IDMR Working Group D. Thaler
Internet Engineering Task Force U. Michigan
INTERNET-DRAFT D. Estrin
October 30, 1997 USC/ISI
Expires April 1998 D. Meyer
U. Oregon
Editors
Border Gateway Multicast Protocol (BGMP):
Protocol Specification
<draft-ietf-idmr-gum-01.txt>
Status of this Memo
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documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its Areas, and
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Abstract
This document describes BGMP, a protocol for inter-domain multicast
routing. BGMP builds shared trees for active multicast groups, and
allows receiver domains to build source-specific, inter-domain,
distribution branches where needed. Building upon concepts from CBT and
PIM-SM, BGMP requires that each multicast group be associated with a
single root (in BGMP it is referred to as the root domain). BGMP
assumes that at any point in time, different ranges of the class D space
are associated (e.g., with MASC [MASC]) with different domains. Each of
these domains then becomes the root of the shared domain-trees for all
groups in its range. Multicast participants will generally receive
better multicast service if the session initiator's address allocator
selects addresses from its own domain's part of the space, thereby
Draft BGMP October 1997
causing the root domain to be local to at least one of the session
participants.
1. Acknowledgements
In addition to the authors, the following individuals have
contributed to the design of BGMP: Cengiz Alaettinoglu, Tony
Ballardie, Steve Casner, Steve Deering, Dino Farinacci, Bill Fenner,
Mark Handley, Ahmed Helmy, Van Jacobson, and Satish Kumar.
This document is the product of the IETF IDMR Working Group with Dave
Thaler, Deborah Estrin, and David Meyer as editors.
2. Purpose
It has been suggested that inter-domain multicast is better supported
with a rendezvous mechanism whereby members receive source's data
packets without any sort of global broadcast (e.g., DVMRP and PIM-DM
broadcast initial data packets and MOSPF broadcasts membership
information). CBT [CBT] and PIM-SM [PIMSM] use a shared group-tree,
to which all members join and thereby hear from all sources (and to
which non-members do not join and thereby hear from no sources).
This document describes BGMP, a protocol for inter-domain multicast
routing. BGMP builds shared trees for active multicast groups, and
allows domains to build source-specific, inter-domain, distribution
branches where needed. Building upon concepts from CBT and PIM-SM,
BGMP requires that each global multicast group be associated with a
single root. However, in BGMP, the root is an entire exchange or
domain, rather than a single router.
BGMP assumes that ranges of the class D space have been associated
(e.g., with MASC [MASC]) with selected domains. Each such domain then
becomes the root of the shared domain-trees for all groups in its
range. An address allocator will generally achieve better
distribution trees if it takes its multicast addresses from its own
domain's part of the space, thereby causing the root domain to be
local.
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3. Terminology
This document uses the following technical terms:
Domain:
A set of one or more contiguous links and zero or more routers
surrounded by one or more multicast border routers. Note that this
loose definition of domain also applies to an external link between
two domains, as well as an exchange.
Root Domain:
When constructing a shared tree of domains for some group, one
domain will be the "root" of the tree. The root domain receives
data from each sender to the group, and functions as a rendezvous
domain toward which member domains can send inter-domain joins, and
to which sender domains can send data.
Multicast RIB:
The Routing Information Base, or routing table, used to calculate
the "next-hop" towards a particular address for multicast traffic.
Multicast IGP (M-IGP):
A generic term for any multicast routing protocol used for tree
construction within a domain. Typical examples of M-IGPs are:
DVMRP, PIM-DM, PIM-SM, CBT, and MOSPF.
EGP: A generic term for the interdomain unicast routing protocol in use.
Typically, this will be some version of BGP which can support a
Multicast RIB, such as BGP4+ [MBGP], containing both unicast and
multicast address prefixes.
Component:
The portion of a border router associated with (and logically
inside) a particular domain that runs the multicast IGP (M-IGP) for
that domain, if any. Each border router thus has zero or more
components inside routing domains. In addition, each border router
with external links that do not fall inside any routing domain will
have an inter-domain component that runs BGMP.
External peer:
A border router in another multicast AS (autonomous system, as used
in BGP), to which an eBGP session is open.
Internal peer:
Another border router of the same multicast AS. A border router
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either speaks iBGP ("internal" BGP) directly to internal peers in a
full mesh, or indirectly through an route reflector [REFLECT].
Next-hop peer:
The next-hop peer towards a given IP address is the next EGP router
on the path to the given address, according to multicast RIB routes
in the EGP's routing table (e.g., in BGP4+, routes whose Subsequent
Address Family Identifier field indicates that the route is valid
for multicast traffic).
target:
Either an EGP peer, or an M-IGP component on the same router.
Tree State Table:
This is a table of (S-prefix,G-prefix) entries (including (*,G-
prefix) entries) that have been explicitly joined by a set of
targets. Each entry has, in addition to the source and group
addresses and masks, a list of targets that have explicitly
requested data (on behalf of directly connected hosts or on behalf
of downstream routers). (S,G) entries also have an "SPT" bit.
4. Protocol Overview
BGMP maintains group-prefix state in response to messages from BGMP
peers and notifications from M-IGP components. Group-shared trees are
rooted at the domain advertising the group prefix covering those
groups. When a receiver joins a specific group address, the border
router towards the root domain generates a group-specific Join
message, which is then forwarded Border-Router-by-Border-Router
towards the root domain (see Figure 1). Note that BGMP Join and
Prune messages are sent over TCP connections between BGMP peers, and
hence BGMP protocol state is refreshed by the TCP keep-alives.
BGMP routers build group-specific bidirectional forwarding state as
they process the BGMP Join messages. Bidirectional forwarding state
means that packets received from any target are forwarded to all
other targets in the target list without any RPF checks. No group-
specific state or traffic exists in parts of the network where there
are no members of that group.
BGMP routers build source-specific unidirectional forwarding state
only where it is needed to be compatible with source-specific M-IGP
distribution trees. For example, a transit domain that uses DVMRP,
PIM-DM, or PIM-SM as its M-IGP, may need to inject multicast packets
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from different sources via different border routers (to be compatible
with the M-IGP RPF checks). Therefore, the BGMP router that is
responsible for injecting a particular source's packets may build a
source-specific BGMP branch if it is not already receiving that
source's packets via the shared tree (see Transit_1 in Figure 1, for
Src_A). Note however, that a stub domain that has only a single ISP
connection will receive all multicast data packets through the single
BGMP router to which all RPF checks point; and therefore that BGMP
router need never build external source-specific distribution paths
(see Rcvr_Stub_7 in Figure 1).
Root_Domain
[BR61]--------------------------\
| |
[BR32] [BR41]
Transit_3 Transit_4
[BR31] [BR42] [BR43]
| | |
[BR22] [BR52] [BR53]
Transit_2 Transit_5
[BR21] [BR51]
| |
[BR12] [BR61]
Transit_1[BR11]----------[BR62]Stub_6
[BR13] (Src_A)
| (Rcvr_D)
-------------------
| |
[BR71] [BR81]
Rcvr_Stub_7 Src_only_Stub_8
(Rcvr_C) (Src_B)
Figure 1: Example inter-domain topology. [BRXY] represents a BGMP border
router. Transit_X is a transit domain network. *_Stub_X is a stub
domain network.
Data packets are forwarded based on a combination of BGMP and M-IGP
rules. The router forwards to a set of targets according to a
matching (S,G) BGMP tree state entry if it exists. If not found, the
router checks for a matching (*,G) BGMP tree state entry. If neither
is found, then the packet is sent natively to the next-hop EGP peer
for G, according to the Multicast RIB (for example, in the case of a
non-member sender such as Src_B in Figure 1). If a matching entry was
found, the packet is forwarded to all other targets in the target
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list. In this way BGMP trees forward data in a bidirectional manner.
If a target is an M-IGP component then forwarding is subject to the
rules of that M-IGP protocol.
4.1. Design Rationale
Several other protocols, or protocol proposals, build shared trees
within domains [CBT, HPIM, PIM-SM]. The design choices made for BGMP
result from our focus on Inter-Domain multicast in particular. The
design choices made by CBT and PIM-SM are better suited to the wide-
area intra-domain case. There are three major differences between
BGMP and other shared-tree protocols:
(1) Unidirectional vs. Bidirectional trees
Bidirectional trees (using bidirectional forwarding state as
described above) minimize third party dependence which is essential
in the inter-domain context. For example, in Figure 1, stub domains 7
and 8 would like to exchange multicast packets without being
dependent on the quality of connectivity of the root domain.
However, unidirectional shared trees (i.e., those using RPF checks)
have more aggressive loop prevention and share the same processing
rules as source-specific entries which are inherently unidirectional.
The lack of third party dependence concerns in the INTRA domain case
reduces the incentive to employ bidirectional trees. BGMP supports
bidirectional trees because it has to, and because it can without
excessive cost.
(2) Source-specific distribution trees/branches
In a departure from other shared tree protocols, source-specific BGMP
state is built ONLY where (a) it IS needed to pull the multicast
traffic down to a BGMP router that has source-specific (S,G) state,
and (b) that router is NOT already on the shared tree (i.e., has no
(*,G) state). We build these source specific branches because most
M-IGP protocols in use today build source-specific distribution trees
and would suffer unnecessary overhead if they were not able to import
packets from high datarate sources via the border router that matches
the domain's source-specific RPF checks (e.g., BR11 in Figure 1, for
data from Src_A). Moreover, some cases in which bidirectional-shared
tree distribution paths are significantly longer than source-specific
tree distribution paths, will benefit from these source-specific
short cuts.
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However, we do not build source-specific inter-domain trees because
(a) inter-domain connectivity is generally less rich than intra-
domain connectivity, so shared distribution trees should have more
acceptible path length and traffic concentration properties in the
inter-domain context, than in the intra-domain case, and (b) by
having the shared tree state always take precedence over source-
specific tree state, we avoid ambiguities that can otherwise arise.
In summary, BGMP trees are, in a sense, a hybrid between CBT and
PIM-SM trees.
(3) Method of choosing root of group shared tree
The choice of a group's shared-tree-root has implications for
performance and policy. In the intra-domain case it can be assumed
that all potential shared-tree roots (RPs/Cores) within the domain
are equally suited to be the root for a group that is initiated
within that domain. In the INTER-domain case, there is far more
opportunity for unacceptably poor locality and administrative
ownership of a group's shared-tree root. Therefore in the intra-
domain case, other protocols treat all candidate roots (RPs or Cores)
as equivalent and emphasize load sharing and stability to maximize
performance. In the Inter-Domain case, all roots are not equivalent,
and we adopt an approach whereby a group's root domain is not random
and is subject to administrative and performance input.
5. Protocol Details
In this section, we describe the detailed protocol that border
routers perform. We assume that each border router conforms to the
component-based model described in [INTEROP].
5.1. Interaction with the EGP
A fundamental requirement imposed by BGMP on the design of an EGP is
that it be able to carry multicast prefixes. For example, a multi-
protocol BGP (MBGP) must be able to carry a multicast prefix in the
Unicast Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) field of the
UPDATE message (i.e., either a IPv4 class D prefix or a IPv6 prefix
with high-order octet equal to FF [IPv6MAA]). This capability is
required by BGMP in the implementation of bi-directional trees; BGMP
must be able to forward data and control packets to the next hop
towards either a unicast source S or a multicast group G (see section
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5.2). It is also required that the path attributes defined in
[RFC1771] have the same semantics whether they are accompany unicast
or multicast NLRI.
Note that BGP4+ [MBGP] can be easily extended to satisfy the
requirement described above. [MBGP] defines the optional transitive
attributes Multiprotocol Reachable NLRI (MP_REACH_NLRI) and
Multiprotocol Unreachable (MP_UNREACH_NRLI) to carry sets of
reachable or unreachable destinations, and the appropriate next hop
in the case of MP_REACH_NLRI. These attributes contain an Address
Family Information field [RFC1700] which indicates the type of NLRI
carried in the attribute. In addition, the attribute carries another
field, the Subsequent Address Family Identifier, or SAFI, which can
be used to provide additional information about the type of NLRI. For
example, SAFI value two indicates that the NLRI is valid for
multicast forwarding. BGMP's requirement can be satisfied by
allowing the NLRI field of the MP_REACH_NLRI (or MP_UNREACH_NLRI) to
carry a multicast prefix in the Prefix field of the NLRI encoding.
Finally, while not required for correct BGMP operation, the design of
an EGP should also provide a mechanism that allows discrimination
between NLRI that is to be used for unicast forwarding and NLRI to be
used for multicast forwarding. This property is required to support
multicast specific policy. As mentioned above, BGP4+ specified in
[MBGP] has this capability.
5.2. Multicast Data Packet Processing
For BGMP rules to be applied, an incoming packet must first be
"accepted":
o If the packet was received from an external peer, the packet is
accepted.
o If the packet arrived on an interface owned by an M-IGP, the M-IGP
component determines whether the packet should be accepted or
dropped according to its rules. If the packet is accepted, the
packet is forwarded (or not forwarded) out any other interfaces
owned by the same component, as specified by the M-IGP.
If the packet is accepted, then the router checks the tree state
table for a matching (S,G) entry. If one is found, but the packet
was not received from the next hop target towards S (if the entry's
SPT bit is True), or was not received from the next hop target
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towards G (if the entry's SPT bit is False) then the packet is
dropped and no further actions are taken. If no (S,G) entry was
found, the router then checks for a matching (*,G) entry.
If neither is found, then the packet is forwarded towards the next-
hop peer for G, according to the Multicast RIB. If a matching entry
was found, the packet is forwarded to all other targets in the target
list.
Forwarding to a target which is an M-IGP component means that the
packet is forwarded out any interfaces owned by that component
according to that component's multicast forwarding rules.
5.3. BGMP processing of Join and Prune messages and notifications
5.3.1. Receiving Joins
When the BGMP component receives a (*,G) or (S,G) Join alert from
another component, or a BGMP (S,G) or (*,G) Join message from a peer
(either internal or external), it searches the tree state table for a
matching entry. If an entry is found, and that peer is already
listed in the target list, then the entry's timer is restarted and no
further actions are taken.
Otherwise, if no (*,G) or (S,G) entry was found, one is created. In
the case of a (*,G), the target list is initialized to contain the
next-hop peer towards G, if it is an external peer. If the peer is
internal, the target list is initialized to contain the M-IGP
component owning the next-hop interface. If there is no next-hop
peer (because G is inside the domain), then the target list is
initialized to contain the next-hop component. If a (S,G) entry
exists for the same G for which the (*,G) Join is being processed,
and the next-hop peers toward S and G are different, the BGMP router
must first send a (S,G) Prune message toward the source and clear the
SPT bit on the (S,G) entry, before activating the (*,G) entry.
The component or peer from which the Join was received is then added
to the target list. The router then looks up S or G in the Multicast
RIB to find the next-hop EGP peer. If the target list, not including
the next-hop target towards G for a (*,G) entry, becomes non-null as
a result, the next-hop EGP peer must be notified as follows:
a) If the next-hop peer towards G (for a (*,G) entry) is an external
peer, a BGMP (*,G) Join message is unicast to the external peer.
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If the next-hop peer towards S (for an (S,G) entry) is an external
peer, and the router does NOT have any active (*,G) state for that
group address G, a BGMP (S,G) Join message is unicast to the
external peer. A BGMP (S,G) Join message is never sent to an
external peer by a router that also contains active (*,G) state
for the same group. If the next-hop peer towards S (for an (S,G
entry) is an external peer and the router DOES have active (*,G)
state for that group G, the SPT bit is always set to False.
b) If the next-hop peer is an internal peer, a BGMP (*,G) Join
message (for a (*,G) entry) or (S,G) Join message (for an (S,G)
entry) is unicast to the internal peer, In addition, a (*,G) or
(S,G) Join alert is sent to the M-IGP component owning the next-
hop interface.
c) If there is no next-hop peer, a (*,G) or (S,G) Join alert is sent
to the M-IGP component owning the next-hop interface.
5.3.2. Receiving Prune Notifications
When the BGMP component receives a (*,G) or (S,G) Prune alert from
another component, or a BGMP (*,G) or (S,G) Prune message from a peer
(either internal or external), it searches the tree state table for a
matching entry. If no (S,G) entry was found for an (S,G) Prune, but
(*,G) state exists, an (S,G) entry is created, with the target list
copied from the (*,G) entry. If no matching entry exists, or if the
component or peer is not listed in the target list, no further
actions are taken.
Otherwise, the component or peer is removed from the target list. If
the target list becomes null as a result, the next-hop peer towards G
(for a (*,G) entry), or towards S (for an (S,G) entry if and only if
the BGMP router does NOT have any corresponding (*,G) entry), must be
notified as follows.
a) If the peer is an external peer, a BGMP (*,G) or (S,G) Prune
message is unicast to it.
b) If the next-hop peer is an internal peer, a BGMP (*,G) or (S,G)
Prune message is unicast to the internal peer. In addition, a
(*,G) or (S,G) Prune alert is sent to the M-IGP component owning
the next-hop interface.
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c) If there is no next-hop peer, a (*,G) or (S,G) Prune alert is sent
to the M-IGP component owning the next-hop interface.
5.3.3. Receiving Route Change Notifications
When a border router receives a route for a new prefix in the
multicast RIB, or a existing route for a prefix is withdrawn, a route
change notification for that prefix must be sent to the BGMP
component. In addition, when the next hop peer (according to the
multicast RIB) changes, a route change notification for that prefix
must be sent to the BGMP component.
In addition, an internal route for each class-D prefix associated
with the domain (if any) MUST be injected into the multicast RIB in
the EGP by the domain's border routers.
When a route for a new group prefix is learned, or an existing route
for a group prefix is withdrawn, or the next-hop peer for a group
prefix changes, a BGMP router updates all affected (*,G) target
lists.
When an existing route for a source prefix is withdrawn, or the
next-hop peer for a source prefix changes, a BGMP router updates all
affected (S,G) target lists.
5.4. Interaction with M-IGP components
When an M-IGP component on a border router first learns that there
are internally-reached members for a group G (whose scope is larger
than a single domain), a (*,G) Join alert is sent to the BGMP
component. Similarly, when an M-IGP component on a border router
learns that there are no longer internally-reached members for a
group G (whose scope is larger than a single domain), a (*,G) Prune
alert is sent to the BGMP component.
At any time, any M-IGP domain MAY decide to join a source-specific
branch for some external source S and group G. When the M-IGP
component in the border router that is the next-hop router for a
particular source S learns that a receiver wishes to receive data
from S on a source-specific path, an (S,G) Join alert is sent to the
BGMP component. When it is learned that such receivers no longer
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exist, an (S,G) Prune alert is sent to the BGMP component. Recall
that the BGMP component will generate external source-specific Joins
only where the source-specific branch does not coincide with the
shared tree distribution tree for that group.
Finally, we will require that the border router that is the next-hop
internal peer for a particular address S or G be able to forward data
for a matching tree state table entry to all members within the
domain. This requirement has implications on specific M-IGPs as
follows.
5.4.1. Interaction with DVMRP and PIM-DM
DVMRP and PIM-DM are both "flood and prune" protocols in which every
data packet must pass an RPF check against the packet's source
address, or be dropped. If the border router receiving packets from
an external source is the only BR to inject the route for the source
into the domain, then there are no problems. For example, this will
always be true for stub domains with a single border router (see
Figure 1). Otherwise, the border router receiving packets externally
is responsible for encapsulating the data to any other border routers
that must inject the data into the domain for RPF checks to succeed.
When an intended border router injector for a source receives
encapsulated packets from another border router in its domain, it
should create source-specific (S,G) BGMP state. Note that the border
router may be configured to do this on a data-rate triggered bases so
that the state is not created for very low data rate/intermittent
sources. If source-specific state is created then its incoming
interface points to the virtual encapsulation interface from the
border router that forwarded the packet, and it has an SPT flag that
is initialized to be False.
When the (S,G) BGMP state is created, the BGMP component will in turn
send a BGMP (S,G) Join message to the next-hop external peer towards
S if there is no (*,G) state for that same group, G. The (S,G) BGMP
state will have the SPT bit set to False if (*,G) BGMP state is
present.
When the first data packet from S arrives from the external peer and
matches on the BGMP (S,G) state, and IF there is no (*,G) state, the
router sets the SPT flag to True, resets the incoming interface to
point to the external peer, and sends a BGMP (S,G) Prune message to
the border router that was encapsulating the packets (e.g., in Figure
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1, BR11 sends the (Src_A,G) Prune to BR12). When the border router
with (*,G) state receives the prune for (S,G), it should delete that
border router from its list of targets or outgoing interfaces.
PIM-DM and DVMRP present an additional problem, i.e., no protocol
mechanism exists for joining and pruning entire groups; only joins
and prunes for individual sources are available. We therefore require
that some form of Domain-Wide Reports (DWRs) [DWR] are available
within such domains. Such messages provide the ability to join and
prune an entire group across the domain. One simple heuristic to
approximate DWRs is to assume that if there are any internally-
reached members, then at least one of them is a sender. With this
heuristic, the presense of any M-IGP (S,G) state for internally-
reached sources can be used instead. Sending a data packet to a
group is then equivalent to sending a DWR for the group.
5.4.2. Interaction with CBT
CBT builds bidirectional shared trees but must address two points of
compatibility with BGMP. First, CBT is currently not specified to
accommodate more than one border router injecting a packet.
Therefore, if a CBT domain does have multiple external connections,
the M-IGP components of the border routers are responsible for
insuring that only one of them will inject data from any given
source. This mechanism is provided in [CBTDM].
Second, CBT cannot process source-specific Joins or Prunes. Two
options thus exist for each CBT domain:
Option A:
The CBT component interprets a (S,G) Join alert as if it were an
(*,G) Join alert, as described in [INTEROP]. That is, if it is not
already on the core-tree for G, then it sends a CBT (*,G) JOIN-
REQUEST message towards the core for G. Similarly, when the CBT
component receives an (S,G) Prune alert, and the child interface
list for a group is NULL, then it sends a (*,G) QUIT_NOTIFICATION
towards the core for G. This option has the disadvantage of
pulling all data for the group G down to the CBT domain when no
members exist.
Option B:
The CBT domain does not propagate any source routes (i.e., non-
class D routes) to their external peers for the Multicast RIB
unless it is known that no other path exists to that prefix (e.g.,
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routes for prefixes internal to the domain or in a singly-homed
customer's domain may be propagated). This insures that source-
specific joins are never received unless the source's data already
passes through the domain on the shared tree, in which case the
(S,G) Join need not be propagated anyway. BGMP border routers will
only send source-specific Joins or Prunes to an external peer if
that external peer advertises source-prefixes in the EGP. If a
BGMP-CBT border router does receive an (S,G) Join or Prune, that
border router should ignore the message.
5.4.3. Interaction with MOSPF
As with CBT, MOSPF cannot process source-specific Joins or Prunes,
and the same two options are available. Therefore, an MOSPF domain
may either:
Option A:
send a Group-Membership-LSA for all of G in response to a (S,G)
Join alert, and "prematurely age" it out (when no other downstream
members exist) in response to an (S,G) Prune alert, OR
Option B:
not propagate any source routes (i.e., non-class D routes) to their
external peers for the Multicast RIB unless it is known that no
other path exists to that prefix (e.g., routes for prefixes
internal to the domain or in a singly-homed customer's domain may
be propagated)
5.4.4. Interaction with PIM-SM
Protocols such as PIM-SM build unidirectional shared and source-
specific trees. As with DVMRP and PIM-DM, every data packet must
pass an RPF check against some group-specific or source-specific
address.
The fewest encapsulations/decapsulations will be done when the
intra-domain tree is rooted at the next-hop internal peer towards G
(which becomes the RP), since in general that router will receive the
most packets from external sources. To achieve this, each BGMP
border router to a PIM-SM domain should send Candidate-RP-
Advertisements within the domain for those groups for which it is the
shared-domain tree ingress router. When the border router that is the
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RP for a group G receives an external data packet, it forwards the
packet according to the M-IGP (i.e., PIM-SM) shared-tree outgoing
interface list.
Other border routers will receive data packets from external sources
that are farther down the bidirectional tree of domains. When a
border router that is not the RP receives an external packet for
which it does not have a source-specific entry, the border router
treats it like a local source by creating (S,G) state with a Register
flag set, based on normal PIM-SM rules; the Border router then
encapsulates the data packets in PIM-SM Registers and unicasts them
to the RP for the group. As explained above, the RP for the inter-
domain group will be one of the other border routers of the domain.
If a source's data rate is high enough, DRs within the PIM-SM domain
may switch to the shortest path tree. If the shortest path to an
external source is via the group's ingress router for the shared
tree, the new (S,G) state in the BGMP border router will not cause
BGMP (S,G) Joins because that border router will already have (*,G)
state. If however, the shortest path to an external source is via
some other border router, that border router will create (S,G) BGMP
state in response to the M-IGP (S,G) Join alert. In this case,
because there is no local (*,G) state to supress it, the border
router will send a BGMP (S,G) Join to the next-hop external peer
towards S, in order to pull the data down directly. (See BR11 in
Figure 1.) As in normal PIM-SM operation, those PIM-SM routers that
have (*,G) and (S,G) state pointing to different incoming interfaces
will prune that source off the shared tree. Therefore, all internal
interfaces may be eventually pruned off the internal shared tree.
6. Interaction with address allocation
6.1. Requirements for BGMP components
Each border router must be able to determine (e.g., from MASC [MASC])
which class-D prefixes (if any) belong to each domain in which a
component resides.
Periodically, the router then multicasts to the domain-scoped ALL-
PA-RECEIVERS group within each domain that has one or more class-D
prefixes, a Prefix-Announcement message containing those prefixes.
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6.2. Interaction with Address Allocators
Each address allocator SHOULD join the domain-scoped ALL-PA-RECEIVERS
group, and SHOULD allocate addresses from the prefix(es) announced to
this group.
7. Transition Strategy
There have been significant barriers to multicast deployment in
Internet backbones. While many of the problems with the current
DVMRP backbone (MBONE) have been documented in [ISSUES], most of
these problems require longer term engineering solutions. However,
there is much that can be done with existing technologies to enable
deployment and put in place an architecture that will enable a smooth
transition to the next generation of inter-domain multicast routing
protocols (i.e., BGMP). This section proposes a near-term transition
strategy and architecture that is designed to be simple, risk-
neutral, and provide a smooth, incremental transition path to BGMP.
In addition, the transition architecture provides for improved
convergence properties, some initial policy control, and the
opportunity for providers to run either native or tunneled multicast
backbones and exchanges.
The transition strategy proposed here is to initially use BGP4+
[MBGP] to provide the desired convergence and policy control
properties, and PIM-DM for multicast data forwarding. Once this
architecture is in place, backbones and exchanges can incrementally
transition to BGMP and domains running other M-IGPs may be
incorporated more fully.
Since the current MBone uses a broadcast-and-prune backbone running
DVMRP, BGMP may view the entire MBone as a single multi-homed stub
domain (with a new AS number). The members-are-senders heuristic can
then be used initially to provide membership notifications within
this stub domain.
A BGMP backbone can then be formed by designating a neutral PIM-DM
domain (say, a particular exchange) as the initial BGMP backbone.
This domain is then associated with the group prefix 224/4 which is
injected into the Multicast RIB by all BGP4+/BGMP border routers on
that exchange.
Any domain which meets the following constraints may then transition
from a normal MBone-connected domain to one running BGMP:
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(1) Must peer with another BGMP domain and participate in M-BGP to
propagate routes in the Multicast RIB.
(2) Must establish an internal (to the MBone AS) EGP (e.g., iBGP) peer
relationship with other border routers of the MBone "stub" domain,
as is done with unicast routing. We expect this to eventually
involve the use of one or more route reflectors [REFLECT] inside
the MBone domain.
(3) If the transition will partition the MBone "stub" domain, then it
must be insured that the MBone domain will be administratively
split into multiple domains, each with a different multicast AS
number.
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7.1. Preventing transit through the MBone stub
We desire that two AS's which are mutually reachable through BGMP use
paths which do not pass through the MBone stub domain. This is
illustrated in Figure 2, where the MBone stub is AS 5, which is
multi-homed to both AS 3 and AS 4. Paths between sources and
destinations which have already transitioned to BGP4+/BGMP should not
use AS 5 as transit unless no other path exists.
----------------------\ /----------------------------
| |
DVMRP /----\ | | /----\ IGP/iBGP
..............| BR |+++++++++| BR |-----------
\----/ | E | \----/
+ | B | + AS 3
MBone + | G | +
+ | P \-----+----------------------
AS 5 iBGP + | + eBGP
+ | /-----+----------------------
+ | | +
+ | | +
DVMRP /----\ | | /----\ IGP/iBGP
..............| BR |+++++++++| BR |-----------
\----/ | | \----/
| | AS 4
| |
----------------------/ \----------------------------
Figure 2: Preventing Transit through MBone Stub
This requirement is easily solved using standard BGP policy
mechanisms. The MBone border routers should prefer EGP routes to
DVMRP routes, since DVMRP cannot tag routes as being external. Thus,
external routes may appear in the DVMRP routing table, but will not
be imported into the EGP since they will be overridden by iBGP
routes.
Other EGP routers should prefer routes whose ASpath does not contain
the well-known MBone AS number. This will insure that the route
through the MBone stub is not used unless no other path exists. For
safety, routes whose ASpath begins with the MBone AS should receive
the worst preference.
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8. Packet Formats
WARNING: These formats are preliminary and may change as a result of
adding features such as capability negotiation.
BGMP only uses one type of message, in which join and prune
information is sent. Since BGMP messages are sent over TCP, only
state changes are included. The TCP keep-alive mechanism thus serves
as an explicit state refresh mechanism; when the TCP connection goes
down, all related state should be flushed.
The message format below allows compact encoding of (*,G-prefix)
Joins and Prunes (12 bytes per group, for IPv4), while allowing the
flexibility needed to do (S,G) Joins and Prunes towards soures as
well as on the shared tree.
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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved |X|R|M| AddrLen | Addr Family | Encoding Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Group-Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Group-Mask |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Source-Entry-1 ...
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +
| Source-Entry-2 ...
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +
| ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +
| Source-Entry-n ...
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +
Reserved Transmitted as 0, ignored upon receipt. This field
is reserved for future additions, such as version
and message type fields, should they become
necessary.
X Reserved bit. Transmitted as 0, ignored upon
receipt.
R Root-Domain-tree bit. If set, the sender desires to
be (or continue to be) part of the shared tree
through the peer, and any source entries are (S,G)
joins and prunes on the shared tree. If clear, the
sender does not desire to be part of the shared tree
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through the peer, and any source entries are (S,G)
joins and prunes towards soures.
M More-sources bit. If set, then source entries exist
for this group.
AddrLen Length, in bytes, of the Group-Address field.
AddrFamily Address family (see below) of the group address.
Encoding Type The type of encoding used within a specific Address
Family. The value `0' is reserved for this field,
and represents the native encoding of the Address
Family.
Group-Address The multicast group address to be joined or pruned.
Group-Mask The mask associated with the group address. The
length of this field should be identical to the
length of the address field.
Each Source-Entry 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
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| MaskLen |X|I|M| AddrLen | Addr Family | Encoding Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Source-Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Masklen Length, in bits, of the mask to apply to the
address.
X Reserved bit. Transmitted as 0, ignored upon
receipt.
I Inclusion bit. When set, the source entry
indicates an addition, or join. When clean, the
source entry indicates a removal, or prune.
M More-sources bit. If set, then more source entries
follow for the same group.
AddrLen Length, in bytes, of the Source-Address field.
AddrFamily Address family (see below) of the source address.
Encoding Type The type of encoding used within a specific Address
Family. The value `0' is reserved for this field,
and represents the native encoding of the Address
Family.
Source-Address Unicast source address to be joined or pruned.
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8.1. Encoding examples
R Group : I Source | Description
-----------------------+---------------------------------------------
1 G/mask | (*,G-prefix) join
0 G/mask | (*,G-prefix) prune
0 G/ffffffff: 1 S/32 | (S,G) Join towards S. This is also used to
| switch from a (*,G) Join to an (S,G) Join,
| such as when the next hop peer towards G
| changes, but it is advantagous to continue
| receiving S's data from the peer.
0 G/ffffffff: 0 S/32 | (S,G) Prune towards S
1 G/ffffffff: 0 S/32 | (S,G) Prune towards root-domain. This is
| also used to send an initial (*,G) join with
| S pruned, at the same time (such as when the
| next hop peer towards G changes after S has
| already been pruned off).
1 G/ffffffff: 1 S/32 | (S,G) Join cancelling prune towards root-
| domain.
9. References
[MBGP]
Bates, T., Chandra, R., Katz, D., and Y. Rekhter., "Multiprotocol
Extensions for BGP-4", draft-ietf-idr-bgp4-multiprotocol-01.txt,
September 1997.
[CBT]
Ballardie, A. J., "Core Based Trees (CBT) Multicast: Architectural
Overview and Specification", University College London, November
1994.
[CBTDM]
Ballardie, A., "Core Based Tree (CBT) Multicast Border Router
Specification" draft-ietf-idmr-cbt-br-spec-00.txt, October 1997.
[DVMRP]
Pusateri, T., "Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol", draft-
ietf-idmr-dvmrp-v3-05.txt, October 1997.
[DWR]
Fenner, W., "Domain-Wide Reports", Work in progress.
[INTEROP]
Thaler, D., "Interoperability Rules for Multicast Routing
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Protocols", draft-thaler-multicast-interop-01.txt, March 1997.
[IPv6MAA]
R. Hinden, S. Deering, "IPv6 Multicast Address Assignments",
draft-ietf-ipngwg-multicast-assgn-04.txt, July 1997.
[ISSUES]
Meyer, D., "Some Issues for an Inter-domain Multicast Routing
Protocol", draft-ietf-mboned-imrp-some-issues-02.txt, June 1997.
[MASC]
Estrin, D., Handley, M, and D. Thaler, "Multicast-Address-Set
advertisement and Claim mechanism", Work in Progress, June 1997.
[MOSPF]
Moy, J., "Multicast Extensions to OSPF", RFC 1584, Proteon, March
1994.
[PIMDM]
Estrin, et al., "Protocol Independent Multicast-Dense Mode (PIM-
DM): Protocol Specification", draft-ietf-idmr-pim-dm-spec-05.txt,
May 1997.
[PIMSM]
Estrin, et al., "Protocol Independent Multicast-Sparse Mode (PIM-
SM): Protocol Specification", RFC 2117, June 1997.
[REFLECT]
Bates, T., and R. Chandra, "BGP Route Reflection: An alternative to
full mesh IBGP", RFC 1966, June 1996.
[RFC1700]
S. J. Reynolds, J. Postel, "ASSIGNED NUMBERS", RFC 1700, October
1994.
[RFC1771]
Y. Rekhter, T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 1771,
March 1995.
10. Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
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11. Authors' Addresses
Dave Thaler
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Michigan
1301 Beal Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
Phone: +1 313 763 5243
EMail: thalerd@eecs.umich.edu
Deborah Estrin
Computer Science Dept./ISI
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Email: estrin@usc.edu
David Meyer
University of Oregon
1225 Kincaid St.
Eugene, OR 97403
Phone: (541) 346-1747
EMail: meyer@antc.uoregon.edu
Table of Contents
1 Acknowledgements ................................................ 2
2 Purpose ......................................................... 2
3 Terminology ..................................................... 3
4 Protocol Overview ............................................... 4
4.1 Design Rationale .............................................. 6
5 Protocol Details ................................................ 7
5.1 Interaction with the EGP ...................................... 7
5.2 Multicast Data Packet Processing .............................. 8
5.3 BGMP processing of Join and Prune messages and notifications
.............................................................. 9
5.3.1 Receiving Joins ............................................. 9
5.3.2 Receiving Prune Notifications ............................... 10
5.3.3 Receiving Route Change Notifications ........................ 11
5.4 Interaction with M-IGP components ............................. 11
5.4.1 Interaction with DVMRP and PIM-DM ........................... 12
5.4.2 Interaction with CBT ........................................ 13
5.4.3 Interaction with MOSPF ...................................... 14
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5.4.4 Interaction with PIM-SM ..................................... 14
6 Interaction with address allocation ............................. 15
6.1 Requirements for BGMP components .............................. 15
6.2 Interaction with Address Allocators ........................... 16
7 Transition Strategy ............................................. 16
7.1 Preventing transit through the MBone stub ..................... 18
8 Packet Formats .................................................. 19
8.1 Encoding examples ............................................. 21
9 References ...................................................... 21
10 Security Considerations ........................................ 22
11 Authors' Addresses ............................................. 23
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