One document matched: draft-ietf-mpls-tp-framework-01.xml


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<rfc category="std" docName="draft-ietf-mpls-tp-framework-01"
     ipr="trust200902">
  <front>
    <title abbrev="MPLS TP Framework">A Framework for MPLS in Transport
    Networks</title>

    <author fullname="Matthew Bocci" initials="M" role="editor"
            surname="Bocci">
      <organization>Alcatel-Lucent</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>Voyager Place, Shoppenhangers Road</street>

          <city>Maidenhead</city>

          <region>Berks</region>

          <code>SL6 2PJ</code>

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

        <phone>+44-207-254-5874</phone>

        <email>matthew.bocci@alcatel-lucent.com</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <author fullname="Stewart Bryant" initials="S" role="editor"
            surname="Bryant">
      <organization>Cisco Systems</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>250 Longwater Ave</street>

          <city>Reading</city>

          <code>RG2 6GB</code>

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

        <phone>+44-208-824-8828</phone>

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

    <author fullname="Lieven Levrau" initials="L" surname="Levrau">
      <organization>Alcatel-Lucent</organization>

      <address>
        <postal>
          <street>7-9, Avenue Morane Sulnier</street>

          <city>Velizy</city>

          <code>78141</code>

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

        <phone>+33-6-33-86-1916</phone>

        <email>lieven.levrau@alcatel-lucent.com</email>
      </address>
    </author>

    <date day="29" month="June" year="2009" />

    <area>Routing</area>

    <workgroup>MPLS Working Group</workgroup>

    <keyword>mpls-tp</keyword>

    <keyword>MPLS</keyword>

    <keyword>Internet-Draft</keyword>

    <abstract>
      <t>This document specifies an archiectectural framework for the
      application of MPLS in transport networks. It describes a profile of
      MPLS that enables operational models typical in transport networks
      networks, while providing additional OAM, survivability and other
      maintenance functions not currently supported by MPLS.</t>
    </abstract>

    <note title="Requirements Language">
      <!--Borrowed the following from the tp requirements, as this gives us a nice get-out for being more prescriptive than a normal informative draft-->

      <t>Although this document is not a protocol specification, 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> and
      are to be interpreted as instructions to the protocol designers
      producing solutions that satisfy the architectural concepts set out in
      this document..</t>
    </note>
  </front>

  <middle>
    <section title="Introduction">
      <section title="Motivation and Background">
        <!--Updated in line with the requirements draft intro-->

        <t>This document describes a framework for a Multiprotocol Label
        Switching Transport Profile (MPLS-TP). It presents the architectural
        framework for MPLS-TP, definining those elements of MPLS applicable to
        supporting the requirements in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements" /> and what new protocol
        elements are required.</t>

        <t>Bandwidth demand continues to grow worldwide, stimulated by the
        accelerating growth and penetration of new packet based services and
        multimedia applications:</t>

        <t>
          <list style="symbols">
            <t>Packet-based services such as Ethernet, Voice over IP (VoIP),
            Layer 2 (L2)/Layer 3 (L3) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), IP
            Television (IPTV), Radio Access Network (RAN) backhauling,
            etc.,</t>

            <t>Applications with various bandwidth and Quality of Service
            (QoS) requirements.</t>
          </list>
        </t>

        <t>This growth in demand has resulted in dramatic increases in access
        rates that are, in turn, driving dramatic increases in metro and core
        network bandwidth requirements.</t>

        <t>Over the past two decades, the evolving optical transport
        infrastructure (Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET)/Synchronous
        Digital Hierarchy (SDH), Optical Transport Network (OTN)) has provided
        carriers with a high benchmark for reliability and operational
        simplicity. To achieve this, these existing transport technologies
        have been designed with specific characteristics :</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>Strictly connection-oriented connectivity, which may be
            long-lived and may be provisioned manually or by network
            management.</t>

            <t>A high level of protection and availability.</t>

            <t>Quality of service.</t>

            <t>Extended OAM capabilities.</t>
          </list>Carriers are looking to evolve such transport networks to
        support packet based services and networks, and to take advantage of
        the flexibility and cost benefits of packet switching technology.
        While MPLS is a maturing packet technology that is already playing an
        important role in transport networks and services, not all of MPLS's
        capabilities and mechanisms are needed and/or consistent with
        transport network operations. There are also transport technology
        characteristics that are not currently reflected in MPLS.</t>

        <t>The types of packet transport services delivered by transport
        networks are very similar to Layer 2 Virtual Private Networks defined
        by the IETF.</t>

        <t>There are thus two objectives for MPLS-TP:</t>

        <t>
          <list style="numbers">
            <t>To enable MPLS to be deployed in a transport network and
            operated in a similar manner to existing transport
            technologies.</t>

            <t>To enable MPLS to support packet transport services with a
            similar degree of predictability to that found in existing
            transport networks.</t>
          </list>
        </t>

        <t>In order to achieve these objectives, there is a need to create a
        common set of new functions that are applicable to both MPLS networks
        in general, and those blonging to the MPLS-TP profile.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP therefore defines a profile of MPLS targeted at transport
        applications and networks. This profile specifies the specific MPLS
        characteristics and extensions required to meet transport
        requirements. An equipment conforming to MPLS-TP MUST support this
        profile. An MPLS-TP conformant equipment MAY support additional MPLS
        features. A carrier may deploy some of those additional features in
        the transport layer of their network if they find them to be
        beneficial.</t>

        <t>
          <!--moved the following be in an 'applicability' section-->
        </t>
      </section>

      <section title="Applicability">
        <t><xref target="tp-spectrum" /> illustrates the range of services
        that MPLS-TP is intended to address. MPLS-TP is intended to support a
        range of layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3 services, and is not limited to
        layer 3 services only. Networks implementing MPLS-TP may choose to
        only support a subset of these services.</t>

        <t>
          <figure anchor="tp-spectrum" title="MPLS-TP Applicability">
            <artwork><![CDATA[                                          MPLS-TP Solution exists
                                           over this spectrum
                                  |<-------------------------------->|

cl-ps                      Multi-Service                     co-cs & co-ps
                          (cl-ps & co-ps)                      (Label is 
  |                               |                        service context)
  |                               |                                  |
  |<------------------------------|--------------------------------->|
  |                               |                                  |
L3 Only                 L1, L2, L3 Services                 L1, L2 Services            
                        Pt-Pt, Pt-MP, MP-MP                Pt-Pt and Pt-MP

]]></artwork>
          </figure>
        </t>

        <t>The diagram above shows the spectrum of services that can be
        supported by MPLS. MPLS-TP solutions are primarily intended for packet
        transport applications. These can be deployed using a profile of MPLS
        that is strictly connection oriented and does not rely on IP
        forwarding or routing (shown on the right hand side of the figure), or
        in conjunction with an MPLS network that does use IP forwarding and
        that supports a broader range of IP services. This is the
        multi-service solution in the centre of the figure.<!--move this section after terminology--></t>
      </section>

      <section title="Scope">
        <t>This document describes a framework for a Tranport Profile of
        Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS-TP). It presents the architectural
        framework for MPLS-TP, definining those elements of MPLS applicable to
        supporting the requirements in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements" /> and what new protocol
        elements are required.</t>

        <t>This document describes the architecture for MPLS-TP when the LSP
        client is a PW. The transport of IP and MPLS, other than carried over
        a PW, is outside the scope of this document. This does not preclude
        the use of LSPs conforming to the MPLS transport profile from being
        used to carry IP or other MPLS LSPs by general purpose MPLS
        networks.</t>
      </section>

      <section title="Terminology">
        <texttable align="left" style="headers">
          <ttcol>Term</ttcol>

          <ttcol>Definition</ttcol>

          <c>LSP</c>

          <c>Label Switched Path</c>

          <c>MPLS-TP</c>

          <c>MPLS Transport profile</c>

          <c>SDH</c>

          <c>Synchronous Digital Hierarchy</c>

          <c>ATM</c>

          <c>Asynchronous Transfer Mode</c>

          <c>OTN</c>

          <c>Optical Transport Network</c>

          <c>cl-ps</c>

          <c>Connectionless - Packet Switched</c>

          <c>co-cs</c>

          <c>Connection Oriented - Circuit Switched</c>

          <c>co-ps</c>

          <c>Connection Oriented - Packet Switched</c>

          <c>OAM</c>

          <c>Operations, Adminitration and Maintenance</c>

          <c>G-ACh</c>

          <c>Generic Associated Channel</c>

          <c>GAL</c>

          <c>Generic Alert Label</c>

          <c>MEP</c>

          <c>Maintenance End Point</c>

          <c>MIP</c>

          <c>Maintenance Intermediate Point</c>

          <c>APS</c>

          <c>Automatic Protection Switching</c>

          <c>SCC</c>

          <c>Signaling Communication Channel</c>

          <c>MCC</c>

          <c>Management Communication Channel</c>

          <c>EMF</c>

          <c>Equipment Management Function</c>

          <c>FM</c>

          <c>Fault Management</c>

          <c>CM</c>

          <c>Configuration Management</c>

          <c>PM</c>

          <c>Performance Management</c>
        </texttable>
      </section>

      <t />

      <t>Detailed definitions and additional terminology may be found in <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements" />.</t>
    </section>

    <section title="Introduction to Requirements">
      <t>The requirements for MPLS-TP are specified in <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements"></xref>, <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-requirements"></xref>, and <xref
      target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-nm-req"></xref>. This section provides a brief
      reminder to guide the reader. It is not intended as a substitute for
      these documents.</t>

      <t>MPLS-TP MUST NOT modify the MPLS forwarding architecture and MUST be
      based on existing pseudowire and LSP constructs. Any new mechanisms and
      capabilities added to support transport networks and packet transport
      services must be able to interoperate with existing MPLS and pseudowire
      control and forwarding planes.</t>

      <t>Point to point LSPs MAY be unidirectional or bi-directional, and it
      MUST be possible to construct congruent Bi-directional LSPs. Point to
      multipoint LSPs are unidirectional.</t>

      <t>MPLS-TP LSPs do not merge with other LSPs at an MPLS-TP LSR and it
      MUST be possible to detect if a merged LSP has been created.</t>

      <t>It MUST be possible to forward packets solely based on switching the
      MPLS or PW label. It MUST also be possible to establish and maintain
      LSPs and/or pseudowires both in the absence or presence of a dynamic
      control plane. When static provisioning is used, there MUST be no
      dependency on dynamic routing or signaling.</t>

      <t>OAM, protection and forwarding of data packets MUST be able to
      operate without IP forwarding support.</t>

      <t>It MUST be possible to monitor LSPs and pseudowires through the use
      of OAM in the absence of control plane or routing functions. In this
      case information gained from the OAM functions is used to initiate path
      recovery actions at either the PW or LSP layers.</t>
    </section>

    <section title="Transport Profile Overview ">
      <t></t>

      <section title="Packet Transport Services">
        <t>The types of packet transport services provided by existing
        transport networks are similar to MPLS Layer 2 VPNs. A key
        characteristic of packet transport services is that the network used
        to provide the service does not participate in the any IP routing
        protocols present in the client, or use the IP addresses in client
        packets to forward those packets. The network is therefore transparent
        to IP in the client service.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP MUST use one of the Layer 2 VPN services defined in [PPVPN
        architecture] to provide a packet transport service.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP LSPs MAY also be used to transport traffic for which the
        immediate client of the MPLS-TP LSP is not a Layer 2 VPN. However, for
        the purposes of this document, we do not refer to these traffic types
        as belonging to a packet transport service. Such clients include IP
        and MPLS LSPs.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="arch" title="Architecture">
        <t>The architecture for a transport profile of MPLS (MPLS-TP) is based
        on the MPLS <xref target="RFC3031"></xref>, pseudowire <xref
        target="RFC3985"></xref>, and multi-segment pseudowire <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-ms-pw-arch"></xref> architectures, as
        illustrated in <xref target="tp-arch"></xref>.</t>

        <figure anchor="tp-arch"
                title="MPLS-TP Architecture (Single Segment PW)">
          <artwork><![CDATA[            |<-------------- Emulated Service ---------------->|
            |                                                  |
            |          |<------- Pseudo Wire ------>|          |
            |          |                            |          |
            |          |    |<-- PSN Tunnel -->|    |          |
            |          V    V                  V    V          |
            V    AC    +----+                  +----+     AC   V
      +-----+    |     | PE1|==================| PE2|     |    +-----+
      |     |----------|............PW1.............|----------|     |
      | CE1 |    |     |    |                  |    |     |    | CE2 |
      |     |----------|............PW2.............|----------|     |
      +-----+  ^ |     |    |==================|    |     | ^  +-----+
            ^  |       +----+                  +----+     | |  ^
            |  |   Provider Edge 1         Provider Edge 2  |  |
            |  |                                            |  |
      Customer |                                            | Customer
      Edge 1   |                                            | Edge 2
               |                                            |
               |                                            |
         Native service                               Native service
     

]]></artwork>
        </figure>

        <figure title="MPLS-TP Architecture (Multi-Segment PW)">
          <artwork><![CDATA[       Native  |<------------Pseudowire-------------->|  Native
       Service |         PSN              PSN         |  Service
        (AC)   |     |<--cloud->|     |<-cloud-->|    |   (AC)
          |    V     V          V     V          V    V     |
          |    +----+           +-----+          +----+     |
   +----+ |    |TPE1|===========|SPE1 |==========|TPE2|     | +----+
   |    |------|..... PW.Seg't1.........PW.Seg't3.....|-------|    |
   | CE1| |    |    |           |     |          |    |     | |CE2 |
   |    |------|..... PW.Seg't2.........PW.Seg't4.....|-------|    |
   +----+ |    |    |===========|     |==========|    |     | +----+
        ^      +----+     ^     +-----+     ^    +----+       ^
        |                 |                 |                 |
        |              TE LSP            TE LSP               |
        |                                                     |
        |                                                     |
        |<---------------- Emulated Service ----------------->|
]]></artwork>
        </figure>

        <t></t>

        <t>The above figures illustrates the MPLS-TP architecture used to
        provide a point-to-point packet transport service, or VPWS. In this
        case, the MPLS-TP forwarding plane is a profile of the MPLS LSP and
        SS-PW or MS-PW forwarding architecture as detailed in section <xref
        target="FWD"></xref>.</t>

        <t>This document describes the architecture for MPLS-TP when the LSP
        client is a PW. The transport of IP and MPLS, other than carried over
        a PW, is outside the scope of this document. This does not preclude
        the use of LSPs conforming to the MPLS transport profile from being
        used to carry IP or other MPLS LSPs by general purpose MPLS networks.
        LSP hierarchy MAY be used within the MPLS-TP network, so that more
        than one LSP label MAY appear in the label stack.</t>

        <t><figure anchor="MPLS-TP-Defn"
            title="Domain of MPLS-TP Layer Network using Pseudowires">
            <artwork><![CDATA[          +---------------------------+                                  
          |     PW Native service     |                                  
          /===========================\                                  
          H     PW Encapsulation      H \   <---- PW Control word        
          H---------------------------H  \  <---- Normalised client      
          H         PW OAM            H     MPLS-TP channel              
          H---------------------------H  /                               
          H     PW Demux (S=1)        H /                                
          H---------------------------H \                                  
          H         LSP OAM           H  \                               
          H---------------------------H  / MPLS-TP Path(s)               
          H     LSP Demultiplexer(s)  H /                                 
          \===========================/                                  
          |           Server          |                                  
          +---------------------------+


]]></artwork>
          </figure><xref target="MPLS-TP-Defn">Figure</xref> illustrates the
        protocol stack to be used when pseudowires are carried over MPLS-TP
        LSPs.</t>

        <t>When providing a VPWS, VPLS, VPMS or IPLS, pseudowires MUST be used
        to carry a client service. For compatibility with transport
        nomenclature, the PW may be referred to as the MPLS-TP Channel and the
        LSP may be referred to as the MPLS-TP Path.</t>

        <t>Note that in MPLS-TP environments where IP is used for control or
        OAM purposes, IP MAY be carried over the LSP demultiplexers as per
        RFC3031 <xref target="RFC3031"></xref>, or directly over the
        server.</t>

        <t>PW OAM, PSN OAM and PW client data are mutually exclusive and never
        exist in the same packet.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP definition applies to the following two domains:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>MPLS-TP Forwarding Domain</t>

            <t>MPLS-TP Transport Domain</t>
          </list></t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="FWD" title="MPLS-TP Forwarding Domain" toc="default">
        <t>A set of client-to-MPLS-TP adaptation functions interface the
        client to MPLS-TP. For pseudowires, this adaptation function is the PW
        forwarder shown in Figure 4a of <xref target="RFC3985"></xref>. The PW
        label is used for forwarding in this case and is always at the bottom
        of the label stack. The operation of the MPLS-TP network is
        independent of the payload carried by the MPLS-TP PW packet.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP is itself a client of an underlying server layer. MPLS-TP
        is thus bounded by a set of adaptation functions to this server layer
        network. These adaptation functions provide encapsulation of the
        MPLS-TP frames and for the transparent transport of those frames over
        the server layer network. The MPLS-TP client inherits its QoS from the
        MPLS-TP network, which in turn inherits its QoS from the server layer.
        The server layer must therefore provide the neccesary Quality of
        Service (QoS) to ensure that the MPLS-TP client QoS commitments are
        satisfied.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP LSPs use the MPLS label switching operations defined in
        <xref target="RFC3031"></xref>. These operations are highly optimized
        for performance and are not modified by the MPLS-TP profile.</t>

        <t>During forwarding a label is pushed to associate a forwarding
        equivalence class (FEC) with the LSP or PW. This specifies the
        processing operaton to be performed by the next hop at that level of
        encapsulation. A swap of this label is an atomic operation in which
        the contents of the packet after the swapped label are opaque to the
        forwarder. The only event that interrupts a swap operation is TTL
        expiry, in which case the packet may be inspected and either discarded
        or subjected to further processing within the LSR. TTL expiry causes
        an exception which forces a packet to be further inspected and
        processed. While this occurs, the forwarding of succeeding packets
        continues without interruption. Therefore, the only way to cause a P
        (intermediate) LSR to inspect a packet (for example for OAM purposes)
        is to set the TTL to expire at that LSR.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP PWs support the PW and MS-PW forwarding operations defined
        in<xref target="RFC3985"></xref> and <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-ms-pw-arch"></xref>.</t>

        <t>The Traffic Class field (formerly the MPLS EXP field) follows the
        definition and processing rules of <xref target="RFC5462"></xref> and
        <xref target="RFC3270"></xref>. Only the pipe and short-pipe models
        are supported in MPLS-TP.</t>

        <t>The MPLS encapsulation format is as defined in RFC 3032<xref
        target="RFC3032"></xref>. Per-platform label space is used for PWs.
        Either per-platform or per-interface label space may be used for
        LSPs.</t>

        <t>Point to point MPLS-TP LSPs can be either unidirectional or
        bidirectional. Point-to-multipoint MPLS-TP LSPs are unidirectional.
        Point-to-multipont PWs are currently being defined in the IETF and may
        be incorporated in MPLS-TP if required.</t>

        <t>It MUST be possible to configure an MPLS-TP LSP such that the
        forward and backward directions of a bidirectional MPLS-TP LSP are
        co-routed i.e. they follow the same path. The pairing relationship
        between the forward and the backward directions must be known at each
        LSR or LER on a bidirectional LSP.</t>

        <t>Per-packet equal cost multi-path (ECMP) load balancing is not
        applicable to MPLS-TP LSPs.</t>

        <t>Penultimate hop popping (PHP) is disabled on MPLS-TP LSPs by
        default.</t>

        <t>Both E-LSP and L-LSP are supported in MPLS-TP, as defined in RFC
        3270 <xref target="RFC3270"></xref></t>
      </section>

      <section title="MPLS-TP Transport Domain">
        <t>This document specifies the architecture when the client of the
        MPLS-TP LSP is a PW. Note, however, that in MPLS-TP environments where
        IP is used for control or OAM purposes, IP MAY be carried over the the
        LSPs or directly over the server, as described in <xref
        target="arch"></xref>. In this case, the MPLS-TP transport domain
        consists of the PW encapsulation mechanisms, including the PW control
        word.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="addr" title="Addressing">
        <t>Editor's note: This section will be updated after publication of
        the MPLS-TP Addressing Architecture draft.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP distinguishes between adressing used to identify nodes in
        the network, and identifiers used for demultiplexing and forwarding.
        This distinction is illustrated in <xref
        target="tp-addresses"></xref>.<figure anchor="tp-addresses"
            title="Addressing in MPLS-TP">
            <artwork><![CDATA[                          NMS                   Control/Signalling
                              .....         .....
                         [Address]|         |   [Address]
                                  |         |
                            +-----+---------+------+
    Address = Node          |     |         |      |
    ID in forwarding plane  |     V         V      |
                            |                      |
                            |     MEP or MIP       |
                            | dmux                 |
                            | svcid                |
                            | src                  |
                            +--^-------------------+
                               |
   OAM:                OAM     |
     dmux= [GAL/GACH]...........
              or       ________________________________________
             IP       (________________________________________)
     svc context=ID/FEC             PWE=ID1
     SRC=IP                           .
                                      .
                                     IDx]]></artwork>
          </figure></t>

        <t>Editor's note: The figure above arose from discussions in the
        MPLS-TP design team. It will be clarified in a future verson of this
        draft.</t>

        <t>IPv4 or IPv6 addresses are used to identify MPLS-TP nodes by
        default for network management and signaling purposes.</t>

        <t>In the forwarding plane, identfiers are required for the service
        context (provided by the FEC), and for OAM. OAM requires both a
        demultiplexer and an address for the source of the OAM packet.</t>

        <t>For MPLS in general where IP addressing is used, IPv4 or IPv6 is
        used by default. However, MPLS-TP must be able to operate in
        environments where IP is not used in the forwarding plane. Therefore,
        the default mechanism for OAM demultiplexing in MPLS-TP LSPs and PWs
        is the generic associated channel. Forwarding based on IP addresses
        for user or OAM packets is NOT REQUIRED for MPLS-TP.</t>

        <t>RFC 4379 <xref target="RFC4379"></xref>and BFD for MPLS LSPs <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-bfd-mpls"></xref> have defined alert mechanisms that
        enable a MPLS LSR to identify and process MPLS OAM packets when the
        OAM packets are encapsulated in an IP header. These alert mechanisms
        are based on TTL expiration and/or use an IP destination address in
        the range 127/8. These mechanisms are the default mechanisms for MPLS
        networks in general for identifying MPLS OAM packets when the OAM
        packets are encapsulated in an IP header. MPLS-TP must not rely on
        these mechanisms, and thus relies on the GACH/GAL to demultiplex OAM
        packets.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="OAM"
               title="Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM)">
        <t>MPLS-TP supports a comprehensive set of OAM capabilities for packet
        transport applications, with equivalent capabilities to those provided
        in SONET/SDH.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP defines mechanisms to differentiate specific packets (e.g.
        OAM, APS, MCC or SCC) from those carrying user data packets on the
        same LSP. These mechanisms are described in RFC5586 <xref
        target="RFC5586"></xref>.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP requires <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-requirements"></xref> that a set of OAM
        capabilities is available to perform fault management (e.g. fault
        detection and localization) and performance monitoring (e.g. packet
        delay and loss measurement) of the LSP, PW or section. The framework
        for OAM in MPLS-TP is specified in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-framework"></xref>.</t>

        <t>OAM and monitoring in MPLS-TP is based on the concept of
        maintenance entities, as described in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-framework"></xref>. A Maintenance Entity
        can be viewed as the association of two (or more) Maintenance End
        Points (MEPs) (see example in <xref target="tp-oam-ex"></xref> ). The
        MEPs that form an ME should be configured and managed to limit the OAM
        responsibilities of an OAM flow within a network or sub- network, or a
        transport path or segment, in the specific layer network that is being
        monitored and managed.</t>

        <!--The above sentence does not parse. Need to check with Italo.-->

        <t>Each OAM flow is associated with a single ME. Each MEP within an ME
        resides at the boundaries of that ME. An ME may also include a set of
        zero or more Maintenance Intermediate Points (MIPs), which reside
        within the Maintenance Entity. Maintenance end points (MEPs) are
        capable of sourcing and sinking OAM flows, while maintenance
        intermediate points (MIPs) can only sink or respond to OAM flows.</t>

        <t><figure anchor="tp-oam-ex" title="Example of MPLS-TP OAM "
            width="72">
            <artwork><![CDATA[
========================== End to End LSP OAM ============================
     .....                     .....         .....            .....     
-----|MIP|---------------------|MIP|---------|MIP|------------|MIP|-----
     '''''                     '''''         '''''            '''''     

     |<-------- Carrier 1 --------->|        |<--- Carrier 2 ----->|                                                                               
      ----     ---     ---      ----          ----     ---     ----      
 NNI |    |   |   |   |   |    |    |  NNI   |    |   |   |   |    | NNI 
-----| PE |---| P |---| P |----| PE |--------| PE |---| P |---| PE |-----
     |    |   |   |   |   |    |    |        |    |   |   |   |    |     
      ----     ---     ---      ----          ----     ---     ----      

      ==== Segment LSP OAM ======  == Seg't ==  === Seg't LSP OAM === 
            (Carrier 1)             LSP OAM         (Carrier 2)
                                (inter-carrier)
      .....   .....   .....  ..........   ..........  .....    .....
      |MEP|---|MIP|---|MIP|--|MEP||MEP|---|MEP||MEP|--|MIP|----|MEP| 
      '''''   '''''   '''''  ''''''''''   ''''''''''  '''''    ''''' 
      <------------ ME ----------><--- ME ----><------- ME -------->

Note: MEPs for End-to-end LSP OAM exist outside of the scope of this figure.

]]></artwork>
          </figure></t>

        <t><xref target="oam-arch"></xref> illustrates how the concept of
        Maintenance Entities can be mapped to sections, LSPs and PWs in an
        MPLS-TP network that uses MS-PWs.</t>

        <t><figure anchor="oam-arch" title="MPLS-TP OAM archtecture">
            <artwork><![CDATA[     Native  |<-------------------- PW15 --------------------->| Native
      Layer  |                                                 |  Layer
    Service  |    |<-PSN13->|    |<-PSN3X->|    |<-PSNXZ->|    | Service 
       (AC1) V    V   LSP   V    V   LSP   V    V   LSP   V    V  (AC2)
             +----+   +-+   +----+         +----+   +-+   +----+
+---+        |TPE1|   | |   |SPE3|         |SPEX|   | |   |TPEZ|     +---+
|   |        |    |=========|    |=========|    |=========|    |     |   |
|CE1|--------|........PW1........|...PW3...|........PW5........|-----|CE2|
|   |        |    |=========|    |=========|    |=========|    |     |   |
+---+        | 1  |   |2|   | 3  |         | X  |   |Y|   | Z  |     +---+
             +----+   +-+   +----+         +----+   +-+   +----+

             |<- Subnetwork 123->|         |<- Subnetwork XYZ->|

             .------------------- PW15  PME -------------------.
             .---- PW1 PTCME ----.         .---- PW5 PTCME ---.
                  .---------.                   .---------.
                   PSN13 LME                     PSNXZ LME

                   .--.  .--.     .--------.     .--.  .--.
               Sec12 SME Sec23 SME Sec3X SME SecXY SME SecYZ SME


TPE1: Terminating Provider Edge 1     SPE2: Switching Provider Edge 3
TPEX: Terminating Provider Edge X     SPEZ: Switching Provider Edge Z

   .---. ME     .     MEP    ====   LSP      .... PW

SME: Section Maintenance Entity
LME: LSP Maintenance Entity
PME: PW Maintenance Entity

]]></artwork>
          </figure></t>

        <t>The following MPLS-TP MEs are specified in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-framework"></xref>:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>A Section Maintenance Entity (SME), allowing monitoring and
            management of MPLS-TP Sections (between MPLS LSRs).</t>

            <t>A LSP Maintenance Entity (LME), allowing monitoring and
            management of an end-to-end LSP (between LERs).</t>

            <t>A PW Maintenance Entity (PME), allowing monitoring and
            management of an end-to-end SS/MS-PWs (between T-PEs).</t>

            <t>An LSP Tandem Connection Maintenance Entity (LTCME), allowing
            monitoring and management of an LSP Tandem Connection (or LSP
            Segment) between any LER/LSR along the LSP. o A MS-PW Tandem
            Connection Maintenance Entity (PTCME), allows monitoring and
            management of a SS/MS-PW Tandem Connection (or PW Segment) between
            any T-PE/S-PE along the (MS-)PW. Note that the term Tandem
            Connection Monitoring has historical significance dating back to
            the early days of the telephone network, but is equally applicable
            to the two-level hierarchal architectures commonly employed in
            todays packet networks.</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>Individual MIPs along the path of an LSP or PW are addressed by
        setting the appropriate TTL in the label for the OAM packet, as per
        <xref target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-segmented-pw"></xref>. Note that this
        works when the location of MIPs along the LSP or PW path is known by
        the MEP. There may be cases where this is not the case in general MPLS
        networks e.g. following restoration using a facility bypass LSP.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP OAM packets share the same fate as their corresponding data
        packets, and are identified through the Generic Associated Channel
        mechanism <xref target="RFC5586"></xref>. This uses a combination of
        an Associated Channel Header (ACH) and a Generic Alert Label (GAL) to
        create a control channel associated to an LSP, Section or PW.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP OAM architecture support a wide range of OAM functions,
        including the following <list style="symbols">
            <t>Continuity Check</t>

            <t>Connectivity Verification</t>

            <t>Performance monitoring (e.g. loss and delay)</t>

            <t>Alarm suppression</t>

            <t>Remote Integrity</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>These are applicable to any layer defined within MPLS- TP, i.e.
        MPLS Section, LSP and PW.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP OAM toolset needs to be able to operate without relying
        on a dynamic control plane or IP functionality in the datapath. In the
        case of MPLS-TP deployment with IP functionality, all existing IP-MPLS
        OAM functions, e.g. LSP-Ping, BFD and VCCV, may be used. This does not
        preculde the use of other OAM tools in an IP addressable network.</t>

        <t>One use of OAM mechanisms is to detect link failures, node failures
        and performance outside the required specification which then may be
        used to trigger recovery actions, according to the requirements of the
        service.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="GENERICACH" title="Generic Associated Channel (G-ACh)">
        <t>For correct operation of the OAM it is important that the OAM
        packets fate share with the data packets. In addition in MPSL-TP it is
        necessary to discriminate between user data payloads and other types
        of payload. For example the packet may contain a Signaling
        Communication Channel (SCC), or a channel used for Automatic Protecton
        Switching (APS) data. Such packetets are carried on a control channel
        associated to the LSP, Section or PW. This is achieved by carrying
        such packets on a generic control channel associated to the LSP, PW or
        section.</t>

        <t>MPLS-TP makes use of such a generic associated channel (G-ACh) to
        support Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security
        (FCAPS) functions by carrying packets related to OAM, APS, SCC, MCC or
        other packet types in band over LSPs or PWs. The G-ACH is defined in
        <xref target="RFC5586"></xref>and it is similar to the Pseudowire
        Associated Channel <xref target="RFC4385"></xref>, which is used to
        carry OAM packets across pseudowires. The G-ACH is indicated by a
        generic associated channel header (ACH), similar to the Pseudowire
        VCCV control word, and this is present for all Sections, LSPs and PWs
        making use of FCAPS functions supported by the G-ACH.</t>

        <t>For pseudowires, the G-ACh use the first nibble of the pseudowire
        control word to provide the initial discrimination between data
        packets a packets belonging to the associated channel, as described
        in<xref target="RFC4385"></xref>. When the first nibble of a packet,
        immediately following the label at the bottom of stack, has a value of
        one, then this packet belongs to a G-ACh. The first 32 bits following
        the bottom of stack label then have a defined format called an
        associated channel header (ACH), which further defines the content of
        the packet. The ACH is therefore both a demultiplexer for G-ACh
        traffic on the PW, and a discriminator for the type of G-ACh
        traffic.</t>

        <t>When the OAM, or a similar message is carried over an LSP, rather
        than over a pseudowire, it is necessary to provide an indication in
        the packet that the payload is something other than a user data
        packet. This is acheived by including a reserved label with a value of
        13 in the label stack. This reserved label is referred to as the
        'Generic Alert Label (GAL)', and is defined in <xref
        target="RFC5586"></xref>. When a GAL is found anywhere within the
        label stack it indicates that the payload begins with an ACH. The GAL
        is thus a demultiplexer for G-ACh traffic on the LSP, and the ACH is a
        discriminator for the type of traffic carried on the G-ACh. Note
        however that MPLS-TP forwarding follows the normal MPLS model, and
        that a GAL is invisible to an LSR unless it is the top label iin the
        label stack. The only other circumstance under which the label stack
        may be inspected for a GAL is when the TTL has expired. Any MPLS-TP
        component that intentionally performs this inspection must assume that
        it is asynchronous with respect to the forwarding of other packets.
        All operations on the label stack arein accordance with <xref
        target="RFC3031"></xref> and <xref target="RFC3032"></xref>.</t>

        <t>In MPLS-TP, the 'Generic Alert Label (GAL)' always appears at the
        bottom of the label stack (i.e. S bit set to 1), however this does not
        preclude its use elsewhere in the label stack in other
        applications.</t>

        <t>The G-ACH MUST only be used for channels that are an adjunct to the
        data service. Examples of these are OAM, APS, MCC and SCC, but the use
        is not resticted to those names services. The G-ACH MUST NOT be used
        to carry additional data for use in the forwarding path, i.e. it MUST
        NOT be used as an alternative to a PW control word, or to define a PW
        type.</t>

        <t>Since the G-ACh traffic is indistinguishable from the user data
        traffic at the server layer, bandwidth and QoS commitments apply to
        the gross traffic on the LSP, PW or section. Protocols using the G-ACh
        must therefore take into consideration the impact they have on the
        user data that they are sharing resources with. In addition, protocols
        using the G-ACh MUST conform to the security and congestion
        considerations described in <xref target="RFC5586"></xref>. .</t>

        <t><xref target="PWE3-stack"></xref> shows the reference model
        depicting how the control channel is associated with the pseudowire
        protocol stack. This is based on the reference model for VCCV shown in
        Figure 2 of <xref target="RFC5085"></xref>.</t>

        <t><figure anchor="PWE3-stack"
            title="PWE3 Protocol Stack Reference Model including the G-ACh "
            width="72">
            <artwork><![CDATA[ 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |  Payload    |       < Service / FCAPS >      |  Payload    | 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |   Demux /   |       < CW / ACH for PWs >     |   Demux /   | 
       |Discriminator|                                |Discriminator|
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |     PW      |             < PW >             |     PW      |
       +-------------+                                +-------------+
       |    PSN      |             < LSP >            |    PSN      | 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |  Physical   |                                |  Physical   | 
       +-----+-------+                                +-----+-------+ 
             |                                              | 
             |             ____     ___       ____          | 
             |           _/    \___/   \    _/    \__       | 
             |          /               \__/         \_     | 
             |         /                               \    | 
             +--------|      MPLS/MPLS-TP Network       |---+ 
                       \                               / 
                        \   ___      ___     __      _/ 
                         \_/   \____/   \___/  \____/ 

]]></artwork>
          </figure></t>

        <t>PW associated channel messages are encapsulated using the PWE3
        encapsulation, so that they are handled and processed in the same
        manner (or in some cases, an analogous manner) as the PW PDUs for
        which they provide a control channel.</t>

        <t><xref target="MPLS-PS-inc-LSP-ACH"></xref> shows the reference
        model depicting how the control channel is associated with the LSP
        protocol stack.</t>

        <figure anchor="MPLS-PS-inc-LSP-ACH"
                title="MPLS Protocol Stack Reference Model including the LSP Associated Control Channel ">
          <artwork><![CDATA[
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |  Payload    |          < Service >           |   Payload   | 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |Discriminator|         < ACH on LSP >         |Discriminator|
       +-------------+                                +-------------+
       |Demultiplexer|         < GAL on LSP >         |Demultiplexer| 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+
       |    PSN      |            < LSP >             |    PSN      | 
       +-------------+                                +-------------+ 
       |  Physical   |                                |  Physical   | 
       +-----+-------+                                +-----+-------+ 
             |                                              | 
             |             ____     ___       ____          | 
             |           _/    \___/   \    _/    \__       | 
             |          /               \__/         \_     | 
             |         /                               \    | 
             +--------|      MPLS/MPLS-TP Network       |---+ 
                       \                               / 
                        \   ___      ___     __      _/ 
                         \_/   \____/   \___/  \____/ 
   ]]></artwork>

          <postamble></postamble>
        </figure>

        <t></t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="CONTROLPLANE" title="Control Plane">
        <t>MPLS-TP should be capable of being operated with centralized
        Network Management Systems (NMS). The NMS may be supported by a
        distributed control plane, but MPLS-TP can operated in the absense of
        such a control plane. A distributed control plane may be used to
        enable dynamic service provisioning in multi-vendor and multi-domain
        environments using standardized protocols that guarantee
        interoperability. Where the requirements specified in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements"></xref> can be met, the MPLS
        transport profile uses existing control plane protocols for LSPs and
        PWs.</t>

        <t><xref target="cp-arch"></xref> illustrates the relationshop between
        the MPLS-TP control plane, the forwarding plane, the management plane,
        and OAM for point-to-point MPLS-TP LSPs or PWs.</t>

        <t><figure anchor="cp-arch"
            title="MPLS-TP Control Plane Architecture Context">
            <artwork><![CDATA[ +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |                                                                        |
 |                   Network Management System and/or                     |
 |                                                                        |
 |           Control Plane for Point to Point Connections                 |
 |                                                                        |
 +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
              |      |           |       |          |    |
  ............|......|.....  ....|.......|....  ....|....|...............       
            +---+    |    :  : +---+     |   :  : +---+  |              :
  :         |OAM|    |    :  : |OAM|     |   :  : |OAM|  |              :
  :         +---+    |    :  : +---+     |   :  : +---+  |              :
  :           |      |    :  :   |       |   :  :   |    |              :
 \: +----+   +----------+ :  : +----------+  :  : +----------+   +----+ :/
--+-|Edge|<->|Forwarding|<---->|Forwarding|<----->|Forwarding|<->|Edge|-+--     
 /: +----+   |          | :  : |          |  :  : |          |   +----+ :\
  :          +----------+ :  : +----------+  :  : +----------+          :
  '''''''''''''''''''''''''  '''''''''''''''''   ''''''''''''''''''''''''

Note: 
   1) NMS may be centralised or distributed. Control plane is distributed  
   2) 'Edge' functions refers to those functions present at the edge of
      a PSN domain, e.g. NSP or classification.

]]></artwork>
          </figure></t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP control plane is based on a combination of the
        LDP-based control plane for pseudowires <xref target="RFC4447"></xref>
        and the RSVP-TE based control plane for MPLS-TP LSPs <xref
        target="RFC3471"></xref>. Some of the RSVP-TE functions that are
        required for LSP signaling for MPLS-TP are based on GMPLS.</t>

        <t>The distributed MPLS-TP control plane provides the following
        functions:</t>

        <t><list style="symbols">
            <t>Signaling</t>

            <t>Routing</t>

            <t>Traffic engineering and constraint-based path computation</t>
          </list></t>

        <t>In a multi-domain environment, the MPLS-TP control plane supports
        different types of interfaces at domain boundaries or within the
        domains. These include the User-Network Interface (UNI), Internal
        Network Node Interface (I-NNI), and External Network Node Interface
        (E-NNI). Note that different policies may be defined that control the
        information exchanged across these interface types.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP control plane is capable of activating MPLS-TP OAM
        functions as described in the OAM section of this document <xref
        target="OAM"></xref> e.g. for fault detection and localization in the
        event of a failure in order to efficiently restore failed transport
        paths.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP control plane supports all MPLS-TP data plane
        connectivity patterns that are needed for establishing transport paths
        including protected paths as described in the survivability section
        <xref target="SURVIVE"></xref> of this document. Examples of the
        MPLS-TP data plane connectivity patterns are LSPs utilizing the fast
        reroute backup methods as defined in <xref target="RFC4090"></xref>
        and ingress-to-egress 1+1 or 1:1 protected LSPs.</t>

        <t>The MPLS-TP control plane provides functions to ensure its own
        survivability and to enable it to recover gracefully from failures and
        degredations. These include graceful restart and hot redundant
        configurations. Depending on how the control plane is transported,
        varying degrees of decoupling between the control plane and data plane
        may be achieved.</t>

        <section title="PW Control Plane">
          <t>An MPLS-TP network provides many of its transport services using
          single-segment or multi-segment pseudowires, in compliance with the
          PWE3 architecture (<xref target="RFC3985"></xref> and <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-ms-pw-arch"></xref> ). The setup and
          maintenance of single-segment or multi- segment pseudowires uses the
          Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) as per <xref
          target="RFC4447"></xref> and extensions for MS-PWs <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-segmented-pw"></xref> and <xref
          target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-dynamic-ms-pw"></xref>.</t>
        </section>

        <section title=" LSP Control Plane">
          <t>MPLS-TP provider edge nodes aggregate multiple pseudowires and
          carry them across the MPLS-TP network through MPLS-TP tunnels
          (MPLS-TP LSPs). Applicable functions from the Generalized MPLS
          (GMPLS) protocol suite supporting packet-switched capable (PSC)
          technologies are used as the control plane for MPLS-TP transport
          paths (LSPs).</t>

          <t>The LSP control plane includes:<list style="symbols">
              <t>RSVP-TE for signalling</t>

              <t>OSPF-TE or ISIS-TE for routing</t>
            </list>RSVP-TE signaling in support of GMPLS, as defined in <xref
          target="RFC4872"></xref>, is used for the setup, modification, and
          release of MPLS-TP transport paths and protection paths. It supports
          unidirectional, bi-directional and multicast types of LSPs. The
          route of a transport path is typically calculated in the ingress
          node of a domain and the RSVP explicit route object (ERO) is
          utilized for the setup of the transport path exactly following the
          given route. GMPLS based MPLS-TP LSPs must be able to interoperate
          with RSVP-TE based MPLS-TE LSPs, as per <xref
          target="RFC5146"></xref></t>

          <t>OSPF-TE routing in support of GMPLS as defined in <xref
          target="RFC4203"></xref> is used for carrying link state information
          in a MPLS-TP network. ISIS-TE routing in support of GMPLS as defined
          in <xref target="RFC5307"></xref> is used for carrying link state
          information in a MPLS-TP network.</t>
        </section>
      </section>

      <section anchor="static" title="Static Operation of LSPs and PWs ">
        <t>A PW or LSP may be statically configured without the support of a
        dynamic control plane. This may be either by direct configuration of
        the PEs/LSRs, or via a network management system. The colateral damage
        that loops can cause during the time taken to detect the failure may
        be severe. When static configuration mechanisms are used, care must be
        taken to ensure that loops to not form.</t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="SURVIVE" title="Survivability">
        <t>Survivability requirements for MPLS-TP are specified in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-survive-fwk"></xref>.</t>

        <t>A wide variety of resiliency schemes have been developed to meet
        the various network and service survivability objectives. For example,
        as part of the MPLS/PW paradigms, MPLS provides methods for local
        repair using back-up LSP tunnels (<xref target="RFC4090"></xref>),
        while pseudowire redundancy <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-redundancy"></xref> supports scenarios where the
        protection for the PW can not be fully provided by the PSN layer (i.e.
        where the backup PW terminates on a different target PE node than the
        working PW). Additionally, GMPLS provides a well known set of control
        plane driven protection and restoration mechanisms <xref
        target="RFC4872"></xref>. MPLS-TP provides additional protection
        mechansisms that are optimised for both linear topologies and ring
        topologies, and that operate in the absense of a dynamic control
        plane. These are specified in <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-survive-fwk"></xref>.</t>

        <t>Different protection schemes apply to different deployment
        topologies and operational considerations. Such protection schemes may
        provide different levels of resiliency. For example, two concurrent
        traffic paths (1+1), one active and one standby path with guaranteed
        bandwidth on both paths (1:1) or one active path and a standby path
        that is shared by one or more other active paths (shared protection).
        The applicability of any given scheme to meet specific requirements is
        outside the current scope of this document.</t>

        <t>The characteristics of MPLS-TP resiliency mechanisms are listed
        below.<list style="symbols">
            <t>Optimised for linear, ring or meshed topologies.</t>

            <t>Use OAM mechanisms to detect and localize network faults or
            service degenerations.</t>

            <t>Include protection mechanisms to coordinate and trigger
            protection switching actions in the absense of a dynamic control
            plane. This is known as an Automatic Protection Switching (APS)
            mechanism.</t>

            <t>MPLS-TP recovery schemes are applicable to all levels in the
            MPLS-TP domain (i.e. MPLS section, LSP and PW), providing segment
            and end-to- end recovery.</t>

            <t>MPLS-TP recovery mechanisms support the coordination of
            protection switching at multiple levels to prevent race conditions
            occuring between a client and its server layer.</t>

            <t>MPLS-TP recovery mechanisms can be data plane, control plane or
            management plane based.</t>

            <t>MPLS-TP supports revertive and non-revertive behavior.</t>
          </list></t>
      </section>

      <section anchor="NETMGT" title="Network Management">
        <t>The network management architecture and requirements for MPLS-TP
        are specified in <xref target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-nm-req"></xref>. It
        derives from the generic specifications described in ITU-T
        G.7710/Y.1701 <xref target="G.7710"></xref> for transport
        technologies. It also incorporates the OAM requirements for MPLS
        Networks <xref target="RFC4377"></xref> and MPLS-TP Networks <xref
        target="I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-requirements"></xref> and expands on
        those requirements to cover the modifications necessary for fault,
        configuration, performance, and security in a transport network.</t>

        <t>The Equipment Management Function (EMF) of a MPLS-TP Network
        Element (NE) (i.e. LSR, LER, PE, S-PE or T-PE) provides the means
        through which a management system manages the NE. The Management
        Communication Channel (MCC), realized by the G-ACh, provides a logical
        operations channel between NEs for transferring Management
        information. For the management interface from a management system to
        a MPLS-TP NE, there is no restriction on which management protocol
        should be used. It is used to provision and manage an end-to-end
        connection across a network where some segments are create/managed,
        for examples by Netconf or SNMP and other segments by XML or CORBA
        interfaces. Maintenance operations are run on a connection (LSP or PW)
        in a manner that is independent of the provisioning mechanism. An
        MPLS-TP NE is not required to offer more than one standard management
        interface. In MPLS-TP, the EMF must be capable of statically
        provisioning LSPs for an LSR or LER, and PWs for a PE, as per <xref
        target="static"></xref>.</t>

        <t>Fault Management (FM) functions within the EMF of an MPLS-TP NE
        enable the supervision, detection, validation, isolation, correction,
        and alarm handling of abnormal conditions in the MPLS-TP network and
        its environment. FM must provide for the supervision of transmission
        (such as continuity, connectivity, etc.), software processing,
        hardware, and environment. Alarm handling includes alarm severity
        assignment, alarm suppression/aggregation/correlation, alarm reporting
        control, and alarm reporting.</t>

        <t>Configuration Management (CM) provides functions to control,
        identify, collect data from, and provide data to MPLS-TP NEs. In
        addition to general configuration for hardware, software protection
        switching, alarm reporting control, and date/time setting, the EMF of
        the MPLS-TP NE also supports the configuration of maintenance entity
        identifiers (such as MEP ID and MIP ID). The EMF also supports the
        configuration of OAM parameters as a part of connectivity management
        to meet specific operational requirements. These may specify whether
        the operational mode is one-time on-demand or is periodic at a
        specified frequency.</t>

        <t>The Performance Management (PM) functions within the EMF of an
        MPLS- TP NE support the evaluation and reporting of the behaviour of
        the NEs and the network. One particular requirement for PM is to
        provide coherent and consistent interpretation of the network
        behaviour in a hybrid network that uses multiple transport
        technologies. Packet loss measurement and delay measurements may be
        collected and used to detect performance degradation. This is reported
        via fault management to enable corrective actions to be taken (e.g.
        protection switching), and via performance monitoring for Service
        Level Agreement (SLA) verification and billing. Collection mechanisms
        for performance data should be should be capable of operating
        on-demand or proactively.</t>
      </section>
    </section>

    <section title="Security Considerations">
      <t>The introduction of MPLS-TP into transport networks means that the
      security considerations applicable to both MPLS and PWE3 apply to those
      transport networks. Furthermore, when general MPLS networks that utilise
      functionality outside of the strict MPLS-TP profile are used to support
      packet transport services, the security considerations of that
      additional functionality also apply.</t>

      <t>The security considerations of <xref target="RFC3985"></xref> and
      <xref target="I-D.ietf-pwe3-ms-pw-arch"></xref> apply.</t>

      <t>Each MPLS-TP solution must specify the addtional security
      considerations that apply.</t>
    </section>

    <section title="IANA Considerations">
      <t>IANA considerations resulting from specific elements of MPLS-TP
      functionality will be detailed in the documents specifying that
      functionality.</t>

      <t>This document introduces no additional IANA considerations in
      itself.</t>
    </section>

    <section title="Acknowledgements">
      <t>The editors wish to thank the following for their contribution to
      this document: <list style="symbols">
          <t>Dieter Beller</t>

          <t>Italo Busi</t>

          <t>Hing-Kam Lam</t>

          <t>Marc Lasserre</t>

          <t>Vincenzo Sestito</t>

          <t>Martin Vigoureux</t>

          <t>Malcolm Betts</t>
        </list></t>
    </section>
  </middle>

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

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

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3032'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3270'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3985'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4385'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4090'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4201'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4203'?>

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

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4872'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-pwe3-redundancy'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5085'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-pwe3-ms-pw-arch'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5586'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5462'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.3471'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5307'?>

      <reference anchor="G.7710">
        <front>
          <title>ITU-T Recommendation G.7710/Y.1701 (07/07), "Common equipment
          management function requirements"</title>

          <author>
            <organization></organization>
          </author>

          <date year="2005" />
        </front>
      </reference>

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

    <references title="Informative References">
      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4377'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-requirements'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-requirements'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-nm-req'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.bryant-filsfils-fat-pw'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.4379'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-bfd-mpls'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.RFC.5146'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-survive-fwk'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-mpls-tp-oam-framework'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-pwe3-dynamic-ms-pw'?>

      <?rfc include='reference.I-D.ietf-pwe3-segmented-pw'?>
    </references>
  </back>
</rfc>

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