One document matched: draft-wu-multimob-igmp-mld-tuning-00.txt


Network working group                                             Q. Wu
Internet Draft                                                   H. Liu
Category: Informational                                          Huawei
Created: March 22, 2010
Expires: September 2010

     Proposal for Tuning IGMPv3/MLDv2 Protocol Behavior in Wireless and
                              Mobile networks

                   draft-wu-multimob-igmp-mld-tuning-00


Abstract

   This document proposes a variety of optimization approaches for
   tuning IGMPv3 and MLDv2 in wireless and mobile networks.  It intends
   to provide useful guideline when deploy current IGMP/MLD protocols
   to support multicast listener mobility in wireless communication.

Conventions used in this document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC-2119 [RFC2119].

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Table of Contents

   1. Introduction..................................................3
   2. Impact of wireless and mobility on IGMP/MLD...................3
      2.1. Requirement for characteristics of wireless on IGMP/MLD..3
      2.2. Evaluation of current versions of IGMP and MLD...........5
   3. IGMP/MLD tuning optimization for Wireless or Mobile Network...5
      3.1. Optimization Consideration for Report Messages...........6
      3.2. Optimization Considerations for Query Messages...........6
         3.2.1. Disable Group Specific Queries on leave.............7
         3.2.2. Limiting the scope of periodical Queries............7
         3.2.3. Conditional Retransmission of Queries on loss.......7
         3.2.4. Unicast Query for the lost solicit report...........8
         3.2.5. Query Retransmission in incremental interval........8
      3.3. Optimization Considerations for Link Type................8
   4. Security Considerations.......................................9
   5. Acknowledgement...............................................9
   6. References...................................................10
      6.1. Normative References....................................10
      6.2. Informative Referencess.................................10
   Authors' Addresses..............................................11



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1. Introduction

   With the emerging techniques for different wireless networks, IP
   multicast sees their potentiality to be deployed to support wireless
   or mobile video service, and also faces great challenges for its
   efficiency and reliability in the wireless network, e.g. with
   possibly higher packet loss rate and limited frequency and bandwidth,
   more prone to congestion, and frequent joining or leaving multicast
   group due to handover and fast channel change.

   However as described in [RFC1112], the current versions of IGMP and
   MLD are only designed for fixed Ethernet model.  They are not
   specified for other type of network like wireless link types.
   Therefore IGMP/MLD protocol should be enhanced or tuned to adapt to
   wireless environment to meet the reliability and efficiency
   requirements in the scenarios described in [REQUIRE].

   This memo proposes a variety of optimization approaches for tuning
   IGMP/MLD protocols in wireless or mobile communication environment.
   It aims to make the minimum tuning without introducing obvious
   changes on the protocol behavior.  These solutions can also be used
   in wired network when efficiency and reliability are required.  They
   are discussed in detail in Section 3.

2. Impact of wireless and mobility on IGMP/MLD

   This section analyzes the impact of wireless and mobility on
   IGMP/MLD protocols. Also the current versions of IGMP and MLD are
   evaluated.

2.1. Requirement for characteristics of wireless on IGMP/MLD

   As mentioned in the section 1, IGMP/MLD faces great challenges for
   its efficiency and reliability in the wireless network. Due to this
   impact of wireless and mobility on IGMP/MLD, IGMP and MLD should
   have the following characteristics when used in wireless and mobile
   networks [REQUIRE]:

   o ASM and SSM subscription:  SSM [RFC4607]mode is different from ASM
   for it allows only sources specific multicast delivery. Comparing
   with ASM mode, it is more secure and applicable to broadcast video
   service, and must be supported together with SSM mode in practical
   multicast network.





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   o Fast Join and Leave:  Fast join and leave of a subscriber helps to
   improve the user's experience during channel join and channel
   zapping.  Fast leave also facilitates releasing of unused network
   resources quickly.  Besides, mobility and handover may cause a user
   to join and leave a multicast group frequently, which also require
   fast join and leave to accelerate service activation and to optimize
   resource usages.

   o Explicit Tracking:  Tracking each member by the router enables a
   multicast router to explicitly keep track the membership of all
   multicast hosts in the access network.  And because the router has
   record of each user in its state database, it is possible to
   simplify the Query mechanism by reducing both the unnecessary
   Queries and reports generated on a network.

   o Robustness to packet loss:  Wireless link has the characteristic
   that packet transmission is unreliable due to instable link
   conditions.  For mobile IP network, packets sometimes have to travel
   between home network and foreign network and have the possibility of
   being lost due to long distance transmission.  These network
   scenarios have more strict robustness requirement on delivery of
   IGMP and MLD protocol messages.

   o Minimum packet transmission:  Wireless link resources are usually
   more precious and limited compared to their wired counterpart.
   Minimizing packet exchange without degrading general protocol
   performance should also be emphasized to improve efficiency and
   increase network capacity.

   o Avoiding packet burst:  Large number of packets generated within a
   short time interval may have the tendency to deteriorate wireless
   network conditions.  IGMP and MLD when using in wireless and mobile
   networks should be optimized if their protocol message generation
   has the potential of introducing packet burst.

   o Adaptive to different link mode:  IGMP and MLD are originally
   designed for wired Ethernet link and some of their processing are
   only applicable to shared link model.  Wireless and mobile network
   link type is versatile, including shared, point-to-point, point-to-
   multipoint, and tunnel interface.  Because different link model has
   different features, IGMP/MLD protocol behavior should be tuned to
   adapt to different link model.







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2.2. Evaluation of current versions of IGMP and MLD

   IGMPv2 [RFC2236] and MLDv1 [RFC2710] only support ASM communication
   mode.  They do not support SSM subscription and explicit tracking,
   which limit their widespread deployment in practical multicast
   network.  IGMPv3 [RFC3376] and MLDv2 [RFC3810] and their lightweight
   version LW-IGMPv3/LW-MLDv2 [RFC5760] support all the features of ASM
   and SSM communication, and of explicit tracking.  They are much
   better to be candidates for wireless and mobile networks than their
   previous versions and are the basis of the optimization discussed in
   this document.

   IGMPv3/MLDv2 join and leave Reports are sent unsolicitedly when a
   host intends to join or leave a group.  They are closest to user's
   experience and must be guaranteed to improve service performance and
   to optimize resource use.  Current IGMPv3 and MLDv2 provide the
   reliability for these messages by simple retransmission, which is
   not adequate from both the robustness and efficiency aspects[ROBUST].
   They are suggested to be enhanced by acknowledgement-retransmission
   in [IGMP-ACK].

   IGMPv3 and MLDv2 do not adopt host suppression mechanism.  Their
   report count in response to a Query is not small, if the number of
   active receivers on the network is large.  Even though the protocols
   enable the reports on an interface to be merged, further
   optimizations are still required to improve the efficiency and to
   reduce bandwidth occupation.

   To meet the requirements listed in section 2.1, the protocol message
   of IGMPv3/MLDv2, including the various Queries and Reports, together
   with their behavior, need to be regulated to adapt to wireless and
   mobile scenarios.  Because an enhancement in one direction might
   introduce side effects in another one, balances should be taken
   carefully to avoid defects and improve protocol performance as a
   whole, as illustrated in section 3.

3. IGMP/MLD tuning optimization for Wireless or Mobile Network

   As mentioned in section 2, IGMPv3/MLDv2 or LW-IGMPv3/MLDv2 are
   recommended to be used as the basis for optimization of IGMP/MLD to
   adapt to wireless and mobile networks.  In this section, taking
   these characteristics requirement into account, we will discuss
   several optimization approaches for tuning of IGMP and MLD in the
   wireless environment.  The optimizations try to minimize the packet
   transmission for both the Reports and Queries, and at the meanwhile
   take the factor of improving reliability into account, with minimum



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   cost.  The different link types are also considered when making the
   regulations.

3.1. Optimization Consideration for Report Messages

   Unsolicited reports are generated when hosts' interface state
   changes, they are sent actively when a user intends to join or leave
   a group or a source-group.  However in some cases, the unsolicited
   reports are prone to loss due to network conditions degradation or
   long distance travel.  Even the report can be retransmitted for
   [Robust Variable] times, the packet sent by the host is received by
   the router can not be guaranteed. Furthermore, Excessive Packet
   retransmission is the waste of resource. These issue can be
   addressed by acknowledge-retransmission described in [IGMP-ACK] for
   an unsolicited IGMPv3/MLDv2 Report.  A host after sending an
   unsolicited report starts a retransmission timer and waits for the
   acknowledgement (ACK or multicast data) from the router.  Upon receiving 
   ACK or multicast data, the host stops the timer and retransmission.  
   If the acknowledgement is not received when the timer expires, another 
   report is retransmitted.  A parameter should also be used to limit the 
   maximum retransmission times for the report.

   Solicited reports are generated in response to Queries and are used
   to refresh the state database of the host on the router. They are
   suggested not to be acknowledged in order not to introduce too many
   report packets on the network, and they are not acknowledged also
   because the Query-Response to-and-fro itself implies an
   acknowledgement to some degree.  If in some cases a host's solicited
   report is lost due to unstable transmission condition, there is
   still some remedy that can tackle this issue, as described in
   section 3.2.5.

3.2. Optimization Considerations for Query Messages

   IGMPv3 and MLDv2 have three kinds of Queries: General Query
   periodically sent to all multicast receivers, Group Specific Query
   sent when a receiver leaves a (*,G) group, and Source-and-Group
   Specific Query sent when a receiver leaves  an (S,G) group.  These
   Queries have different functional scope.  They are used to fetch and
   refresh the downstream membership information by being responded by
   solicited reports.

   This section lists the possible optimization methods for Query
   messages.  The solutions are not intended to be adopted altogether
   or simultaneously, but can be taken selectively according to the
   scale and conditions of the operating network.



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3.2.1. Disable Group Specific Queries on leave

   If explicit tracking is used, the router is able to keep states for
   all active members in reception.  The Group Specific and Source-and-
   Group Specific Queries, which are sent to query other members when a
   member leaves, are unnecessary because the router knows who are
   active on the interface.  It is possible that when explicit tracking
   is used, only periodical Query is used.

   Disable of Group and Source-Group specific Queries in case a
   member leaves a group will reduce both the number of Query and the
   number of Report exchanged on the network, which helps to minimize
   packet number and packet burst when explicit tracking is enabled.

3.2.2. Limiting the scope of periodical Queries

   General Query is sent by a router periodically to all multicast
   receivers belonging to all groups and all source-groups and will
   probably result in burst response and link congestion if the
   receiver number on the link is large, even if Delay response is used.
   Therefore large number of reports within a specified time interval
   should be avoided if the number of the receiver on the link is large.

   A router can tune the scope of its periodical Queries according to
   the network conditions and user scale.  For example, if the receiver
   number is small, the periodical General Queries for all multicast
   receivers is enough.  If the number of the multicast receiver on a
   link is large, the router could choose to periodically send Group
   Queries to a (*,G) group in different time interval or send Source-
   Group Specific Queries to an (S,G) group in different time interval.
   In this case the router tunes its behavior by sending these two
   Queries periodically instead of triggering them when a member
   reports its leave.  Using periodical Group Specific Queries or
   Source-Group Specific Queries sent in different time interval has
   the advantages of avoiding packet bursts and the response report
   from unrelated group when the receiver number is large.

3.2.3. Conditional Retransmission of Queries on loss

   A router which keeps track of all its active receivers, if after
   sending a Query, fails to get any response from any receiver, it
   could derive that its just-sent Query might have been lost before
   reaching other end of the link.  The router could choose to
   compensate this situation by sending another Query to solicit its
   active members.  Optionally, the router could resend several Queries
   in incremental interval as described in section 3.2.5



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3.2.4. Unicast Query for the lost solicit report

   Unicast Query mechanism is first suggested in [OPTIMIZ] to benefit
   the battery power consumption on mobile terminals. It is used here
   to improve the robustness of solicited reports.  A router after
   sending a periodical Query collects successfully all the members'
   report responses except for one or two which are currently still
   valid in its database.  This may be because the non-respondent ones
   silently leave the network without any notification, or because
   their reports are lost due to some unknown reason.  The router in
   this case could choose to unicast a Query respectively to each non-
   respondent receiver to check whether they are still alive for the
   multicast reception, without affecting the majority of receivers
   that have already responded.  Optionally, unicast Queries could be
   resent in incremental interval, as described in section 3.2.5.

3.2.5. Query Retransmission in incremental interval

   Query Retransmission [ADAPTIVE] can be slowed down when a router can
   not collect successfully all the members' report responses and
   network congestion is going to happen.  It basis behavior is: the
   router after sending a Query, if acquires the response from the
   receiver, refreshes its state database and stop the querying
   retransmission process, or if after a time interval fails to get the
   report response, resends a Query in an increasing (e.g. double)
   interval.  This process can be repeated several times, each time the
   retransmission is arranged in a prolonged time interval, till the
   router receives the response, or determines the receiver is
   unreachable and then stops the sending of the Query ultimately.

   This query retransmission in incremental interval processing enables
   the router to reduce the packet retransmission in the same time
   period comparing with unconditional retransmission (i.e.
   retransmission for multiple times with fixed interval).  It is
   suggested be used to improve the robustness of the solicited report
   and of the Query as illustrated in section 3.2.3 and 3.2.4.  The
   variable time interval and the termination condition should be
   configurable and could be set according to actual network
   arrangement.

3.3. Optimization Considerations for Link Type

   Wireless access link is characterized as three types as described in
   [REQUIRE]: shared, Point-to-Point (PTP) and point-to-multipoint
   (PTMP).  Shared network resembles Ethernet as its link is shared
   among all end users.  For PTP link, the communication channel



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   between users and first-hop routers are dedicated in both uplink
   (i.e. from the user to the router) and downlink direction.  PTMP
   link represents the link model where the uplink is dedicated while
   the downlink is shared.

   For shared wireless networks, the basic mechanism of IGMPv3 and
   MLDv2 should be applicable, ideally with some efficiency and
   robustness enhancement when needed.  For PTP or PTMP links, some
   characteristics of IGMP and MLD which are specific for shared
   network should not be reused if they have additional processing
   overhead and link burden.

   For example, Delay Response which is used to prevent bursting of
   solicited reports, should not be required in PTP and PTMP link,
   because there is only one receiver reported to the router on each
   uplink.  Without Delayed Response, the report could be responded to
   the router immediately, and it is faster to implement robust
   enhancement for a solicited Report (see section 3.2.3) and for a
   Query (see section 3.2.4), because it'll take less time for the
   router to make collection of the reports.  For the same reason,
   Group specific Query and Source-and-Group Specific Query, which are
   used to query other valid members, are not necessary for PTP and
   PTMP link.

   Finally, for PTP links, periodical General Query, which is sent
   separately to each interface, is unnecessary to be sent to all the
   interfaces but rather only to the hosts which have made the group
   join and have reception state on the router.  This will not only
   reduce the necessary Queries, but also be desirable for the battery
   saving for the mobile terminal not involved in the multicast
   reception for not being frequently awakened when in the sleeping
   mode.

4. Security Considerations

   They will be described in the later version of this draft.

5. Acknowledgement

   The authors would like to thank Liu Yisong and Wei Yong for their
   valuable comments on the optimization methods.








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6. References

6.1. Normative References

   [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to indicate
   requirement levels", RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC1112] Deering, S. "Host Extensions for IP Multicasting", RFC1112,
   August 1989.

   [RFC2236] Fenner, W., "Internet Group Management Protocol, Version
   2", RFC 2236, November 1997.

   [RFC2710] Deering, S., Fenner, W., and B. Haberman, "Multicast
   Listener Discovery (MLD) for IPv6", RFC 2710, October 1999.

   [RFC3376] Cain, B., Deering, S., Kouvelas, I., Fenner, B., and A.
   Thyagarajan, "Internet Group Management Protocol, Version 3", RFC
   3376, October 2002.

   [RFC3810] Vida, R. and L. Costa, "Multicast Listener Discovery
   Version 2(MLDv2) for IPv6", RFC 3810, June 2004.

   [RFC4607] Holbrook, H. and B. Cain, "Source-Specific Multicast for
   IP", RFC 4607, August 2006.

   [RFC5790] Liu, H., Cao, W., and H. Asaeda, "Lightweight IGMPv3 and
   MLDv2 Protocols", RFC5790, February 2010.

6.2. Informative Referencess

   [REQUIRE] H. Liu, Q. Wu, H. Asaeda and TM. Eubanks, "Mobile and
   Wireless Multicast Requirements on IGMP/MLD Protocols", draft-liu-
   multimob-igmp-mld-mobility-req-03.txt, March 2010.

   [ROBUST] A. Sen Mazumder, "Facilitating Robust Multicast Group
   Management", NOSSDAV'05, June 13-14, 2005, Stevenson, Washington,
   USA.

   [IGMP-ACK] H. Liu, Q, Wu, "Reliable IGMP and MLD Protocols in
   Wireless Environment", draft-liu-multimob-reliable-igmp-mld-00.txt,
   February 2010.

   [OPTIMIZ] H. Asaeda, "Tuning IGMPv3/MLDv2 Protocol Behavior in
   Wireless and Mobile networks", draft-asaeda-multimob-igmp-mld-
   optimization-02, work in progress, March 2010.



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   [ADAPTIVE] I. Romdhani, J. Munoz, H. Bettahar, and A. Bouabdallah,
   "Adaptive Multicast Membership Management for Mobile Multicast
   Receivers", IEEE, 2006.



Authors' Addresses

   Qin Wu
   Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
   Site B, Floor 12, Huihong Mansion,No.91 Baixia Rd.
   Nanjing, Jiangsu  21001
   China
   Phone: +86-25-84565892

   EMail: sunseawq@huawei.com


   Hui Liu
   Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
   Huawei Bld., No.3 Xinxi Rd.
   Shang-Di Information Industry Base
   Hai-Dian Distinct, Beijing 100085
   China

   EMail: Liuhui47967@huawei.com






















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