Skip to main content

BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)
draft-ietf-idr-bgp-car-03

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Active".
Authors Dhananjaya Rao , Swadesh Agrawal , Co-authors
Last updated 2023-10-23 (Latest revision 2023-07-06)
Replaces draft-dskc-bess-bgp-car
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Reviews
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
Stream WG state In WG Last Call
Document shepherd Susan Hares
Shepherd write-up Show Last changed 2022-10-12
IESG IESG state I-D Exists
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD (None)
Send notices to dhrao@cisco.com, bruno.decraene@orange.com, cfilsfil@cisco.com, luay.jalil@verizon.com, yitai.syc@alibaba-inc.com, jul738@att.com, james.n.guichard@futurewei.com, ketant.ietf@gmail.com, keyur@arrcus.com, rainsword.wang@huawei.com, im8327@att.com
draft-ietf-idr-bgp-car-03
IDR WorkGroup                                                D. Rao, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                           S. Agrawal, Ed.
Intended status: Experimental                              Cisco Systems
Expires: 25 April 2024                                        Co-authors
                                                              Section 11
                                                         23 October 2023

                     BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)
                       draft-ietf-idr-bgp-car-03

Abstract

   This document describes a BGP based routing solution to establish
   end-to-end intent-aware paths across a multi-domain service provider
   transport network.  This solution is called BGP Color-Aware Routing
   (BGP CAR).

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   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."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 25 April 2024.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2023 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 (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     1.2.  Illustration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     1.3.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   2.  BGP CAR SAFI  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     2.1.  Data Model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     2.2.  Extensible encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     2.3.  BGP CAR Route Origination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     2.4.  BGP CAR Route Validation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     2.5.  BGP CAR Route Resolution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     2.6.  AIGP Metric Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     2.7.  Path Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     2.8.  BGP CAR signaling through different color domains . . . .  13
     2.9.  Format and Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       2.9.1.  BGP CAR SAFI NLRI Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       2.9.2.  Color-Aware Route NLRI Type . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       2.9.3.  IP Prefix NLRI Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
       2.9.4.  Local-Color-Mapping (LCM) Extended Community  . . . .  22
     2.10. LCM and BGP Color Extended Community usage  . . . . . . .  23
     2.11. Error Handling  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   3.  Service route Automated Steering on Color-Aware path  . . . .  25
   4.  Intents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
   5.  Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     5.1.  (E, C) Subscription and Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   6.  Scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     6.1.  Ultra-Scale Reference Topology  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
     6.2.  Deployment model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
       6.2.1.  Flat  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
       6.2.2.  Hierarchical Design with next-hop-self at ingress
               domain BR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
       6.2.3.  Hierarchical Design with Next Hop Unchanged at ingress
               domain BR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
     6.3.  Scale Analysis  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
     6.4.  Scaling Benefits of the (E, C) BGP Subscription and
           Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
     6.5.  Anycast SID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
       6.5.1.  Anycast SID for transit inter-domain nodes  . . . . .  36
       6.5.2.  Anycast SID for transport color endpoints (e.g.,
               PEs)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
   7.  Routing Convergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
   8.  CAR SRv6  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
     8.1.  Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
       8.1.1.  Routed Service SID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
       8.1.2.  Non-routed Service SID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
     8.2.  Deployment Options For CAR SRv6 Locator Reachability
           Distribution and Forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

       8.2.1.  Hop by hop IPv6 forwarding for BGP SRv6 prefixes  . .  39
       8.2.2.  Encapsulation between BRs for BGP SRv6 prefixes . . .  40
     8.3.  Operational Benefits Of Using CAR SAFI For SRv6 Locator
           Prefix Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
   9.  CAR IP Prefix Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
   10. VPN CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
     10.1.  VPN CAR Type-1 NLRI  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
     10.2.  VPN CAR IP Prefix NLRI Type  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
   11. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
     11.1.  BGP CAR NLRI Types Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
     11.2.  BGP CAR NLRI TLV Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
     11.3.  Guidance for Designated Experts  . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
     11.4.  BGP Extended Community Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
   12. Manageability Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
   13. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
   14. Co-authors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
   15. Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
   16. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50
   17. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50
     17.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50
     17.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
   Appendix A.  Illustrations of Service Steering  . . . . . . . . .  54
     A.1.  E2E BGP transport CAR intent realized using IGP
           FlexAlgo  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54
     A.2.  E2E BGP transport CAR intent realized using SR Policy . .  56
     A.3.  BGP transport CAR intent realized in a section of the
           network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  58
       A.3.1.  Provide intent for service flows only in core domain
               running ISIS FlexAlgo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  58
       A.3.2.  Provide intent for service flows only in core domain
               over TE tunnel mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  60
     A.4.  Transit network domains that do not support CAR . . . . .  62
     A.5.  Resource Avoidance using BGP CAR and IGP Flex-Algo  . . .  63
     A.6.  Per-Flow Steering over CAR routes . . . . . . . . . . . .  65
     A.7.  Advertising BGP CAR routes for shared IP addresses  . . .  66
   Appendix B.  Color Mapping Illustrations  . . . . . . . . . . . .  68
     B.1.  Single color domain containing network domains with N:N
           color distribution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  68
     B.2.  Single color domain containing network domains with N:M
           color distribution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  68
     B.3.  Multiple color domains  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  72
   Appendix C.  CAR SRv6 Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
     C.1.  BGP CAR SRv6 locator reachability hop by hop
           distribution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  73
     C.2.  BGP CAR SRv6 locator reachability distribution with
           encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76
     C.3.  BGP CAR (E, C) route distribution . . . . . . . . . . . .  78

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Appendix D.  CAR SAFI NLRI update packing efficiency
           calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  85

1.  Introduction

   This document describes a BGP based routing solution to establish
   end-to-end intent-aware paths across a multi-domain service provider
   transport network.  Color is a 32-bit numerical value associated with
   a network intent (low-cost, low-delay, avoid some resources etc.) as
   defined in [RFC9256].

   BGP CAR fulfills the transport and VPN problem statement and
   requirements described in
   [I-D.hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-color].

   For this purpose, this document specifies two new BGP SAFIs, called
   BGP CAR (SAFI 83) and VPN CAR (SAFI 84) that carry infrastructure
   routes to set up the transport paths.  CAR SAFIs apply to IPv4
   Unicast and IPv6 Unicast AFIs (AFI 1 and AFI 2).

   BGP CAR SAFI distributes routes to a destination network endpoint
   such as a PE router, for different intents.  BGP CAR can also be
   enabled within a VRF on a PE router towards a peering CE router, and
   within a customer network.  VPN CAR SAFI enables the distribution of
   intent-aware routes from different customers received on a PE across
   the provider network, maintaining the separation of the customer
   address spaces that may overlap.  BGP CAR thus enables intent-aware
   routed transport paths to be set up across a multi-domain network
   that can span both customer and provider network domains.

   The document also defines two CAR route types for this purpose.

   The CAR Type-1 NLRI enables the generation and distribution of
   multiple color-aware routes to the same destination IP prefix (E, C)
   for different colors.  This is applicable to situations where a
   transport node such as a PE has a common IP address (such as a
   loopback); this address is used as the BGP next-hop for service
   routes and as the transport endpoint for the data plane path; and
   where multiple routes are needed for this same prefix or address to
   set up a unique path for each intent.  One example is setting up
   MPLS/SR-MPLS LSPs to an egress PE, one per intent.

   The CAR Type-2 NLRI enables the distribution of multiple color-aware
   routes to a transport node for the case where the operator specifies
   a unique network IP address block for a given intent, and the
   transport node gets assigned a unique IP prefix or address for each
   intent.  An example use-case is SRv6 per-intent locators.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

1.1.  Terminology

     +=============+=================================================+
     +=============+=================================================+
     | Intent (in  | Any combination of the following behaviors: a/  |
     | routing)    | Topology path selection (e.g. minimize metric,  |
     |             | avoid resource), b/ NFV service insertion (e.g. |
     |             | service chain steering), c/ per-hop behavior    |
     |             | (e.g. 5G slice).  More specific concept w.r.t.  |
     |             | routing beyond best-effort, compared to intent  |
     |             | as declarative abstraction in [RFC9315]         |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Color       | A 32-bit numerical value associated with an     |
     |             | intent (e.g. low-cost , low-delay, avoid some   |
     |             | resources etc.) as defined in [RFC9256]         |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Colored     | An egress PE (e.g.  E2) colors its BGP service  |
     | Service     | (e.g.  VPN) route V/v to indicate the intent    |
     | Route       | that it requests for the traffic bound to V/v.  |
     |             | The color is encoded as a BGP Color Extended    |
     |             | community [RFC9012] (used as per [RFC9256]), or |
     |             | in locator part of SRv6 Service SID [RFC9252].  |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Color-Aware | A routed path to E2 which satisfies the intent  |
     | Path to     | associated with color C.  Several technologies  |
     | (E2, C)     | may provide a Color-Aware Path to (E2, C): SR   |
     |             | Policy [RFC9256], IGP Flex-Algo [RFC9350], BGP  |
     |             | CAR [specified in this document].               |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Color-Aware | A distributed or signaled route that builds a   |
     | Route (E2,  | color-aware path to E2 for color C.             |
     | C)          |                                                 |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Service     | E1 automatically steers a C-colored service     |
     | Route       | route V/v from E2 onto an (E2, C) path.  If     |
     | Automated   | several such paths exist, a preference scheme   |
     | Steering on | is used to select the best path (for example,   |
     | Color-aware | IGP Flex-Algo first then SR Policy then BGP     |
     | path        | CAR.                                            |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Color       | A set of nodes which share the same Color-to-   |
     | Domain      | Intent mapping, typically under single          |

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

     |             | administration.  This set can be organized in   |
     |             | one or several IGP instances or BGP ASNs/       |
     |             | domains.  Color re-mapping may happen at color  |
     |             | domain boundaries.                              |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Resolution  | An inter-domain BGP CAR route (E, C) from N is  |
     | of a BGP    | resolved on an intra-domain color-aware path    |
     | CAR route   | (N, C) where N is the next-hop of the BGP CAR   |
     | (E, C)      | route.                                          |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     | Resolution  | In this document and consistently with the      |
     | vs Steering | terminology of the SR Policy document           |
     |             | [RFC9256], steering is used to describe the     |
     |             | mapping of a service route onto a BGP CAR path  |
     |             | while the term resolution is preserved for the  |
     |             | mapping of an inter-domain BGP CAR route on an  |
     |             | intra-domain color-aware path.                  |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     |             | Service Steering: Service route maps to BGP CAR |
     |             | path (or other Color-Aware Routed Paths: e.g.   |
     |             | SR Policy).  On non availability of Color-Aware |
     |             | path, local policy may map to traditional       |
     |             | routing/TE path (e.g.  BGP LU, RSVP-TE, IGP/    |
     |             | LDP)                                            |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+
     |             | Intra-Domain Resolution: BGP CAR route maps to  |
     |             | intra-domain color aware path (e.g.  SR Policy, |
     |             | IGP Flex-Algo, BGP CAR) or traditional routing/ |
     |             | TE path (e.g.  RSVP-TE, IGP/LDP, BGP-LU)        |
     +-------------+-------------------------------------------------+

                                  Table 1

1.2.  Illustration

   Here is a brief illustration of the salient properties of the BGP CAR
   solution.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   +-------------+      +-------------+      +-------------+
   |             |      |             |      |             | V/v with C1
   |----+        |------|             |------|        +----|/
   | E1 |        |      |             |      |        | E2 |\
   |----+        |      |             |      |        +----| W/w with C2
   |             |------|             |------|             |
   |  Domain 1   |      |   Domain 2  |      |   Domain 3  |
   +-------------+      +-------------+      +-------------+

                                  Figure 1

   All the nodes are part of an interdomain network under a single
   authority and with a consistent color-to-intent mapping:

   *  C1 is mapped to "low-delay"

      -  Flex-Algo FA1 is mapped to "low delay" and hence to C1

   *  C2 is mapped to "low-delay and avoid resource R"

      -  Flex-Algo FA2 is mapped to "low delay and avoid resource R" and
         hence C2

   E1 receives two service routes from E2:

   *  V/v with BGP Color Extended-Community C1

   *  W/w with BGP Color Extended-Community C2

   E1 has the following color-aware paths:

   *  (E2, C1) provided by BGP CAR with the following per-domain
      support:

      -  Domain1: over IGP FA1

      -  Domain2: over SR Policy bound to color C1

      -  Domain3: over IGP FA1

   *  (E2, C2) provided by SR Policy

   E1 automatically steers the received service routes as follows:

   *  V/v via (E2, C1) provided by BGP CAR

   *  W/w via (E2, C2) provided by SR Policy

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Illustrated Properties:

   *  Leverage of the BGP Color Extended-Community

      -  The service routes are colored with widely-used BGP Color
         Extended-Community

   *  (E, C) Automated Steering

      -  V/v and W/w are automatically steered on the appropriate color-
         aware path

   *  Seamless co-existence of BGP CAR and SR Policy

      -  V/v is steered on BGP CAR color-aware path

      -  W/w is steered on SR Policy color-aware path

   *  Seamless interworking of BGP CAR and SR Policy

      -  V/v is steered on a BGP CAR color-aware path that is itself
         resolved within domain 2 onto an SR Policy bound to the color
         of V/v

   Other properties:

   *  MPLS dataplane: with 300k PE's and 5 colors, the BGP CAR solution
      ensures that no single node needs to support a dataplane scaling
      in the order of Remote PE * C (Section 6).  This would otherwise
      exceed the MPLS dataplane.

   *  Control-Plane: a node should not install a (E, C) path if it does
      not need it

   *  Incongruent Color-Intent mapping: the solution supports the
      signaling of a BGP CAR route across different color domains

   The keys to this simplicity are:

   *  the leverage of the BGP Color Extended-Community to color service
      routes

   *  the definition of the automated steering: a C-colored service
      route V/v from E2 is steered onto a color-aware path (E2, C)

   *  the definition of the data model of a BGP CAR path: (E, C)

      -  natural extension of BGP IP/LU data model (E)

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  consistent with SR Policy data model

   *  the definition of the recursive resolution of a BGP CAR route: a
      BGP CAR (E2, C) via N is resolved onto the color-aware path (N, C)
      which may itself be provided by BGP CAR or via another color-aware
      routing solution: SR Policy, IGP Flex-Algo.

   *  Native support for multiple transport encapsulations (e.g., MPLS,
      SR, SRv6, IP)

1.3.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

2.  BGP CAR SAFI

2.1.  Data Model

   The BGP CAR data model is:

   *  NLRI Key: Falls into two categories, to accommodate the use-cases
      described in the introduction

      -  Type-1: Key is IP Prefix and Color (E, C).  Color in NLRI key
         distinguishes a color-aware route for a common IP prefix, one
         per intent.  Color also indicates the intent associated with
         the route

      -  Type-2: Key is IP Prefix (E).  The unique IP prefix assigned
         for an intent (i.e IP Prefix == Intent or Color) distinguishes
         the route.  Color is not necessary in NLRI key as a
         distinguisher.

   *  NLRI non-key encapsulation data: MPLS label stack, Label index,
      SRv6 SID list etc.

   *  BGP Next Hop

   *  AIGP Metric: accumulates color/intent specific metric across
      domains

   *  Local-Color-Mapping Extended-Community (LCM-EC): Optional 32-bit
      Color value used to represent the intent associated with the CAR
      route:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  when a CAR route propagates between different color domains

      -  when a CAR route has a unique IP prefix for an intent

      The sections below that describe the protocol processing for CAR
      SAFI generally apply consistently to both route types (for
      instance, any operation based on color).  The examples use (E,C)
      for simplicity.

2.2.  Extensible encoding

   Extensible encoding is ensured by:

   *  NLRI Route-Type field: provides extensibility to add new NLRI
      formats for new route-types

   *  Key length: field enables handling of unsupported route-types
      opaquely, enabling transitivity via RRs

   *  TLV-based encoding of non-key part of NLRI: enables flexible
      support for multiple encapsulations with efficient update packing

   *  AIGP Attribute provides extensibility via TLVs, enabling
      definition of additional metric semantics for a color as needed
      for an intent

2.3.  BGP CAR Route Origination

   A BGP CAR route may be originated locally (e.g., loopback) or through
   redistribution of an (E, C) color-aware path provided by another
   routing solution: SR Policy, IGP Flex-Algo, RSVP-TE or BGP-LU
   [RFC8277].

2.4.  BGP CAR Route Validation

   A BGP CAR path (E, C) from N with encapsulation T is valid if color-
   aware path (N, C) exists with encapsulation T available in dataplane.

   A local policy may customize the validation process:

   *  the color constraint in the first check may be relaxed: instead N
      is reachable via alternate color(s) or in the default routing
      table

   *  the dataplane availability constraint of T may be relaxed, to use
      an alternate encapsulation

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 10]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  a performance-measurement verification may be added to ensure that
      the intent associated with C is met (e.g. delay < bound)

   A path that is not valid MUST NOT be considered for BGP best path
   selection.

2.5.  BGP CAR Route Resolution

   A BGP color-aware route (E2, C1) from N is automatically resolved
   over a color-aware route (N, C1) by default.  The color-aware route
   (N, C1) is provided by color aware mechanisms such as IGP Flex-Algo,
   SR policy or recursively by BGP CAR.  When multiple producers of
   (N,C1) are available, the default preference is: IGP Flex-Algo, SR
   Policy, BGP CAR.

   Local policy can provide additional control and options:

   *  A BGP color-aware route (E2, C1) from N may be resolved over a
      color-aware route (N, C2): i.e. the local policy maps the
      resolution of C1 over C2.

      -  For example, in a domain where resource R is known to not be
         present, the inter-domain intent C1="low delay and avoid R" may
         be resolved over an intra-domain path of intent C2="low delay".

      -  Another example is, if no (N, C1) path is available, and the
         user has allowed resolution to fallback via C2

   *  Resolution may be mapped to traditional mechanisms that are
      unaware of color or that provide best effort, such as RSVP-TE,
      IGP/LDP, BGP LU (e.g., Appendix A.3.2).

   Route resolution via different color may be automated by attaching
   BGP Color extended Community C2 to CAR route (E2, C1), leveraging
   Automated steering as described section 8.4 of Segment Routing Policy
   Architecture [RFC9256] for BGP CAR routes.  This mechanism is
   illustrated in section B.2.

   Local policy takes precedence over default color based automated
   resolution.  For a CAR route, Color-EC color takes precedence over
   route NLRI color.

   The color-aware route (N, C1) may have a different dataplane
   encapsulation than the one of (E2, C1): e.g. a BGP CAR route (E2, C1)
   with SR-MPLS encapsulation may be transported over an intermediate
   SRv6 domain [I-D.agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking].

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 11]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   The color-aware route (N, C1) may be provided by BGP CAR itself in
   hierarchical transport routing model.  In such deployments recursive
   resolution may be over same CAR route type or different type.  Refer
   illustration Section 8.1.2 where CAR type-1 route resolves over CAR
   type-2.

   A special case of intent is best effort which may be represented by a
   color and follow above procedures.  But to be compatible with
   traditional operational usage, CAR route-type 2 is allowed to be
   without color for best effort.  In this case, resolution is as per
   [RFC4271].

   A BGP CAR route may recursively resolve over a BGP route carrying
   Tunnel Encapsulation attribute.  Procedures of section 8 of [RFC9012]
   apply in presence of BGP Color EC in the CAR route.  They are
   extended to use LCM EC and Color in CAR route NLRI as per above and
   Section 2.9.4 in absence of BGP Color EC.  Among other options, a BGP
   CAR BR may advertise a CAR route to an ingress BR with a specific BGP
   NH per color, with a TEA or Tunnel Encapsulation EC.

2.6.  AIGP Metric Computation

   The Accumulated IGP (AIGP) Attribute [RFC7311] is updated as the BGP
   CAR route propagates across the network.

   The value set (or appropriately incremented) in the AIGP TLV
   corresponds to the metric associated with the underlying intent of
   the color.  For example, when the color is associated with a low-
   latency path, the metric value is set based on the delay metric.

   Information regarding the metric type used by the underlying intra-
   domain mechanism can also be set.

   If BGP CAR routes traverse across a discontinuity in the transport
   path for a given intent, add a penalty in accumulated IGP metric
   (value by user policy).  For instance, when color C1 path is not
   available, and route resolves via color C2 path (e.g., Appendix A.3).

   AIGP metric computation is recursive.

   To avoid continuous IGP metric changes causing end to end BGP CAR
   churn, an implementation should provide thresholds to trigger AIGP
   update.

   Additional AIGP extensions may be defined to signal state for
   specific use-cases: MSD along the BGP CAR advertisement, Minimum MTU
   along the BGP CAR advertisement.  This is out of scope for this
   document.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 12]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

2.7.  Path Availability

   The (E, C) route inherently provides availability of redundant paths
   at every hop, identical to BGP-LU or BGP IP.  For instance, BGP CAR
   routes originated by two or more egress ABRs in a domain are
   advertised as multiple paths to ingress ABRs in the domain, where
   they become equal-cost or primary-backup paths.  A failure of an
   egress ABR is detected and handled by ingress ABRs locally within the
   domain for faster convergence, without any necessity to propagate the
   event to upstream nodes for traffic restoration.

   BGP ADD-PATH should be enabled for BGP CAR to signal multiple next
   hops through a transport RR.

2.8.  BGP CAR signaling through different color domains

             [Color Domain 1   A]-----[B     Color Domain 2     E2]
             [C1=low-delay      ]     [C2=low-delay               ]

   Let us assume a BGP CAR route (E2, C2) is signaled from B to A; two
   border routers of respectively domain 2 and domain 1.  Let us assume
   that these two domains do not share the same color-to-intent mapping.
   Low-delay in domain 2 is color C2 while C1 in domain 1 (C1 <> C2).

   The BGP CAR solution seamlessly supports this (rare) scenario while
   maintaining the separation and independence of the administrative
   authority in different color domains.

   The solution works as follows:

   *  Within domain 2, the BGP CAR route is (E2, C2) via E2

   *  B signals to A the BGP CAR route as (E2, C2) via B with Local-
      Color-Mapping-Extended-Community (LCM-EC) of color C2

   *  A is aware (classic peering agreement) of the intent-to-color
      mapping within domain 2 ("low-delay" in domain 2 is C2)

   *  A maps C2 in LCM-EC to C1 and signals within domain 1 the received
      BGP CAR route as (E2, C2) via A with LCM-EC(C1)

   *  The nodes within the receiving domain 1 use the local color
      encoded in the LCM-EC for next-hop resolution and service steering

   Salient properties:

   *  The NLRI never changes

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 13]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  E is globally unique, which makes E-C in that order unique

   *  In the vast majority of the cases, the color of the NLRI is used
      for resolution and steering

   *  In the rare case of color incongruence, the local color encoded in
      LCM-EC takes precedence

   Further illustrations are provided in Appendix B.

2.9.  Format and Encoding

   BGP CAR leverages the BGP multi-protocol extensions [RFC4760] and
   uses the MP_REACH_NLRI and MP_UNREACH_NLRI attributes for route
   updates by using the SAFI value 83 along with AFI 1 for IPv4 prefixes
   and AFI 2 for IPv6 prefixes.

   BGP speakers MUST use BGP Capabilities Advertisement to ensure
   support for processing of BGP CAR updates.  This is done as specified
   in [RFC4760], by using capability code 1 (multi-protocol BGP), with
   AFI 1 and 2 (as required) and SAFI 83.

   The sub-sections below specify the generic encoding of the BGP CAR
   NLRI followed by the encoding for specific NLRI types introduced in
   this document.

2.9.1.  BGP CAR SAFI NLRI Format

   The generic format for the BGP CAR SAFI NLRI is shown below:

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  NLRI Length  |  Key Length   |   NLRI Type   |              //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+              //
   |                  Type-specific Key Fields                    //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |           Type-specific Non-Key Fields (if applicable)       //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  NLRI Length: 1 octet field that indicates the length in octets of
      the NLRI excluding the NLRI Length field itself.

   *  Key Length: 1 octet field that indicates the length in octets of
      the NLRI type-specific key fields.  Key length MUST be at least 2
      less than the NLRI length.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 14]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  NLRI Type: 1 octet field that indicates the type of the BGP CAR
      NLRI.

   *  Type-Specific Key Fields: Depend on the NLRI type and of length
      indicated by the Key Length.

   *  Type-Specific Non-Key Fields: optional and variable depending on
      the NLRI type.  The NLRI definition allows for encoding of
      specific non-key information associated with the route (i.e. the
      key) as part of the NLRI for efficient packing of BGP updates.

   The indication of the key length enables BGP Speakers to determine
   the key portion of the NLRI and use it along with the NLRI Type field
   in an opaque manner for handling of unknown or unsupported NLRI
   types.  This can help deployed Route Reflectors (RR) to propagate
   NLRI types introduced in the future in a transparent manner.

   It also helps make error handling more resilient and minimally
   disruptive as described in Section 2.11.

   A route (NLRI) can carry more than one non-key TLV (of different
   types).  This provides significant benefits such as signaling
   multiple encapsulations simultaneously for the same route, each with
   a different value (label/SID etc).  This enables simpler, efficient
   migrations with low overhead :

   *  avoids need for duplicate routes to signal different
      encapsulations

   *  avoids need for separate control planes for distribution

   *  preserves update packing (e.g.  Appendix D)

   The non-key portion of the NLRI MUST be omitted while carrying it
   within the MP_UNREACH_NLRI when withdrawing the route advertisement.

2.9.2.  Color-Aware Route NLRI Type

   The Color-Aware Routes NLRI Type is used for advertisement of color-
   aware routes and has the following format:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 15]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  NLRI Length  |  Key Length   |   NLRI Type   |Prefix Length  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               IP Prefix (variable)                           //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Color (4 octets)                                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Followed by optional TLVs encoded as below:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |     Type      |    Length     |    Value (variable)          //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  NLRI Length: variable

   *  Key Length: variable.  It indicates the total length comprised of
      the Prefix Length field, IP Prefix field, and the Color field, as
      described below.  For IPv4 (AFI=1), the minimum length is 5 and
      maximum length is 9.  For IPv6 (AFI=2), the minimum length is 5
      and maximum length is 21.

   *  NLRI Type: 1

   *  Type-Specific Key Fields: as below

      -  Prefix Length: 1 octet field that carries the length of prefix
         in bits.  Length MUST be less than or equal to 32 for IPv4
         (AFI=1) and less than or equal to 128 for IPv6 (AFI=2).

      -  IP Prefix: IPv4 or IPv6 prefix (based on the AFI).  A variable
         size field that contains the most significant octets of the
         prefix, i.e., 0 octet for prefix length 0, 1 octet for prefix
         length 1 to 8, 2 octets for prefix length 9 to 16, 3 octets for
         prefix length 17 up to 24, 4 octets for prefix length 25 up to
         32, and so on.  Last octet has enough trailing bits to make the
         end of the field fall on an octet boundary.  Note that the
         value of the trailing bits is irrelevant.  The size of the
         field MUST be less than or equal to 4 for IPv4 (AFI=1) and less
         than or equal to 16 for IPv6 (AFI=2).

      -  Color: 4 octets that contains color value associated with the
         prefix.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 16]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  Type-Specific Non-Key Fields: specified in the form of optional
      TLVs as below:

      -  Type: 1 octet that contains the type code and flags.  It is
         encoded as shown below:

                      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     |R|T| Type code |
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                where:

         o  R: Bit is reserved and MUST be set to 0 and ignored on
            receive.

         o  T: Transitive bit, applicable to speakers that change the
            BGP CAR next hop

            +  T bit set to indicate TLV is transitive.  An unrecognized
               transitive TLV MUST be propagated by a speaker that
               changes the next hop

            +  T bit unset to indicate TLV is non-transitive.  An
               unrecognized non-transitive TLV MUST NOT be propagated by
               a speaker that changes next hop

            A speaker that does not change next hop SHOULD propagate all
            received TLVs.

         o  Type code: Remaining 6 bits contain the type of the TLV.

      -  Length: 1 octet field that contains the length of the value
         portion of the non-key TLV in terms of octets

      -  Value: variable length field as indicated by the length field
         and to be interpreted as per the type field.

   The prefix is routable across the administrative domain where BGP
   transport CAR is deployed.  It is possible that the same prefix is
   originated by multiple BGP CAR speakers in the case of anycast
   addressing or multi-homing.

   The Color is introduced to enable multiple route advertisements for
   the same prefix.  The color is associated with an intent (e.g. low-
   latency) in originator color-domain.

   The following sub-sections specify the non-key TLVs associated with
   the Color-Aware Routes NLRI type.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 17]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

2.9.2.1.  Label TLV

   The Label TLV is used for advertisement of color-aware routes along
   with their MPLS labels and has 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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|  Type     |    Length     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Followed by one (or more) Labels encoded as below:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                 Label                 |Rsrv |S|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  Type : Type code is 1.  T bit MUST be unset

   *  Length: variable, MUST be a multiple of 3

   *  Label Information: multiples of 3 octet fields to convey the MPLS
      label(s) associated with the advertised color-aware route.  It is
      used for encoding a single label or a stack of labels for usage as
      described in [RFC8277].  Number of labels is derived from length
      field. 3-bit Rsrv and 1-bit S field SHOULD be set to zero on
      transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

   When a BGP transport CAR speaker is propagating the route further
   after setting itself as the nexthop, it allocates a local label for
   the specific prefix and color combination which it updates in this
   TLV.  It also MUST program a label cross-connect that would result in
   the label swap operation for the incoming label that it advertises
   with the label received from its best-path router(s).

2.9.2.2.  Label Index TLV

   The Label Index TLV is used for advertisement of Segment Routing MPLS
   (SR-MPLS) Segment Identifier (SID) [RFC8402] information associated
   with the labeled color-aware routes and has the following format:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 18]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|   Type    |    Length     |    Reserved   |     Flags     ~
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   ~               |                 Label Index                   ~
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   ~               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  Type : Type code is 2.  T bit MUST be set

   *  Length: 7

   *  Reserved: 1 octet field that MUST be set to 0 and ignored on
      receipt.

   *  Flags: 2 octet field that maps to the Flags field of the Label-
      Index TLV of the BGP Prefix SID Attribute [RFC8669].

   *  Label Index: 4 octet field that maps to the Label Index field of
      the Label-Index TLV of the BGP Prefix SID Attribute [RFC8669].

   This TLV provides the equivalent functionality as Label-Index TLV of
   [RFC8669] for Transport CAR route in SR-MPLS deployments.  It
   provides much better packing efficiency by carrying Label Index in
   NLRI instead of the BGP Prefix SID attribute.  The BGP Prefix SID
   Attribute SHOULD be omitted from the labeled color-aware routes when
   the attribute is being used to only convey the Label Index TLV.

   When a BGP Transport CAR speaker is propagating the route further
   after setting itself as the nexthop, it allocates a local label for
   the specific prefix and color combination.  When the received update
   has the CAR Label Index TLV, it SHOULD use that hint to allocate the
   local label from the SR Global Block (SRGB) using procedures as
   specified in [RFC8669].

2.9.2.3.  SRv6 SID TLV

   BGP Transport CAR can be also used to setup end-to-end color-aware
   connectivity using Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) [RFC8402].
   [RFC8986] specifies the SRv6 Endpoint behaviors (e.g.  End PSP) which
   MAY be leveraged for BGP CAR with SRv6.  The SRv6 SID TLV is used for
   advertisement of color-aware routes along with their SRv6 SIDs and
   has the following format:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 19]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|  Type     |    Length     |   SRv6 SID Info (variable)   //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  Type : Type code is 3.  T bit MUST be unset

   *  Length: variable, MUST be either less than or equal to 16, or be a
      multiple of 16

   *  SRv6 SID Information: field of size as indicated by the length
      that either carries the SRv6 SID(s) for the advertised color-aware
      route as one of the following:

      -  A single 128-bit SRv6 SID or a stack of 128-bit SRv6 SIDs

      -  A transposed portion (refer [RFC9252]) of the SRv6 SID that
         MUST be of size in multiples of one octet and less than 16.

   BGP CAR SRv6 SID TLV definitions provide the following benefits:

   *  Native encoding of SIDs avoids robustness issue caused by
      overloading of MPLS label fields.

   *  Simple encoding to signal Unique SIDs (non-transposition),
      maintaining BGP update prefix packing

   *  Highly efficient transposition scheme (12-14 bytes saved per
      NLRI), also maintaining BGP update prefix packing

   The BGP color-aware route update for SRv6 encapsulation MUST include
   the BGP Prefix-SID attribute along with the SRv6 L3 Service TLV
   carrying the SRv6 SID information as specified in [RFC9252].  When
   using the transposition scheme of encoding for packing efficiency of
   BGP updates [RFC9252], transposed part of SID is carried in SRv6 SID
   TLV and not limited by MPLS label field size.

   [I-D.agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking] describes MPLS and SRv6
   interworking procedures and extension to BGP CAR routes.

2.9.3.  IP Prefix NLRI Type

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 20]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  NLRI Length  |  Key Length   |   NLRI Type   |Prefix Length  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               IP Prefix (variable)                           //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Followed by optional TLVs encoded as below:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|   Type    |    Length     |    Value (variable)          //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  NLRI Length: variable

   *  Key Length: variable.  It indicates the total length comprised of
      the Prefix Length field and IP Prefix field as described below.
      For IPv4 (AFI=1), the minimum length is 1 and maximum length is 5.
      For IPv6 (AFI=2), the minimum length is 1 and maximum length is
      17.

   *  NLRI Type: 2

   *  Type-Specific Key Fields: as below

      -  Prefix Length: 1 octet field that carries the length of prefix
         in bits.  Length MUST be less than or equal to 32 for IPv4
         (AFI=1) and less than or equal to 128 for IPv6 (AFI=2).

      -  IP Prefix: IPv4 or IPv6 prefix (based on the AFI).  A variable
         size field that contains the most significant octets of the
         prefix, i.e., 0 octet for prefix length 0, 1 octet for prefix
         length 1 to 8, 2 octets for prefix length 9 to 16, 3 octets for
         prefix length 17 up to 24, 4 octets for prefix length 25 up to
         32, and so on.  Last octet has enough trailing bits to make the
         end of the field fall on an octet boundary.  Note that the
         value of the trailing bits is irrelevant.  The size of the
         field MUST be less than or equal to 4 for IPv4 (AFI=1) and less
         than or equal to 16 for IPv6 (AFI=2).

   *  Type-Specific Non-Key Fields: Encoded as per Type-Specific Non-Key
      Fields of Color-Aware Routes NLRI Type in Section 2.9.2.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 21]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

2.9.4.  Local-Color-Mapping (LCM) Extended Community

   This document defines a new BGP Extended Community called "LCM".  The
   LCM is a Transitive Opaque Extended Community with the following
   encoding:

    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=0x3  | Sub-Type=0x1b |          Reserved             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                             Color                             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  Type: 0x3

   *  Sub-Type: 0x1b.

   *  Reserved: 2 octet of reserved field that MUST be set to zero on
      transmission and ignored on reception.

   *  Color: 4-octet field that carries the 32-bit color value.

   When a CAR route crosses the originator's color domain boundary, LCM-
   EC is added.  LCM-EC conveys the local color mapping for the intent
   (e.g. low latency) in other (transit or destination) color domains.

   For Type-2 routes, it is also added in the originator color domain to
   indicate the color associated with the IP prefix.

   An implementation SHOULD NOT send more than one instance of the LCM-
   EC.  However, if more than one instance is received, an
   implementation MUST disregard all instances other than the one with
   the numerically highest value.

   If two BGP paths for a route have different LCM values, it is
   considered an error and the route is not considered for bestpath
   selection.

   If present, LCM-EC is the effective intent of a BGP CAR route.

   LCM-EC Color is used instead of the Color in CAR route NLRI for
   procedures described in earlier sections such as route validation,
   resolution, AIGP calculation and steering.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 22]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   The LCM-EC MAY be used for filtering of BGP CAR routes and/or for
   applying routing policies for the intent, when present.

2.10.  LCM and BGP Color Extended Community usage

   There are 2 distinct requirements to be supported as stated in
   [I-D.hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-color]":

   1.  Domains with different intent granularity (section 6.3.1.9)

   2.  Network domains under different administration, i.e. color
       domains (section 6.3.1.10)

   Requirement 1 is the case where within the same administrative or
   color domain, BGP CAR routes for N end-to-end intents may need to
   traverse across an intermediate transit domain where only M intents
   are available, N >= M.  Example: a multi-domain network is designed
   as Access-Core-Access.  The core may have the most granular N
   intents, whereas the access only has fewer M intents.  So, the BGP
   nexthop resolution for a CAR route in the access domain must be via a
   color-aware path for one of these M intents.  As described in
   Section 2.5 and Appendix B.2, BGP Color Extended Community is used to
   automate the CAR route resolution.

   For requirement 2, where CAR routes traverse across different color
   domains, LCM-EC is used to carry the local color mapping for the NLRI
   color in other color domains as already described in Section 2.8 and
   Appendix.B.3

   Both LCM-EC and BGP Color Extended Community may be present at the
   same time with a BGP CAR route.  Example: BGP CAR route (E, C1) from
   color domain D1, with LCM-EC C2 in color domain D2, may also carry
   Color-EC C3 and next-hop N in a transit network domain within D2
   where C2 is being resolved via an available intra-domain intent C3
   (Appendix B.2 and Appendix B.3 combined).

   Default order of processing for resolution in presence of LCM-EC is
   local policy, then BGP Color-EC color, and finally LCM-EC color.

2.11.  Error Handling

   The error handling actions as described in [RFC7606] are applicable
   for handling of BGP update messages for BGP-CAR.  In general, as
   indicated in [RFC7606], the goal is to minimize the disruption of a
   session reset or 'AFI/SAFI disable' to the extent possible.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 23]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   When the error determined allows for the router to skip the malformed
   NLRI(s) and continue processing of the rest of the update message,
   then it MUST handle such malformed NLRIs as 'Treat-as-withdraw'.  In
   other cases, where the error in the NLRI encoding results in the
   inability to process the BGP update message, then the router SHOULD
   handle such malformed NLRIs as 'AFI/SAFI disable' when other AFI/SAFI
   besides BGP-CAR are being advertised over the same session.
   Alternately, the router MUST perform 'session reset' when the session
   is only being used for BGP-CAR.

   The CAR NLRI definition encodes NLRI length and key length
   explicitly.  The NLRI length MUST be relied upon to enable the
   beginning of the next NLRI field to be located.  Key length MUST be
   relied upon to extract the key and perform 'treat-as-withdraw' for
   malformed information.

   A sender MUST ensure that the NLRI and key lengths are number of
   actual bytes encoded in NLRI and key fields respectively, regardless
   of content being encoded.

   Given NLRI length and Key length MUST be valid, failures in following
   checks result in 'AFI/SAFI disable' or 'session reset':

   *  Minimum NLRI length (must be atleast 2, as key length and NLRI
      type are required fields)

   *  Key Length MUST be at least two less than NLRI Length

   NLRI Type specific error handling:

   *  By default, a speaker SHOULD discard unrecognized or unsupported
      NLRI type and move to next NLRI.

   *  Key length and key errors of known NLRI type SHOULD result in
      discard of NLRI similar to unrecognized NLRI type.(This MUST be
      logged for trouble shooting).

   Transparent propagation of unrecognized NLRI type:

   *  Key length allows unrecognized route types to transit through RR
      transparently without a software upgrade.  Such RR does not need
      to interpret key portion of NLRI and works on opaque key of given
      length.  An implementation SHOULD provide a knob that controls the
      RR unrecognized route type propagation behavior and possibly at
      granularity of route type values allowed.  This gives ability to
      operator to allow specific route type transparent reflection based
      on client speaker support.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 24]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  In such a case RR may reflect NLRIs with NLRI type specific key
      length and field errors.  Clients of such RR that consume the
      route for installation will perform the key error handling of
      known NLRI type or discard unrecognized type.  This prevents
      propagation of routes with NLRI errors any further in network.

   Type-Specific Non-Key TLV handling:

   *  Either the length of a TLV would cause the NLRI length to be
      exceeded when parsing the TLV, or fewer than 2 bytes remain when
      beginning to parse the TLV.  In either of these cases, an error
      condition exists and the 'treat-as-withdraw' approach MUST be used

   *  Type specific length constraints should be verified.  The TLV MUST
      be discarded if there is an error.

   *  If multiple instances of same type are encountered, all but the
      first instance MUST be ignored.

   *  If multiple instances of same type are encountered, all but the
      first instance MUST be ignored.

   *  A TLV is not considered malformed because of failing any semantic
      validation of its Value field.

   *  Speaker modifying the BGP next-hop MUST recognize at least one of
      the forwarding information TLVs (such as label and SRv6 SID).  If
      it is not able to, such NLRI is considered invalid and not
      eligible for best path selection.

3.  Service route Automated Steering on Color-Aware path

   E1 automatically steers a C-colored service route V/v from E2 onto an
   (E2, C) color-aware path.  If several such paths exist, a preference
   scheme is used to select the best path: E.g.  IGP Flex-Algo first
   then SR Policy then BGP CAR.

   An egress PE may request intent through the transport for service
   routes in the BGP Color extended community [RFC9012].  An ingress PE
   steers service traffic over CAR Type-1 NLRI using service route next
   hop and BGP Color extended community.

   This is consistent with the automated service route steering on SR
   Policy (a routing solution providing color-aware path) defined in
   [RFC9256].  All the steering variations defined in [RFC9256] are
   applicable to BGP CAR color-aware path: on-demand steering, per-
   destination, per-flow, CO-only.  For brevity, in this revision, we
   refer the reader to the [RFC9256] text.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 25]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Salient property: Seamless integration of BGP CAR and SR Policy.

   Appendix A provides illustrations of service route automated steering
   over BGP CAR.

   An egress PE may request intent through the transport for service
   routes by allocating the SRv6 Service SID from a routed intent-aware
   locator prefix (Section 3.3 of [RFC8986]).  Steering at an ingress PE
   is via resolution of the Service SID over CAR Type-2 IP Prefix NLRI.
   Service Steering over BGP CAR SRv6 transport is described in
   Section 8.

   Service steering via BGP CAR is applicable to any BGP SAFI, including
   SAFIs for IPv4/IPv6 (SAFI 1), L3VPN (SAFI 128), PW, EVPN, FlowSpec,
   and BGP-LU.

4.  Intents

   The widely deployed color-aware path SR Policy solution demonstrates
   that the following intents can easily be associated with a color:

   1.  Minimization of a cost metric vs a latency metric

       *  Minimization of different metric types, static and dynamic

   2.  Exclusion/Inclusion of SRLG and/or Link Affinity and/or minimum
       MTU/number of hops

   3.  Bandwidth management

   4.  In the inter-domain context, exclusion/inclusion of entire
       domains, and border routers

   5.  Inclusion of one or several virtual network function chains

       *  Located in a regional domain and/or core domain, in a DC

   6.  Localization of the virtual network function chains

       *  Some functions may be desired in the regional DC or vice versa

   7.  Per-Destination and Per-Flow steering

   It is straightforward to note that the BGP CAR color-aware
   alternative supports intents 1, 2, 4 and 7.

   A separate document will analyze the BGP CAR supports for 3, 5 and 6.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 26]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

5.  Filtering

   PE and BRs may support filtering of CAR routes, for instance to only
   accept routes of locally configured colors.

   RTC [RFC4684] may also be applied to the CAR SAFI, where Route Target
   ECs [RFC4360] can be used to constrain distribution of CAR routes.
   RT assignment may be via user policy, for example an RT value can be
   assigned to all routes of a specific color.

5.1.  (E, C) Subscription and Filtering

   This section illustrate an (E, C) BGP subscription model that allows
   to filter the (E, C) routes learned by a BGP CAR node.

        E1-----------------A-------------------B-------------------E2
                                                <--- (E2, C1) ----
         -- F (E2, C1) -->   --- F (E2, C1) -->
                           |                   |
         <-- (E2, C1) ----   <--- (E2, C1) ----

   *  BGP CAR route (E2, C1) advertised by E2 is not unconditionally
      distributed beyond a certain point (e.g., B)

   *  E1 subscribes to (E2, C1) by advertising a filter route F (E2, C1)
      to its upstream peer A

   *  If A has (E2, C1) in its BGP RIB, it will advertise (E2, C1) to E1

   *  If A does not have (E2, C1), it will advertise F (E2, C1) to its
      peer B

   *  B will advertise (E2, C1) to A, which will distribute it to E1

   E1 may trigger a subscription for BGP CAR route (E2, C1) as a result
   of receiving a C1-colored service route V/v from E2, for on-demand
   steering via (E2, C1).

   On-demand filtering procedures are outside the scope of this
   document.

6.  Scaling

   This section analyses the key scale requirement of
   [I-D.hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-color], specifically:

   *  No intermediate node dataplane should need to scale to (Colors *
      PEs)

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 27]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  No node should learn and install a BGP CAR route to (E,C) if it
      does not install a Colored service route to E

   Two key principles used to address the scaling requirements are a
   hierarchical network and routing design, and on-demand route
   subscription and filtering.

   Figure 2 provides an ultra-scale reference topology.  Section 6.2
   presents three design models to deploy BGP CAR in the reference
   topology, including hierarchical options.  Section 6.3 analyses the
   scaling properties of each model.  Section 6.4 illustrates the
   scaling benefits of the (E, C) BGP subscription and filtering.

6.1.  Ultra-Scale Reference Topology

                                         RD:V/v via E2
          +-----+              +-----+ vpn label:30030 +-----+
  ....... |S-RR1| <........... |S-RR2| <...............|S-RR3| <......
  :       +-----+              +-----+  Color C1       +-----+       :
  :                                                                  :
  :                                                                  :
  :                                                                  :
 +:------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------:-+
 |:            |              |              |              |        : |
 |:            |              |              |              |        : |
 |:          +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+      : |
 |:          |121|          |231|          |341|          |451|      : |
 |:          +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+      : |
 |---+         |              |              |              |      +---|
 | E1|         |              |              |              |      | E2|
 |---+         |              |              |              |      +---|
 |           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
 |           |122|          |232|          |342|          |452|        |
 |           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
 |   Access    |   Metro      |   Core       |   Metro      | Access   |
 |   domain 1  |   domain 2   |   domain 3   |   domain 4   | domain 5 |
 +-------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
 iPE            iBRM          iBRC          eBRC          eBRM       ePE

                Figure 2: Ultra-Scale Reference Topology

   The following applies to the reference topology above:

   *  Independent ISIS/OSPF SR instance in each domain.

   *  Each domain has Flex Algo 128.  Prefix SID for a node is SRGB
      168000 plus node number.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 28]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  A BGP CAR route (E2, C1) is advertised by egress BRM node 451.The
      route is sourced locally from redistribution from IGP-FA 128.

   *  Not shown for simplicity, node 452 will also advertise (E2, C1).

   *  When a transport RR is used within the domain or across domains,
      ADD-PATH is enabled to advertise paths from both egress BRs to
      it's clients.

   *  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v with BGP Color extended
      community C1 that propagates via service RRs to ingress PE E1.

   *  E1 steers V/v prefix via color-aware path (E2,C1) and VPN label
      30030

6.2.  Deployment model

6.2.1.  Flat

                                         RD:V/v via E2
          +-----+              +-----+ vpn label:30030 +-----+
  ....... |S-RR1| <........... |S-RR2| <...............|S-RR3| <......
  :       +-----+              +-----+  Color C1       +-----+       :
  :                                                                  :
  :                                                                  :
  :                                                                  :
 +:------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------:-+
 |:            |              |              |              |        : |
 |:            |   (E2,C1)    |   (E2,C1)    |   (E2,C1)    |        : |
 |:          +---+ via 231  +---+ via 341  +---+ via 451  +---+      : |
 |:(E2,C1)   |121|<---------|231|<---------|341|<---------|451|      : |
 |: via 121 /+---+ L=168002 +---+ L=168002 +---+ L=168002 +---+      : |
 |---+     /   |              |              |              |      +---|
 | E1| <--/    |              |              |              |      | E2|
 |---+ L=168002|              |              |              |      +---|
 |           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
 |           |122|          |232|          |342|          |452|        |
 |           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
 |   Access    |   Metro      |   Core       |   Metro      | Access   |
 |   domain 1  |   domain 2   |   domain 3   |   domain 4   | domain 5 |
 +-------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
 iPE            iBRM          iBRC          eBRC          eBRM       ePE

 168121      168231        168341        168451
 168002      168002        168002        168002         168002
  30030       30030         30030         30030          30030     30030

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 29]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                                Figure 3

   1.  Node 451 advertises BGP CAR route (E2, C1) to 341, from which it
       goes to 231 then to 121 and finally to E1

   2.  Each BGP hop allocates local label and programs swap entry in
       forwarding for (E2, C1)

   3.  E1 receives BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 121 with label 168002

       1.  Let's assume E1 selects that path

   4.  E1 resolves BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 121 on color-aware path
       (121, C1)

       1.  Color-aware path (121, C1) is FA128 path to 121 (label
           168121)

   5.  E1's imposition color-aware label-stack for V/v is thus

       1.  30030 <=> V/v

       2.  168002 <=> (E2, C1)

       3.  168121 <=> (121, C1)

   6.  Each BGP hop performs swap operation on 168002 bound to color-
       aware path (E2,C1)

6.2.2.  Hierarchical Design with next-hop-self at ingress domain BR

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 30]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                               (E2,C1)
                      +-----+  via 451        +-----+
                      |T-RR1| <-------------- |T-RR2|
                    / +-----+  L=168002       +-----+\
                   /                                   \
+-------------+---/----------+--------------+-----------\--+----------+
|             |  /           |              |            \ |          |
|  (E2,C1)    | / (451,C1)   |   (451,C1)   |             \|          |
|  via 121  +---+ via 231  +---+ via 341  +---+          +---+        |
|  L=168002 |121| <======= |231| <========|341| <======= |451|        |
|         / +---+ L=168451 +---+ L=168451 +---+          +---+        |
|---+    /    |              |              |              |      +---|
| E1|<--/     |              |              |              |      | E2|
|---+         |              |              |              |      +---|
|           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
|           |122|          |232|          |342|          |452|        |
|           +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
|   Access    |   Metro      |   Core       |   Metro      | Access   |
|   domain 1  |   domain 2   |   domain 3   |   domain 4   | domain 5 |
+-------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
iPE            iBRM            iBRC          eBRC          eBRM      ePE

            168231        168341
168121      168451        168451        168451
168002      168002        168002        168002         168002
 30030       30030         30030         30030          30030     30030

         Figure 4: Heirarchical BGP transport CAR, NHS at iBR

   1.   Node 451 advertises BGP CAR route (451, C1) to 341, from which
        it goes to 231 and finally to 121

   2.   Each BGP hop allocates local label and programs swap entry in
        forwarding for (451, C1)

   3.   121 resolves received BGP CAR route (451, C1) via 231 (label
        168451) on color-aware path (231, C1)

        1.  Color-aware path (231, C1) is FA128 path to 231 (label
            168231)

   4.   451 advertises BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 451 to Transport RR
        T-RR2, which reflects it to T-RR1, which reflects it to 121

   5.   121 receives BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 451 with label 168002

        1.  Let's assume 121 selects that path

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 31]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   6.   121 resolves BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 451 on color-aware path
        (451, C1)

        1.  Color-aware path (451, C1) is BGP CAR path to 451 (label
            168451)

   7.   121 imposition of color-aware label stack for (E2, C1) is thus

        1.  168002 <=> (E2, C1)

        2.  168451 <=> (451, C1)

        3.  168231 <=> (231, C1)

   8.   121 advertises (E2, C1) to E1 with next hop self (121) and label
        168002

   9.   E1 constructs same imposition color-aware label-stack for V/v
        via (E2, C1) as in the flat model:

        1.  30030 <=> V/v

        2.  168002 <=> (E2, C1)

        3.  168121 <=> (121, C1)

   10.  121 performs swap operation on 168002 with hierarchical color-
        aware label stack for (E2, C1) via 451 from step 7

   11.  Nodes 231 and 341 perform swap operation on 168451 bound to
        color-aware path (451, C1)

   12.  451 performs swap operation on 168002 bound to color-aware path
        (E2, C1)

   Note: E1 does not need the BGP CAR (451, C1) route

6.2.3.  Hierarchical Design with Next Hop Unchanged at ingress domain BR

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 32]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                               (E2,C1)
                      +-----+  via 451        +-----+
                      |T-RR1| <-------------- |T-RR2|
                    / +-----+  L=168002       +-----+\
                   /                                   \
+-------------+---/----------+--------------+-----------\--+----------+
|             |  /           |              |            \ |          |
|  (E2,C1)    | / (451,C1)   |   (451,C1)   |             \|          |
|  via 451  +---+ via 231  +---+ via 341  +---+          +---+        |
|  L=168002/|121| <======= |231| <========|341| <======= |451|        |
|         / +---+ L=168451 +---+ L=168451 +---+          +---+        |
|---+ <--/  //|              |              |              |      +---|
| E1|      // |              |              |              |      | E2|
|---+ <===//  |              |              |              |      +---|
|  (451,C1) +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
|  via 121  |122|          |232|          |342|          |452|        |
|  L=168451 +---+          +---+          +---+          +---+        |
|             |              |              |              |          |
|   Access    |   Metro      |   Core       |   Metro      | Access   |
|   domain 1  |   domain 2   |   domain 3   |   domain 4   | domain 5 |
+-------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
iPE            iBRM            iBRC          eBRC          eBRM      ePE

168121      168231        168341
168451      168451        168451        168451
168002      168002        168002        168002         168002
 30030       30030         30030         30030          30030     30030

         Figure 5: Heirarchical BGP transport CAR, NHU at iBR

   1.   Nodes 341, 231 and 121 receive and resolve BGP CAR route (451,
        C1) the same as in the previous model

   2.   Node 121 allocates local label and programs swap entry in
        forwarding for (451, C1)

   3.   451 advertises BGP CAR route (E2, C1) to Transport RR T-RR2,
        which reflects it to T-RR1, which reflects it to 121

   4.   Node 121 advertises (E2, C1) to E1 with next hop as 451 i.e.
        next-hop unchanged

   5.   121 also advertises (451, C1) to E1 with next hop self (121) and
        label 168451

   6.   E1 resolves BGP CAR route (451, C1) via 121 on color-aware path
        (121, C1)

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 33]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

        1.  Color-aware path (121, C1) is FA128 path to 121 (label
            168121)

   7.   E1 receives BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 451 with label 168002

        1.  Let's assume E1 selects that path

   8.   E1 resolves BGP CAR route (E2, C1) via 451 on color-aware path
        (451, C1)

        1.  Color-aware path (451, C1) is BGP CAR path to 451 (label
            168451)

   9.   E1's imposition color-aware label-stack for V/v is thus

        1.  30030 <=> V/v

        2.  168002 <=> (E2, C1)

        3.  168451 <=> (451, C1)

        4.  168121 <=> (121, C1)

   10.  Nodes 121, 231 and 341 perform swap operation on 168451 bound to
        (451, C1)

   11.  451 performs swap operation on 168002 bound to color-aware path
        (E2, C1)

6.3.  Scale Analysis

   The following two tables summarize the control-plane and dataplane
   scale of these three models:

       |        E1           |       121           |       231
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  FLAT | (E2,C) via (121,C)  | (E2,C) via (231,C)  | (E2,C) via (341,C)
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  H.NHS| (E2,C) via (121,C)  | (E2,C) via (451,C)  |
       |                     | (451,C) via (231,C) | (451,C) via (341,C)
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  H.NHU| (E2,C) via (451,C)  |                     |
       | (451,C) via (121,C) | (451,C) via (231,C) | (451,C) via (341,C)
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 34]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

       |        E1           |       121           |       231
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  FLAT | V ->   30030        | 168002 -> 168002    | 168002 -> 168002
       |        168002       |           168231    |           168341
       |        168121       |                     |
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  H.NHS| V ->   30030        | 168002 -> 168002    | 168451 -> 168451
       |        168002       |           168451    |           168341
       |        168121       |           168231    |
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------
  H.NHU| V ->   30030        | 168451 -> 168451    | 168451 -> 168451
       |        168002       |           168231    |           168341
       |        168451       |                     |
       |        168121       |                     |
  -----+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------

   *  The flat model is the simplest design, with a single BGP transport
      level.  It results in the minimum label/SID stack at each BGP hop.
      However, it significantly increases the scale impact on the core
      BRs (e.g. 341), whose FIB capacity and even MPLS label space may
      be exceeded.

      -  341's dataplane scales with (E2,C) where there may be 300k E's
         and 5 C's hence 1.5M entries > 1M MPLS dataplane

   *  The hierarchical models avoid the need for core BRs to learn
      routes and install label forwarding entries for (E, C) routes.

      -  Whether NH self or unchanged at 121, 341's dataplane scales
         with (451,C) where there may be thousands of 451's and 5 C's
         hence well under the 1M MPLS dataplane

      -  They also aid faster convergence by allowing the PE routes to
         be distributed via out-of-band RRs that can be scaled
         independent of the transport BRs.

   *  The next-hop-self option at ingress BRM (e.g. 121) hides the
      hierarchical design from the ingress PE, keeping its outgoing
      label programming as simple as the flat model.  However, the
      ingress BRM requires an additional BGP transport level recursion,
      which coupled with load-balancing adds dataplane complexity.  It
      needs to support a swap and push operation.  It also needs to
      install label forwarding entries for the egress PEs that are of
      interest to its local ingress PEs.

   *  With the next-hop-unchanged option at ingress BRM (e.g. 121), only
      an ingress PE needs to learn and install output label entries for
      egress (E, C) routes.  The ingress BRM only installs label

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 35]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      forwarding entries for the egress ABR (e.g. 451).  However, the
      ingress PE needs an additional BGP transport level recursion and
      pushes a BGP VPN label and two BGP transport labels.  It may also
      need to handle load-balancing for the egress ABRs.  This is the
      most complex dataplane option for the ingress PE.

6.4.  Scaling Benefits of the (E, C) BGP Subscription and Filtering

   The (E, C) subscription scheme from Section 5.1 provides the
   following scaling benefits for the models in Section 6.2

   *  An ingress PE (E1) only learns (E, C) routes that it needs to
      install into data plane for service route automated steering

   *  An ingress BRM (121) only learns (E, C) routes that it needs to
      install into data plane (for Next-Hop-Self), or that it needs to
      distribute towards it's ingress PEs (inline RR with Next-Hop-
      Unchanged)

   *  An ingress BRM or a transport RR only needs to distribute the
      necessary subset of (E, C) routes to each client (subscriber);
      this minimizes their processing load for generating updates

   *  As a result, withdrawal of (E, C) routes when a remote node fails
      (E2), may also be faster, aiding better convergence

6.5.  Anycast SID

   This section describes how Anycast SID complements and improves the
   scaling designs above.

6.5.1.  Anycast SID for transit inter-domain nodes

   *  Redundant BRs (e.g. two egress BRMs, 451 and 452) advertise BGP
      CAR routes for a local PE (e.g., E2) with the same SID (based on
      label-index).  Such egress BRMs may be assigned a common Anycast
      SID, so that the BGP next-hops for these routes will also resolve
      via a color-aware path to the Anycast SID.

   *  The use of Anycast SID naturally provides fast local convergence
      upon failure of an egress BRM node.  In addition, it decreases the
      recursive resolution and load-balancing complexity at an ingress
      BRM or PE in the hierarchical designs above.

6.5.2.  Anycast SID for transport color endpoints (e.g., PEs)

   The common Anycast SID technique may also be used for a redundant
   pair of PEs that share an identical set of service (VPN) attachments.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 36]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  For example, assume a node E2' paired with E2 above.  Both PEs
      should be configured with the same static label/SID for the
      services (e.g., per-VRF VPN label/SID), and will advertise
      associated service routes with the Anycast IP as BGP next-hop.

   *  This design provides a convergence and recursive resolution
      benefit on an ingress PE or ABR similar to the egress ABR case in
      the previous section.  But its applicability is limited to cases
      where the constraints above can be met.

7.  Routing Convergence

   BGP CAR leverages existing well-known design techniques to provide
   fast convergence.

   Section 2.7 describes how BGP CAR provides localized convergence
   within a domain for BR failures, including originating BRs, without
   propagating failure churn into other domains.

   Anycast SID techniques described in Section 6.5 can provide further
   convergence optimizations for BR and PE failures deployed in
   redundant designs.

8.  CAR SRv6

8.1.  Overview

   Two distinct cases apply to steering services over SRv6 based intent-
   aware multi-domain transport paths, as described in Section 5 of
   [RFC9252].

8.1.1.  Routed Service SID

   The SRv6 Service SID that is advertised with a service route is
   allocated by an egress PE from a routed intent-aware locator prefix
   (Section 3.3 of [RFC8986]).  Service steering at an ingress PE is via
   resolution of the Service SID signaled with the service route
   ([RFC9252]).

   The intent-aware transport path to the locator of the egress PE is
   provided by underlay IP routing, for instance, IGP-FlexAlgo [RFC9350]
   within a domain, and BGP-CAR across multiple IGP domains or ASNs.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 37]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   An SRv6 locator is assigned for a given intent or color.  This
   locator prefix is distributed using BGP-CAR to ingress PEs in a
   remote domain.  The locator prefix may also be summarized on a border
   node along the path and a summary route distributed to ingress PEs.
   An IP Prefix CAR route (Type-2) is defined for this purpose described
   in Section 2.9.3.

   The SRv6 locator may be shared with an IGP FlexAlgo, or may be
   assigned specific to BGP for a given intent.  A BGP CAR advertised
   SRv6 locator prefix may also be used for resolution of the SRv6
   service SID advertised for best effort connectivity.

   Appendix C.1 and Appendix C.2 illustrates the control and forwarding
   behaviors for this case.

   Section 8.2 describes the deployment options.

   Section 8.3 describes operational considerations related to BGP CAR
   vs BGP IPv6 SAFI for inter-domain route distribution.

8.1.2.  Non-routed Service SID

   The SRv6 Service SID allocated by an egress PE is not routed.  The
   service route is advertised by the egress PE with a Color Ext-Comm C
   ([RFC9252] section 5).

   The intent-aware path within an egress domain is provided by an SR-TE
   or similar policy to the egress PE (E, C) [RFC9256].  This (E, C)
   policy is distributed into the multi-domain network from egress BRs
   using a BGP-CAR Type-1 route, towards ingress PEs in other domains.
   This signaling is the same as for SR-MPLS, as described in earlier
   sections.

   The (E, C) BGP CAR type-1 route is advertised from a BR with an SRv6
   transport SID allocated from a locator assigned for the intent C.  An
   SR-PCE or local configuration may ensure multiple BRs in the egress
   domain that originate the (E, C) route advertise the same SRv6
   transport SID.

   An ingress PE in a remote domain steers a received service route with
   Color C via this (E, C) BGP CAR route, as described in Section 3.

   Additionally, the ingress PE resolves the transport SID received in
   the (E, C) CAR route via another underlay intent-aware route.  BGP-
   CAR also provides this underlay intent-aware inter-domain
   reachability to this transport SID.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 38]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  BRs in the egress domain advertise an IP Prefix Type-2 CAR route
      for the locator prefix that covers the transport SID allocated by
      the egress BR for this (E, C) route.  This IP Prefix CAR route is
      distributed across BGP hops in the underlay towards the ingress PE
      similar to previous case and may be summarized.

   *  Thus, the service route's service SID resolves via the Type-1
      route, which in turn carries a transport SID that resolves via the
      Type-2 route.  Multiple Type-1 routes may resolve via a single
      Type-2 route.

   Note: This is the typical resolution order as the Type-2 route
   provides intent-aware reachability to the BRs that advertise the
   Type-1 specific routes for each egress PE.  However, there can be
   use-cases where a Type-2 route may resolve via a Type-1 route.

   An ingress PE via this resolution builds the packet encapsulation
   that contains the Service SID and the received (E, C) route's
   transport SID in the SID-list.

   Section Appendix C.3 contains an example that illustrates the control
   plane distribution, recursive resolution and forwarding behaviors
   described above.

   Note: An SR-policy may also be defined for multi-domain end to end
   [RFC9256], independent of BGP CAR.  In that case, both BGP CAR and
   SR-TE inter-domain paths may be available at an ingress PE for an (E,
   C) route (Section 1.2).

8.2.  Deployment Options For CAR SRv6 Locator Reachability Distribution
      and Forwarding

   Since an SRv6 locator (or summary) is an IPv6 prefix, it will be
   installed into the IPv6 forwarding table on a BGP router, such as an
   ABR or ASBR for forwarding.  A few options to forward packets for BGP
   SRv6 prefixes ([I-D.agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking] apply to
   BGP CAR as follows.

8.2.1.  Hop by hop IPv6 forwarding for BGP SRv6 prefixes

   *  Hop by hop IPv6 lookup and forwarding on both BRs and P nodes in a
      domain

      -  No tunnel encapsulation between BRs in a domain

      -  No per-PE SID allocation and installation on any BGP hop

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 39]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  P nodes need to learn BGP SRv6 routes.  With summarization, route
      scale requirements can be minimized.

   *  BGP routing is enabled on all internal nodes (iBGP)

   *  BRs distribute external SRv6 routes to internal peers

      -  Next-hop unchanged with recursive resolution via IGP at each
         hop.

   *  Similar to Internet / BGP IP routing well-known model

      -  Can support large scale route distribution

   Illustration in Appendix C.1

8.2.2.  Encapsulation between BRs for BGP SRv6 prefixes

   *  IPv6 lookup and forwarding for BGP SRv6 prefixes only on BGP BRs

      -  P nodes do not learn or install these prefixes

   *  SRv6 (or other) encapsulation to reach the BGP SRv6 next-hop

      -  Not needed for connected next-hops, such as eBGP single-hop

   *  SRv6 outer encapsulation may be H.Encaps.Red or H.Insert.Red

   *  BGP route distribution between BRs (via RRs, or directly if
      single-hop eBGP)

   *  An egress BR sets itself as BGP NH, selects and advertises an
      appropriate SID for SRv6 based encapsulation towards itself

      -  BGP NH and SID for specific intent within domain

   *  An ingress BR encapsulates SRv6 egress PE destined packets with
      encapsulation to BGP NH, ie.  Egress BR

   *  If SRv6 encapsulation, then SID from egress BR is common SID,
      shared by multiple BGP SRv6 prefixes

      -  No per-PE SID allocation and installation on any BGP hop

   *  If MPLS/SR-MPLS transport, route will carry label/prefix-SID
      allocated by NH, may be shared

   Illustration in Appendix C.2

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 40]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

8.3.  Operational Benefits Of Using CAR SAFI For SRv6 Locator Prefix
      Distribution

   When reachability to an SRv6 SID is provided by distribution of a
   locator prefix via underlay routing, BGP IPv6 SAFI (AFI/SAFI=2/1) may
   also be used for inter-domain distribution of these IPv6 prefixes as
   described in [I-D.agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking]
   (Section 7.1.2).

   Using the BGP CAR SAFI provides significant operational advantages:

   *  CAR SAFI is a separate BGP SAFI used for underlay transport
      intent-aware routing.  It avoids overloading of BGP IPv6 SAFI,
      which also carries Internet (service) prefixes.  Using CAR SAFI
      provides:

      -  Automatic separation of SRv6 locator (transport) routes from
         Internet (service) routes,

         o  Preventing inadvertent leaking of routes

         o  Avoiding need to configure specific route filters for
            locator routes

      -  Priority handling of infrastructure prefixes over Internet
         prefixes

   *  CAR SAFI also supports inter-domain distribution of (E, C) routes
      sourced from SR-Policy, in addition to SRv6 locator IPv6 prefixes.

   CAR SAFI may also be used for best-effort routes in addition to
   intent-aware routes.

9.  CAR IP Prefix Route

   An IP prefix CAR route is a route type that carries a routable IP
   prefix.  It may be originated into BGP CAR SAFI either from an egress
   PE or from a BR in a domain.

   As described in Section 2.1, it is used for cases where a unique
   routable IP prefix is assigned for a given intent or color.

   A few applicable example use-cases:

   *  SRv6 locator prefix with LCM-EC for specific intents

   *  SRv6 locator prefix without LCM-EC for best effort

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 41]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  Best effort transport reachability to a PE/BR without LCM-EC

   By default, next-hop resolution over CAR SAFI transport path is
   preferred over BGP IPv6 or BGP-LU SAFI path.

   As described in Section 2.1, color may be signaled with the CAR route
   for purposes such as intent-aware SRv6 SID or BGP next-hop selection
   at each transit BR, color based routing policies and filtering, and
   intent-aware next-hop resolution.  Color associated with the IP
   prefix route may be signaled using LCM-EC.

   Reminder: LCM-EC conveys intent/color associated with route.  When
   traversing a network domain where a different color is used for next-
   hop resolution, BGP Color EC may additionally be used as in
   Section 2.10

   A BGP transport CAR speaker that supports packet forwarding lookup
   based on IPv6 prefix route (such as a BR) will set itself as next-hop
   while advertising the route to peers.  It will also install the IPv6
   route into forwarding with the received next-hop and/or
   encapsulation.  If such a transit router does not support this route
   type, it will not install this route and will not set itself as next-
   hop, hence will not propagate the route any further.

10.  VPN CAR

   This section illustrates the extension of BGP CAR to address the VPN
   CAR requirement stated in Section 6.1.2 of
   [I-D.hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-color], using MPLS transport
   as an example.

  CE1 -------------- PE1 -------------------- PE2 -------------- CE2 - V

   *  BGP CAR is enabled between CE1-PE1 and PE2-CE2

   *  BGP VPN CAR is enabled between PE1 and PE2

   *  Provider publishes intent 'low-delay' is mapped to color CP on its
      inbound peering links

   *  Within its infrastructure, Provider maps intent 'low-delay' to
      color CPT

   *  On CE1 and CE2, intent 'low-delay' is mapped to CC

   (V, CC) is a Color-Aware route originated by CE2

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 42]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   1.   CE2 sends to PE2     : [(V, CC), Label L1]  via CE2        with LCM (CP)
   2.   PE2 installs in VRF A: [(V, CC), L1]        via CE2        which resolves on (CE2, CP)
                                                                   / connected OIF
   2.a. PE2 allocates VPN Label L2 and programs swap entry for (V, CC)
   3.   PE2 sends to PE1     : [(RD, V, CC), L2]    via PE2        with regular Color Extended
                                                                   Community (CPT)
   4.   PE1 installs in VRF A: [(V, CC), L2]        via (PE2, CPT) steered on (PE2, CPT)
   4.a. PE1 allocates Label L3 and programs swap entry for (V, CC)
   5.   PE1 sends to CE1     : [(V, CC), L3]        via PE1        without any LCM
   6.   CE1 installs         : [(V, CC), L3]        via PE1        which resolves on (PE1, CC)
                                                                   / connected OIF
   6.a. Label L3 is installed as the imposition label for (V, CC)

   VPN CAR distribution for (RD, V, CC) requires a new SAFI that follows
   same VPN semantics as defined in [RFC4364], the difference being that
   the advertised routes carry CAR NLRI defined in Section 2.9.2 and
   Section 2.9.3 of this document.  Procedures defined in [RFC4364] and
   [RFC4659]apply to VPN CAR SAFI.

   Further, all CAR SAFI procedures described in Section 2 above apply
   to CAR SAFI enabled within a VRF.  VPN CAR SAFI routes follow color
   based steering as described in Section 3 and illustrated in example
   above.

   CAR routes distributed in VPN CAR SAFI are infrastructure routes
   advertised by CEs in different customer VRFs on a PE.  The VPN RD
   distinguishes CAR routes of different customers being advertised by
   the PE.

10.1.  VPN CAR Type-1 NLRI

   VPN CAR NLRI with RD has the format shown below

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 43]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  NLRI Length  |  Key Length   |   NLRI Type   |Prefix Length  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Route Distinguisher                             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Route Distinguisher                             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               IP Prefix (variable)                           //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Color (4 octets)                                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Followed by optional TLVs encoded as below:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|  Type     |    Length     |    Value (variable)          //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  All fields are encoded as per Section 2.9.2.

   *  Key Length: It indicates the total length comprised of the RD,
      Prefix Length field, IP Prefix field, and the Color field

   *  Route Distinguisher: 8 octet field encoded according to [RFC4364]

10.2.  VPN CAR IP Prefix NLRI Type

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 44]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

    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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  NLRI Length  |  Key Length   |   NLRI Type   |Prefix Length  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Route Distinguisher                             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Route Distinguisher                             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               IP Prefix (variable)                           //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Followed by optional TLVs encoded as below:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |R|T|   Type    |    Length     |    Value (variable)          //
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   where:

   *  All fields are encoded as per Section 2.9.3.

   *  Key Length: It indicates the total length comprised of the RD,
      Prefix Length field and IP Prefix field

   *  Route Distinguisher: 8 octet field encoded according to [RFC4364]

11.  IANA Considerations

   IANA has assigned SAFI value 83 (BGP CAR) and SAFI value 84 (BGP VPN
   CAR) from the "SAFI Values" sub-registry under the "Subsequent
   Address Family Identifiers (SAFI) Parameters" registry with this
   document as a reference.

11.1.  BGP CAR NLRI Types Registry

   IANA is requested to create a "BGP CAR NLRI Types" sub-registry under
   the "Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Parameters" registry with this
   document as a reference.  The registry is for assignment of the one
   octet sized code-points for BGP CAR NLRI types and populated with the
   values shown below:

         Type      NLRI Type                  Reference
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
          0        Reserved (not to be used)  [This document]
          1        Color-Aware Route NLRI [This document]
          2        IP Prefix NLRI [This document]
         3-255     Unassigned

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 45]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Allocations within the registry are to be made under the
   "Specification Required" policy as specified in [RFC8126]).

11.2.  BGP CAR NLRI TLV Registry

   IANA is requested to create a "BGP CAR NLRI TLV Types" sub-registry
   under the "Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Parameters" registry with
   this document as a reference.  The registry is for assignment of the
   one octet sized code-points for BGP-CAR NLRI non-key TLV types and
   populated with the values shown below:

         Type      NLRI Type                  Reference
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
          0        Reserved (not to be used)  [This document]
          1        Label TLV                  [This document]
          2        Label Index TLV            [This document]
          3        SRv6 SID TLV               [This document]
         4-64      Unassigned

   Allocations within the registry are to be made under the
   "Specification Required" policy as specified in [RFC8126]).

11.3.  Guidance for Designated Experts

   In all cases of review by the Designated Expert (DE) described here,
   the DE is expected to ascertain the existence of suitable
   documentation (a specification) as described in [RFC8126].  The DE is
   also expected to check the clarity of purpose and use of the
   requested code points.  Additionally, the DE must verify that any
   request for one of these code points has been made available for
   review and comment within the IETF: the DE will post the request to
   the IDR Working Group mailing list (or a successor mailing list
   designated by the IESG).  If the request comes from within the IETF,
   it should be documented in an Internet-Draft.  Lastly, the DE must
   ensure that any other request for a code point does not conflict with
   work that is active or already published within the IETF.

11.4.  BGP Extended Community Registry

   IANA has assigned the sub-type 0x1b for "Local Color Mapping (LCM)"
   under the "BGP Transitive Opaque Extended Community" registry under
   the "BGP Extended Community" parameter registry.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 46]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

12.  Manageability Considerations

   Color assignments in a multi-domain network operating under a common
   or cooperating administrative control (i.e., color domain) should be
   managed similar to transport layer IP addresses, and ensure a unique
   and non-conflicting color allocation across the different network
   domains in that color domain.

   When color-aware routes propagate across a color domain boundary,
   there is typically no need for coordinating color assignments, since
   the IP prefix is unique, and hence makes the color scope also unique
   and non-conflicting.  The color only needs to be re-mapped into a
   local color assigned for the same intent (which is carried in the
   LCM-EC).

   However, if networks under different administrative control establish
   a shared transport service between them, where the same transport IP
   address is co-ordinated and shared across the two networks, then the
   color assignments associated with that IP address should also be co-
   ordinated to avoid any conflicts in either network.

   It should be noted that the color assignments coordination are only
   necessary for routes to the shared service IP.  Colors used for
   intra-domain or for inter-domain intents associated with the unique
   IP addresses do not need any coordination.

   Extended communities (LCM-EC/Color-EC) carried in BGP CAR and Service
   routes must not be filtered, otherwise the desired intent will not be
   achieved.

13.  Security Considerations

   This extension defines a new SAFI within BGP and therefore does not
   change the underlying security issues inherent in the existing BGP
   protocol, such as those described in [RFC4271] and [RFC4272].

   The extensions defined in this document allows BGP to carry color
   aware routes and their associated attributes within a separate BGP
   SAFI which is expected to be configured manually by an operator.  As
   part of configuring a new SAFI, it is implied that the necessary
   policy filtering is configured on this SAFI to filter routing
   information by the routers participating in this network.  Also,
   given that this SAFI and these mechanisms can only be enabled through
   configuration of routers within a single network, standard security
   measures should be taken to restrict access to the management
   interface(s) of routers that implement these mechanisms.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 47]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Additionally, BGP sessions SHOULD be protected using TCP
   Authentication Option [RFC5925] and the Generalized TTL Security
   Mechanism [RFC5082].  To mitigate any risk of manipulating the
   routing information carried within a new SAFI, BGP origin validation
   [RFC6811] and BGPsec [RFC8205] could be used as means to increase
   assurance that the information has not been falsified.

   Since CAR SAFI is a separate BGP SAFI that carries transport or
   infrastructure routes for routers in the operator network, it
   provides automatic separation between infrastructure routes and
   service routes that are carried in existing BGP SAFIs such as BGP
   IPv4/IPv6 (SAFI=1), and BGP-LU (SAFI=4).  It thus provides better
   security than would be obtained by distributing the infrastructure
   routes in existing SAFIs.

   BGP CAR distributes label binding similar to [RFC8277] and hence its
   security considerations apply.  Similarly, BGP CAR distributes
   infrastructure IPv6 prefixes and SRv6 SID for SRv6 based CAR and
   hence security considerations of section 9.3 of [RFC9252] apply.

   As [RFC4272] discusses, BGP is vulnerable to traffic-diversion
   attacks.  This SAFI routes adds a new means by which an attacker
   could cause the traffic to be diverted from its normal path.
   Potential consequences include "hijacking" of traffic (insertion of
   an undesired node in the path, which allows for inspection or
   modification of traffic, or avoidance of security controls) or denial
   of service (directing traffic to a node that doesn't desire to
   receive it).

   In order to mitigate the risk of the diversion of traffic from its
   intended destination, existing BGPsec solution could be extended and
   supported for this SAFI.  The restriction of the applicability of
   this SAFI to its intended well-defined scope limits the likelihood of
   traffic diversions.  Furthermore, as long as the filtering and
   appropriate configuration mechanisms discussed above are applied
   diligently, risk of the diversion of the traffic is eliminated.

14.  Co-authors

   Clarence Filsfils
   Cisco Systems
   Belgium
   Email: cfilsfil@cisco.com

   Bruno Decraene
   Orange
   France
   Email: bruno.decraene@orange.com

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 48]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Luay Jalil
   Verizon
   USA
   Email: luay.jalil@verizon.com

   Yuanchao Su
   Alibaba, Inc
   Email: yitai.syc@alibaba-inc.com

   Jim Uttaro
   ATT
   USA
   Email: ju1738@att.com

   Jim Guichard
   Futurewei
   USA
   Email: james.n.guichard@futurewei.com

   Ketan Talaulikar
   Arrcus, Inc
   India
   Email: ketant.ietf@gmail.com

   Keyur Patel
   Arrcus, Inc
   USA
   Email: keyur@arrcus.com

   Haibo Wang
   Huawei Technologies
   China
   Email: rainsword.wang@huawei.com

   Jie Dong
   Huawei Technologies
   China
   Email: jie.dong@huawei.com

15.  Contributors

   Dirk Steinberg
   Lapishills Consulting Limited
   Germany
   Email: dirk@lapishills.com

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 49]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   Israel Means
   AT&T
   USA
   Email: im8327@att.com

   Reza Rokui
   Ciena
   USA
   Email: rrokui@ciena.com

16.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to acknowledge the review and inputs from many
   people.TBD

17.  References

17.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC4360]  Sangli, S., Tappan, D., and Y. Rekhter, "BGP Extended
              Communities Attribute", RFC 4360, DOI 10.17487/RFC4360,
              February 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4360>.

   [RFC4684]  Marques, P., Bonica, R., Fang, L., Martini, L., Raszuk,
              R., Patel, K., and J. Guichard, "Constrained Route
              Distribution for Border Gateway Protocol/MultiProtocol
              Label Switching (BGP/MPLS) Internet Protocol (IP) Virtual
              Private Networks (VPNs)", RFC 4684, DOI 10.17487/RFC4684,
              November 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4684>.

   [RFC4760]  Bates, T., Chandra, R., Katz, D., and Y. Rekhter,
              "Multiprotocol Extensions for BGP-4", RFC 4760,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4760, January 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4760>.

   [RFC5701]  Rekhter, Y., "IPv6 Address Specific BGP Extended Community
              Attribute", RFC 5701, DOI 10.17487/RFC5701, November 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5701>.

   [RFC7311]  Mohapatra, P., Fernando, R., Rosen, E., and J. Uttaro,
              "The Accumulated IGP Metric Attribute for BGP", RFC 7311,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7311, August 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7311>.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 50]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   [RFC7606]  Chen, E., Ed., Scudder, J., Ed., Mohapatra, P., and K.
              Patel, "Revised Error Handling for BGP UPDATE Messages",
              RFC 7606, DOI 10.17487/RFC7606, August 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7606>.

   [RFC8126]  Cotton, M., Leiba, B., and T. Narten, "Guidelines for
              Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26,
              RFC 8126, DOI 10.17487/RFC8126, June 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8126>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8277]  Rosen, E., "Using BGP to Bind MPLS Labels to Address
              Prefixes", RFC 8277, DOI 10.17487/RFC8277, October 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8277>.

   [RFC8402]  Filsfils, C., Ed., Previdi, S., Ed., Ginsberg, L.,
              Decraene, B., Litkowski, S., and R. Shakir, "Segment
              Routing Architecture", RFC 8402, DOI 10.17487/RFC8402,
              July 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8402>.

   [RFC8669]  Previdi, S., Filsfils, C., Lindem, A., Ed., Sreekantiah,
              A., and H. Gredler, "Segment Routing Prefix Segment
              Identifier Extensions for BGP", RFC 8669,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8669, December 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8669>.

   [RFC8986]  Filsfils, C., Ed., Camarillo, P., Ed., Leddy, J., Voyer,
              D., Matsushima, S., and Z. Li, "Segment Routing over IPv6
              (SRv6) Network Programming", RFC 8986,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8986, February 2021,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8986>.

   [RFC9012]  Patel, K., Van de Velde, G., Sangli, S., and J. Scudder,
              "The BGP Tunnel Encapsulation Attribute", RFC 9012,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9012, April 2021,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9012>.

   [RFC9252]  Dawra, G., Ed., Talaulikar, K., Ed., Raszuk, R., Decraene,
              B., Zhuang, S., and J. Rabadan, "BGP Overlay Services
              Based on Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6)", RFC 9252,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9252, July 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9252>.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 51]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   [RFC9256]  Filsfils, C., Talaulikar, K., Ed., Voyer, D., Bogdanov,
              A., and P. Mattes, "Segment Routing Policy Architecture",
              RFC 9256, DOI 10.17487/RFC9256, July 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9256>.

   [RFC9350]  Psenak, P., Ed., Hegde, S., Filsfils, C., Talaulikar, K.,
              and A. Gulko, "IGP Flexible Algorithm", RFC 9350,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9350, February 2023,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9350>.

17.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking]
              Agrawal, S., Ali, Z., Filsfils, C., Voyer, D., Dawra, G.,
              Li, Z., Hegde, S., and S. R. Sangli, "SRv6 and MPLS
              interworking", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
              agrawal-spring-srv6-mpls-interworking-12, 10 July 2023,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-agrawal-
              spring-srv6-mpls-interworking-12>.

   [I-D.hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-color]
              Hegde, S., Rao, D., Sangli, S. R., Agrawal, S., Filsfils,
              C., Talaulikar, K., Patel, K., Uttaro, J., Decraene, B.,
              Bogdanov, A., Jalil, L., Xu, X., Gulko, A., Khaddam, M.,
              Contreras, L. M., Steinberg, D., Guichard, J., Henderickx,
              W., and Co-authors, "Problem statement for Inter-domain
              Intent-aware Routing using Color", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-hr-spring-intentaware-routing-using-
              color-02, 10 July 2023,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-hr-spring-
              intentaware-routing-using-color-02>.

   [I-D.ietf-mpls-seamless-mpls]
              Leymann, N., Decraene, B., Filsfils, C., Konstantynowicz,
              M., and D. Steinberg, "Seamless MPLS Architecture", Work
              in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-mpls-seamless-
              mpls-07, 28 June 2014,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-mpls-
              seamless-mpls-07>.

   [RFC3906]  Shen, N. and H. Smit, "Calculating Interior Gateway
              Protocol (IGP) Routes Over Traffic Engineering Tunnels",
              RFC 3906, DOI 10.17487/RFC3906, October 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3906>.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 52]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
              Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4271>.

   [RFC4272]  Murphy, S., "BGP Security Vulnerabilities Analysis",
              RFC 4272, DOI 10.17487/RFC4272, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4272>.

   [RFC4364]  Rosen, E. and Y. Rekhter, "BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private
              Networks (VPNs)", RFC 4364, DOI 10.17487/RFC4364, February
              2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4364>.

   [RFC4659]  De Clercq, J., Ooms, D., Carugi, M., and F. Le Faucheur,
              "BGP-MPLS IP Virtual Private Network (VPN) Extension for
              IPv6 VPN", RFC 4659, DOI 10.17487/RFC4659, September 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4659>.

   [RFC5082]  Gill, V., Heasley, J., Meyer, D., Savola, P., Ed., and C.
              Pignataro, "The Generalized TTL Security Mechanism
              (GTSM)", RFC 5082, DOI 10.17487/RFC5082, October 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5082>.

   [RFC5462]  Andersson, L. and R. Asati, "Multiprotocol Label Switching
              (MPLS) Label Stack Entry: "EXP" Field Renamed to "Traffic
              Class" Field", RFC 5462, DOI 10.17487/RFC5462, February
              2009, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5462>.

   [RFC5925]  Touch, J., Mankin, A., and R. Bonica, "The TCP
              Authentication Option", RFC 5925, DOI 10.17487/RFC5925,
              June 2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5925>.

   [RFC6811]  Mohapatra, P., Scudder, J., Ward, D., Bush, R., and R.
              Austein, "BGP Prefix Origin Validation", RFC 6811,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6811, January 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6811>.

   [RFC6952]  Jethanandani, M., Patel, K., and L. Zheng, "Analysis of
              BGP, LDP, PCEP, and MSDP Issues According to the Keying
              and Authentication for Routing Protocols (KARP) Design
              Guide", RFC 6952, DOI 10.17487/RFC6952, May 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6952>.

   [RFC7911]  Walton, D., Retana, A., Chen, E., and J. Scudder,
              "Advertisement of Multiple Paths in BGP", RFC 7911,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7911, July 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7911>.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 53]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   [RFC8205]  Lepinski, M., Ed. and K. Sriram, Ed., "BGPsec Protocol
              Specification", RFC 8205, DOI 10.17487/RFC8205, September
              2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8205>.

   [RFC9315]  Clemm, A., Ciavaglia, L., Granville, L. Z., and J.
              Tantsura, "Intent-Based Networking - Concepts and
              Definitions", RFC 9315, DOI 10.17487/RFC9315, October
              2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9315>.

Appendix A.  Illustrations of Service Steering

   The following sub-sections illustrate example scenarios of Colored
   Service Route Steering over E2E BGP CAR resolving over different
   intra-domain mechanisms

   The examples use MPLS/SR for the transport data plane.  Scenarios
   specific to other encapsulations will be added in subsequent
   versions.

A.1.  E2E BGP transport CAR intent realized using IGP FlexAlgo

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 54]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                              RD:V/v via E2
          +-----+             vpn label: 30030       +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.......
   :      +-----+             Color C1               +-----+        :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
+-:-----------------------+----------------------+------------------:--+
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :   (E2,C1) via 121     |   (E2,C1) via 231    | (E2,C1)via E2    :  |
| :   L=168002,AIGP=110 +---+ L=168002,AIGP=10 +---+ L=0x3,LI=8002  :  |
| : |-------------------|121|<-----------------|231|<-------------| :  |
| : V LI=8002           +---+ LI=8002          +---+              | :  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
| E1 |                    |                      |               | E2  |
|----+(E2,C1) via 122     |   (E2,C1) via 232    |  (E2,C1)via E2+-----|
|   ^ L=168002,AIGP=210 +---+ L=168002,AIGP=20 +---+ L=0x3        |    |
|   |----------------   |122|<-----------------|232|<-------------|    |
|     LI=8002           +---+ LI=8002          +---+ LI=8002           |
|                         |                      |                     |
|         ISIS SR         |      ISIS SR         |     ISIS SR         |
|         FA 128          |      FA 128          |     FA 128          |
+-------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
iPE                     iABR                       eABR              ePE

+------+                  +------+
|168121|                  |168231|
+------+                  +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|168002|                  |168002|                 |168002|
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|30030 |                  |30030 |                 |30030 |
+------+                  +------+                 +------+

              Figure 6: BGP FA Aware transport CAR path

   Use case: Provide end to end intent for service flows.

   *  With reference to the topology above:

      -  IGP FA 128 is running in each domain, and mapped to Color C1

      -  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v colored with (color
         extended community) C1 to steer traffic to BGP transport CAR
         (E2, C1).  VPN route propagates via service RRs to ingress PE
         E1.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 55]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  BGP CAR route (E2, C1) with next-hop, label-index and label as
         shown above are advertised through border routers in each
         domain.  When a RR is used in the domain, ADD-PATH is enabled
         to advertise multiple available paths.

      -  On each BGP hop, (E2, C1) next-hop is resolved over IGP FA 128
         of the domain.  AIGP attribute influences BGP CAR route best
         path decision as per [RFC7311].  BGP CAR label swap entry is
         installed that goes over FA 128 LSP to next-hop providing
         intent in each IGP domain.  Update AIGP metric to reflect FA
         128 metric to next-hop.

      -  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C1).  It steers colored VPN
         route RD:V/v into (E2, C1)

   *  Important:

      -  IGP FA 128 top label provides intent within each domain.

      -  BGP CAR label (e.g. 168002) carries end to end intent.  Thus it
         stitches intent over intra domain FA 128.

A.2.  E2E BGP transport CAR intent realized using SR Policy

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 56]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                              RD:1/8 via E2
          +-----+             vpn label: 30030       +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <......
   :      +-----+             Color C1               +-----+        :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
+-:-----------------------+----------------------+------------------:-+
| :                       |                      |                  : |
| :                       |                      |                  : |
| :  <-(E2,C1) via 121    |   <-(E2,C1) via 231  | <-(E2,C1)via E2  : |
| :                     +---+                  +---+                : |
| :  ------------------>|121|----------------->|231|--------------| : |
| : | SR policy(C1,121) +---+ SR policy(C1,231)+---+ SR policy    v : |
|----+                    |                      |   (C1,E2)      +---|
| E1 |                    |                      |                |E2 |
|----+ <-(E2,C1) via 122  |  (E2,C1) via 232     | <-(E2,C1)via E2+---|
|   |                   +---+                  +---+               ^  |
|    ------------------>|122|----------------->|232|---------------|  |
|    SR policy(C1,122)  +---+ SR policy(C1,232)+---+ SR policy(C1,E2) |
|                         |                      |                    |
|                         |                      |                    |
|         ISIS SR         |      ISIS SR         |     ISIS SR        |
+-------------------------+----------------------+--------------------+
iPE                     iABR                     eABR                ePE
+------+                  +------+
|  S1  |                  |  S2  |
+------+                  +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|160121|                  |160231|                 |  S3  |
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|168002|                  |168002|                 |168002|
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|30030 |                  |30030 |                 |30030 |
+------+                  +------+                 +------+

           Figure 7: BGP SR policy Aware transport CAR path

   Use case: Provide end to end intent for service flows

   *  With reference to the topology above:

      -  SR Policy provide intra domain intent.  Below are example SID
         lists of SR policies in each domain corresponding to label
         stack in Figure 7

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 57]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

         o  SR policy (C1,121) segments <S1, 121>

         o  SR policy (C1,231) segments <S2, 231>

         o  SR policy (C1,E2) segments <S3, E2>

      -  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v colored with (color
         extended community) C1 to steer traffic to BGP transport CAR
         (E2, C1).  VPN route propagates via service RRs to ingress PE
         E1.

      -  BGP CAR route (E2, C1) with next-hop, label-index and label as
         shown above are advertised through border routers in each
         domain.  When a RR is used in the domain, ADD-PATH is enabled
         to advertise multiple available paths.

      -  On each BGP hop, CAR route (E2, C1) next-hop is resolved over
         an SR policy(C1, next-hop).  BGP CAR label swap entry is
         installed that goes over SR policy segment list.

      -  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C1).  It steers colored VPN
         route RD:V/v into (E2, C1).

   *  Important:

      -  SR policy provides intent within each domain.

      -  BGP CAR label (e.g. 168002) carries end to end intent.  Thus it
         stitches intent over intra domain SR policies.

A.3.  BGP transport CAR intent realized in a section of the network

A.3.1.  Provide intent for service flows only in core domain running
        ISIS FlexAlgo

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 58]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                              RD:1/8 via E2
          +-----+             vpn label: 30030       +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.......
   :      +-----+             Color C1               +-----+        :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
+-:-----------------------+----------------------+------------------:--+
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :   (E2,C1) via 121     |  (E2,C1) via 231     | (E2,C1) via E2   :  |
| :   L=168002,AIGP=1110+---+L=168002,AIGP=1010+---+ L=0x3          :  |
| : |-------------------|121|<-----------------|231|<-------------| :  |
| : V LI=8002           +---+ LI=8002          +---+              | :  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
| E1 |                    |                      |               | E2  |
|----+(E2,C1) via 122     |  (E2,C1) via 232     | (E2,C1) via E2+-----|
|   ^ L=168002,AIGP=1210+---+L=168002,AIGP=1020+---+ L=0x3        |    |
|   |----------------   |122|<-----------------|232|<-------------|    |
|     LI=8002           +---+ LI=8002          +---+                   |
|                         |                      |                     |
|         ISIS SR         |      ISIS SR         |     ISIS SR         |
|         Algo 0          |      FlexAlgo 128    |     Algo 0          |
|         Access          |      Core            |     Access
+-------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
iPE                     iABR                       eABR              ePE

+------+                  +------+
|160121|                  |168231|
+------+                  +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|168002|                  |168002|                 |160002|
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
+------+                  +------+                 +------+
|30030 |                  |30030 |                 |30030 |
+------+                  +------+                 +------+

        Figure 8: BGP Hybrid FlexAlgo Aware transport CAR path

   *  With reference to the topology above:

      -  IGP FA 128 is only enabled in Core (e.g.  WAN network), mapped
         to C1.  Access network domain only has base algo 0.

      -  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v colored with (color
         extended community) C1 to steer traffic via BGP transport CAR
         (E2, C1).  VPN route propagates via service RRs to ingress PE
         E1.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 59]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  BGP CAR route (E2, C1) with next-hop, label-index and label as
         shown above are advertised through border routers in each
         domain.  When a RR is used in the domain, ADD-PATH is enabled
         to advertise multiple available paths.

      -  Local policy on 231 and 232 maps intent C1 to resolve CAR route
         next-hop over IGP base algo 0 in right access domain.  BGP CAR
         label swap entry is installed that goes over algo 0 LSP to
         next-hop.  Update AIGP metric to reflect algo 0 metric to next-
         hop with an additional penalty (+1000).

      -  On 121 and 122, CAR route (E2, C1) next-hop learnt from Core
         domain is resolved over IGP FA 128.  BGP CAR label swap entry
         is installed that goes over FA 128 LSP to next-hop providing
         intent in Core IGP domain.

      -  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C1).  It maps intent C1 to
         resolve CAR route next-hop over IGP base algo 0.  It steers
         colored VPN route RD:V/v via (E2, C1)

   *  Important:

      -  IGP FlexAlgo 128 top label provides intent in Core domain.

      -  BGP CAR label (e.g. 168002) carries intent from PEs which is
         realized in core domain

A.3.2.  Provide intent for service flows only in core domain over TE
        tunnel mesh

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 60]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                              RD:1/8 via E2
                  +-----+         vpn label: 30030           +-----+
           ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.......
           :      +-----+             Color C1               +-----+        :
           :                                                                :
           :                                                                :
           :                                                                :
        +-:-----------------------+----------------------+------------------:--+
        | :                       |                      |                  :  |
        | :                       |                      |                  :  |
        | :   (E2,C1) via 121     |  (E2,C1) via 231     | (E2,C1) via E2   :  |
        | :   L=242003,AIGP=1110+---+L=242002,AIGP=1010+---+ L=0x3          :  |
        | : |-------------------|121|<-----------------|231|<-------------| :  |
        | : V                   +---+ TE tunnel(231)   +---+              | :  |
        |----+                    |                      |               +-----|
        | E1 |                    |                      |               | E2  |
        |----+(E2,C1) via 122     |  (E2,C1) via 232     | (E2,C1) via E2+-----|
        |   ^ L=242004,AIGP=1210+---+L=242001,AIGP=1020+---+ L=0x3        |    |
        |   |----------------   |122|<-----------------|232|<-------------|    |
        |                       +---+ TE tunnel(232)   +---+                   |
        |                         |                      |                     |
        |                         |                      |                     |
        |         ISIS/LDP        |      ISIS/RSVP-TE    |     ISIS/LDP        |
        |         Access 0        |      Core            |     Access 1        |
        +-------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
        iPE                     iABR                       eABR              ePE

        +------+                  +------+
        |240121|                  |241231|
        +------+                  +------+
        +------+                  +------+                 +------+
        |242003|                  |242002|                 |240002|
        +------+                  +------+                 +------+
        +------+                  +------+                 +------+
        |30030 |                  |30030 |                 |30030 |
        +------+                  +------+                 +------+

        Figure 9: BGP CAR over TE tunnel mesh in core network

   *  With reference to the topology above:

      -  RSVP-TE MPLS tunnel mesh is configured only in core (e.g.  WAN
         network).  Access only has ISIS/LDP.  (Figure does not show all
         TE tunnels).

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 61]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v colored with (color
         extended community) C1 to steer traffic via BGP transport CAR
         (E2, C1).  VPN route propagates via service RRs to ingress PE
         E1.

      -  BGP CAR route (E2, C1) with next-hops and labels as shown above
         is advertised through border routers in each domain.  When a RR
         is used in the domain, ADD-PATH is enabled to advertise
         multiple available paths.

      -  Local policy on 231 and 232 maps intent C1 to resolve CAR route
         next-hop over best effort LDP LSP in access domain 1.  BGP CAR
         label swap entry is installed that goes over LDP LSP to next-
         hop.  AIGP metric is updated to reflect best effort metric to
         next-hop with an additional penalty (+1000).

      -  Local policy on 121 and 122 maps intent C1 to resolve CAR route
         next-hop in Core domain over TE tunnels.  BGP CAR label swap
         entry is installed that goes over a TE tunnel to next-hop
         providing intent in Core domain.  AIGP metric is updated to
         reflect TE tunnel metric.

      -  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C1).  It maps intent C1 to
         resolve CAR route next-hop over best effort LDP LSP in Access
         domain 0.  It steers colored VPN route RD:V/v via (E2, C1).

   *  Important:

      -  TE tunnel LSP provides intent in Core domain.

      -  Dynamic BGP CAR label carries intent from PEs which is realized
         in core domain by resolution via TE tunnel.

A.4.  Transit network domains that do not support CAR

   *  In a brownfield deployment, color-aware paths between two PEs may
      need to go through a transit domain that does not support CAR.
      Examples include an MPLS LDP network with IGP best-effort; or a
      BGP-LU based multi-domain network.  MPLS LDP network with best
      effort IGP can adopt above scheme.  Below is the example for BGP
      LU.

   *  Reference topology:

      E1 --- BR1 --- BR2 ......... BR3 ---- BR4 --- E2
          Ci           <----LU---->              Ci

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 62]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  Network between BR2 and BR3 comprises of multiple BGP-LU hops
         (over IGP-LDP domains).

      -  E1, BR1, BR4 and E2 are enabled for BGP CAR, with Ci colors

      -  BR1 and BR2 are directly connected; BR3 and BR4 are directly
         connected

   *  BR1 and BR4 form an over-the-top peering (via RRs as needed) to
      exchange BGP CAR routes

   *  BR1 and BR4 also form direct BGP-LU sessions to BR2 and BR3
      respectively, to establish labeled paths between each other
      through the BGP-LU network.  The sessions may be eBGP or iBGP.

   *  BR1 recursively resolves the BGP CAR next-hop for CAR routes
      learnt from BR4 via the BGP-LU path to BR4

   *  BR1 signals the transport discontinuity to E1 via the AIGP TLV, so
      that E1 can prefer other paths if available

   *  BR4 does the same in the reverse direction

   *  Thus, the color-awareness of the routes and hence the paths in the
      data plane are maintained between E1 and E2, even if the intent is
      not available within the BGP-LU island

   *  A similar design can be used for going over network islands of
      other types

A.5.  Resource Avoidance using BGP CAR and IGP Flex-Algo

   This example illustrates a case of resource avoidance within a domain
   for a multi-domain color-aware path.

              +-------------+      +-------------+
              |             |      |             | V/v with C1
              |----+        |------|        +----|/
              | E1 |        |      |        | E2 |\
              |----+        |      |        +----| W/w with C2
              |             |------|   IGP FA128 |
              |  IGP FA128  |      |   IGP FA129 |
              |  Domain 1   |      |   Domain 2  |
              +-------------+      +-------------+

       Figure 10: BGP CAR resolution over IGP FLex-Algo for resource
                           avoidance in a domain

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 63]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  C1 and C2 represent two unique intents in multi-domain network

      -  C1 is mapped to "minimize IGP metric"

      -  C2 is mapped to "minimize IGP metric and avoid resource R"

   *  Resource R represents link(s) or node(s) to be avoided

   *  Flex-Algo FA128 in Domain 2 is mapped to "minimize IGP metric" and
      hence to C1

   *  Flex-Algo FA129 in Domain 2 is mapped to "minimize IGP metric and
      avoid resource R" and hence to C2

   *  Flex-Algo FA128 in Domain 1 is mapped to "minimize IGP metric"

      -  There is no resource R to be avoided in Domain 1, hence both C1
         and C2 are mapped to FA128

   *  E1 receives two service routes from E2:

      -  V/v with BGP Color Extended-Community C1

      -  W/w with BGP Color Extended-Community C2

   *  E1 has the following color-aware paths:

      -  (E2, C1) provided by BGP CAR with the following per-domain
         resolution:

         o  Domain1: over IGP FA128

         o  Domain2: over IGP FA128

      -  (E2, C2) provided by BGP CAR with the following per-domain
         resolution:

         o  Domain1: over IGP FA128

         o  Domain2: over IGP FA129, avoiding resource R

   *  E1 automatically steers the received service routes as follows:

      -  V/v via (E2, C1) provided by BGP CAR

      -  W/w via (E2, C2) provided by BGP CAR

   Observations:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 64]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  C1 and C2 are realized over a common intra-domain intent (FA128)
      in one domain and distinct intents in another domain as required

   *  32-bit Color space provides flexibility in defining a large number
      of intents in a multi-domain network.  They may be efficiently
      realized by mapping to a smaller number of intra-domain intents in
      different domains.

A.6.  Per-Flow Steering over CAR routes

   This section provides an example of ingress PE per-flow steering as
   defined in section 8.6 of [RFC9256] onto BGP CAR routes.

   With reference to the Figure 6

   *  Ingress PE E1 learns best effort BGP LU route E2

   *  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C1), C1 is mapped to "low
      delay"

   *  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route (E2, C2), C2 is mapped to "low
      delay and avoid resource R"

   *  Ingress PE E1 is configured to instantiate an array of paths to E2
      where the entry 0 is the BGP LU path to N, color C1 is the first
      entry and color C2 is the second entry.  The index into the array
      is called a Forwarding Class (FC).  The index can have values 0 to
      7, especially when derived from the MPLS TC bits [RFC5462]

   *  E1 is configured to match flows in its ingress interfaces (upon
      any field such as Ethernet destination/source/VLAN/TOS or IP
      destination/source/DSCP or transport ports etc.) and color them
      with an internal per-packet FC variable (0, 1 or 2 in this
      example).

   *  This array is presented as composite candidate path of SR policy
      (E2, C100) and acts as a container for grouping constituent paths
      of different colors/best effort.  This representation provide
      automated steering for services colored with Color Extended
      Community C100 via paths of different colors.  Note that color
      extended community C100 is used as indirection to the composite
      policy configured on ingress PE.

   *  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v with Color Extended
      community C100 to steer traffic via composite SR policy (E2, C100)
      i.e. FC array of paths.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 65]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   E1 receives three packets K, K1, and K2 on its incoming interface.
   These three packets matches on VPN route which recurses on E2.  E1
   colors these 3 packets respectively with forwarding-class 0, 1, and
   2.

   As a result

   *  E1 forwards K along the best effort path to E2 (i.e., for MPLS
      data plane, it pushes the best effort label of E2).

   *  E1 forwards K1 along the (E2, C1) BGP CAR route

   *  E1 forwards K2 along the (E2, C2) BGP CAR route

A.7.  Advertising BGP CAR routes for shared IP addresses

             +-------------+      +--------------+
             |             |      |         +----|
             |             |------|         | E2 |(IP1)
             |----+        |      |         +----|
             | E1 |        |      |  Domain 2    |
             |----+        |      +--------------+
             |             |      +--------------+
             |             |      |         +----|
             |  Domain 1   |------|         | E3 |(IP1)
             +-------------+      |         +----|
                                  |  Domain 3    |
                                  +--------------+

         Figure 11: BGP CAR advertisements for shared IP addresses

   This example describes a case where a route for the same transport IP
   address is originated from multiple nodes in different network
   domains.

   One use of this scenario is an Anycast transport service, where
   packet encapsulation (e.g., LSP) may terminate on any one among a set
   of nodes.  All the nodes are capable of forwarding the inner payload,
   typically via an IP lookup in the global table for Internet routes.

   A couple of variations of the use-case are described in the example
   below.

   One node is shown in each domain, but there will be multiple nodes in
   practice for redundancy.

   Example-1: Anycast with forwarding to nearest

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 66]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  Both E2 (in egress domain 2) and E3 (in egress domain 3) advertise
      Anycast (shared) IP (IP1, C1) with same label L1

   *  An ingress PE E1 receives by default the best path(s) for (IP1,
      C1) propagated through BGP hops across the network.

   *  The paths to (IP1, C1) from E2 and E3 may merge at a common node
      along the path to E1, forming equal cost multipaths or active-
      backup paths at that node

   *  Service route V/v is advertised from egress domains D2 and D3 with
      color C1 and next-hop IP1.

   *  Traffic for V/v steered at E1 via (IP1, C1) is forwarded to either
      E2 or E3 (or both) as determined by routing along the network
      (nodes in the path).

   Example-2: Anycast with egress domain visibility at ingress PE

   *  E2 advertises (IP1, C1) and E3 advertises (IP1, C2) CAR routes for
      the Anycast IP IP1.  C1 and C2 are colors assigned to distinguish
      the egress domains originating the routes to IP1.

   *  An ingress PE E1 receives the best path(s) propagated through BGP
      hops across the network for both (IP1, C1) and (IP1, C2).

   *  The CAR routes (IP1, C1) and (IP1, C2) do not get merged at any
      intermediate node, providing E1 control over path selection and
      load-balancing of traffic across these two routes.  Each route may
      itself provide multipathing or Anycast to a set of egress nodes.

   *  Service route V/v advertised from egress domains D2 and D3 with
      colors C1 and C2 respectively, but with same next-hop IP1.

   *  E1 will resolve and steer V/v path from D2 via (IP1, C1) and path
      from D3 via (IP2, C2).  E1 will load-balance traffic to V/v across
      the two paths as determined by a local load-balancing policy.

   *  Traffic for colored service routes steered at E1 is forwarded to
      either E2 or E3 (or load-balanced across both) as determined by
      E1.

   In above example, D2 and D3 belonged to the same color or
   administrative domain.  If D2 and D3 belonged to different color
   domains, the domains will coordinate the assignment of colors to be
   used with shared IP IP1 such that they do not cause conflicts.  For
   instance, in Example-1 :

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 67]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  D2 and D3 may both use C1 for the same intent when they originate
      CAR route for IP1.

      -  In this case, neither D2 nor D3 will reuse C1 for some other
         intent

   *  Alternatively, D2 may use C2 and D3 may use C3 for originating a
      CAR route for IP1 for the same intent.

      -  In this case, D2 will not use C3 for originating CAR route for
         IP1 for some other intent.  Similarly, D3 will not use C2 for
         originating CAR route for IP1 for some other intent.

Appendix B.  Color Mapping Illustrations

   There are a variety of deployment scenarios that arise w.r.t
   different color mappings in an inter-domain environment.  This
   section attempts to enumerate them and provide clarity into the usage
   of the color related protocol constructs.

B.1.  Single color domain containing network domains with N:N color
      distribution

   *  All network domains (ingress, egress and all transit domains) are
      enabled for the same N colors.

      -  A color may of course be realized by different technologies in
         different domains as described above.

   *  The N intents are both signaled end-to-end via BGP CAR routes; as
      well as realized in the data plane.

   *  Appendix A.1 is an example of this case.

B.2.  Single color domain containing network domains with N:M color
      distribution

   *  Certain network domains may not be enabled for some of the colors
      used for end-to-end intents, but may still be required to provide
      transit for routes of those colors.

   *  When a (E, C1) route traverses a domain where color C1 is not
      available, the operator may decide to use a different intent of
      color C2 that is available in that domain to resolve the next-hop
      and establish a path through the domain.

      -  The next-hop resolution may occur via paths of any intra-domain
         protocol or even via paths provided by BGP CAR.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 68]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  The next-hop resolution color C2 may be defined as a local
         policy at ingress or transit nodes of the domain.

      -  It may also be automatically signaled from egress border nodes
         by attaching a Color Extended Community with value C2 to the
         BGP CAR routes.

   *  Hence, routes of N end-to-end colors may be resolved over paths
      from a smaller set of M colors in a transit domain, while
      preserving the original color-awareness end-to-end.

   *  Any ingress PE that installs a service (VPN) route with a color
      C1, must have C1 enabled locally to install IP routes to (E, C1)
      and resolve the service route next-hop.

   *  A degenerate variation of this scenario is where a transit domain
      does not support any color.  Appendix A.3 describes an example of
      this case.

   Illustration for N end to end intents over fewer M intra domain
   intents:

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 69]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                     RD:V/v via E2 Color-EC: 100
                     RD:W/w via E2 Color-EC: 200
          +-----+    RD:X/x via E2 Color-EC: 300     +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <........
  :       +-----+    RD:Y/y via E2 Color-EC: 400     +-----+          :
  :                                                                   :
  :                                                                   :
  :                                                                   :
+-:----------------------+---------------------+----------------------:-+
| :                      |                     |                      : |
|                        |                     |                        |
|      (E2,100) via 121  |   (E2,100) via 231  |     (E2,100) via E2    |
|       Color-EC: 1,10   |    Color-EC: 1,10   |      Color-EC: 1,10    |
|                        |                     |                        |
|      (E2,200) via 121  |   (E2,200) via 231  |     (E2,200) via E2    |
|       Color-EC: 1,20   |    Color-EC: 1,20   |      Color-EC: 1,20    |
|                      <---                  <----                      |
|      (E2,300) via 121  |   (E2,300) via 231  |     (E2,300) via E2    |
|       Color-EC: 2,30   |    Color-EC: 2,30   |      Color-EC: 2,30    |
|                        |                     |                        |
|      (E2,400) via 121  |   (E2,400) via 231  |     (E2,400) via E2    |
|       Color-EC: 2,40   |    Color-EC: 2,40   |      Color-EC: 2,40    |
|                        |                     |                        |
|                      +===+                 +===+                      |
|=====+                |   |-------C10-------|   |                +=====|
|     |-------C1-------|   |-------C20-------|   |-------C1-------|     |
| E1  |                |121|                 |231|                | E2  |
|     |-------C2-------|   |-------C30-------|   |-------C2-------|     |
|=====+                |   |-------C40-------|   |                +=====|
|                      +===+                 +===+                      |
|        C1=FA132        |      C10=FA128      |       C1=FA132         |
|        C2=FA133        |      C20=FA129      |       C2=FA133         |
|                        |      C30=FA130      |                        |
|                        |      C40=FA131      |                        |
|                        |                     |                        |
|         ISIS SR        |      ISIS SR        |     ISIS SR            |
|         ACCESS         |       CORE          |     ACCESS             |
+------------------------+---------------------+------------------------+
iPE                     iABR                  eABR                    ePE

                     Figure 12: N:M illustration

   *  With reference to the topology above:

      -  Core domain provides 4 intra domain intents as described below:

         o  FA128 mapped to C10

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 70]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

         o  FA129 mapped to C20

         o  FA130 mapped to C30

         o  FA131 mapped to C40

      -  Access domain provides 2 intra domain intents

         o  FA132 mapped to C1

         o  FA133 mapped to C2

      -  Operator defines 4 BGP CAR end to end intents as below

         o  CAR color C100 that resolves on C1 in access and C10 in core
            domain

         o  CAR color C200 that resolves on C1 in access and C20 in core
            domain

         o  CAR color C300 that resolves on C2 in access and C30 in core
            domain

         o  CAR color C400 that resolves on C2 in access and C40 in core
            domain

      -  E2 may originate BGP CAR routes with multiple BGP Color ECs as
         shown above.  At each hop, CAR route next-hop is resolved over
         the available intra-domain color.  For example (E2,C100) with
         BGP color ECs C1, C10 resolves over C1 at ABR 231, C10 at ABR
         121 and C1 at E1.

      -  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v colored with BGP
         Color EC C100 to steer traffic through FA 132 in access and FA
         128 in core.  It also advertises another VPN route RD:W/w
         colored with BGP Color EC C200 to steer traffic through FA 132
         in access and FA 129 in core.

   *  Important:

      -  End-to-end (BGP CAR) colors can be decoupled from intra-domain
         transport colors.

      -  Each BGP CAR color is a combination of various intra-domain
         colors or intents.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 71]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  Combination can be expressed by local policy at ABRs or by
         attaching multiple BGP Color ECs at origination point of BGP
         CAR route.

      -  Service traffic is steered into suitable CAR color to use the
         most granular intent in a domain multiple hops away from
         ingress PE.

      -  Consistent reuse of standard color based resolution mechanism
         at both service and transport layers.

B.3.  Multiple color domains

   When the routes are distributed between domains with different color-
   to-intent mapping schemes, both N:N and N:M cases are possible,
   although an N:M mapping is more likely to occur.

   Reference topology:

      D1 ----- D2 ----- D3
      C1       C2       C3

   *  C1 in D1 maps to C2 in D2 and to C3 in D3

   *  BGP CAR is enabled in all three color domains

   The reference topology above is used to elaborate on the design
   described in Section 2.8

   When the route originates in color domain D1 and gets advertised to a
   different color domain D2, following procedures apply:

   *  The original intent in the BGP CAR route is preserved; i.e. route
      is (E, C1)

   *  A BR of D1 attaches LCM-EC with value C1 when advertising to a BR
      in D2

   *  A BR in D2 receiving (E, C1) maps C1 in received LCM-EC to local
      color, say C2

      -  A BR in D2 may receive (E, C1) from multiple D1 BRs which
         provide equal cost or primary/backup paths

   *  Within D2, this LCM-EC value of C2 is used instead of the Color in
      CAR route NLRI (E, C1).  This applies to all procedures described
      in the earlier section for a single color domain, such as next-hop
      resolution and service steering.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 72]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  A colored service route V/v originated in color domain D1 with
      next-hop E and color C1 will also have its color extended-
      community value re-mapped to C2, typically at a service RR

   *  On an ingress PE in D2, V/v will resolve via C2

   *  When a BR in D2 advertises the route to a BR in D3, the same
      process repeats.

Appendix C.  CAR SRv6 Illustrations

C.1.  BGP CAR SRv6 locator reachability hop by hop distribution

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 73]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                            RD:V/v via E2
           +-----+          SRv6SID=B:C11:2:DT4::     +-----+
    ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.....
   :       +-----+                                    +-----+       :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
   :             AS2                                         AS1    :
 +-:------------------------------------+            +--------------:--+
 | :                                    |            |              :  |
 | :                 B:C11::/32 via IP1 |            |              :  |
 | :          +-----+ LCM=C1, AIGP=10   |            |              :  |
 | :          | TRR |<..............    |            |              :  |
 | :          +-----+<..........     :  |            |              :  |
 | :             :    B:C11::/32 :   :  |            |              :  |
 | :             :       via IP2 :   :  |            |              :  |
 | :             : LCM=C1,AIGP=10:   :  |            |              :  |
 | :   ......... :               :   :  | B:C11::/32 |              :  |
 | : :           :               :   :  | via 231    |           +-----|
 | : :           :               :   :  |  LCM=C1    |           | E2  |
   : :    +---+  :   +---+       :   :  |  AIGP=10   |           +-----|
 | : :    |P11|<.:..>|P13|       :  +----+        +---+             :  |
 | : :    +---+  :   +---+       :  | 121|-----IP1|231|             :  |
 | V V           :               :  +----+  eBGP  +---+             :  |
 |----+          :               :      |            |           +-----|
 | E1 |   +---+  :   +---+       :      |            |           | En  |
 |----+   |P12|<.:..>|P14|       :      |            |           +-----|
 |        +---+      +---+       :  +----+  eBGP  +---+                |
 |        IPv6 FIB:              ...| 122|-----IP2|232|                |
 |        B:C11::/32 via IP1        +----+        +---+                |
 |                   via IP2            | B:C11::/32 |                 |
 |                                      | via 232    |                 |
 |                                      | LCM=C1     |                 |
 |                                      | AIGP=10    |                 |
 |         ISISv6                       |            |     ISISv6      |
 |  FA 128 (B:C12::/32)                 |            |FA128(B:C11::/32)|
 |  FA 0   (B:02::/32)                  |            |FA0  (B:01::/32) |
 +--------------------------------------+            +-----------------+
 iPE                                  ASBR          ASBR             ePE

                               Figure 13

   The topology above is an example to illustrate the BGP CAR SRv6
   locator prefix based design, with hop by hop routing.

   *  Multi-AS network with eBGP CAR session between ASBRs

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 74]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  Transport RR (TRR) peers with P, BR and PE clients within an AS to
      propagate CAR prefixes.  AddPath is enabled to propagate multiple
      paths.

   *  ISIS (IGP) FlexAlgo 128 for SRv6 is running in each AS (AS may
      consist of multiple IGP domains)

      -  Prefix B:C11::/32 summarizes Flex-Algo 128 block in AS1 for the
         given intent.  Node locators in the egress domain are sub-
         allocated from the block for the given intent

      -  Similarly, Prefix B:C12::/32 summarizes Flex-Algo 128 block in
         AS2

      -  Per Flex-Algo external subnets for eBGP nexthops IP1 and IP2
         are distributed in ISIS within AS2

   *  BGP CAR prefix route B:C11::/32 with LCM C1 is originated by AS1
      BRs 231 and 232 on eBGP sessions to AS2 BRs 121 and 122.

   *  ASBR 121 and 122 propagate the route in AS2 to all the P, ABRs and
      PEs through transport RR

   *  Every router in AS2 resolves BGP CAR prefix B:C11::/32 nexthops
      IP1 and IP2 in ISISv6 FlexAlgo 128 and programs B:C11::/32 prefix
      in global IPv6 forwarding table

   *  AIGP attribute influences BGP CAR route best path decision

   *  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v with SRv6 service SID
      B:C11:2:DT4::. Service SID is allocated by E2 from its locator of
      color C1 intent

   *  Ingress PE E1 learns (via service RRs S-RR1 and S-RR2) VPN route
      RD:V/v with SRv6 SID B:C11:2:DT4::

   *  Service traffic encapsulated with SRv6 Service SID B:C11:2:DT4::
      is natively steered hop by hop along IPv6 routed path to
      B:C11::/32 provided by BGP CAR in AS2

   *  Encapsulated service traffic is natively steered along IPv6 routed
      path to B:C11::/32 provided by ISISv6 FlexAlgo 128 in AS1

   Important:

   *  No tunneling/encapsulation on Ingress PE and BRs for BGP CAR
      provided transport.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 75]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  Uses longest prefix match of SRv6 service SID to BGP CAR IP
      prefix.  No mapping to labels/SIDs, instead use of simple IP based
      forwarding.

   Packet forwarding

@E1:  IPv4 VRF V/v => H.Encaps.red <B:C11:2:DT4::> => forward based on B:C11::/32
@P*:  IPv6 table: B:C11::/32 => forward to interface, NH
@121: IPv6 Table: B:C11::/32 => forward to interface, NH
@231: IPv6 table: B:C11:2::/48 :: => forward via ISISv6 FA path to E2
@231: IPv6 Table B:C11:2::/48 => forward via ISISv6 FA path to E2
@E2:  My SID table B:C11:2:DT4:: =>pop the outer header and lookup the inner DA in the VRF

C.2.  BGP CAR SRv6 locator reachability distribution with encapsulation

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 76]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                           RD:V/v via E2
          +-----+          SRv6SID=B:C11:2:DT4::     +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.......
   :      +-----+                                    +-----+        :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
   :                                                                :
+-:-----------------------+----------------------+------------------:--+
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :                       |                      |                  :  |
| :  B:C11::/32 via 121   |  B:C11::/32 via 231  |                  :  |
| :  SID=B:C13:121:END::  |  SID=B:C12:231:END:: |                  :  |
| :  LCM=C1,AIGP=110    +---+LCM=C1 AIGP=10    +---+                :  |
| : |-------------------|121|<-----------------|231|<-------------| :  |
| : V                   +---+                  +---+              | :  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
| E1 |                    |                      |               | E2  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
|   ^                     |                      |                  :  |
|   |                     |                      |                  :  |
|   |                     |                      |               +-----|
|   |                     |                      |               | En  |
|   |                     |                      |               +-----|
|   |                   +---+                  +---+              |    |
|   |----------------   |122|<-----------------|232|<-------------|    |
|                       +---+                  +---+                   |
|    B:C11::/32 via 122   |  B:C11::/32 via 232  |                     |
|    SID=B:C13:122:END::  |  SID=B:C12:232:END:: |                     |
|    LCM=C1 AIGP=120      |  LCM=C1 AIGP=20      |                     |
|                         |                      |                     |
|         ISISv6          |      ISISv6          |     ISISv6          |
|  FA 128 (B:C13::/32)    | FA 128 (B:C12::/32)  |  FA128 (B:C11::/32) |
|  FA 0   (B:03::/32)     | FA 0   (B:02::/32)   |  FA1 0 (B:01::/32)  |
+-------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
iPE                     iABR                     eABR                 ePE

                              Figure 14

   The topology above is an example to illustrate the BGP CAR SRv6
   locator prefix based design, with intra-domain encapsulation.  The
   example shown is iBGP, but also applies to eBGP.

   *  IGP FlexAlgo 128 is running in each domain

      -  Prefix B:C11::/32 summarizes Flex-Algo 128 block in egress
         domain for the given intent.  Node locators in the egress
         domain are sub-allocated from the block

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 77]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      -  Prefix B:C12::/32 summarizes FA128 block in transit domain

      -  Prefix B:C13::/32 summarizes FA128 block in ingress domain

   *  BGP CAR route B:C11::/32 is originated by ABRs 231 and 232 with
      LCM C1.  Along the propagation path, border routers set nexthop-
      self and appropriately update the intra-domain encapsulation
      information for the C1 intent (for example, 231 and 121 signal
      SRv6 SID allocated from their respective locators for the C1
      intent)

   *  AIGP attribute influences BGP CAR route best path decision

   *  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v with SRv6 service SID
      B:C11:2:DT4::. Service SID is allocated by E2 from its locator of
      color C1 intent.

   *  Ingress PE E1 learns CAR route B:C11::/32 and VPN route RD:V/v
      with SRv6 SID B:C11:2:DT4::

   *  Traffic encapsulated with SRv6 Service SID B:C11:2:DT4:: is
      steered along IPv6 routed path provided by BGP CAR IP prefix route
      to locator B:C11::/32

   Important

   *  Uses longest prefix match of SRv6 service SID to BGP CAR prefix.
      No mapping labels/SIDs, instead simple IP based forwarding.

   *  Originating domain PE locators of the given intent can be
      summarized on transit BGP hops eliminating per PE state on border
      routers.

   Packet forwarding

@E1:   IPv4 VRF V/v => H.Encaps.red <B:C13:121:END::, B:C11:2:DT4::>
@121: My SID table: B:C13:121:END:: => Update DA with B:C11:2:DT4::
@121: IPv6 Table: B:C11::/32 => H.Encaps.red <B:C12:231:END::>
@231: My SID table: B:C12:231:END:: => Update DA with B:C11:2:DT4::
@231: IPv6 Table B:C11:2::/48 => forward via ISISv6 FA path to E2
@E2: My SID table B:C11:2:DT4:: =>pop the outer header and lookup the inner DA in the VRF

C.3.  BGP CAR (E, C) route distribution

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 78]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

                           RD:V/v via E2
          +-----+          SRv6SID: B:01:2:DT4::     +-----+
   ...... |S-RR1| <..................................|S-RR2| <.......
   :      +-----+             Color C2               +-----+        :
   :                                                                :
   :                  +-----+ (E2,C2) via 231                       :
   : -----------------| TRR |-------------------|                   :
   :|                 +-----+  SID=B:C21:2:B6::  |                   :
+-:-|---------------------+---------------------|+------------------:--+
| : |                     |                     ||                  :  |
| : |                     |                     ||                  :  |
| : |  B:C21::/32 via 121 |  B:C21::/32 via 231 ||SR policy(E2,C2)  :  |
| : |  LCM=C2,AIGP=110    |  LCM=C2 AIGP=10     ||BSID=B:C21:2:B6:: :  |
| : |                   +---+                  +---+                :  |
| : |-------------------|121|<-----------------|231|<-------------| :  |
| : V SR policy(121,C2) +---+SR policy(231,C2) +---+              | :  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
| E1 |                    |                      |               | E2  |
|----+                    |                      |               +-----|
|   ^ SR policy(122,C2) +---+SR policy(232,C2) +---+              |    |
|   |----------------   |122|<-----------------|232|<-------------|    |
|     B:C21::/32 via 121+---+B:C21::/32 via 232+---+ SR policy(E2,C2)  |
|     LCM=C2,AIGP=120     |   LCM=C2 AIGP=20     |   BSID=B:C21:2:B6:: |
|                         |                      |                     |
|         ISISv6          |      ISISv6          |     ISISv6          |
|      FA 0 (B:03::/32)   |   FA 0 (B:02::/32)   |   FA 0(B:01::/32)   |
+-------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
iPE                     iABR                       eABR              ePE

                              Figure 15

   The topology above is an example to illustrate the BGP (E, C) CAR
   based design.  The example is iBGP, but design also applies to eBGP.

   *  SR policy (E2, C2) provides given intent in egress domain

      -  SR policy (E2, C2) with segments <B:01:z:END::, B:01:2:END::>
         where z is the node id in egress domain.

   *  Egress ABRs 231 and 232 redistribute SR policy into BGP CAR NLRI
      type-1 (E2,C2) to other domains, with SRv6 SID of End.B6 behavior.
      This route is propagated to ingress PEs through transport RR (TRR)
      or inline with next hop unchanged.

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 79]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   *  The ABRs also advertise BGP CAR prefix (B:C21::/32) summarizing
      locator part of SRv6 SIDs for SR policies of given intent to
      different PEs in egress domain.  BGP CAR prefix propagates through
      border routers.  At each BGP hop, BGP CAR prefix nexthop
      resolution triggers intra-domain transit SR policy (C2, CAR next-
      hop).  For example:

      -  SR policy (231, C2) with segments <B:02:y:END::,
         B:02:231:END::>

      -  SR policy (C2,121) with segments <B:03:x:END::, B:03:121:END::>

      -  x and y are node ids within the respective domains

   *  Egress PE E2 advertises a VPN route RD:V/v with BGP color extended
      community C2

   *  Ingress PE E1 steers VPN route from E2 onto BGP CAR route (E2, C2)
      that results in H.Encaps of SRv6 transport SID B:C21:2:B6:: and
      SRv6 service SID in as last segment in IPv6 header.

   *  Longest prefix match on CAR prefix B:C21::/32 of the IPv6
      destination B:C21:2:B6:: steers the packet along intent aware path
      from ingress PE through ABRs in transit domain

   *  IPv6 packet destination B:C21:2:B6:: lookup in mySID table on ABR
      231 or 232 results in END.B6 behavior i.e. push of policy segments
      to E2.

   Important

   *  Ingress PE steers services via (E,C) CAR route as per [RFC9256]

   *  In data plane (E,C) resolution results in IPv6 header destination
      being SRv6 SID of END.B6 behavior whose locator is of given intent
      on originating ABRs.

   *  CAR IP prefix along the transit path provides simple LPM IPv6
      forwarding along the transit BGP hops.

   *  CAR NLRI Type-2 prefix summarizes binding SIDs of all SR policies
      on originating ABR of a given intent to different PEs in egress
      domain.  This eliminates per PE state on transit routers

   Packet forwarding

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 80]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

@E1:   IPv4 VRF V/v => H.Encaps.red <<SR policy (C2,121) sid list>, B:C21:2:B6::, B:0:E2:DT4::>
@121: My SID table: B:03:121:END:: => Update DA with B:C21:2:B6::
@121: IPv6 Table: B:C21::/32 => H.Encaps.red <SR Policy (C2,231) sid list>
@231: My SID table: B:02:231:END:: => Update DA with B:C21:2:B6::
@231: MySIDtable B:C21:2:B6:: =>  H.Encaps.red <SR Policy (C2,E2) sid list>
@E2: IPv6 Table B:0:2:DT4:: =>pop the outer header and lookup the inner DA in the VRF

Appendix D.  CAR SAFI NLRI update packing efficiency calculation

   CAR SAFI NLRI encoding is optimized for update packing.  It allows
   per route information (example label, label index and SRv6 SID
   encapsulation data) to be carried in non-key TLV part of NLRI.  This
   allows multiple NLRIs to be packed in single update message when
   other attributes are shared.  Analysis below shows comparison of
   total BGP data on the wire for CAR SAFI and [RFC8277] style encoding
   in MPLS label (case a), SR extension with MPLS (per-prefix label-
   index in Prefix-SID attribute) [RFC8669] (case b) and SRv6 SID (case
   c) cases.  Scenarios considered are ideal packing (maximum number of
   routes packed to update message limit of 4k bytes), practical
   deployment case with average packing (5 routes share set of BGP path
   attributes and hence packed in single update message) and worst-case
   of no packing (each route in separate update message).

   Summary of ideal, practical and no-packing BGP data in each case

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 81]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

Encoding        |        BGP CAR      | RFC-8277 style NLRI |  Result
----------------+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
case a: Label   |                     |                     |
     (Ideal)    |       27.5 MB       |      26 MB          |
                +---------------------+---------------------+  No degradation from
  (Practical)   |       86 MB         |      84 MB          |  RFC8277 like encoding
                +---------------------+---------------------+
(No packing)    |      325 MB         |     324 MB          |
----------------+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
case b: Label   |                     |     339 MB          | CAR SAFI encoding more
& Label-index   |                     |Packing not possible | efficient by 88% in
     (Ideal)    |       42 MB         |                     | best case and 71% in
                +---------------------+---------------------+ average case over
  (Practical)   |       99 MB         |     339 MB          | RFC8277 style encoding
                |                     |Packing not possible | (which precludes packing)
                +---------------------+---------------------+
(No packing)    |      339 MB         |     339 MB          |
                |                     |                     |
----------------+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
case c: SRv6 SID|                     |                     | Results are similar to
    (Ideal)     |       49 MB         |     378 MB          | SR MPLS case. Transposition
                |                     |                     | provides further 20%
                +---------------------+---------------------+ reduction in BGP data.
 (Practical)    |      115 MB         |     378 MB          |
                +---------------------+---------------------+
(No packing)    |      378 MB         |     378 MB          |
----------------+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------

   Analysis considers 1.5 million routes (5 colors across 300k
   endpoints)

   case a: BGP data exchanged for non SR MPLS case

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 82]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      Consider 200 bytes of shared attributes
      CAR SAFI signal Label in non-key TLV part of NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 12(key) + 5(label) = 17 bytes
           Ideal packing:
            number of NLRIs in 4k update size = 223 (4k-200/17)
            number of update messages of 4k size = 1.5 million/223 = 6726
            Total BGP data on wire = 6726 * 4k = ~27.5MB
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            size of update message = (17 * 5) + 200 = 285
            Total BGP data on wire = 285 * 300k = ~86MB
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 17 + 200 = 217
            Total BGP data on wire = 217 * 1.5 million = ~325MB
      SAFI 128 8277 style encoding with label in NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 13(key) + 3(label) = 16 bytes
           Ideal packing:
            number of NLRIs in 4k update size = 237 (4k-200/16)
            number of update messages of 4k size = 1.5 million/237 = ~6330
            Total BGP data on wire = 6330 * 4k = ~25.9MB
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            size of update message = (16 * 5) + 200 = 280
            Total BGP data on wire = 280 * 300k = ~84MB
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 16 + 200 = 216
            Total BGP data on wire = 216 * 1.5 million = ~324MB

   case b: BGP data exchanged for SR label-index

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 83]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

      Consider 200 bytes of shared attributes
      CAR SAFI signal Label in non-key TLV part of NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 12(key) + 5(label) + 9(Index) = 26 bytes
           Ideal packing:
            number of NLRIs in 4k update size = 146 (4k-200/26)
            number of update messages of 4k size = 1.5 million/146 = 6726
            Total BGP data on wire = 10274 * 4k = ~42MB
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            size of update message = (26 * 5) + 200 = 330
            Total BGP data on wire = 330 * 300k = ~99MB
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 26 + 200 = 226
            Total BGP data on wire = 226 * 1.5 million = ~339MB
      SAFI 128 8277 style encoding with label in NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 13(key) + 3(label) = 16 bytes
           Ideal packing
            Not supported as label index is encoded in prefix SID attribute
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            Not supported as label index is encoded in prefix SID attribute
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 16 + 210 = 226
            Total BGP data on wire = 216 * 1.5 million = ~339MB

   case c: BGP data exchanged with 128 bit single SRv6 SID

      Consider 200 bytes of shared attributes
      CAR SAFI signal Label in non-key TLV part of NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 12(key) + 18(Srv6 SID) = 30 bytes
           Ideal packing:
            number of NLRIs in 4k update size = 126 (4k-200/30)
            number of update messages of 4k size = 1.5 million/126 = ~12k
            Total BGP data on wire = 12k * 4k = ~49MB
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            size of update message = (30 * 5) + 236 (including prefix SID) = 386
            Total BGP data on wire = 386 * 300k = ~115MB
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 12 + 236 (SID in prefixSID) = 252
            Total BGP data on wire = 252 * 1.5 million = ~378MB
      SAFI 128 8277 style encoding with label in NLRI (No transposition)
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 13(key) + 3(label) = 16 bytes
           Ideal packing
            Not supported as label index is encoded in prefix SID attribute
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            Not supported as label index is encoded in prefix SID attribute
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 16 + 236 = 252
            Total BGP data on wire = 252 * 1.5 million = ~378MB

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 84]
Internet-Draft        BGP Color-Aware Routing (CAR)         October 2023

   BGP data exchanged with SRv6 SID 4 bytes transposition into SRv6 SID
   TLV

      Consider 200 bytes of shared attributes
      CAR SAFI signal Label in non-key TLV part of NLRI
         Each NLRI size for AFI 1 = 12(key) + 6(Srv6 SID) = 18 bytes
           Ideal packing:
            number of NLRIs in 4k update size = 211 (4k-200/18)
            number of update messages of 4k size = 1.5 million/211 = ~7110
            Total BGP data on wire = 7110 * 4k = ~29MB
           Practical packing (5 routes in update message)
            size of update message = (18 * 5) + 236 (including prefix SID) = 326
            Total BGP data on wire = 326 * 300k = ~98MB
           No-packing case (1 route per update message)
            size of update message = 12 + 236 (SID in prefix SID attribute) = 252
            Total BGP data on wire = 252 * 1.5 million = ~378MB

Authors' Addresses

   Dhananjaya Rao (editor)
   Cisco Systems
   United States of America
   Email: dhrao@cisco.com

   Swadesh Agrawal (editor)
   Cisco Systems
   United States of America
   Email: swaagraw@cisco.com

   Co-authors
   Section 11
   Email: dhananjaya.rao@gmail.com

Rao, et al.               Expires 25 April 2024                [Page 85]