OCCNC Past IETF Activity

There are three past efforts in IETF described here. One is in the IETF Routing Working Group (RTGWG). The other two in the IETF Multiprotocol Label Switching Working Group (MPLS). These three activities have produced one RFC each. The remaining documents are no longer active.

1. There are three Advanced Multipath documents. The first, the requirements document, was published as RFC 7226. The remaining two are Advanced Multipath documents are RTGWG WG documents but have both expired and are no longer active.

2. The MPLS Multipath work was introduced to the MPLS WG in 2010. There are two multipath documents. One of them, "Use of Multipath with MPLS-TP and MPLS", was published as RFC 7190. The other is an individual submission which has expired and is now unlikely to be resurrected.

3. The MPLS Forwarding work was introduced to the MPLS WG in October 2012, became an MPLS WG document in April 2013, and was published as RFC 7325 in August 2014.

This web page was updated on April 11, 2015 after the most recent RFC publication and again in January 2017 only to indicate that the remaining work was no longer active.

RTGWG: Advanced Multipath

The Advanced Multipath work reflects the requirement to deploy core network links in service provider networks with capacity far in excess of any existing lower layer technologies. This is accomplished using parallel links or using parallel server LSP and by exploiting this aggregate capacity at higher layers. Techniques used for over a decade are documented. Both long standing and more recent service provider requirements are documented in the requirements document and are accommodated in the framework document.

There are three documents in the IETF RTGWG related to Advanced Multipath. One is an RFC. The other two are WG items.

• Requirements for Advanced Multipath in MPLS Networks was published in May 2014 as RFC 7226.
• Advanced Multipath Use Cases and Design Considerations completed WGLC in March 2014 and has been awaiting Routing Area Director (AD) review since then. The document has since expired. In March 2015, the document status was changed to "WG Consensus: Waiting for Write-Up". There seems to be some interest in completing the IETF process and publishing this document.
• Advanced Multipath Framework in MPLS was accepted as a working group document in August 2012. This document was for a while stalled awaiting work on other documents. That work has progress but interest in this work has fallen away. The document has since expired and at this point there may be insufficient interest in this work to continue.

The Advanced Multipath Use Cases and Design Considerations and Advanced Multipath Framework in MPLS had expired prior to IETF 90 in Toronto. The work stalled with a change in AD and WG chairs and was not resurrected later due to most co-authors having changed employment for other reasons.

MPLS: MPLS Multipath

The MPLS multipath work is aimed at allowing MPLS and MPLS-TP to be carried efficiently within the same network. There are two documents.

• Use of Multipath with MPLS-TP and MPLS provides an overview of how multipath can be used in an MPLS network and through the use of Entropy Labels without adverse impact on MPLS-TP LSP carried within the network. Using Entropy Label, MPLS provides a fully MPLS-TP compliant server layer, even when MPLS LSP traverse multipath links. MPLS can carried as a client within MPLS-TP LSP, using multiple MPLS-TP LSP to serve MPLS LSP which require capacity in excess of component link capacities. This document was published in March 2014 as RFC 7190.
• Multipath Extensions for MPLS Traffic Engineering defines protocol extensions that are useful in carrying MPLS-TP traffic or other large microflows within an MPLS network that makes use of multipath. This document is unchanged since IETF-85 and has expired. The functionality offered by many of the extensions can be handled through workarounds, mostly through creative use of RFC3209 administrative attributes. There is no workaround for some of the extensions and a future draft is likely to include only the extensions for which no workaround exists. The document has expired but may be resurrected if there is renewed interest in protocol extensions for this purpose.

MPLS: MPLS Forwarding

MPLS Forwarding Compliance and Performance Requirements is summarized in the abstract.

This document provides guidelines for implementers regarding MPLS forwarding and a basis for evaluations of forwarding implementations. Guidelines cover many aspects of MPLS forwarding. Topics are highlighted where implementers might otherwise overlook practical requirements which are unstated or under emphasized or are optional for conformance to RFCs but are often considered mandatory by providers.

The MPLS Forwarding document became an MPLS WG document in April 2013. WGLC began in November 2013. Revisions were made as a result of WGLC comments and a new version was submitted in December 2013. IETF LC was completed in February 2014. This document was added to the RFC Editor's queue in March 2014. Due to a normative reference to http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-mpls-psc-updates-01 this document was held in the REF state for approximately five months.

This document was published as RFC 7325 in August 2014. While there has been some discussion of followup work in the Benchmark Methodology Working Group (BMWG), and discussion of followup work in the Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge Working Group (PWE3), no followup work is yet planned.

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