107"/> and this BGP route is the
              best selected for this FEC.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>Downstream access LSR/ABR may respond with a Label Mapping with
          explicit-null or implicit-null label if it is acting as an egress
          for the requested FEC, or it may respond with “No Route“
          notification if no route exists.</t>
        </section>

        <section anchor="sec_label_request_retry" title="Label Request Retry">
          <t>Following LDP specification <xref target="RFC5036">LDP
          specification</xref>, if an access LSR/ABR receives a “No
          route” Notification in response to its Label Request message,
          it should retry using an exponential backoff algorithm similar to
          the backoff algoritm mentioned in the LDP session negotiation
          described in <xref target="sec_ldp_dod_session_negotiation"/>.</t>

          <t>If there is no response to the sent Label Request message, the
          <xref target="RFC5036">LDP specification</xref> (section A.1.1,
          page# 100) states that the LSR should not send another request for
          the same label to the peer and mandates that a duplicate Label
          Request is considered a protocol error and should be dropped by the
          receiving LSR by sending a Notification message.</t>

          <t>Thus, if there is no response from the downstream peer, the
          access LSR/ABR should not send a duplicate Label Request message
          again.</t>

          <t>If the static route corresponding to the FEC gets deleted or if
          the DoD request policy is modified to reject the FEC before
          receiving the Label Mapping message, then the access LSR/ABR should
          send a Label Abort message to the downstream LSR.</t>

          <t>To address the case of slower convergence resulting from
          described LDP behavior in line with <xref target="RFC5036">LDP
          specification</xref>, a new LDP TLV extension is proposed and
          described in <xref
          target="sec_label_request_with_fast_up_convergence"/>.</t>
        </section>
      </section>

      <section title="Label Withdraw">
        <t>If an MPLS label on the downstream access LSR/ABR is no longer
        valid, the downstream access LSR/ABR withdraws this FEC/label binding
        from the upstream access LSR/ABR with the Label Withdraw Message <xref
        target="RFC5036"/> with a specified label TLV or with an empty label
        TLV.</t>

        <t>Downstream access LSR/ABR should withdraw a label for specific FEC
        in the following cases: <list style="letters">
            <t>If LDP DoD ingress label is associated with an outgoing label
            assigned by BGP labelled unicast route, and this route is
            withdrawn.</t>

            <t>If LDP DoD ingress label is associated with an outgoing label
            assigned by LDP (DoD or DU) and the IGP route is withdrawn from
            the RIB or downstream LDP session is lost.</t>

            <t>If LDP DoD ingress label is associated with an outgoing label
            assigned by LDP (DoD or DU) and the outgoing label is withdrawn by
            the downstream LSR.</t>

            <t>If LDP DoD ingress label is associated with an outgoing label
            assigned by LDP (DoD or DU), route next-hop changed and <list
                style="symbols">
                <t>there is no LDP session to the new next-hop. To minimize
                probability of this, the access LSR/ABR should implement
                LDP-IGP synchronization procedures as specified in <xref
                target="RFC5443"/>.</t>

                <t>there is an LDP session but no label from downstream LSR.
                See note below.</t>
              </list></t>

            <t>If access LSR/ABR is configured with a policy to reject
            exporting label mappings to upstream LSR.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>The upstream access LSR/ABR responds to the Label Withdraw Message
        with the Label Release Message <xref target="RFC5036"/>.</t>

        <t>After sending Label Release message to downstream access LSR/ABR,
        the upstream access LSR/ABR should resend Label Request message,
        assuming upstream access LSR/ABR still requires the label.</t>

        <t>Downstream access LSR/ABR should withdraw a label if the local
        route configuration (e.g. /32 loopback) is deleted.</t>

        <t>Note: For any events inducing next hop change, downstream access
        LSR/ABR should attempt to converge the LSP locally before withdrawing
        the label from an upstream access LSR/ABR. For example if the next-hop
        changes for a particular FEC and if the new next-hop allocates labels
        by LDP DoD session, then the downstream access LSR/ABR must send a
        Label Request on the new next-hop session. If downstream access
        LSR/ABR doesn‘t get Label Mapping for some duration, then and
        only then downstream access LSR/ABR must withdraw the upstream
        label.</t>
      </section>

      <section title="Label Release">
        <t>If an access LSR/ABR does not need any longer a label for a FEC, it
        sends a Label Release Message <xref target="RFC5036"/> to the
        downstream access LSR/ABR with or without the label TLV.</t>

        <t>If upstream access LSR/ABR receives an unsolicited Label Mapping on
        DoD session, they should release the label by sending Label Release
        message.</t>

        <t>Access LSR/ABR should send a Label Release message to the
        downstream LSR in the following cases: <list style="letters">
            <t>If it receives a Label Withdraw from the downstream access
            LSR/ABR.</t>

            <t>If the /32 static route with LDP DoD Label Request policy is
            deleted.</t>

            <t>If the service gets decommissioned and there is no
            corresponding /32 static route with LDP DoD Label Request policy
            configured.</t>

            <t>If the route next-hop changed, and the label does not point to
            the best or alternate next-hop.</t>

            <t>If it receives a Label Withdraw from a downstream DoD
            session.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t/>
      </section>

      <section title="Local Repair">
        <t>To support local-repair with ECMP and IPFRR LFA, access LSR/ABR
        must request labels on both the best next-hop and the alternate
        next-hop LDP DoD sessions, as specified in the Label Request
        procedures in <xref target="sec_label_request"/>. If remote LFA is
        enabled, access LSR/ABR needs a label from its alternate next-hop
        toward the PQ node and needs a label from the remote PQ node toward
        its FEC/destination. If access LSR/ABR doesn't already know those
        labels, it must request them.</t>

        <t>This will enable access LSR/ABR to pre-program the alternate
        forwarding path with the alternate label(s), and invoke IPFRR LFA
        switch-over procedure if the primary next-hop link fails.</t>

        <t/>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section anchor="sec_label_request_with_fast_up_convergence"
             title="LDP Extension for LDP DoD Fast-Up Convergence">
      <t>In some conditions, the exponential backoff algorithm usage described
      in <xref target="sec_label_request_retry"/> may result in a longer than
      desired wait time to get a successful LDP label to route mapping. An
      example is when a specific route is unavailable on the downstream LSR
      when the Label Mapping request from the upstream is received, but later
      comes back. In such case using the exponential backoff algorithm may
      result in a max delay wait time before the upstream LSR sends another
      LDP Label Request.</t>

      <t>This section describes an extension to the LDP DoD procedure to
      address fast-up convergence, and as such should be treated as a
      normative reference. The downstream and upstream LSRs SHOULD implement
      this extension if the improvement in up convergence is desired.</t>

      <t>The extension consists of the upstream LSR indicating to the
      downstream LSR that the Label Request SHOULD be queued on the downstream
      LSR until the requested route is available.</t>

      <t>To implement this behavior, a new Optional Parameter is defined for
      use in the Label Request message:</t>

      <t><figure align="center">
          <artwork><![CDATA[ Optional Parameter      Length     Value
 Queue Request TLV         0      see below
]]></artwork>

          <postamble/>
        </figure></t>

      <t><figure align="center">
          <artwork><![CDATA[  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
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 |1|0|  Queue Request (0x0971)   |         Length (0x00)         |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

 U-bit = 1
    Unknown TLV bit.  Upon receipt of an unknown TLV, due to U-bit 
    being set (=1), the unknown TLV MUST be silently ignored and the 
    rest of the message processed as if the unknown TLV did not exist. 
    In case requested route is not available, the downstream LSR MUST
    ignore this unknown TLV and send a "no route" notification back. 
    Ensures backward compatibility.
   
 F-bit = 0
    Forward unknown TLV bit.  This bit applies only when the U-bit is
    set and the LDP message containing the unknown TLV is to be
    forwarded.  Due to F-bit being clear (=0), the unknown TLV is not
    forwarded with the containing message.
          
 Type
    Queue Request Type value to be allocated by IANA.

 Length = 0x00
    Specifies the length of the Value field in octets.
]]></artwork>

          <postamble/>
        </figure></t>

      <t>Specified operation is as follows.</t>

      <t>To benefit from the fast-up convergence improvement, the upstream LSR
      sends a Label Request message with a Queue Request TLV.</t>

      <t>If the downstream LSR supports the Queue Request TLV, it verifies if
      route is available and if so it replies with Label Mapping as per
      existing LDP procedures. If the route is not available, the downstream
      LSR queues the request and replies as soon as the route becomes
      available. In the meantime, it does not send a "no route" notification
      back. When sending a Label Request with the Queue Request TLV, the
      upstream LSR does not retry the Label Request message if it does not
      receive a reply from its downstream peer</t>

      <t>If the upstream LSR wants to abort an outstanding Label Request while
      the Label Request is queued in the downstream LSR, the upstream LSR
      sends a Label Abort Request message, making the downstream LSR to remove
      the original request from the queue and send back a notification Label
      Request Aborted <xref target="RFC5036"/>.</t>

      <t>If the downstream LSR does not support the Queue Request TLV, and
      requested route is not available, it ignores this unknown TLV and sends
      a "no route" notification back in line with <xref target="RFC5036"/>. In
      this case the upstream LSR invokes the exponential backoff algorithm
      described in <xref target="sec_label_request_retry"/> following standard
      LDP specification <xref target="RFC5036">LDP specification</xref>.</t>

      <t>This described procedure ensures backward compatitibility.</t>
    </section>

    <section anchor="IANA" title="IANA Considerations">
      <t/>

      <section title="LDP TLV TYPE">
        <t>This document uses a new a new Optional Parameter Queue Request TLV
        in the Label Request message defined in <xref
        target="sec_label_request_with_fast_up_convergence"/>. IANA already
        maintains a registry of name LDP "TLV TYPE NAME SPACE" defined by
        RFC5036. The following value is suggested for assignment:</t>

        <t><figure align="center">
            <artwork><![CDATA[ TLV type  Description
 0x0971    Queue Request TLV
]]></artwork>

            <postamble/>
          </figure></t>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section anchor="Security" title="Security Considerations">
      <t>MPLS LDP Downstream on Demand deployment in the access network is
      subject to similar security threats as any MPLS LDP deployment. It is
      recommended that baseline security measures are considered as described
      in <xref target="RFC5920">Security Framework for MPLS and GMPLS
      networks</xref> and the <xref target="RFC5036">LDP specification</xref>
      including ensuring authenticity and integrity of LDP messages, as well
      as protection against spoofing and Denial of Service attacks.</t>

      <t>Some deployments may require increased measures of network security
      if a subset of Access Nodes are placed in locations with lower levels of
      physical security e.g. street cabinets (common practice for VDSL
      access). In such cases it is the responsibility of the system designer
      to take into account the physical security measures (environmental
      design, mechanical or electronic access control, intrusion detection),
      as well as monitoring and auditing measures (configuration and Operating
      System changes, reloads, routes advertisements).</t>

      <t>But even with all this in mind, the designer still should consider
      network security risks and adequate measures arising from the lower
      level of physical security of those locations.</t>

      <section title="Security and LDP DoD">
        <t/>

        <section title="Access to network packet flow direction">
          <t>An important property of MPLS LDP Downstream on Demand operation
          is that the upstream LSR (requesting LSR) accepts only mappings it
          sent a request for (in other words the ones it is interested in),
          and does not accept any unsolicited label mappings by design.</t>

          <t>This limits the potential of an unauthorized third party fiddling
          with label mappings operations on the wire. It also enables ABR LSR
          to monitor behaviour of any Access LSR in case the latter gets
          compromised and attempts to get access to an unauthorized FEC or
          remote LSR. Note that ABR LSR is effectively acting as a gateway to
          the MPLS network, and any Label Mapping requests made by any Access
          LSR are processed and can be monitored on this ABR LSR.</t>
        </section>

        <section title="Network to access packet flow direction">
          <t>Another important property of MPLS LDP DoD operation in the
          access is that the number of access nodes and associated MPLS FECs
          per ABR LSR is not large in number, and they are all known at the
          deployment time. Hence any changes of the access MPLS FECs can be
          easily controlled and monitored on the ABR LSR.</t>

          <t>And then, even in the event when Access LSR manages to advertise
          a FEC that belongs to another LSR (e.g. in order to
          ‘steal’ third party data flows, or breach a privacy of
          VPN), such Access LSR will have to influence the routing decision
          for affected FEC on the ABR LSR. Following measures should be
          considered to prevent such event from occurring:</t>

          <t><list style="letters">
              <t>ABR LSR - access side with static routes - this is not
              possible for Access LSR. Access LSR has no way to influence ABR
              LSR routing decisions due to static nature of routing
              configuration here.</t>

              <t>ABR LSR – access side with IGP - this is still not
              possible if the compromised Access LSR is a leaf in the access
              topology (leaf node in topologies I1, I, V, Y described earlier
              in this document), due to the leaf metrics being configured on
              the ABR LSR. If the compromised Access LSR is a transit LSR in
              the access topology (transit node in topologies I, Y, U), it is
              possible for this Access LSR to attract to itself traffic
              destined to the nodes upstream from it. However elaborate such
              ‘man in the middle attack’ is possible, but can be
              quickly detected by upstream Access LSRs not receiving traffic,
              and legitimate traffic from them getting dropped.</t>

              <t>ABR LSR - network side - designer should consider giving a
              higher administrative preference to the labeled unicast BGP
              routes vs. access IGP routes.</t>
            </list></t>

          <t>In summary MPLS in access design with LDP DoD has number of
          native properties that prevent number of security attacks and make
          their detection quick and straightforward.</t>

          <t>Following two sections describe other security considerations
          applicable to general MPLS deployments in the access.</t>
        </section>
      </section>

      <section title="Data Plane Security">
        <t>Data plane security risks applicable to the access MPLS network are
        listed below (a non-exhaustive list):</t>

        <t><list style="letters">
            <t>packets from a specific access node flow to an altered
            transport layer or service layer destination.</t>

            <t>packets belonging to undefined services flow to and from the
            access network.</t>

            <t>unlabelled packets destined to remote network nodes.</t>
          </list>Following mechanisms should be considered to address listed
        data plane security risks:</t>

        <t><list style="numbers">
            <t>addressing (a) - Access and ABR LSRs should NOT accept labeled
            packets over a particular data link, unless from the Access or ABR
            LSR perspective this data link is known to attach to a trusted
            system based on employed authentication mechanism(s), and the top
            label has been distributed to the upstream neighbour by the
            receiving Access or ABR LSR.</t>

            <t>addressing (a) – ABR LSR MAY restrict network
            reachability for access devices to a subset of remote network LSR,
            based on authentication or other network security technologies
            employed towards Access LSRs. Restricted reachability can be
            enforced on the ABR LSR using local routing policies, and can be
            distributed towards the core MPLS network using routing policies
            associated with access MPLS FECs.</t>

            <t>addressing (b) - labeled service routes (e.g. MPLS/VPN, tLDP)
            are not accepted from unreliable routing peers. Detection of
            unreliable routing peers is achieved by engaging routing protocol
            detection and alarm mechanisms, and is out of scope of this
            document.</t>

            <t>addressing (a) and (b) - no successful attacks have been
            mounted on the control plane and has been detected.</t>

            <t>addressing (c) - ABR LSR MAY restrict IP network reachability
            to and from the access LSR.</t>
          </list></t>
      </section>

      <section title="Control Plane Security">
        <t>Similarly to <xref target="RFC4364">Inter-AS MPLS/VPN
        deployments</xref>, the control plane security is prerequisite to the
        data plane security.</t>

        <t>To ensure control plane security access LDP DoD sessions should
        only be established with LDP peers that are considered trusted from
        the local LSR perspective, meaning they are reachable over a data link
        that is known to attach to a trusted system based on employed
        authentication mechanism(s) on the local LSR.</t>

        <t>The security of LDP sesions is analyzed in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-karp-routing-tcp-analysis"/>, and its reading is
        recommended. Specifically the <xref target="RFC5925">TCP/IP MD5
        authentication option</xref> should be used with LDP as described in
        <xref target="RFC5036">LDP specification</xref>. If TCP/IP MD5
        authentication is considered not secure enough, the designer may
        consider using a more elaborate and advanced TCP Authentication Option
        <xref target="RFC5925">TCP-AO</xref> for LDP session
        authentication.</t>

        <t>Access IGP (if used) and any routing protocols used in access
        network for signaling service routes should also be secured in a
        similar manner. Refer to <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-karp-routing-tcp-analysis"/> and <xref
        target="RFC6863"/> for further analysis of security properties of
        IS-IS and OSPF IGP routing protocols.</t>

        <t>For increased level of authentication in the control plane security
        for a subset of access locations with lower physical security,
        designer could also consider using:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>different crypto keys for use in authentication procedures for
            these locations.</t>

            <t>stricter network protection mechanisms including DoS
            protection, interface and session flap dampening.</t>
          </list></t>
      </section>

      <section title="Network Node Security">
        <t>If a network node, especially an Access Node, is not located in a
        physically secured and controlled location, then this Access Node
        should implement some measures to provide a level of protection of the
        key(s) used to its authenticate to the network, so as to avoid an
        attacker to get those keys easily. Software tools should monitor and
        keep checking the integrity of the Access Node configuration and
        software version. Note that this is not specific to the node using LDP
        DoD. In the contrary, the use of LDP DoD will allow the
        upstream/network to check, log and possibly deny the FEC requests from
        the Access Node.</t>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section anchor="Acknowledgements" title="Acknowledgements">
      <t>The authors would like to thank Nischal Sheth, Nitin Bahadur, Nicolai
      Leymann, Geraldine Calvignac, Ina Minei, Eric Gray and Lizhong Jin for
      their suggestions and review.</t>
    </section>
  </middle>

  <back>
    <references title="Normative References">
      <?rfc include="reference.RFC.2119"?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5036'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4447'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4364'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3031'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5283'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5920'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls'?>
    </references>

    <references title="Informative References">
      <?rfc ?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3107'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5443'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5925'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.6863'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-karp-routing-tcp-analysis'?>
    </references>
  </back>
</rfc>

PAFTECH AB 2003-20262026-04-22 17:32:47