One document matched: draft-ietf-pwe3-cw-03.txt

Differences from draft-ietf-pwe3-cw-02.txt


                                                                        
Network Working Group                                         S. Bryant 
Internet Draft                                               G. Swallow 
Expiration Date: September 2005                           Cisco Systems 
                                                           D. McPherson 
                                                         Arbor Networks 
                                                                        
                                                             March 2005 
                                                                        
                                                                        
                PWE3 Control Word for use over an MPLS PSN 

                        draft-ietf-pwe3-cw-03.txt 

  
  
    
Status of this Memo  

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Abstract  
 
   This document describes the preferred designs of the PWE3 MPLS 
   Control Word, and the PW Associated Channel Header. The design of 
   these fields is chosen so that an MPLS LSR performing MPLS payload 
   inspection will not confuse a PWE3 payload with an IP payload. 

Conventions used in this document  
     




 
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   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 RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. 

 
1.   Introduction 

   The standard MPLS encapsulations have no explicit protocol 
   identifier. In order for a pseudo wire (PW) [RFC3985] to operate 
   correctly over an MPLS packet switched network (PSN) that performs 
   MPLS payload inspection, a PW packet must not appear to the LSR as 
   if it were an IP packet [BCP]. An example of an LSR that performs 
   MPLS payload inspection is one that is performing equal-cost 
   multiple-path load-balancing (ECMP) [RFC2992]. If ECMP were 
   performed on PWE3 packets, the packets in the PW may not all follow 
   the same path through the PSN. This may result in misordered packet 
   delivery to the egress PE. The inability to ensure that all packets 
   belonging to a PW follow the same path may also prevent the PW OAM 
   [VCCV] mechanism from correctly monitoring the PW.  

   This draft specifies how a PW header distinguishes a PW payload from 
   an IP payload carried over an MPLS PSN. 

2.   PWE3 Packet Identification 

   All IP packets [RFC791][RFC1883] start with a version number that is 
   checked by LSRs performing MPLS payload inspection. To prevent the 
   incorrect processing of packets carried within a PW, PW packets 
   carried over an MPLS PSN SHOULD NOT start with the value 4 (IPv4) or 
   the value 6 (IPv6) in the first nibble [BCP], as those are assumed 
   to carry normal IP payloads. 

   This document defines a PW header and two general formats of that 
   header. These two formats are the PW MPLS Control Word (PWMCW) used 
   for data passing across the PW, and a PW Associated Channel Header 
   (PW-ACH) that can be used for functions such as OAM. 

   If the first nibble of a PWE3 packet carried over an MPLS PSN has a 
   value of 0, it starts with a PWMCW. If the first nibble of a packet 
   carried over an MPLS PSN has a value of 1, it starts with a PW-ACH. 
   The use of any other first nibble value for a PWE3 packet carried 
   over an MPLS PSN is deprecated. 

   A PW carried over an MPLS PSN that uses the contents of the MPLS 
   payload to select the ECMP path SHOULD employ the PW MPLS Control 
   Word described in Section 3 for data, and the PW Associated Channel 
   Header described in Section 4 for channel associated traffic. These 
   Control Words MUST immediately follow the bottom of the MPLS label 
   stack. 






 
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3.   Generic PW MPLS Control Word 

   The Generic PW MPLS Control Word is shown in Figure 1.  

 
    0                   1                   2                   3 
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |0 0 0 0|          Specified by PW Encapsulation                | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
    
         Figure 1: Generic PW MPLS Control Word 
 
 
   The PW set-up protocol or configuration mechanism determines whether 
   a PW uses a PW MPLS Control Word (PWMCW). Bits 0..3 differ from the 
   first four bits of an IP packet [BCP] and hence provide the 
   necessary MPLS payload discrimination. 

   When a PWMCW is used, it MUST adhere to the Generic MPLS Control 
   Word format as illustrated in Figure 1 above. It is however strongly 
   recommended that it also follows the following format:  

 
    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 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |0 0 0 0| Flags |FRG|  Length   | Sequence Number               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

        Figure 2: PW Preferred MPLS Control Word 

   The meaning of the fields of the PW Preferred MPLS Control Word 
   (Figure 2) are as follows: 

   Flags (bits 4 to 7): 

          These bits are available for per-payload signalling.  Their 
          definition is encapsulation specific as defined in 
          [pointer?]. 

   FRG (bits 8 and 9): 

          These bits are used when fragmenting a PW payload. Their use 
          is described in [FRAG] which is currently a work in progress. 
          When the PW is of a type that will never need payload 
          fragmentation, these bits may be used as general purpose 
          flags. 

   Length (bits 10 to 15): 





 
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          The value of the length field, if non-zero, can be used to 
          remove any padding added by the PSN. If the entire packet 
          length is less than 64 bytes, the length field MUST be set to 
          the length of the PW payload plus the length of the control 
          word. Otherwise it MUST be set to zero.  

          If a non-zero length field is received, the PW payload MUST 
          be trimmed if required. 

   Sequence number (Bit 16 to 31): 

          If the sequence number is not used, it is set to zero by the 
          sender and ignored by the receiver.  Otherwise it specifies 
          the sequence number of a packet.  A circular list of sequence 
          numbers is used.  A sequence number takes a value from 1 to 
          65535 (2**16-1). The sequence number window size for packet 
          acceptance is dependent on the parameters of both the PW and 
          the MPLS PSN, and SHOULD be configurable. The mechanism used 
          by the decapsulating PE to syncronise the expected sequence 
          number with the received sequence number is implementation 
          dependent. 

4.   PW Associated Channel 

   For some features of PWs, such as OAM, an associated channel is 
   required. An associated channel is a channel that is multiplexed 
   over the PW so that it follows exactly the same path through the PSN 
   as the PW. Note that the use of the term "channel" is not a "PW 
   channel type" as used in subsection 5.1.2 of [RFC3985] 

   When MPLS is used as the PSN, the PW Associated Channel is 
   identified by the following header:  

   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 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |0 0 0 1| FmtID |   Reserved    |         Channel Type          | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  

       Figure 3: PW Associated Channel Header  

   The meaning of the fields in the PW Associated Channel Header 
   (Figure 3) are as follows: 

   FmtID:  

          Format ID for the remaining 3 octets of the header. A FmtID 
          of 0 indicates that the 3 octets are as shown in Figure 3.  

   Reserved: 





 
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          Must be sent as 0, and ignored on reception. 

   Channel Type: 

          The PW Associated Channel Type is defined in the IANA PW 
          Associated Channel Type registry [IANA]. 

   Bits 0..3 MUST be 0x01, and hence differ from the first four bits of 
   an IP packet [BCP]. This provides the necessary MPLS payload 
   discrimination.  

   Note that L2TPv3 [REFERENCE] has its own mechanisms for providing 
   this associated channel, and is therefore out of the scope of this 
   document. 

5.   IANA considerations 

   IANA needs to set up a registry of "Pseudowire Associated Channel 
   Types". These are 16-bit values. Registry entries are assigned by 
   using the "IETF Consensus" policy defined in [RFC2434]. 

6.   Security Considerations 

   An application using PW Associated Channel to provide an OAM [VCCV] 
   or other message channel MUST be aware that this can potentially be 
   misused. Any application using the Associated Channel must therefore 
   fully consider the resultant security issues, and provide mechanisms 
   to prevent an attacker from using this as a mechanism to disrupt the 
   operation of the PW or the PE, and to stop this channel from being 
   used as a conduit to deliver packets elsewhere. 

   If a PW has been configured to operate without a CW, the PW 
   Associated Channel Type mechanism described in the document MUST NOT 
   be used. This is to prevent user payloads being fabricated in such a 
   way that they mimic the PW Associated Channel Header, and thereby 
   provide a method of attacking the application that is using the 
   Associated Channel. 

    

7.   Acknowledgements 

   The authors wish to thank David Allan, Luca Martini, Thomas Nadeau 
   and Mark Townsley for their input to this work. 

8.   Intellectual Property Statement 

 
   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any   
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed 





 
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   to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described 
   in this document or the extent to which any license under such 
   rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that 
   it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  
   Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC 
   documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79. 

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any 
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   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use 
   of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this 
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository 
   at http://www.ietf.org/ipr. 

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any 
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary 
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement 
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org. 

 
9.    Full copyright statement 

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). This document is subject 
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and 
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights. 

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on 
   an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE 
   REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE 
   INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR 
   IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF 
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED 
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 

    

10.    Normative References 

   Internet-drafts are works in progress available from   
   http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/ 

   [RFC791]   RFC-791: DARPA Internet Program, Protocol 
               Specification, ISI, September 1981. 

   [RFC1883]  RFC-1883: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6), S. 
               Deering, et al, December 1995 

    






 
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11.    Informative References 

 
   Internet-drafts are works in progress available from   
   <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/> 

   [BCP]     Swallow, G. et al, "Avoiding Equal Cost Multipath 
              Treatment in MPLS Networks", Internet Draft         
              <draft-ietf-mpls-ecmp-bcp-00.txt>, September 2004, 
              Work in Progress. 

   [FRAG]    Malis, A., Townsley, M., "PWE3 Fragmentation and 
              Reassembly", Internet Draft, <draft-ietf-pwe3-
              fragmentation-08.txt>, February 2005, Work in 
              Progress. 

   [IANA]    Martini, L., Townsley M., "IANA Allocations for 
              pseudo Wire Edge to Edge Emulation (PWE3) ", 
              Internet Draft, <draft-ietf-pwe3-iana-allocation-
              07.txt>, October 2004, Work in Progress. 
               
   [RFC2434] RFC-2434: Guidelines for Writing an IANA 
              Considerations Section in RFCs, Narten, T., 
              Alvestrand, H., October 1998 
               
   [RFC2992] RFC-2992:  Analysis of an Equal-Cost Multi-Path 
              Algorithm, C. Hopps, November 2000 
   [RFC3985] RFC-3985: PWE3 Architecture, Bryant, S. ed., Pate, 
              P. ed. , To be published.  
   [VCCV]    Nadeau, T., Aggarwal, T., "Pseudo Wire (PW) Virtual 
              Circuit Connection Verification (VCCV)", Internet 
              Draft, <draft-ietf-pwe3-vccv-04.txt>, Feb. 2005, 
              Work in Progress. 

 
 
 
 
 
12.    Authors' Addresses 

    
   Stewart Bryant 
   Cisco Systems, 
   250, Longwater, 





 
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   Green Park, 
   Reading, RG2 6GB, 
   United Kingdom.             Email: stbryant@cisco.com 
    
   Danny McPherson 
   Arbor Networks, Inc.              Email: danny@arbor.net 
    
   George Swallow 
   Cisco Systems, Inc. 
   1414 Massachusetts Ave 
   Boxborough, MA 01719        Email:  swallow@cisco.com 
    

    









































 
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