RFC 6003
Ethernet Traffic Parameters
Ethernet Traffic Parameters 🦋
Okay bestie, this is RFC 6003, and it's giving Standards Track 💅. D. Papadimitriou from Alcatel-Lucent wrote it, and it was published in October 2010. The ISSN is 2070-1721. It updates RFC 3471 and RFC 3473. There's no Obsoletes line, so it doesn't obsolete anything 🌸.
Abstract
okay so this doc is about bringing Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Ethernet traffic parameters (the ones from MEF10.1) into Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) signaling. The signaling protocol it uses is Resource ReSerVation Protocol - Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) 🔥.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document ✨.
It's a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), so it's the community's consensus 🫶. It got public review and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) approved it for publication. If you want more on Internet Standards, check Section 2 of RFC 5741 🌈.
Info about the current status, any errata, and how to send feedback lives at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6003 💜.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved 🎀.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) as of the publication date. Read those carefully, because they spell out your rights and restrictions for this document 📜. Code Components pulled out of this doc have to include the Simplified BSD License text, as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions, and they come with no warranty, as the Simplified BSD License describes 💖.
1. Introduction 🧚
So [RFC3471] says GMPLS lets you put technology-specific parameters into signaling. This doc adds Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC and FLOWSPEC-specific objects to support the MEF Ethernet traffic parameters from [MEF10.1], and it also covers the ITU-T Ethernet Service Switching that [RFC6004] talks about 🌸. Two examples:
- For Ethernet Private Line (EPL) services [MEF6], these traffic parameters apply to each Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) crossing a given port 🍓.
- For Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) services [MEF6], these traffic parameters apply per Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC) with a single or multiple Class of Service (CoS). They don't depend on the associated Virtual LAN ID (VID) or set of VIDs ✨.
The link between EVC and VIDs is detailed in [MEF10.1]. The format and encoding of the VID (or set of VIDs) is documented in the companion document [RFC6004] 🦋.
None of that stops you from using the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC and FLOWSPEC-specific objects from this doc in other ways 👑. For example, they may also be used to signal Ethernet Label Switched Paths (LSPs) in the Generalized Label Request (see [RFC3471]). For that, the Switching Type field is set to Layer 2 Switching Capability (L2SC), and the LSP Encoding Type field is set to Ethernet 💅.
2. 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 read as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119] 💜.
Also, the doc assumes you already know the terminology in [MEF10.1], [RFC3471], and [RFC3473] 🙈.
3. Overview 🌈
In GMPLS RSVP-TE [RFC3473], the SENDER_TSPEC object goes on a Path message to show the bandwidth requested for the LSP being set up. The FLOWSPEC object goes on a Resv message to show the bandwidth that was actually reserved for the LSP 🔥. The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC/FLOWSPEC object carries the Ethernet link type (switching granularity) of the requested LSP, plus the MTU value for that LSP. Other bandwidth characteristics of the LSP ride along in the Bandwidth Profile, which is a TLV inside the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC/FLOWSPEC object ✨.
Quick repeat, because it's important: the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC/FLOWSPEC object includes the Ethernet link type (switching granularity) of the requested LSP and the MTU value for the LSP 💖.
The Bandwidth Profile defines the set of traffic parameters that apply to a sequence of Service Frames. The doc calls these bandwidth profile parameters (as specified in [MEF10.1]) 🦋:
- Committed Rate: the rate at which traffic commits to be sent to the Ethernet LSP. It's described with the CIR (Committed Information Rate) and CBS (Committed Burst Size) traffic parameters 🎀.
- CIR is the average rate (in bytes per unit of time) up to which the network is committed to transfer frames and meets its performance objectives 💅.
- CBS is a limit on the maximum number of information units (e.g., bytes) available for a burst of frames sent at the interface speed, so the burst stays CIR-conformant 🌸.
- Excess Rate: how far the traffic sent on an Ethernet LSP goes over the committed rate. It's described with the EIR (Excess Information Rate) and EBS (Excess Burst Size) traffic parameters 🍓.
- EIR is the average rate (in bytes per unit of time), in excess of the CIR, up to which the network may transfer frames without any performance objectives 🧚.
- EBS is a limit on the maximum number of information units (e.g., bytes) available for a burst of frames sent at the interface speed, so the burst stays EIR-conformant 💜.
- Color mode (CM): shows whether the "color-aware" or "color-blind" property is used by the bandwidth profile 🌈.
- Coupling flag (CF): lets you pick between two modes of operation for the rate enforcement algorithm ⭐.
4. Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC Object 🎀
The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object (Class-Num = 12, Class-Type = 6) has this 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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | Class-Num (12)| C-Type (6) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Switching Granularity | MTU |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
~ TLVs ~
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+Switching Granularity (SG): 16 bits 🦋
This field says what type of link makes up the requested Ethernet LSP 🌸.
The permitted Ethernet Link Type values are 🧚:
Value Switching Granularity
----- ---------------------
0 Provided in signaling. See [RFC6004].
1 Ethernet Port (for port-based service)
2 Ethernet Frame (for EVC-based service)
255 ReservedValues 0 to 2 are specified by this doc. Values 3 through 239 get assigned by IANA through Standards Action [RFC5226]. Value 255 is reserved by this doc, and its Length gets decided by whichever RFC specifies it 💅.
Values 240 through 254 are reserved for vendor-specific use 🌈.
Values 256 through 65535 aren't assigned right now 💀.
MTU: 16 bits 📏
This is a two-octet value that gives the MTU in octets ✨.
The MTU field MUST NOT take a value smaller than 46 bytes for Ethernet v2 [ETHv2] and 38 bytes for IEEE 802.3 [IEEE802.3] 🚨.
TLV (Type-Length-Value) 💜
The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object MUST include at least one TLV, and it MAY include more than one TLV 🫶.
Each TLV MUST have 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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
~ Value ~
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+Type: 16 bits 🌸
Defined values are 💖:
Type Length Format Description
------------------------------------------------------
0 - Reserved Reserved value
1 - Reserved Reserved value
2 24 see Section 3.1 Ethernet Bandwidth
Profile [MEF10.1]
3 8 [RFC6004] Layer 2 Control
Protocol (L2CP)
255 - Reserved Reserved valueValues 0, 1, and 255 are reserved by this doc. Values 2 and 3 are specified by this doc 🧚.
Values 4 through 239 get assigned by IANA through Standards Action [RFC5226] 🦋.
Values 240 through 254 are reserved for vendor-specific use 🌈.
Values 256 through 65535 aren't assigned right now 🙈.
Length: 16 bits 📐
This gives the length in bytes of the whole TLV, including the Type and Length fields 💅. A value field whose length isn't a multiple of four MUST be zero-padded (with trailing zeros) so the TLV is four-octet aligned ✨.
4.1. Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV ✨
okay bestie, the Type 2 TLV is the Ethernet Bandwidth Profile (BW profile) 🎀. It sets an upper bound on how much traffic (the volume of expected service frames) belongs to a particular Ethernet service instance. The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object MAY include more than one Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV 💅
Here's the Type 2 TLV format, no cap:
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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Profile | Index | Reserved |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| CIR |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| CBS |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| EIR |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| EBS |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+Profile: 8 bits 🌸
This field is a bit vector of binary flags. These flags are defined:
- Flag 1 (bit 0): Coupling Flag (CF)
- Flag 2 (bit 1): Color Mode (CM)
Bit 0 is the low order bit 🧚 Other flags are reserved. They SHOULD be set to zero when sent, and SHOULD be ignored when received.
A flag set to value 1 means the matching metering profile is requested.
The Flag 1 (CF) lets you pick between two modes of operation for the rate enforcement algorithm. ⭐
The Flag 2 (CM) says whether the color-aware or color-blind property [MEF10.2] is used by the bandwidth profile. When Flag 2 is set to value 0 (1), the bandwidth profile algorithm is in color-blind (color-aware) mode 🦋
Index: 8 bits 💜
The Index field references the bandwidth allocated for a given traffic class, for when a multiple-class LSP is requested. The Index field value MUST correspond to at least one of the Class-Type values included either in the CLASSTYPE object [RFC4124] or in the EXTENDED_CLASSTYPE object [MCOS].
A given index value j can be linked to at most N Class-Type values CTi (i =< N) of the EXTENDED_CLASSTYPE object. This is the shared setup, where one or more CTIs map to a single (shared) BW profile. For example, you can assign an arbitrary value in the range [0x08,0xF8] to a set of CTi, while the values in the range [0xF8,0xFF] are picked for reserved sets. That gets you one of 248 predefined CTi sets, which is honestly so organized 🍓
A given index value j can also be linked to a single CTi (1:1 correspondence). Here you set the index by putting the CTi value itself (in the range [0x00,0x07]) into the 3 least significant bits of the Index field. This works when a single CTi maps to a single (dedicated) BW profile, or to multiple (dedicated) BW profiles. In the first case, the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object includes one Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV. In the second case, the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC includes a set of more than one Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV, where each respective index value is linked to a single CTi value.
Also, the current spec lets you mix shared and dedicated BW profiles on the same LSP 🫶 So an Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object MAY include multiple Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLVs whose respective index can be linked 1:1 to a single CTi, or to a set of multiple CTis.
For each subobject of the EXTENDED_CLASSTYPE object [MCOS]:
- Each CTi value SHOULD correspond 1:1 to the MEF Customer Edge VLAN CoS (CE-VLAN CoS).
- The BW requested per CTi field MAY be used for bandwidth accounting purposes.
By default, the value of the Index field MUST be set to 0 🙈
Reserved: 16 bits 🫧
These bits SHOULD be set to zero when sent and MUST be ignored when received.
CIR (Committed Information Rate): 32 bits 💖
The CIR is in units of bytes per second. It's encoded as a 32-bit IEEE single-precision floating-point number (see [RFC4506]).
The CIR value MUST be greater than or equal to 0.
CBS (Committed Burst Size): 32 bits 🎀
The CBS is in units of bytes. It's encoded as a 32-bit IEEE single-precision floating-point number (see [RFC4506]).
When CIR is strictly greater than 0 (CIR > 0), the CBS MUST be greater than or equal to the maximum frame size.
EIR (Excess Information Rate): 32 bits 🌈
The EIR is in units of bytes per second. It's encoded as a 32-bit IEEE single-precision floating-point number (see [RFC4506]).
The EIR value MUST be greater than or equal to 0.
EBS (Excess Burst Size): 32 bits 🧁
The EBS is in units of bytes. It's encoded as a 32-bit IEEE single-precision floating-point number (see [RFC4506]).
When EIR is strictly greater than 0 (EIR > 0), the EBS MUST be greater than or equal to the maximum frame size.
5. Ethernet FLOWSPEC Object ✨
The Ethernet FLOWSPEC object (Class-Num = 9, Class-Type = 6) has the same format as the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object 💅
6. Ethernet ADSPEC Object 🌷
There is no ADSPEC object associated with the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object 🙅♀️
Either the ADSPEC object is left out, or an IntServ ADSPEC with the Default General Characterization Parameters and Guaranteed Service fragment is used. See [RFC2210].
7. Processing 🔥
The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC and FLOWSPEC objects in this document MAY be used for signaling an Ethernet LSP. To signal one, in the Generalized LABEL_REQUEST object (see [RFC3471]), the Switching Type field MUST be set to the value 51 (L2SC), and the LSP Encoding Type field MUST be set to the value 2 (Ethernet) 🧚
The Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object carries the traffic specification generated by the RSVP session sender. It SHOULD be forwarded and delivered unchanged to both intermediate and egress nodes ✨
The Ethernet FLOWSPEC object carries reservation request information generated by receivers. Like any FLOWSPEC object, it flows upstream toward the ingress node 🦋
Intermediate and egress nodes MUST verify that the node itself, and the interfaces the LSP will be established on, can support the requested Switching Granularity, MTU, and values included in subobject TLVs. These nodes MUST be configured with the same predefined CT sets as the index value signaled in the Index field of the Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV (see Section 4.1). If the requested value(s) can't be supported, the receiver node MUST generate a PathErr message with the error code "Traffic Control Error" and the error value "Service unsupported" (see [RFC2205]) 😭
If the MTU field arrives with a value smaller than the minimum transfer unit size of the Ethernet frame (e.g., 46 bytes for Ethernet v2, 38 bytes for IEEE 802.3), the node MUST generate a PathErr message with the error code "Traffic Control Error" and the error value "Bad Tspec value" (see [RFC2205]). 💀
Error processing of the CLASSTYPE object follows the rules in [RFC4124]. Error processing of the EXTENDED_CLASSTYPE object follows the rules in [MCOS]. Also, a Label Switching Router (LSR) that receives a Path message with the EXTENDED_CLASSTYPE object, recognizes the object and the particular Class-Type, but does detect a mismatch in the index values, MUST send a PathErr message towards the sender with the error code "Extended Class-Type Error" and the error value "Class-Type mismatch" (see [RFC2205]) 👑
8. Security Considerations 🔐
This document introduces no new security considerations to [RFC3473].
GMPLS security is described in Section 11 of [RFC3471], which refers to [RFC3209] for RSVP-TE. More details on MPLS-TE and GMPLS security can be found in [RFC5920] 🫶
9. IANA Considerations 📋
IANA maintains registries and sub-registries for RSVP-TE as used by GMPLS. IANA has made allocations from these registries as set out in the following sections.
9.1. RSVP Objects Class Types 🎀
This document introduces two new Class Types for existing RSVP objects. IANA has made allocations from the "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) Parameters" registry, using the "Class Names, Class Numbers, and Class Types" sub-registry.
Class Number Class Name Reference
------------ ----------------------- ---------
9 FLOWSPEC [RFC2205]
Class Type (C-Type):
6 Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC [RFC6003]
Class Number Class Name Reference
------------ ----------------------- ---------
12 SENDER_TSPEC [RFC2205]
Class Type (C-Type):
6 Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC [RFC6003]9.2. Ethernet Switching Granularities 💅
IANA maintains a registry of GMPLS parameters called "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Parameters".
IANA has created a new sub-registry called "Ethernet Switching Granularities" to hold the values that can be carried in the Switching Granularity field of the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object.
Values are as follows:
0-2 See below.
3-239 Unassigned
240-254 Reserved for Vendor-Specific Use
255 Reserved
256-65535 Not assigned at this timeThe registration procedure is Standards Action.
Initial entries in this sub-registry are as follows:
Value Switching Granularity Reference
----- -------------------------------------- ------------------
0 Provided in signaling. [RFC6003][RFC6004]
1 Ethernet Port (for port-based service) [RFC6003]
2 Ethernet Frame (for EVC-based service) [RFC6003]
255 Reserved [RFC6003]9.3. Ethernet Sender TSpec TLVs 🧚
IANA maintains a registry of GMPLS parameters called "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Parameters".
IANA has created a new sub-registry called "Ethernet Sender TSpec TLVs / Ethernet Flowspec TLVs" to hold the TLV type values for TLVs carried in the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object.
Values are as follows:
0-3 See below.
4-239 Unassigned
240-254 Reserved for Vendor-Specific Use
255 Reserved
256-65535 Not assigned at this timeThe registration procedure is Standards Action.
Initial entries in this sub-registry are as follows:
Type Description Reference
----- -------------------------------- ---------
0 Reserved [RFC6003]
1 Reserved [RFC6003]
2 Ethernet Bandwidth Profile [RFC6003]
3 Layer 2 Control Protocol (L2CP) [RFC6003]
255 Reserved [RFC6003]9.4. Ethernet Bandwidth Profiles ✨
okay bestie, IANA keeps a registry of GMPLS parameters called "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Parameters" 📋💖
IANA made a new sub-registry called "Ethernet Bandwidth Profiles" 🦋. It holds the bit flags that show up in the Ethernet Bandwidth Profile TLV of the Ethernet SENDER_TSPEC object 🎀
New bits get allocated through IETF Standards Action 👑, so this is not a "add whatever you want" situation, periodt 💅. Bits are numbered from bit 0 as the low order bit 🔢. Here are the initial entries:
Bit Hex Description Reference
--- ---- -------------------------- -------------
0 0x01 Coupling Flag (CF) [RFC6003]
1 0x02 Color Mode (CM) [RFC6003]10. Acknowledgments 🫶
Huge thanks to Adrian Farrel for his comments 💜. Lou Berger gave the input on control traffic processing 🌸.
11. References 📚
11.1. Normative References
[MEF10.1] The MEF Technical Specification, "Ethernet Services Attributes Phase 2", MEF 10.1, November 2006.
[RFC2205] Braden, R., Ed., Zhang, L., Berson, S., Herzog, S., and S. Jamin, "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1 Functional Specification", RFC 2205, September 1997.
[RFC2210] Wroclawski, J., "The Use of RSVP with IETF Integrated Services", RFC 2210, September 1997.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC3209] Awduche, D., Berger, L., Gan, D., Li, T., Srinivasan, V., and G. Swallow, "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP Tunnels", RFC 3209, December 2001.
[RFC3471] Berger, L., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Functional Description", RFC 3471, January 2003.
[RFC3473] Berger, L., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling Resource ReserVation Protocol-Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) Extensions", RFC 3473, January 2003.
[RFC4124] Le Faucheur, F., Ed., "Protocol Extensions for Support of Diffserv-aware MPLS Traffic Engineering", RFC 4124, June 2005.
[RFC4506] Eisler, M., Ed., "XDR: External Data Representation Standard", STD 67, RFC 4506, May 2006.
[RFC5226] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226, May 2008.
[RFC6004] Berger, L. and D. Fedyk, "Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) Support for Metro Ethernet Forum and G.8011 Ethernet Services", RFC 6004, October 2010.
11.2. Informative References
[ETHv2] Digital, Intel, and Xerox, "The Ethernet -- A Local Area Network: Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Specifications", Version 2.0, November 1982.
[IEEE802.3] IEEE 802.3 LAN/MAN CSMA/CD (Ethernet) Access Method, IEEE Standard for Information technology- Specific requirements - Part 3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CMSA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications, IEEE 802.3-2008.
[MCOS] Minei, I., Gan, D., Kompella, K., and X. Li, "Extensions for Differentiated Services-aware Traffic Engineered LSPs", Work in Progress, June 2006.
[MEF6] The Metro Ethernet Forum, "Ethernet Services Definitions - Phase I", MEF 6, June 2004.
[MEF10.2] The MEF Technical Specification, "Ethernet Services Attributes Phase 2", MEF 10.2, October 2009.
[RFC5920] Fang, L., Ed., "Security Framework for MPLS and GMPLS Networks", RFC 5920, July 2010.
Author's Address 🎀
Dimitri Papadimitriou
Alcatel-Lucent Bell
Copernicuslaan 50
B-2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
Phone: +32 3 2408491
EMail: dimitri.papadimitriou@alcatel-lucent.beand that's a wrap on RFC 6003, bestie!! 🌈✨💅
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