IPPM G. Fioccola
Internet-Draft K. Zhu
Intended status: Informational Huawei
Expires: 13 December 2026 T. Graf
Swisscom
L. Zhang
China Mobile
M. Nilo
FiberCop
11 June 2026
Alternate Marking Deployment Framework
draft-ietf-ippm-alt-mark-deployment-06
Abstract
This document provides a framework for Alternate Marking deployment
and includes considerations and guidance for the deployment of the
methodology.
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 13 December 2026.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2026 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
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
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.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. AltMark Deployment Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. AltMark Measurement Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Type of Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. AltMark Deployment Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.1. YANG Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.2. PCEP and BGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. Data Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.1. IPFIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7.2. YANG-Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7.3. Hybrid Two-Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8. Encapsulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8.1. IPv6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.2. SRv6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.3. BIER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.4. MPLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.5. SFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.6. NVO3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
9. Operational Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
11. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
13. Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
14. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
14.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
14.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1. Introduction
The Alternate Marking [RFC9341] and Clustered Alternate Marking
[RFC9342] define the Alternate Marking technique that is a hybrid
performance measurement method, per [RFC7799] classification of
measurement methods. This method is based on marking consecutive
batches of packets and it can be used to measure packet loss,
latency, and jitter on live traffic.
The first experiments on Alternate-Marking were described in
[RFC8321] and [RFC8889].
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
According to the definitions of [RFC7799], the Alternate-Marking
Method can be classified as Hybrid Type I. Indeed, Alternate Marking
can be implemented by using reserved bits in the protocol header, and
the change in value of these marking bits at the source node is
formally considered a modification of the stream of interest.
This document complements [RFC9341] and [RFC9342] as it explains the
mechanisms that can be used to manage and deploy the method.
This document can be considered as the base document to deploy the
Alternate Marking Method. There are three complementary documents to
be considered for the manageability aspects:
[I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark-yang], that defines the a YANG Data Model
for the Alternate Marking Method for configuration;
[I-D.ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang], that defines an On-Path
Telemetry YANG Data Model for notification;
[I-D.ietf-opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark], that defines IPFIX Alternate-
Marking Information Elements.
1.1. 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.
1.2. Terminology
Abbreviations used in this document:
AltMark: Alternate-Marking
NMS: Network Management System
IPv6: Internet Protocol version 6
SRv6: Segment Routing over IPv6 dataplane
BIER: Bit Index Explicit Replication
MPLS: Multi-Protocol Label Switching
SFC: Service Function Chaining
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
NVO3: Network Virtualization Overlays
IPFIX: IP Flow Information Export
YANG: Yet Another Next Generation
PCEP: Path Computation Element Communication Protocol
BGP: Border Gateway Protocol
2. AltMark Deployment Domain
The Alternate Marking Method MUST be deployed in a controlled domain
for security and compatibility reasons. In this regard, [RFC8799]
reports further examples of specific limited domain solutions. It is
not common that the user traffic originates and terminates within the
controlled domain. For this reason, it will typically only be
applicable in an overlay network, where user traffic is encapsulated
at one domain border, decapsulated at the other domain border and the
encapsulation incorporates the relevant extension header for
Alternate Marking. This requirement also implies that an
implementation MUST filter packets that carry Alternate Marking data
and are entering or leaving the controlled domain.
A controlled domain is a managed network where it is required to
select, monitor and control the access to the network by enforcing
policies at the domain boundaries in order to discard undesired
external packets entering the domain and check the internal packets
leaving the domain. It does not necessarily mean that a controlled
domain is a single administrative domain or a single organization. A
controlled domain can correspond to a single administrative domain or
can be composed by multiple administrative domains under a defined
network management. Indeed, some scenarios may imply that the
Alternate Marking Method involves more than one domain, but in these
cases, it is RECOMMENDED that the multiple domains create a whole
controlled domain while traversing the external domain by employing
IPsec authentication and encryption or other VPN technology that
provides full packet confidentiality and integrity protection. In a
few words, it must be possible to control the domain boundaries and
eventually use specific precautions if the traffic traverse the
Internet. Note that, if there is a trust relationship between
different entities, the controlled domain can still be considered.
The different entities just need to agree on how to manage it in
terms of configuration and reporting.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
The Alternate Marking measurement domain can overlap with the
controlled domain or may be a subset of the controlled domain. The
typical scenarios for the application of the Alternate Marking Method
depend on the controlled domain boundaries, in particular:
the user equipment can be the starting or ending node, only in
case it is fully managed and if it belongs to the controlled
domain. In this case the user generated packets contain the
Alternate Marking data. But, in practice, this is not common due
to the fact that the user equipment cannot be totally secured in
the majority of cases.
the CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) or the PE (Provider Edge)
routers are most likely to be the starting or ending nodes since
they can be border routers of the controlled domain. For
instance, the CPE, which connects the user's premises with the
service provider's network, belongs to a controlled domain only if
it is managed by the service provider and if additional security
measures are taken to keep it trustworthy. Typically the CPE or
the PE can encapsulate a received packet in an outer header which
contains the Alternate Marking data. They can also be able to
filter and drop packets from outside of the domain with
inconsistent fields to make effective the relevant security rules
at the domain boundaries, for example a simple security check can
be to insert the Alternate Marking data if and only if the
destination is within the controlled domain.
3. AltMark Measurement Nodes
An Alternate-Marking Domain consists of marking nodes, unmarking
nodes, and transit nodes.
A marking node, also called encapsulating node, incorporates the
AltMark Data Fields into packets in order to enable Alternate-
Marking. If the Alternate-Marking method is enabled for a
selected flow of the traffic, the encapsulating node is
responsible for applying the AltMark functionality to the selected
flow and to take initial timestamps and packet counters.
A transit node only reads AltMark Data Fields in order to take
timestamps and packet counters.
An unmarking node, also called decapsulating node, reads AltMark
Data Fields in order to take final timestamps and packet counters
and then removes any AltMark Data Fields from packets.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
Configuration Configuration Configuration Configuration
and and and and
Export of Export of Export of Export of
AltMark data AltMark data AltMark data AltMark data
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
User +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
packets |Marking | | Transit | | Transit | |Unmarking|
-------->|Node |====>| Node |====>| Node |====>|Node |-->
| | | A | | B | | |
+---------+ +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
Figure 1: Roles of Alternate-Marking Nodes
4. Type of Measurements
The methodology described in the previous sections can be applied to
various performance measurement problems. The only requirement is to
select and mark the flow to be monitored; in this way, packets are
batched by the sender, and each batch is alternately marked such that
it can be easily recognized by the receiver.
Either one or two flag bits might be available for marking in
different deployments:
One flag: packet loss measurement MUST be done as described in
Section 3.1 of [RFC9341], while delay measurement MUST be done
according to the single-marking method described in Section 3.2.1
of [RFC9341]. Mean delay (Section 3.2.1.1 of [RFC9341]) MAY also
be used but it could imply more computational load.
Two flags: packet loss measurement MUST be done as described in
Section 3.1 of [RFC9341], while delay measurement MUST be done
according to double-marking method Section 3.2.2 of [RFC9341]. In
this case single-marking MAY also be used in combination with
double-marking and the two approaches provide slightly different
pieces of information that can be combined to have a more robust
data set.
There are some operational guidelines to consider for the purpose of
deciding to follow the recommendations above and use one or two
flags.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
The Alternate-Marking method utilizes specific flags in the packet
header, so an important factor is the number of flags available
for the implementation. Indeed, if there is only one flag
available there is no other way, while if two flags are available
the option with two flags is certainly more complete.
The duration of the Alternate-Marking period affects the frequency
of the measurement and this is a parameter that can be decided on
the basis of the required temporal sampling. But it cannot be
freely chosen, as explained in Section 5 of [RFC9341].
The Alternate-Marking methodologies enable packet loss, delay and
delay variation calculation, but in accordance with the method
used (e.g. single-marking or double-marking), there is different
kind of information that can be derived. For example, to get more
statistics of extent data, the option with two flags is desirable.
For this reason, the type of data needed in the specific scenario
is an additional element to take into account.
The Alternate-Marking methods imply different computational load
depending on the method employed. Therefore, the available
computational resources on the measurement points can also
influence the choice. As an example, mean delay calculation may
require more processing and it may not be the best option to
minimize the computational load.
A deployment of the Alternate-Marking Method should also take into
account how to handle and recognize marked and unmarked traffic.
Since Alternate-Marking normally employs a marking field which is
dedicated, reserved, and included in a protocol extension, the
measurement points can learn whether the measurement is activated or
not by checking if the specific extension is included or not within
the packets.
5. AltMark Deployment Framework
Figure 2 shows an overview of the Alternate-Marking Deployment
Framework, including Network Configuration and Data Collection
functions, which can also be implemented in different systems.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
+----------------+
+---------------+ |
| Network | |
| Configuration | |
| and | |
| Data | |
| Collection |-+
+---------------+
|
|
|
|
+---------------+-------+-------+---------------+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
User +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+
packets |Marking | | Transit | | Transit | |Unmarking|
-------->|Node |====>| Node |====>| Node |====>|Node |-->
| | | A | | B | | |
+---------+ +---------+ +---------+ +---------+
Figure 2: Alternate-Marking Framework with Configuration and Data
Export
6. Configuration
Several mechanisms can be used for configuration and, in particular,
YANG Model, PCEP and BGP. These are needed to signal and configure
the parameters to identify the flow to monitor both in case of point-
to-point flow and multipoint-to-multipoint flow. Indeed, the
selection of the identification fields directly affects the type of
paths that the flow would follow in the network. As an example, for
IPv6 the setting of the Flow Monitoring Identification (FlowMonID) is
used in combination with source and destination addresses to identify
a flow, as described in Section 5.3 of [RFC9343], and it can be
pseudo-randomly generated by the source node or assigned by the
central controller.
Additionally, other parameters are essential for the activation of
the AltMark methodology: the choice between end-to-end or hop-by-hop
measurement, the choice between the methods with one flag or two
flags and the duration of the Alternate-Marking period which affects
the measurement frequency (longer the duration of the block, the less
frequently the measurement can be taken).
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
6.1. YANG Model
The YANG model can be used for the definition of the AltMark data
sent over network management protocols such as the NETCONF and
RESTCONF. They can be used for configuring Alternate-Marking in
network nodes that support it. An example of the Alternate-Marking
YANG model is defined in [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark-yang].
6.2. PCEP and BGP
There are also other control plane mechanisms to advertise and
activate AltMark capabilities, using PCEP and BGP:
[I-D.ietf-idr-sr-policy-ifit], [I-D.ietf-idr-bgp-ifit-capabilities],
[I-D.ietf-pce-pcep-ifit], [I-D.he-idr-bgp-flowspec-ifit].
7. Data Export
Each packet marked for Alternate-Marking, as for example the AltMark
IPv6 option type defined in Section 3.1 of [RFC9343] or the Segment
Routing TLV Type as defined in Section 3.1 of [RFC9947] is counted or
timestamped according to the method. The export of data can be done
using the IPFIX or YANG push metering process depending which Network
Telemetry [RFC9232] protocol is used to export the data.
There are two options for the computation:
The NMS acts as Collector. The loss and delay metrics are
computed on the NMS by comparing the packet counts and timestamps
at each AltMark period, according to the AltMark technique
[RFC9341] [RFC9342].
The computation of loss and delay metrics can be done directly on
the node, if we assume that the relevant counters and timestamps
are carried with the packet and available on the node. According
to [RFC9951], it is possible to export the delay performance
metrics in IPFIX. Therefore, assuming we have the counter and
timestamp information directly on the node, as enabled by
[RFC9947], the delay can be computed on the router.
When data are collected, packet counts and timestamps are reported to
the collector, but a certain synchronization mechanism is required to
ensure that the collected data is correlated properly. Therefore,
the Period Number (PN) can be used to help to determine the packet
counts related to the same block of markers, or the timestamps
related to the same marked packet. The PN is generated each time a
node reads the packet counts or timestamps, and is associated with
each packet count and timestamp reported. The assumption is that the
nodes are time synchronized as described in [RFC9341] and [RFC9342].
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
The PN can be calculated as the modulo of the local time (when the
counts or timestamps are read) and the interval of the marking time
period.
Note that, in addition to IPFIX, YANG-Push and Hydrid Two-Step, which
are reported below, it is also possible to employ gRPC, an open
source Remote Procedure Call (RPC) framework for exporting telemetry
data.
7.1. IPFIX
For IPFIX [RFC7011], new Information Elements (IEs) for FlowMonID,
Loss and Delay flag are needed so that the data can be aggregated
according to the Alternate-Marking Method. The new IEs to export
Alternate Marking measurement data are specified in
[I-D.ietf-opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark].
The IPFIX entities, which are of interest to describe the
relationship to the forwarding topology and the control-plane are
further described in [I-D.ietf-opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark].
7.2. YANG-Push
For YANG-Push [RFC8641], periodic subscription as defined in
Section 3.1 of [RFC8641] is used to subscribe data.
[I-D.ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang] introduces a YANG data model
for monitoring Alternate-Marking telemetry data.
Since the amount of observed data could overwhelm a router processor
on a network node, publishing data from network processors as
specified in [I-D.ietf-netconf-distributed-notif] is advised.
7.3. Hybrid Two-Step
Another option for collecting AltMark data can be the Hybrid Two-Step
(HTS) approach, defined in [I-D.ietf-ippm-hybrid-two-step]. It is a
method of telemetry collection that separates the act of measuring
the performance metric from collecting this information. A packet in
the flow to which the AltMark method is applied can be used as an HTS
Trigger, while the HTS Follow-up packet is then generated to collect
the measurement data from the nodes, as further detailed in
[I-D.ietf-ippm-hybrid-two-step].
8. Encapsulations
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
The Alternate-Marking encapsulation for IPv6 is defined in [RFC9343],
which also discusses deployment considerations for IPv6 networks.
The IPv6 AltMark Option [RFC9343] applies the Alternate Marking
Method to IPv6, and defines an Extension Header Option to encode the
Alternate Marking Method for both the Hop-by-Hop Options Header and
the Destination Options Header.
[I-D.zhou-ippm-enhanced-alternate-marking] defines extended data
fields for the IPv6 AltMark Option and provides enhanced capabilities
to overcome some challenges and enable future proof applications.
It is worth mentioning that the enhanced capabilities are intended
for further use and are optional.
Other alternatives for the application of the Alternate-Marking
Method to IPv6 are introduced in
[I-D.wang-ippm-ipv6-flow-measurement] and
[I-D.wang-ippm-ipv6-distributed-flow-measurement].
The Alternate-Marking encapsulation for SRv6 is discussed in IPv6
AltMark Option [RFC9343] and [RFC9947]. However, it is to be noted
that [RFC9343] also applies to SRv6. While [RFC9947] is an
alternative experimental approach and it uses an experimental TLV in
the SRH.
The Alternate-Marking encapsulation for BIER is introduced in
[I-D.ietf-bier-pmmm-oam].
The Alternate-Marking application to MPLS has some options, as
introduced in [RFC9571], [RFC9714], [I-D.cx-mpls-mna-inband-pm].
The Alternate-Marking encapsulation for SFC is introduced in
[I-D.mfm-ippm-sfc-nsh-pmamm].
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
The Alternate-Marking encapsulation for NVO3 is introduced in
[I-D.fmm-nvo3-pm-alt-mark].
9. Operational Considerations
This document aims to complement [RFC9341] and [RFC9342] in terms of
operation and manageability of the methodology. Indeed, the previous
sections cover the aspects related to configuration and data export.
[RFC9341] and [RFC9342] already include some recommendations for
deployment. Further details about the method operation are specified
for the different extensions: IPv6 [RFC9343], SRH [RFC9947], and MPLS
[RFC9714].
In a controlled domain, the nodes may support the AltMark specific
encapsulation and this also depends on the implementation. If a node
is configured to read the AltMark option, the measurement is done on
that node, otherwise it is simply not considered in the measurement.
Assuming that the measurement domain overlaps with the controlled
domain, the procedure for AltMark data encapsulation can be
summarized as follows:
* Ingress Marking Node: the Ingress Node of a controlled domain that
supports the Alternate Marking Method adds the AltMark data in the
the data packets.
* Intermediate Transit Node: if an Intermediate Node is not capable
of processing the AltMark data, it simply ignores it. If an
Intermediate Node is capable of processing the AltMark data, it
processes it.
* Egress Unmarking Node: The Egress Node is the last node of the
controlled domain. The processing if the AltMark data is similar
to the processing at the Intermediate Nodes. The only difference
is that it needs to remove the AltMark data from the the data
packets.
All the nodes in the AltMark measurement domain can be configured
using the YANG model in [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark-yang], while the data
can be exported using IPFIX [I-D.ietf-opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark] or the
on-path telemetry YANG model [I-D.ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang].
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 12]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
10. Security Considerations
Alternate Marking [RFC9341] and Clustered Alternate Marking [RFC9342]
analyze different security concerns and related solutions. These
aspects are valid and applicable also to this document. In
particular the fundamental security requirement is that Alternate
Marking MUST only be applied in a specific limited domain, as also
mentioned in [RFC8799].
11. IANA Considerations
This document has no request to IANA.
12. Acknowledgements
The authors of this document would like to thank Greg Mirsky,
Chongfeng Xie, Xiao Min, Benoit Claise for their comments and
reviews.
13. Contributors
Tianran Zhou
Huawei
Email: zhoutianran@huawei.com
Mauro Cociglio
Email: mauro.cociglio@outlook.com
Fabio Bulgarella
Telecom Italia
Email: fabio.bulgarella@guest.telecomitalia.it
Fabrizio Milan
FiberCop
Email: fabrizio.milan@fibercop.com
14. References
14.1. 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>.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 13]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
[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>.
[RFC9341] Fioccola, G., Ed., Cociglio, M., Mirsky, G., Mizrahi, T.,
and T. Zhou, "Alternate-Marking Method", RFC 9341,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9341, December 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9341>.
[RFC9342] Fioccola, G., Ed., Cociglio, M., Sapio, A., Sisto, R., and
T. Zhou, "Clustered Alternate-Marking Method", RFC 9342,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9342, December 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9342>.
14.2. Informative References
[I-D.cx-mpls-mna-inband-pm]
Cheng, W., Min, X., Gandhi, R., Mirsky, G., and G.
Fioccola, "MNA for Performance Measurement with Alternate
Marking Method", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
cx-mpls-mna-inband-pm-08, 27 February 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-cx-mpls-mna-
inband-pm-08>.
[I-D.fmm-nvo3-pm-alt-mark]
Fioccola, G., Mirsky, G., and T. Mizrahi, "Performance
Measurement (PM) with Alternate Marking in Network
Virtualization Overlays (NVO3)", Work in Progress,
Internet-Draft, draft-fmm-nvo3-pm-alt-mark-03, 23 October
2018, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-fmm-
nvo3-pm-alt-mark-03>.
[I-D.he-idr-bgp-flowspec-ifit]
hexiaoming, X., Wang, A., Cheng, W., Dong, J., and X. Min,
"BGP Extensions to Enable BGP FlowSpec based IFIT", Work
in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-he-idr-bgp-flowspec-
ifit-03, 25 May 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-he-idr-bgp-
flowspec-ifit-03>.
[I-D.ietf-bier-pmmm-oam]
Mirsky, G., Zheng, L., Chen, M., and G. Fioccola,
"Performance Measurement (PM) with Marking Method in Bit
Index Explicit Replication (BIER) Layer", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-bier-pmmm-oam-16, 7
November 2024, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-ietf-bier-pmmm-oam-16>.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 14]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
[I-D.ietf-idr-bgp-ifit-capabilities]
Fioccola, G., Pang, R., Wang, S., Decraene, B., Zhuang,
S., and H. Wang, "Advertising In-situ Flow Information
Telemetry (IFIT) Capabilities in BGP", Work in Progress,
Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-idr-bgp-ifit-capabilities-09,
17 April 2026, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-ietf-idr-bgp-ifit-capabilities-09>.
[I-D.ietf-idr-sr-policy-ifit]
Qin, F., Yuan, H., Yang, S., Zhou, T., and G. Fioccola,
"BGP SR Policy Extensions to Enable IFIT", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-idr-sr-policy-ifit-
12, 17 April 2026, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-ietf-idr-sr-policy-ifit-12>.
[I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark-yang]
Graf, T., Wang, M., Fioccola, G., Zhou, T., and X. Min, "A
YANG Data Model for the Alternate Marking Method", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ippm-alt-mark-yang-
02, 2 January 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ippm-
alt-mark-yang-02>.
[I-D.ietf-ippm-hybrid-two-step]
Mirsky, G., Lingqiang, W., Zhui, G., Song, H., and P.
Thubert, "Hybrid Two-Step Performance Measurement Method",
Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ippm-hybrid-
two-step-06, 19 September 2025,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ippm-
hybrid-two-step-06>.
[I-D.ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang]
Fioccola, G., Zhou, T., Zhu, Y., Zhang, W., and K. Zhu,
"On-Path Telemetry YANG Data Model", Work in Progress,
Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang-02,
2 January 2026, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-ietf-ippm-on-path-telemetry-yang-02>.
[I-D.ietf-netconf-distributed-notif]
Zhou, T., Zheng, G., Voit, E., Graf, T., and P. Francois,
"Subscription to Notifications in a Distributed
Architecture", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
ietf-netconf-distributed-notif-19, 13 April 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netconf-
distributed-notif-19>.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 15]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
[I-D.ietf-opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark]
Graf, T., Fioccola, G., Zhou, T., and Y. Zhu, "IP Flow
Information Export (IPFIX) Alternate-Marking Information
Elements", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-
opsawg-ipfix-alt-mark-05, 27 February 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-opsawg-
ipfix-alt-mark-05>.
[I-D.ietf-pce-pcep-ifit]
Yuan, H., 王雪荣, Yang, P., Li, W., and G. Fioccola, "Path
Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP)
Extensions to Enable IFIT", Work in Progress, Internet-
Draft, draft-ietf-pce-pcep-ifit-08, 2 January 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-pce-
pcep-ifit-08>.
[I-D.mfm-ippm-sfc-nsh-pmamm]
Mirsky, G., Fioccola, G., and T. Mizrahi, "Performance
Measurement (PM) with Alternate Marking Method in Service
Function Chaining (SFC) Network Service Header (NSH)
Domain", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-mfm-ippm-
sfc-nsh-pmamm-00, 1 April 2022,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-mfm-ippm-sfc-
nsh-pmamm-00>.
[I-D.wang-ippm-ipv6-distributed-flow-measurement]
Wang, H., Li, J., Lin, C., Min, X., and G. Mirsky,
"Distributed Flow Measurement in IPv6", Work in Progress,
Internet-Draft, draft-wang-ippm-ipv6-distributed-flow-
measurement-06, 29 December 2024,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-wang-ippm-
ipv6-distributed-flow-measurement-06>.
[I-D.wang-ippm-ipv6-flow-measurement]
Li, J., Li, Z., Lin, C., Min, X., and G. Mirsky, "Flow
Measurement in IPv6 Network", Work in Progress, Internet-
Draft, draft-wang-ippm-ipv6-flow-measurement-10, 12
January 2026, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-wang-ippm-ipv6-flow-measurement-10>.
[I-D.zhou-ippm-enhanced-alternate-marking]
Zhou, T., Fioccola, G., Liu, Y., Pang, R., Xiong, L., Lee,
S., Cociglio, M., and W. Li, "Enhanced Alternate Marking
Method", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-zhou-
ippm-enhanced-alternate-marking-19, 5 June 2026,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-zhou-ippm-
enhanced-alternate-marking-19>.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 16]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
[RFC7011] Claise, B., Ed., Trammell, B., Ed., and P. Aitken,
"Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX)
Protocol for the Exchange of Flow Information", STD 77,
RFC 7011, DOI 10.17487/RFC7011, September 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7011>.
[RFC7799] Morton, A., "Active and Passive Metrics and Methods (with
Hybrid Types In-Between)", RFC 7799, DOI 10.17487/RFC7799,
May 2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7799>.
[RFC8321] Fioccola, G., Ed., Capello, A., Cociglio, M., Castaldelli,
L., Chen, M., Zheng, L., Mirsky, G., and T. Mizrahi,
"Alternate-Marking Method for Passive and Hybrid
Performance Monitoring", RFC 8321, DOI 10.17487/RFC8321,
January 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8321>.
[RFC8641] Clemm, A. and E. Voit, "Subscription to YANG Notifications
for Datastore Updates", RFC 8641, DOI 10.17487/RFC8641,
September 2019, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8641>.
[RFC8799] Carpenter, B. and B. Liu, "Limited Domains and Internet
Protocols", RFC 8799, DOI 10.17487/RFC8799, July 2020,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8799>.
[RFC8889] Fioccola, G., Ed., Cociglio, M., Sapio, A., and R. Sisto,
"Multipoint Alternate-Marking Method for Passive and
Hybrid Performance Monitoring", RFC 8889,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8889, August 2020,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8889>.
[RFC9232] Song, H., Qin, F., Martinez-Julia, P., Ciavaglia, L., and
A. Wang, "Network Telemetry Framework", RFC 9232,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9232, May 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9232>.
[RFC9343] Fioccola, G., Zhou, T., Cociglio, M., Qin, F., and R.
Pang, "IPv6 Application of the Alternate-Marking Method",
RFC 9343, DOI 10.17487/RFC9343, December 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9343>.
[RFC9571] Bryant, S., Ed., Swallow, G., Chen, M., Fioccola, G., and
G. Mirsky, "Extension of RFC 6374-Based Performance
Measurement Using Synonymous Flow Labels", RFC 9571,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9571, May 2024,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9571>.
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 17]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
[RFC9714] Cheng, W., Ed., Min, X., Ed., Zhou, T., Dai, J., and Y.
Peleg, "Encapsulation for MPLS Performance Measurement
with the Alternate-Marking Method", RFC 9714,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9714, February 2025,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9714>.
[RFC9947] Fioccola, G., Zhou, T., Mishra, G., Wang, X., Zhang, G.,
and M. Cociglio, "Application of the Alternate-Marking
Method to the Segment Routing Header", RFC 9947,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9947, March 2026,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9947>.
[RFC9951] Graf, T., Claise, B., and A. Huang-Feng, "Export of Delay
Performance Metrics in IP Flow Information Export
(IPFIX)", RFC 9951, DOI 10.17487/RFC9951, April 2026,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9951>.
Authors' Addresses
Giuseppe Fioccola
Huawei
Viale Martesana, 12
20055 Vimodrone (Milan)
Italy
Email: giuseppe.fioccola@huawei.com
Keyi Zhu
Huawei
156 Beiqing Rd.
Beijing
100095
China
Email: zhukeyi@huawei.com
Thomas Graf
Swisscom
Binzring 17
CH-8045 Zurich
Switzerland
Email: thomas.graf@swisscom.com
Lin Zhang
China Mobile
Email: zhanglin1@cmdi.chinamobile.com
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 18]
Internet-Draft alternate-marking-deployment June 2026
Massimo Nilo
FiberCop
Email: massimo.nilo@fibercop.com
Fioccola, et al. Expires 13 December 2026 [Page 19]
