One document matched: draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt


                                                               
                                     Jean-Philippe Vasseur(Editor) 
                                             Cisco Systems, Inc. 
                                                  Yuichi Ikejiri  
                                    NTT Communications Corporation   
                                                               
IETF Internet Draft 
Expires: August, 2004                                                
                                                      February, 2004 
 
 
 
                                
                                
            draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt 
                                
                                
                                
            Reoptimization of MPLS Traffic Engineering  
                loosely routed explicit LSP paths 
 
 
 
 
Status of this Memo 
 
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all 
provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. Internet-Drafts are 
Working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its 
areas, and its working groups.  Note that other groups may also 
distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. 
 
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material 
or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 
 
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at 
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt. 
The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at 
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Table of content 
 
3.1.   ERO expansion signaling request 4 
3.2.   New Path Error sub-code 4 
4.1.   TE LSP reroute 5 
4.2.   Reoptimization triggers 5 
4.3.   Head-end request versus mid-point indication   6 
4.3.1. Head-end request      6 
4.3.2. Mid-point indication   7 
4.3.3. ERO caching    8 
 
 
Abstract 
 
The aim of this document is to propose a mechanism for the 
reoptimization of MPLS Traffic Engineering loosely routed explicit LSP 
paths. A loosely routed explicit LSP path is a path specified as a 
combination of strict and loose hop(s) that contains at least one loose 
hop and zero or more strict hop(s). The path calculation (which implies 
an ERO expansion) to reach a loose hop is performed by the previous hop 
defined in the TE LSP path. This document proposes a mechanism that 
allows: 
 
  - The TE LSP head-end LSR to trigger a new ERO expansion on every 
  hop having a next hop defined as a loose hop,   
   
  - A mid-point LSR to signal to the TE LSP head-end LSR that a better 
  path exists to reach a loose hop (compared to the current path in 
  use). A better path is defined as a path with a lower cost, where 
  the cost is determined by the metric used to compute the path.  
 
This primarily applies to inter-area TE LSPs and inter-AS TE LSPs (see 
[INTER-AREA-AS]) when the path is defined as a list of loose hops 
(generally the loose hops are the ABRs/ASBRs) but the following 
mechanism is also applicable to any loosely routed explicit path within 
a single routing domain. 
 
1.     Establishment of a loosely routed explicit TE LSP 
 
A loosely routed explicit path is as a path specified as a combination 
of strict and loose hop(s) that contains at least one loose hop and 
zero or more strict hop(s). Loose hops are listed in the ERO object of 
the RSVP Path message with the L flag of the Ipv4 prefix sub-object 
set, as defined in [RSVP-TE]. In this case, each LSR along path can 
perform a partial route computation to reach the next loose hop and 
then performs an ERO expansion, before forwarding the RSVP Path message 
downstream. 
 
Note that the examples in the rest of this document are provided in the 
context of MPLS inter-area TE but the proposed mechanism also applies 
to loosely routed path within a single routing domain. Furthermore, 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
this mechanism could also be used for loosely routed TE LSP in the 
context of TE LSPs spanning several autonomous systems and as such 
abides by the requirements for inter-AS TE define in [INTER-AS-TE-REQS] 
The examples below are provided with OSPF as the IGP but the described 
set of mechanisms similarly apply to IS-IS. 
 
An example of an explicit loosely routed TE LSP signaling. 
 
<---area 1--><-area 0--><-area 2-> 
 
 R1---R2----R3---R6    R8-----R10 
  |          |    |   / |\    |    
  |          |    | --  | --\ | 
  |          |    |/    |    \| 
  |---R4----R5---R7----R9-----R11 
 
 
Assumptions 
- R3, R5, R8 and R9 are ABRs 
- A TE LSP1 path from R1 (head-End LSR) to R11 (tail-end LSR) is 
defined as the following loosely routed path: R1-R3(loose)-R8(loose)-
R11(loose):R3, R8 and R11 are defined as loose hops. 
 
Step 1: LSP 1ªs Head-end (R1) builds the following ERO object: R1(S)-
R2(S)-R3(S)-R8(L)-R11(L)  
      where: 
            S: Strict hop (L=0) 
            L: Loose hop (L=1) 
      The R1-R2-R3 path obeys the TE LSP1ªs set of constraints 
 
Step 2: the RSVP Path message is then forwarded by R1 following the ERO 
path and reaches R3 with the following content: R8(L)-R11(L) 
 
Step 3: R3 determines that the next hop (R8) is a loose hop (not 
directly connected to R3) and then performs an ERO expansion operation 
to reach the next loose hops R8. The new ERO becomes: R6(S)-R7(S)-
R8(S)-R11(L). 
 
Step 4: the same procedure applies at R8 to reach LSP1ªs destination: 
R11. 
 
2.     Reoptimization of a loosely routed explicit TE LSP path 
 
Once the TE LSP is set up, it is maintained through normal RSVP 
procedures. Then a more optimal path might appear between an LSR and 
its next loose hop (suppose in the example above that a link between R6 
and R8 is added that provides a shorter path between R3 and R8 (R3-R6-
R8) than the existing R3-R6-R7-R8 path). Since the better path is not 
visible from the head-end LSR by means of the IGP, it cannot make use 
of this better path (and perform a make before break) when appropriate. 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
This is the case in the example above as the better path does not 
appear in the head-end area. 
 
This document proposes a mechanism that allows:  
 
      - The TE LSP head-end LSR to trigger on every LSR whose next 
      hop is a loose hop the re-evaluation of the current path in 
      order to detect a potential more optimal path, 
 
      - An LSR whose next hop is a loose-hop to signal (using a new 
      ERROR-SPEC sub-code carried in a Path Error Notify message) to 
      the TE LSP head-end that a better path exists (a path with a 
      lower cost, where the cost is defined by the metric used to 
      compute the path -
                     - see [SEC-METRIC], [METRIC]). 
 
Then once the existence of a better path is notified to the head-end 
LSR, the head-end LSR can decide (depending on the TE LSP 
characteristics) whether to perform a TE LSP graceful reoptimization. 
This allows the Head-end LSR to reoptimize a TE LSP making use of the 
non disruptive make before break procedure if and only if a better path 
exists and if such a reoptimized is desired.    
 
3.     Signalling extensions 
 
3.1.    ERO expansion signaling request 
 
The following new flag of the SESSION_ATTRIBUTE object (C-Type 1 and 7) 
is defined: 
 
      ERO Expansion request:  0x20 
 
This flag indicates that a new ERO expansion is requested.  
 
Note: in case of link bundling for instance, although the resulting ERO 
might be identical, this might give the opportunity for a mid-point LSR 
to locally select another link within a bundle, although strictly 
speaking, the ERO has not changed. 
 
3.2.   New Path Error sub-code 
 
The format of a Path Error is the following: 
 
<PathErr message> ::= <Common Header> [ <INTEGRITY> ] 
 
                                      <SESSION> <ERROR_SPEC> 
 
                                      [ <POLICY_DATA> ...] 
 
                                     [ <sender descriptor> ] 
 
           <sender descriptor> ::= (see earlier definition) 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
 
IPv4 ERROR_SPEC object: Class = 6, C-Type = 1 
 
 
           +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ 
           |            IPv4 Error Node Address (4 bytes)          | 
           +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ 
           |    Flags    |  Error Code |        Error Value        | 
           +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ 
 
Various Error Codes and Error values have been defined in RFC2205 and 
RFC3209. 
 
The ERROR-CODE 25 corresponds to a Path Error - Notify Error. We 
propose to add two new sub-codes: 
      6       Better path exists 
      7      Local link maintenance required 
      8      Local node maintenance required 
 
See details about Local maintenance required modes in section 4.3.2 
 
4.     Mode of operation 
 
4.1.   TE LSP reroute 
 
The notification process of a better path is by nature de-correlated 
from the reoptimization operation. In other words, the location where a 
potentially more optimal path is discovered does not have to be where 
the TE LSP is actually reoptimized. In particular, when a better path 
is discovered, one could conceivably envisage reoptimizing the TE LSP 
on a mid-point LSR or on the head-end LSR of the TE LSP. In the former 
case, this may not be desirable in several circumstances: indeed, the 
reoptimization process inevitably generates some jitter and potentially 
packet reordering. Furthermore, the only LSR having the complete view 
of the end to end path and TE LSP set of attributes/constraints is the 
head-end LSR. For those reasons, this document applies to the context 
of a head-end LSR reoptimization. It is just worth mentioning that in 
some other contexts, mid-point reoptimization may also be desirable. 
 
4.2.   Reoptimization triggers 
 
There are two possible reoptimization triggers: 
 
      - Timer-based: a reoptimization is triggered (process 
      evaluating whether a more optimal path can be found) when a 
      configurable timer expires, 
 
      - Event-driven: a reoptimization is triggered when a 
      particular network event occurs (such as a 
                                           ªªLink-UPªª
                                                     event). 
 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
It is RECOMMENDED for an implementation supporting the extensions 
proposed in this document to support both modes. 
 
4.3.   Head-end request versus mid-point indication 
 
This document defines two modes: 
 
      - ªªHead-end requesting modeªª: the request for a new path 
      evaluation of an explicit loosely routed TE LSP is requested by 
      the head-end LSR. 
       
      - ªªMid-point indication
                          ªª: a mid-point LSR having determined 
      that a better path (than the current path is use) exists or 
      having the desire to perform a link/node local maintenance 
      explicitly notifies the head-end LSR which will in turn decide 
      whether to perform a make before break. 
 
4.3.1.  
      Head-end request 
 
In this mode, when a timer-based reoptimization is triggered on the 
head-end LSR or the operator manually requests a reoptimization, the 
head-end LSR immediately sends an RSVP Path message with the 
                                                    ªªERO 
Expansion requestªª
                bit of the SESSION-ATTRIBUTE object set. This bit is 
then cleared in subsequent RSVP path messages sent downstream. 
 
Upon receiving a Path message with the ªªERO expansion request
                                                    ªª bit set, 
every LSR for which the next abstract node contained in the ERO is 
defined as a loose hop, MUST perform the following set of actions:  
 
      - A new ERO expansion is triggered and the newly computed path 
      is compared to the existing path: 
       
             - If a better path can be found, the LSR MUST 
             immediately send a Path Error to the head-end LSR 
             (Error code 25 (Notify), sub-code=6 (better path 
             exists)). At this point, the LSR MAY decide to clear 
             the ERO expansion request bit of the SESSION-ATTRIBUTE 
             object in subsequent RSVP Path messages sent 
             downstream: this mode is the RECOMMENDED mode.  
              
             The sending of a Path Error Notify message ªªBetter path 
             exists
                  ªª to the head-end LSR will notify the head-end 
             LSR of the existence of a better path in a downstream 
             area/AS. Hence, triggering additional ERO expansions on 
             downstream nodes is unnecessary. The only motivation to 
             forward subsequent RSVP Path messages with the 
             ªª
               Expansion request bit
                                ªª of the SESSION-ATTRIBUTE object 
             set would be to trigger path re-evaluation on 
             downstream nodes that could in turn cache some 
             potentially better paths downstream with the objective 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
             to reduce the signaling setup delay, should a 
             reoptimization be performed by the head-end LSR. 
              
             - No better path can be found: as previously stated, 
             the recommended mode is for an LSR to relay the request 
             (by setting the ERO expansion bit of the SESSION-
             ATTRIBUTE object in RSVP path message sent downstream) 
             only if no better path has been found on this mid-point 
             LSR.  
       
Note: by better path, we mean a path having a lower cost. By default, 
an LSR uses the IGP metric in their CSPF to compute the shortest path 
that obeys a set of constraints. Note that the head-end LSR might use 
the METRIC-TYPE object (defined in [PATH-COMP]) in its path message to 
request the LSR having a next hop defined as a loose hop in the ERO to 
use the TE metric to determine the best path. 
 
Example: 
 
Let call Ln the list of LSRs defined as loose hops in the ERO sent in 
the RSVP Path message by the head-end LSR: Ln=<l1, l2, +, ln>. Letªs 
now call Pn=<p1, p2, +, pn> the list of LSRs pi such that li is a next 
(loose) hop of pi for i=1+n 
 
 
<---area 1--><-area 0--><-area 2-> 
 
 R1---R2----R3---R6    R8-----R10 
  |          |    |   / |\    |    
  |          |    | --  | --\ | 
  |          |    |/    |    \| 
  |---R4----R5---R7----R9-----R11 
 
A TE LSP1 from R1 (head-End LSR) to R11 (tail-end LSR) is defined with 
the following loosely routed path: R1-R3(loose)-R8(loose)-R11(loose). 
R3, R8 and R11 are defined as loose hops. 
 
Ln=<R3,R8,R11> 
Pn=<R1,R3,R8> 
 
As soon as a positive response is received from an LSR pi (sub-code=6, 
ªª
 Better path existsªª), the head-end LSR is informed of a more optimal 
path. 
 
Note that if the RSVP Path message with the ªªERO expansion request
                                                        ªª bit 
set is lost, then the next request will be sent when the reoptimization 
event will trigger on the head-end LSR. The solution to handle RSVP 
reliable messaging has been defined in [REFRESH-REDUCTION]. 
 
 
4.3.2.  
      Mid-point indication 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
 
In this mode, a mid-point LSR whose next abstract node is a loose hop 
can locally trigger an ERO expansion (when a configurable timer expires 
or on event-driven basis (link-up event for example) or the user 
explicitly requests it). If a better path is found compared to the 
existing one, the LSR sends a Path Error to the head-end LSR (Error 
code 25 (Notify), sub-code=6 (better path exists)).  
 
There are other circumstances by which a mid-point LSR MAY send an RSVP 
Path Error Notify message with the objective for the TE LSP to be 
rerouted by its head-end LSR: when a link or a node will go down for 
local maintenance reasons. In this case, the mid-point LSR where the 
local maintenance must be performed is responsible for sending an RSVP 
Path Error Notify message with the sub-code=7 or 8 depending on the 
affected network element (link or node). Then the first upstream node 
having performed the ERO expansion MUST perform the following set of 
actions: 
       
      - The link (sub-code=7) or the node (sub-code=8) MUST be 
      locally registered for further reference (the TE database must 
      be updated) 
       
      - The RSVP Path Error message MUST be immediately forwarded 
      unchanged upstream to the head-end LSR. 
       
Upon, receiving a Path Error Notify message with sub-code 7 or 8, the 
Head-end LSR MUST perform a TE LSP reoptimization. 
 
Note that those modes are not exclusive: both the timer and even-driven 
reoptimization triggers can be implemented on the head-end and/or any 
mid-point LSR with potentially different timer values for the timer 
driven reoptimization case. 
 
4.3.3.  
      ERO caching 
 
Once a mid-point LSR has determined that a better path exists (after a 
reoptimization request has been received by the head-end LSR or the 
reoptimization timer on the mid-point has fired), the more optimal path 
MAY be cached on the mid-point LSR for a limited amount of time to 
avoid having to recompute a route once the head-LSR performs a make 
before break. This mode is optional. 
                                                                  Comment
                                                                      :
                                                                        
                                                                        
5.     Interoperability 
                                                                  Comment
                                                                      :
                                                                        
                                                                        
An LSR not supporting the 
                      ªªERO expansion request
                                         ªª bit of the SESSION-
ATTRIBUTE object SHOULD just ignore it.  
 
Any head-end LSR not supporting this draft receiving a Path Error 
Notify message with sub-code = 6, 7 or 8 MUST just silently ignore the 
Path message. 
 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
6.     Security Considerations 
 
The practice described in this document does not raise specific 
security issues beyond those of existing TE. 
 
 
7.     Acknowledgment 
 
The authors would like to thank Carol Iturralde, Miya Kohno, Francois 
Le Faucheur, Philip Matthews and Jim Gibson for their useful and 
valuable comments. 
 
 
8.     Intellectual Property 
 
The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any 
intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed 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; neither does it represent that it has made any 
effort to identify any such rights. Information on the IETF's 
procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and standards-
related documentation can be found in BCP-11. Copies of claims of 
rights made available for publication and any assurances of licenses to 
be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general 
license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by 
implementors or users of this specification can be obtained from the 
IETF Secretariat. 
 
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any 
copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights 
which may cover technology that may be required to practice this 
standard. Please address the information to the IETF Executive 
Director. 
 
The IETF has been notified of intellectual property rights claimed in 
regard to some or all of the specification contained in this document.  
For more information consult the online list of claimed rights. 
 
 
Normative References 
 
[RFC] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement 
Levels," RFC 2119. 
 
[RSVP-TE] Awduche et al, "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP Tunnels",  
RFC3209, December 2001. 
 
Informative references 
 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
[TE-REQ] Awduche et al, Requirements for Traffic Engineering over MPLS, 
RFC2702, September 1999. 
 
[METRICS] Fedyk et al,ªªMultiple Metrics for Traffic Engineering with 
IS-IS and OSPFªª, draft-fedyk-isis-ospf-te-metrics-01.txt, November 
2000. 
 
[DS-TE] Le Faucheur et al, ªªRequirements for support of Diff-Serv-aware 
MPLS Traffic Engineeringªª, draft-ietf-tewg-diff-te-reqts-01.txt, June 
2001. 
 
[MULTI-AREA-TE] Kompella et al, ªªMulti-area MPLS Traffic Engineeringªª,               
draft-kompella-mpls-multiarea-te-03.txt, June 2002. 
 
[SEC-METRIC] Le Faucheur et al,ªª Use of Interior Gateway Protocol 
(IGP) Metric as a second MPLS Traffic Engineering Metricªª, draft-ietf-
tewg-te-metric-igp-02.txt, September, 2002. 
       
[INTER-AS-TE-REQS] Zhang et al, ªªMPLS Inter-AS Traffic Engineering 
requirementsªª, draft-ietf-tewg-interas-mpls-te-req-06.txt, February 
2004, Work in progress. 
 
[INTER-AREA-AS] Vasseur and Ayyangar, ªªInter-area and Inter-AS Traffic 
Engineeringªª, draft-vasseur-inter-area-AS-TE-00.txt, February 2004, 
work in progress. 
 
[REFRESH-REDUCTION] Berger et al, ªªRSVP Refresh Overhead Reduction 
Extensionsªª, April 2001 
 
Authors' addresses: 
 
Jean-Philippe Vasseur 
Cisco Systems, Inc. 
300 Beaver Brook Road 
Boxborough , MA - 01719 
USA 
Email: jpv@cisco.com 
 
Yuichi Ikejiri  
NTT Communications Corporation  
1-1-6, Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku  
Tokyo 100-8019  
JAPAN  
Email: y.ikejiri@ntt.com  
 
Full Copyright Statement 
 
   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights 
   Reserved. 
 
   This document and translations of it may be copied and 
 
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draft-vasseur-ccamp-loose-path-reopt-00.txt             February 2004 
 
 
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PAFTECH AB 2003-20262026-04-22 15:07:53