Networking Working Group                                JP. Vasseur, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                        Cisco Systems, Inc
Intended status: Standards Track                                R. Zhang
Expires: August 11, 2008                                      BT Infonet
                                                                N. Bitar
                                                                 Verizon
                                                             JL. Le Roux
                                                          France Telecom
                                                        February 8, 2008


 A Backward Recursive PCE-based Computation (BRPC) procedure to compute
     shortest inter-domain Traffic Engineering Label Switched Paths
                       draft-ietf-pce-brpc-07.txt

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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2008).

Abstract

   The ability to compute shortest constrained Traffic Engineering Label
   Switched Paths (TE LSPs) in Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and



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   Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) networks across multiple domains (where a
   domain is referred to as a collection of network elements within a
   common sphere of address management or path computational
   responsibility such as IGP areas and Autonomous Systems) has been
   identified as a key requirement.  This document specifies a procedure
   relying on the use of multiple Path Computation Elements (PCEs) in
   order to compute such inter-domain shortest constrained paths along a
   determined sequence of domains, using a backward recursive path
   computation technique while preserving confidentiality across
   domains, which is sometimes required when domains are managed by
   different Service Providers.

Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].


































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Table of Contents

   1.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  General assumptions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.  BRPC Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.1.  Domain path selection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.2.  Mode of Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   5.  PCEP Protocol Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   6.  VSPT Encoding  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   7.  Inter-AS TE Links  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   8.  Usage in conjunction with per-domain path computation  . . . . 10
   9.  BRPC procedure completion failure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   10. Applicability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     10.1. Diverse end-to-end path computation  . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     10.2. Path optimality  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   11. Reoptimization of an inter-domain TE LSP . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   12. Path Computation failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   13. Metric normalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   14. Manageability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     14.1. Control of Function and Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     14.2. Information and Data Models  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     14.3. Liveness Detection and Monitoring  . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     14.4. Verifying Correct Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     14.5. Requirements on Other Protocols and Functional
           Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     14.6. Impact on Network Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     14.7. Path computation chain monitoring  . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   15. IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     15.1. New flag of the RP object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     15.2. new Error-Type and Error-Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     15.3. New flag of the NO-PATH-VECTOR TLV . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   16. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   17. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   18. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     18.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     18.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Appendix A.  Proposed Status and Discussion [To Be Removed
                Upon Publication] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 19










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1.  Terminology

   ABR: routers used to connect two IGP areas (areas in OSPF or levels
   in IS-IS).

   ASBR: routers used to connect together ASes of the same or different
   Service Provider(s) via one or more Inter-AS links.

   Boundary Node (BN): a boundary node is either an ABR in the context
   of inter-area Traffic Engineering or an ASBR in the context of
   inter-AS Traffic Engineering.

   Entry BN of domain(n): a BN connecting domain(n-1) to domain(n) along
   a determined sequence of domains.

   Exit BN of domain(n): a BN connecting domain(n) to domain(n+1) along
   a determined sequence of domains.

   Inter-AS TE LSP: A TE LSP that crosses an AS boundary.

   Inter-area TE LSP: A TE LSP that crosses an IGP area boundary.

   LSR: Label Switching Router.

   LSP: Label Switched Path.

   PCC: Path Computation Client.  Any client application requesting a
   path computation to be performed by the Path Computation Element.

   PCE (Path Computation Element): an entity (component, application or
   network node) that is capable of computing a network path or route
   based on a network graph and applying computational constraints.

   PCE(i) is a PCE with the scope of domain(i).

   TED: Traffic Engineering Database.

   VSPT: Virtual Shortest Path Tree.

   The notion of contiguous, stitched and nested TE LSPs is defined in
   [RFC4726] and will not be repeated here.


2.  Introduction

   The requirements for inter-area and inter-AS MPLS Traffic Engineering
   have been developed by the Traffic Engineering Working Group (TE WG)
   and have been stated in [RFC4105] and [RFC4216], respectively.



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   The framework for inter-domain MPLS Traffic Engineering has been
   provided in [RFC4726].

   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-pd-path-comp] defines a technique for
   establishing inter-domain (G)MPLS TE LSP whereby the path is computed
   during the signalling process on a per-domain basis by the entry
   boundary node of each domain (each node in charge of computing a
   section of an inter-domain TE LSP path is always along the path of
   such TE LSP).  Such path computation technique fulfills some of the
   requirements stated in [RFC4105] and [RFC4216] but not all of them.
   In particular, it cannot guarantee to find an optimal (shortest)
   inter-domain constrained path.  Furthermore, it cannot be efficiently
   used to compute a set of inter-domain diversely routed TE LSPs.

   The PCE architecture is defined in [RFC4655].  The aim of this
   document is to describe a PCE-based path computation procedure to
   compute optimal inter-domain constrained (G)MPLS TE LSPs.

   Qualifying a path as optimal requires some clarification.  Indeed, a
   globally optimal TE LSP placement usually refers to a set of TE LSPs
   whose placements optimize the network resources with regards to a
   specified objective function (e.g., a placement that reduces the
   maximum or average network load while satisfying the TE LSP
   constraints).  In this document, an optimal inter-domain constrained
   TE LSP is defined as the shortest path satisfying the set of required
   constraints that would be obtained in the absence of multiple domains
   (in other words, in a totally flat IGP network between the source and
   destination of the TE LSP).


3.  General assumptions

   In the rest of this document, we make the following set of
   assumptions common to inter-area and inter-AS MPLS TE:

   - Each IGP area or Autonomous System (AS) is assumed to be Traffic
   Engineering enabled (i.e. running OSPF-TE or ISIS-TE and RSVP-TE).

   - No topology or resource information is distributed between domains
   (as mandated per [RFC4105] and [RFC4216]), which is critical to
   preserve IGP/BGP scalability and confidentiality.

   - While certain constraints like bandwidth can be used across
   different domains, other TE constraints like resource affinity,
   color, metric, etc. as listed in [RFC2702] could be translated at
   domain boundaries.  If required, it is assumed that, at the domain
   boundary nodes, there will exist some sort of local mapping based on
   policy agreement, in order to translate such constraints across



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   domain boundaries during the inter-PCE communication process.

   - Each AS can be made of several IGP areas.  The path computation
   procedure described in this document applies to the case of a single
   AS made of multiple IGP areas, multiple ASes made of a single IGP
   area or any combination of the above.  For the sake of simplicity,
   each AS will be considered to be made of a single area in this
   document.  The case of an Inter-AS TE LSP spanning multiple ASes
   where some of those ASes are themselves made of multiple IGP areas
   can be easily derived from this case by applying the BRPC procedure
   described in this document, recursively.

   - The domain path (set of domains traversed to reach the destination
   domain) is either administratively pre-determined or discovered by
   some means that are outside of the scope of this document.


4.  BRPC Procedure

   The BRPC procedure is a Multiple-PCE path computation technique as
   described in [RFC4655].  A possible model consists of hosting the PCE
   function on boundary nodes (e.g., ABR or ASBR) but this is not
   mandated by the BRPC procedure.

   The BRPC procedure does not make any assumption with regards to the
   nature of the inter-domain TE LSP that could be contiguous, nested or
   stitched.

   Furthermore, no assumption is made on the actual path computation
   algorithm in use by a PCE (e.g., it can be any variant of CSPF or an
   algorithm based on linear-programming to solve multi-constraints
   optimization problems).

4.1.  Domain path selection

   The PCE-based BRPC procedure applies to the computation of an optimal
   constrained inter-domain TE LSP.  The sequence of domains to be
   traversed can either be determined a priori or during the path
   computation procedure.  The BRPC procedure guarantees to compute the
   optimal path across a specific sequence of traversed domains (which
   constitutes an additional constraint).  In the case of an arbitrary
   set of meshed domains, the BRPC procedure can be used to compute the
   optimal path across each domain set in order to get the optimal
   constrained path between the source and the destination of the TE
   LSP.  The BRPC procedure can also be used across a subset of all
   domain sequences, and the best path among these sequences can then be
   selected.




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4.2.  Mode of Operation

   Definition of VSPT(i)

   In each domain i:

   * There is a set of X-en(i) entry BNs noted BN-en(k,i) where BN-
   en(k,i) is the kth entry BN of domain(i).

   * There is a set of X-ex(i) exit BNs noted BN-ex(k,i) where BN-
   ex(k,i) is the kth exit BN of domain(i).

   VSPT(i): MP2P (MultiPoint To Point) tree returned by PCE(i) to
   PCE(i-1):


               Root (TE LSP destination)
               /         I            \
         BN-en(1,i)   BN-en(2,i) ... BN-en((j), i).

   Where [X-en(i)] is the number of entry BN in domain i
   and j<= [X-en(i)]

                 Figure 1 - MP2P Tree


   Each link of tree VSPT(i) represents the shortest constrained path
   between BN-en(j,i) (identified by its TE Router-ID) and the TE LSP
   destination that satisfies the set of required constraints for the TE
   LSP (bandwidth, affinities, ...).  These are path segments to reach
   the TE LSP destination from BN-en(j,i).

   Note that PCE(i) only considers the entry BNs that provide
   connectivity from domain(i-1).  That is, the set BN-en(k,i-1) is only
   made of those BNs that provide connectivity from domain (i-1) to
   domain(i).  Furthermore, some BNs may be excluded according to policy
   constraints (either due to local policy or policies signaled in the
   path computation request).

   Step 1: the PCC needs to first determine the PCE capable of serving
   its path computation request (this can be done thanks to local
   configuration or via IGP discovery (see [RFC5088] and [RFC5089])).
   The path computation request is then relayed until reaching a PCE(n)
   such that the TE LSP destination resides in the domain(n).  At each
   step of the process, the next PCE can either be statically configured
   or dynamically discovered via IGP/BGP extensions.  If no next PCE can
   be found or the next hop PCE of choice is unavailable, the procedure
   stops and a path computation error is returned (see Section 9).  If



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   multiple PCEs are discovered, the PCE may select a subset of these
   PCEs based on some local policies or heuristics.  The PCE selection
   process is outside of the scope of this document.  Note also that a
   sequence of PCEs might be enforced by policy on the PCC and this
   constraint can be carried in the PCEP path computation request (as
   defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-monitoring]).

   Step 2: PCE(n) computes VSPT(n) made of the list of shortest
   constrained path(s) between every BN-en(j,n) and the TE LSP
   destination using a suitable path computation algorithm (e.g.  CSPF)
   and returns the computed VSPT(n) to PCE(n-1).

   Step i:

   - For i=n-1 to 2: PCE(i) concatenates the topology of domain(i)
   (using its TED) with the received VSPT(i+1).

   In the case of Inter-AS TE LSP computation, this requires to also add
   the inter-AS TE links connecting the domain(i) to the domain(i+1).

   Then PCE(i) computes VSPT(i) (MP2P (Multi-Point to Point) tree made
   of the shortest constrained paths between each BN-en(j,i) and the TE
   LSP destination).

   End

   Finally PCE(1) computes the end-to-end shortest constrained path from
   the source to the destination and returns the corresponding path to
   the requesting PCC in the form of a PCRep message as defined in
   [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep].

   Each branch of the VSPT tree (path) may be returned in the form of an
   explicit path (in which case all the hops along the path segment are
   listed) or a loose path (in which case only the BR is specified) so
   as to preserve confidentiality along with the respective cost.  In
   the later case, various techniques can be used in order to retrieve
   the computed explicit paths on a per domain basis during the
   signaling process thanks to the use of path keys as described in
   [I-D.ietf-pce-path-key].

   BRPC guarantees to find the optimal (shortest) constrained inter-
   domain TE LSP according to a set of defined domains to be traversed.
   Note that other variants of the BRPC procedure relying on the same
   principles are also possible.

   Note also that in case of ECMP paths, more than one path could be
   returned to the requesting LSR.




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5.  PCEP Protocol Extensions

   The BRPC procedure requires the specification of a new flag of the RP
   object carried within the PCReq message (defined in
   [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]) to specify that the shortest paths satisfying
   the constraints from the destination to the set of entry boundary
   nodes are requested (such set of paths forms the downstream VSPT as
   specified in Section 4.2).

   The following new flag of the RP object is defined:

   VSPT Flag
   Bit Number      Name Flag
     7                VSPT

   When set, the VSPT Flag indicates that the PCC requests the
   computation of an inter-domain TE LSP using the BRPC procedure
   defined in this document.

   Because path segment(s) computed by a downstream PCE in the context
   of the BRPC procedure MUST be provided along with their respective
   path cost(s), the C flag of the METRIC object carried within the
   PCReq message MUST be set.  It is the choice of the requester to
   appropriately set the O bit of the RP object.


6.  VSPT Encoding

   The VSPT is returned within a PCRep message.  The encoding consists
   of a non-ordered lists of EROs where each ERO represents a path
   segment from an ABR to the destination specified in the END-POINT
   object of the corresponding PCReq message.

   Example:


   <---- area 1 ----><---- area 0 -----><------ area 2 ------>
                                       ABR1-A-B-+
                                        |       |
                                       ABR2-----D
                                        |       |
                                       ABR3--C--+

    Figure 2 - An Example of VPST Encoding Using a Set of EROs

   In the simple example shown in figure 2, if we make the assumption
   that a constrained path exists between each ABR and the destination
   D, the VSPT computed by a PCE serving area 2 consists of the



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   following non-ordered set of EROs:

   o  ERO1: ABR1(TE Router ID)-A(Interface IP address)-B(Interface IP
      address)-D(TE Router ID)

   o  ERO2: ABR2(TE Router ID)-D(TE Router ID)

   o  ERO3: ABR3(TE Router ID)-C(interface IP adress)-D(TE Router ID)

   The PCERep message, PCRep message, PCEP END-POINT and ERO objects are
   defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]


7.  Inter-AS TE Links

   In the case of Inter-AS TE LSP path computation, the BRPC procedure
   requires the knowledge of the traffic engineering attributes of the
   Inter-AS TE links: the process by which the PCE acquires this
   information is out of the scope of the BRPC procedure, which is
   compliant with the PCE architecture defined in [RFC4655].

   That said, a straightforward solution consists of allowing the ASBRs
   to flood the TE information related to the inter-ASBR link(s)
   although no IGP TE is enabled over those links (there is no IGP
   adjacency over the inter-ASBR links).  This allows the PCE of a
   domain to get entire TE visibility up to the set of entry ASBRs in
   the downstream domain (see the IGP extensions defined in
   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-isis-interas-te-extension] and
   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-ospf-interas-te-extension]).


8.  Usage in conjunction with per-domain path computation

   The BRPC procedure may be used to compute path segments in
   conjunction with other path computation techniques (such as the per-
   domain path computation technique defined in
   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-pd-path-comp]) to compute the end-to-end
   path.  In this case end-to-end path optimality can no longer be
   guaranteed.


9.  BRPC procedure completion failure

   If the BRPC procedure cannot be completed because a PCE along the
   domain path does not support the procedure, a PCErr message MUST be
   returned to the upstream PCE with a Error-Type "BRPC procedure
   completion failure".  The PCErr message MUST be relayed to the
   requesting PCC.



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   PCEP-ERROR objects are used to report a PCEP protocol error and are
   characterized by an Error-Type which specifies the type of error and
   an Error-value that provides additional information about the error
   type.  Both the Error-Type and the Error-Value are managed by IANA.
   A new Error-Type is defined that relates to the BRPC procedure.

 Error-type          Meaning
     13              BRPC procedure completion failure
                      Error-value
                          1: BRPC procedure not supported by one or more PCEs
                             along the domain path


10.  Applicability

   As discussed in Section 3, the requirements for inter-area and
   inter-AS MPLS Traffic Engineering have been developed by the Traffic
   Engineering Working Group (TE WG) and have been stated in [RFC4105]
   and [RFC4216], respectively.  Among the set of requirements, both
   documents indicate the need for some solution providing the ability
   to compute an optimal (shortest) constrained inter-domain TE LSP and
   to compute a set of diverse inter-domain TE LSPs.

10.1.  Diverse end-to-end path computation

   PCEP (see [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]) allows a PCC to request the
   computation of a set of diverse TE LSPs thanks to the SVEC object by
   setting the flags L, N or S to request link, node or SRLG diversity
   respectively.  Such request MUST be taken into account by each PCE
   along the path computation chain during the VSPT computation.  In the
   context of the BRPC procedure, a set of diversely routed TE LSP
   between two LSRs can be computed since the paths segment(s) of the
   VSPT are simultaneously computed by a given PCE.  The BRPC procedure
   allows for the computation of diverse paths under various objective
   functions (such as minimizing the sum of the costs of the N diverse
   paths, etc).

   By constrast, with a 2-step approach consisting of computing the
   first path followed by the computation of the second path after
   having removed the set of network elements traversed by the first
   path (if that does not violate confidentiality preservation), one
   cannot guarantee that a solution will be found even if such solution
   exists.  Furthermore, even if a solution is found, it may not be the
   most optimal one with respect to an objective function such as
   minimizing the sum of the paths costs, bounding the path delays of
   both paths and so on.  Finally, it must be noted that such a 2-step
   path computation approach is usually less efficient in term of
   signalling delays since it requires two serialized TE LSP set up.



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10.2.  Path optimality

   BRPC guarantees that the optimal (shortest) constrained inter-domain
   path will always be found subject to policy constraints.  When
   combined with other local path computation techniques (e.g. in the
   case of stitched/nested TE LSP) and in the case where a domain has
   more than one BR-en or more than one BR-ex, optimality after some
   network change within the domain can only be guaranteed by re-
   executing the BRPC procedure.


11.  Reoptimization of an inter-domain TE LSP

   The ability to reoptimize an existing inter-domain TE LSP path has
   been explicitly listed as a requirement in [RFC4105] and [RFC4216].
   In the case of a TE LSP reoptimization request, the reoptimization
   procedure defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep] applies where the path in
   use (if available on the head-end) is provided as part of the path
   computation request in order for the PCEs involved in the
   reoptimization request to avoid double bandwidth accounting.


12.  Path Computation failure

   If a PCE requires to relay a path computation request according to
   the BRPC procedure defined in this document to a downstream PCE and
   no such PCE is available, the PCE MUST send a negative path
   computation reply to the requester using a PCReq message as specified
   in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep] that contains a NO-PATH object.  In such case,
   the NO-PATH object MUST carry a NO-PATH-VECTOR TLV (defined in
   [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]) with the newly defined bit named "BRPC Path
   Computation chain unavailable" set.

   Bit number     Name Flag
      4           BRPC Path computation chain unavailable


13.  Metric normalization

   In the case of inter-area TE, the same IGP/TE metric scheme is
   usually adopted for all the IGP areas (e.g., based on the link-speed,
   propagation delay or some other combination of link attributes).
   Hence, the proposed set of mechanisms always computes the shortest
   path across multiple areas obeying the required set of constraints
   with respect to a specified objective function.  Conversely, in the
   case of Inter-AS TE, in order for this path computation to be
   meaningful, a metric normalization between ASes may be required.  One
   solution to avoid IGP metric modification would be for the Service



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   Providers to agree on a TE metric normalization scheme and use the TE
   metric for TE LSP path computation (in that case, this must be
   requested in the PCEP Path computation request) thanks to the METRIC
   object (defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]).


14.  Manageability Considerations

   This section follows the guidance of
   [I-D.ietf-pce-manageability-requirements].

14.1.  Control of Function and Policy

   The only configurable item is the support of the BRPC procedure on a
   PCE.  The support of the BRPC procedure by the PCE MAY be controlled
   by a policy module governing the conditions under which a PCE should
   participate to the BRPC procedure (origin of the requests, number of
   requests per second, ...).  If the BRPC is not supported/allowed on a
   PCE, it MUST send a PCErr message as specified in Section 9.

14.2.  Information and Data Models

   A BRPC MIB module will be specified in a separate document.

14.3.  Liveness Detection and Monitoring

   The BRPC procedure is a Multiple-PCE path computation technique and
   as such a set of PCEs are involved in the path computation chain.  If
   the path computation chain is not operational either because at least
   one PCE does not support the BRPC procedure or because one of the
   PCEs that must be involved in the path computation chain is not
   available, procedures are defined to report such failures in
   Section 9 and Section 12 respectively.  Furthermore, a built-in
   diagnostic tool to check the availability and performances of a PCE
   chain is defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-monitoring].

14.4.  Verifying Correct Operation

   Verifying the correct operation of BRPC can be done by looking at the
   TEDs related to the various domains traversed by a TE LSP at the time
   the BRPC procedure was invoked and verify that the path computed by
   the BRPC procedure is the expected optimal inter-domain constrained
   path (the path that would be obtained in the absence of multiple
   domains).







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14.5.  Requirements on Other Protocols and Functional Components

   The BRPC procedure does not put any new requirements on other
   protocol.  That said, since the BRPC procedure relies on the PCEP
   protocol, there is a dependency between BRPC and PCEP; consequently
   the BRPC procedure inherently makes use of the management functions
   developed for PCEP.

14.6.  Impact on Network Operation

   The BRPC procedure does not have any significant impact on network
   operation: indeed, BRPC is a Multiple-PCE path computation scheme as
   defined in [RFC4655] and does not differ from any other path
   computation request.

14.7.  Path computation chain monitoring

   [I-D.ietf-pce-monitoring] specifies a set of mechanisms that can be
   used to gather PCE state metrics.  Because BRPC is a Multiple-PCE
   path computation techniques, such mechanism could be advantageously
   used in the context of the BRPC procedure to check the liveness of
   the path computation chain, locate a faulty component, monitor the
   overall performance and so on.


15.  IANA Considerations

15.1.  New flag of the RP object

   A new flag of the RP object (specified in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]) is
   defined in this document.

   VSPT Flag
   Bit Number      Name Flag    Reference
     7                VSPT      This document

15.2.  new Error-Type and Error-Value

   A new Error-Type is defined in this document (Error-Type and Error-
   value to be assigned by IANA).











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    Error-type       Meaning                             Reference
        13           BRPC procedure completion failure   This document
                     Error-value
                      1: BRPC procedure not supported by
                         one a PCE along the domain path

15.3.  New flag of the NO-PATH-VECTOR TLV

   A new flag of the NO-PATH-VECTOR TLV defined in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep])
   is specified in this document.

    Bit number  Meaning                  Reference

       4        BRPC Path computation   This document
                chain unavailable


16.  Security Considerations

   The BRPC procedure relies on the use of the PCEP protocol and as such
   is subjected to the potential attacks listed in section 11 of
   [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep].  In addition to the security mechanisms
   described in [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep] with regards to spoofing, snooping,
   falsification and Denial of Service, an implementation MAY support a
   policy module governing the conditions under which a PCE should
   participate to the BRPC procedure.

   The BRPC procedure does not increase the information exchanged
   between ASes and preserves topology confidentiality, in compliance
   with [RFC4105] and [RFC4216].


17.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank Arthi Ayyangar, Dimitri
   Papadimitriou, Siva Sivabalan and Meral Shirazipour for their useful
   comments.  A special thank to Adrian Farrel for his useful comments
   and suggestions.


18.  References

18.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-pce-pcep]
              Ayyangar, A., Oki, E., Atlas, A., Dolganow, A., Ikejiri,
              Y., Kumaki, K., Vasseur, J., and J. Roux, "Path
              Computation Element (PCE) communication Protocol (PCEP)",



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              draft-ietf-pce-pcep-09 (work in progress), November 2007.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC4655]  Farrel, A., Vasseur, J., and J. Ash, "A Path Computation
              Element (PCE)-Based Architecture", RFC 4655, August 2006.

18.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-pd-path-comp]
              Vasseur, J., Ayyangar, A., and R. Zhang, "A Per-domain
              path computation method for establishing Inter-domain
              Traffic  Engineering (TE) Label Switched Paths (LSPs)",
              draft-ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-pd-path-comp-06 (work in
              progress), November 2007.

   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-rsvp-te]
              Ayyangar, A., "Inter domain Multiprotocol Label Switching
              (MPLS) and Generalized MPLS  (GMPLS) Traffic Engineering -
              RSVP-TE extensions",
              draft-ietf-ccamp-inter-domain-rsvp-te-07 (work in
              progress), September 2007.

   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-isis-interas-te-extension]
              Chen, M. and R. Zhang, "ISIS Extensions in Support of
              Inter-AS Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)  and
              Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) Traffic Engineering",
              draft-ietf-ccamp-isis-interas-te-extension-00 (work in
              progress), February 2008.

   [I-D.ietf-ccamp-ospf-interas-te-extension]
              Chen, M., Zhang, R., and X. Duan, "OSPF Extensions in
              Support of Inter-AS Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
              and Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) Traffic Engineering",
              draft-ietf-ccamp-ospf-interas-te-extension-02 (work in
              progress), November 2007.

   [I-D.ietf-pce-manageability-requirements]
              Farrel, A., "Inclusion of Manageability Sections in PCE
              Working Group Drafts",
              draft-ietf-pce-manageability-requirements-02 (work in
              progress), August 2007.

   [I-D.ietf-pce-monitoring]
              Vasseur, J., Roux, J., and Y. Ikejiri, "A set of
              monitoring tools for Path Computation Element based
              Architecture", draft-ietf-pce-monitoring-01 (work in



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              progress), February 2008.

   [I-D.ietf-pce-path-key]
              Bradford, R., "Preserving Topology Confidentiality in
              Inter-Domain Path Computation Using a  Key-Based
              Mechanism", draft-ietf-pce-path-key-01 (work in progress),
              September 2007.

   [RFC2702]  Awduche, D., Malcolm, J., Agogbua, J., O'Dell, M., and J.
              McManus, "Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over MPLS",
              RFC 2702, September 1999.

   [RFC4105]  Le Roux, J., Vasseur, J., and J. Boyle, "Requirements for
              Inter-Area MPLS Traffic Engineering", RFC 4105, June 2005.

   [RFC4216]  Zhang, R. and J. Vasseur, "MPLS Inter-Autonomous System
              (AS) Traffic Engineering (TE) Requirements", RFC 4216,
              November 2005.

   [RFC4726]  Farrel, A., Vasseur, J., and A. Ayyangar, "A Framework for
              Inter-Domain Multiprotocol Label Switching Traffic
              Engineering", RFC 4726, November 2006.

   [RFC5088]  Le Roux, JL., Vasseur, JP., Ikejiri, Y., and R. Zhang,
              "OSPF Protocol Extensions for Path Computation Element
              (PCE) Discovery", RFC 5088, January 2008.

   [RFC5089]  Le Roux, JL., Vasseur, JP., Ikejiri, Y., and R. Zhang,
              "IS-IS Protocol Extensions for Path Computation Element
              (PCE) Discovery", RFC 5089, January 2008.


Appendix A.  Proposed Status and Discussion [To Be Removed Upon
             Publication]

   This Internet-Draft is being submitted for eventual publication as an
   RFC with a proposed status of Standard.  Discussion of this proposal
   should take place on the following mailing list: pce@ietf.org.













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Authors' Addresses

   JP Vasseur (editor)
   Cisco Systems, Inc
   1414 Massachusetts Avenue
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Email: jpv@cisco.com


   Raymond Zhang
   BT Infonet
   2160 E. Grand Ave.
   El Segundo, CA  90025
   USA

   Email: raymond_zhang@bt.infonet.com


   Nabil Bitar
   Verizon
   40 Sylvan Road
   Waltham, MA  02145
   USA

   Email: nabil.bitar@verizon.com


   JL Le Roux
   France Telecom
   2, Avenue Pierre-Marzin
   Lannion,   22307
   FRANCE

   Email: jeanlouis.leroux@orange-ft.com















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Full Copyright Statement

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