IETF Internet Draft PCE Working Group                 Jerry Ash (AT&T)
Proposed Status: Informational                                  Editor
Expires: January 2006                    J.L. Le Roux (France Telecom)
                                                                Editor

                                                             July 2005


           draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt

         PCE Communication Protocol Generic Requirements


Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
   have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes
   aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.

   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."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 26, 2005.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

   The PCE model is described in the "PCE Architecture" document and
   facilitates path computation requests from Path Computation Clients
   (PCCs) to Path Computation Elements (PCEs).  This document specifies
   generic requirements for a communication protocol between PCCs and
   PCEs, and also between PCEs where cooperation between PCEs is
   desirable.  Subsequent documents will specify application-specific
   requirements for the PCE communication protocol.

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 1]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005



Table of Contents

1. Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Conventions used in this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. Overview of PCE Communication Protocol (PCEP) . . . . . . . . . . 4
6. PCE Communication Protocol Generic Requirements . . . . . . . . . 5
   6.1 Basic Protocol Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
       6.1.1 Commonality of PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE Communication  . . . 8
       6.1.2 Client-Server Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
       6.1.3 Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
       6.1.4 Path Computation Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
       6.1.5 Path Computation Responses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
       6.1.6 Cancellation of Pending Requests  . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       6.1.7 Multiple Requests and Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       6.1.8 Reliable Message Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       6.1.9 Secure Message Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       6.1.10 Request Prioritization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       6.1.11 Unsolicited Notifications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       6.1.12 Asynchronous Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       6.1.13 Communication Overhead Minimization  . . . . . . . . . 12
       6.1.14 Extensibility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       6.1.15 Scalability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       6.1.16 Constraints  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   6.2 Deployment Support Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       6.2.1 Support for Different Service Provider Environments . . 14
       6.2.2 Policy Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   6.3 Detection & Recovery Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       6.3.1 Aliveness Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       6.3.2 PCC/PCE Failure Response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
       6.3.3 Protocol Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8. Manageability Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
12. Informational References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
13. Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Intellectual Property Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Disclaimer of Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Copyright Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 2]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


1. Contributors

   This document is the result of the PCE Working Group PCE
   communication protocol (PCEP) requirements design team joint effort.
   The following are the design team member authors that contributed to
   the present document:

   Jerry Ash (AT&T)
   Alia Atlas (Avici)
   Arthi Ayyangar (Juniper)
   Nabil Bitar (Verizon)
   Igor Bryskin (Independent Consultant)
   Dean Cheng (Cisco)
   Durga Gangisetti (MCI)
   Kenji Kumaki (KDDI)
   Jean-Louis Le Roux (France Telecom)
   Eiji Oki (NTT)
   Raymond Zhang (BT Infonet)

2. Conventions used in this document

   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].

3. Introduction

   The path computation element (PCE) [PCE-ARCH] supports requests for
   path computation issued by a path computation client (PCC), which may
   be 'composite' (co-located) or 'external' (remote) from a PCE.  When
   the PCC is external from the PCE, a request/response communication
   protocol is required to carry the path computation request and return
   the response.  In order for the PCC and PCE to communicate, the PCC
   must know the location of the PCE: PCE discovery is described in
   [PCE-DISC-REQ].  The PCE operates on a network graph in order to
   compute paths based on the path computation request issued by the
   PCC.  The path computation request will normally include the source
   and destination of the paths to be computed, and a set of constraints
   to be applied during the computation.  The PCE response includes the
   computed paths or the reason for a failed computation.

   This document lists a set of generic requirements for the PCEP.
   Application-specific requirements are beyond the scope of this
   document, and will be addressed in separate documents.

4. Terminology

   Domain: any collection of network elements within a common sphere of
   address management or path computational responsibility.  Examples of
   domains include IGP areas, Autonomous Systems (ASs), multiple ASs
   within a service provider network, or multiple ASs across multiple

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 3]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   service provider networks.

   GMPLS: Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching

   LSP: MPLS Label Switched Path.

   MPLS: multiprotocol label switching

   PCC: Path Computation Client: any client application requesting a
   Path computation to be performed by the PCE.

   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 (see
   further description in [PCE-ARCH]).

   TED: Traffic Engineering Database, which contains the topology and
   resource information of the network or network segment used by a PCE.

   TE LSP: Traffic Engineering MPLS Label Switched Path.

   See [PCE-ARCH] for further definitions of terms.

5. Overview of PCE Communication Protocol (PCEP)

   In the PCE model, path computation requests are issued by a PCC
   to a PCE that may be composite (co-located) or external (remote).
   If the PCC and PCE are not composite, a request/response
   communication protocol is required to carry the request and return
   the response.  If the PCC and PCE are composite, a communication
   protocol is not required, but implementations may choose to utilize
   a protocol for exchanges between the components.

   In order that a PCC and PCE can communicate, the PCC must know the
   location of the PCE. This can be configured or discovered. The PCE
   discovery mechanism is out of scope of this document, but
   requirements are documented in [PCE-DISC-REQ].

   The PCE operates on a network graph built from the TED in order to
   compute paths. The mechanism by which the TED is populated is out of
   scope for the PCEP.

   A path computation request issued by the PCC includes a specification
   of the path(s) needed. The information supplied includes, at a
   minimum, the source and destination for the paths, but may also
   include a set of further requirements (known as constraints) as
   described in Section 6.

   The response from the PCE may be positive in which case it will
   include the paths that have been computed. If the computation fails
   or cannot be performed, a negative response is required with an

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 4]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   indication of the type of failure.

   A request/response protocol is also required for a PCE to communicate
   path computation requests to another PCE and for that PCE to return
   the path computation response. As described in [PCE-ARCH], there is
   no reason to assume that two different protocols are needed, and this
   document assumes that a single protocol will satisfy all requirements
   for PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE communication.

   [PCE-ARCH] describes four models of PCE: composite, external,
   multiple PCE path computation, and multiple PCE path computation with
   inter-PCE communication. In all cases except the composite PCE model,
   a PCEP is required.  The requirements defined in this document are
   applicable to all models described in the [PCE-ARCH] except the
   composite PCE model.

6. PCE Communication Protocol Generic Requirements

   [This paragraph to be deleted after successful completion and before
   publication as an RFC.]

   The designers of a PCEP MUST take the requirements set out in this
   document and discuss them widely within the IETF and particularly
   within the Applications Area to determine whether a suitable protocol
   already exists. The results of this investigation MUST be published
   on the PCE mailing list.

   The following is a summary of the requirements in Section 6:

   Requirement                                       Necessity  Ref.
   ------------------------------------------------------------------
   Commonality of PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE Communication  MUST       6.1.1
   Client-Server Communication                       MUST       6.1.2
   Support PCC/PCE request message to request path
   computation                                       MUST       6.1.2
   Support PCE response message with computed path   MUST       6.1.2
   Support unsolicited communication PCE-PCC         SHOULD     6.1.2
   Maintain PCC-PCE session                          NON-RQMT   6.1.2
   Use of Existing Transport Protocol                MAY        6.1.3
   Transport protocol satisfy reliability & security
   requirements                                      MAY        6.1.3

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 5]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   Transport Protocol Limits Size of Message         MUST NOT   6.1.3
   Support Path Computation Requests                 MUST       6.1.4
   Include source & destination
   Support path constraints (e.g., bandwidth, hops,
   affinities) to include/exclude                    MUST       6.1.4
   Support path reoptimization & inclusion of a
   previously computed path                          MUST       6.1.4
   Allow to select/prefer from advertised list of
   standard objective functions/options              MUST       6.1.4
   Allow to customize objective function/options     MUST       6.1.4
   Request a less-constrained path                   MAY        6.1.4
   Support request for less-constrained path,
   including constraint-relaxation policy's          SHOULD     6.1.4
   Support Path Computation Responses                MUST       6.1.5
   Negative response support reasons for failure,
   constraints to relax to achieve positive result,
   less-constrained path reflecting
   constraint-relaxation policy's                    SHOULD     6.1.5
   Cancellation of Pending Requests                  MUST       6.1.6
   Multiple Requests and Responses                   MUST       6.1.7
   Limit by configuration number of requests within
   a message                                         MUST       6.1.7
   Support multiple computed paths in response       MUST       6.1.7
   Support "continuation correlation" where related
   requests or computed paths cannot fit within one
   message                                           MUST       6.1.7
   Maximum message size & maximum number of requests
   per message exchanged through PCE messages to PCC,
   or indicated in request message                   MAY        6.1.7
   Reliable Message Exchange (achieved by PCEP
   itself or transport protocol                      MUST       6.1.8
   Allow detection & recovery of lost messages to
   occur quickly & not impede operation of PCEP      MUST       6.1.8
   Handle overload situations without significant
   decrease in performance, e.g., through throttling
   of requests                                       MUST       6.1.8
   Provide acknowledged message delivery with
   retransmission, in order message delivery or
   facility to restore order, message corruption
   detection, flow control & back-pressure to
   throttle requests, rapid partner failure
   detection, informed rapidly of failure of PCE-PCC
   connection                                        MUST       6.1.8
   Functionality added to PCEP if transport protocol
   provides it                                       SHOULD NOT 6.1.8
   Secure Message Exchange (provided by PCEP or
   transport protocol                                MUST       6.1.9
   Support mechanisms to prevent spoofing (e.g.,
   authentication), snooping (e.g., encryption),
   DOS attacks                                       MUST       6.1.9
   Request Prioritization                            MUST       6.1.10

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 6]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   Unsolicited Notifications                         SHOULD     6.1.11
   Allow Asynchronous Communication                  MUST       6.1.12
   PCC Has to Wait for Response Before Making
   Another Request                                   MUST NOT   6.1.12
   Allow order of responses differ from order of
   Requests                                          MUST       6.1.12
   Communication Overhead Minimization               SHOULD     6.1.13
   Give particular attention to message size         SHOULD     6.1.13
   Extensibility without requiring modifications to
   the protocol                                      MUST       6.1.14
   Easily extensible to support intra-area,
   inter-area, inter-AS intra provider, inter-AS
   inter-provider, multi-layer path & virtual network
   topology path computation                         MUST       6.1.14
   Easily extensible to support future applications
   not in scope (e.g., P2MP path computations)       SHOULD     6.1.14
   Scalability at least linearly with increase in
   number of PCCs, PCEs, PCCs communicating with a
   single PCE, PCEs communicated to by a single PCC,
   PCEs communicated to by another PCE, domains, path
   requests, handling bursts of requests             MUST       6.1.15
   Support Path Computation Constraints              MUST       6.1.16
   Support Different Service Provider Environments
   (e.g., MPLS-TE and GMPLS networks, centralized &
   distributed PCE path computation, single &
   multiple PCE path computation)                    MUST       6.2.1
   Policy Support for policies to accept/reject
   requests, PCC to determine reason for rejection,
   notification of policy violation                  MUST       6.2.2
   Aliveness Detection of PCCs/PCEs, partner failure
   Detection                                         MUST       6.3.1
   PCC/PCE Failure Response procedures defined for
   PCE/PCC failures, PCC able to clear pending
   Request                                           MUST       6.3.2
   PCC select another PCE upon detection of PCE
   failure                                           MUST       6.3.2
   PCE able to clear pending requests from a PCC
   (e.g. when it detects PCC failure or request
   buffer full)                                      MUST       6.3.2
   Protocol Recovery support resynchronization of
   information & requests between sender & receiver  MUST       6.3.3
   Minimize repeat data transfer, allow PCE to
   respond to computation requests issued before
   failure without requests being re-issued          SHOULD     6.3.3
   Stateful PCE able to resynchronize/recover
   states (e.g., LSP status, paths) after restart    SHOULD     6.3.3


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 7]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


6.1 Basic Protocol Requirements

6.1.1 Commonality of PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE Communication

   A single protocol MUST be defined for PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE
   communication.  A PCE requesting a path from another PCE can be
   considered as a PCC.

6.1.2 Client-Server Communication

   PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE communication is by nature client-server based.
   The PCEP MUST allow for a PCC or a PCE to send a request message to a
   PCE to request path computation, and for a PCE to reply with a
   response message to the requesting PCC or PCE, once the path has been
   computed.

   In addition to this request-response mode, there may be cases where
   there is unsolicited communication from the PCE to PCC (see
   Requirement 6.1.6).

   There is no requirement to maintain a session or association between
   communicating PCC and PCE, nor between communicating PCEs.  The
   request/response exchange defines a limited association between
   requester and responder.

6.1.3 Transport

   The PCEP may utilize an existing transport protocol or operate
   directly over IP.

   If a transport protocol is used, it may be used to satisfy some
   requirements stated in other sections of this document (for example,
   reliability and security).

   If a transport protocol is used, it MUST NOT limit the size of the
   message used by the PCEP.

   Where requirements expressed in this document match the function of
   existing transport protocols, consideration MUST be given to the use
   of those protocols.

6.1.4 Path Computation Requests

   The request message MUST include, at least, a source and a
   destination.  The message MUST support the inclusion of a set of one
   or more path constraints, such as the requested bandwidth or
   resources (hops, affinities, etc.) to include/exclude (e.g., a PCC
   requests the PCE to exclude points of failure in the computation of
   the new path if an LSP setup fails).  The actual inclusion of
   constraints is a choice for the PCC issuing the request.
   A list of core constraints that MUST be supported by the PCEP is

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 8]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   supplied in Section 6.1.16.  Specification of constraints must be
   future-proofed as described in Section 6.1.14.

   The path computation request message MUST support TE LSP path
   reoptimization and the inclusion of a previously computed path.  This
   will help ensure optimal routing of a reoptimized path, since it will
   allow the PCE to avoid double bandwidth accounting and help reduce
   blocking issues.

   The requester MUST be allowed to select or prefer from an advertised
   list or minimal subset of standard objective functions and functional
   options. The requester SHOULD also be able to select a
   vendor-specific or experimental objective function or functional
   option.  Furthermore, the requester MUST be allowed to customize the
   objective function/options in use.  That is, individual objective
   functions will often have parameters to be set in the request from
   PCC to PCE.  Specification of objective functions and objective
   function parameters is required in the protocol extensibility
   specified in Section 6.1.14.

   If a PCC selects an objective function that the PCE does not support,
   the PCE response MUST be negative.

   Note that a PCC MAY send a request that is based on the set of TE
   parameters carried by the MPLS/GMPLS LSP setup signaling protocol,
   and as long as those parameters are satisfied, the PCC MAY not care
   about which objective function is used.  Also, the PCE MAY execute
   objective functions not advertised to the PCC, for example, policy
   based routing path computation for load balancing instructed by the
   management plane.

   As also discussed in Section 6.1.5 (Path Computation Responses), a
   PCC MAY request a less-constrained TE LSP path, and the path
   computation request MAY include one or more constraint-relaxation
   policy's.  The Request message SHOULD support the inclusion of a
   request for a less-constrained path, including one or more
   constraint-relaxation policy's.

6.1.5 Path Computation Responses

   The response message MUST allow returning various elements including,
   at least, the computed path(s).

   The protocol MUST be capable of returning any explicit path that
   would be acceptable for use for MPLS and GMPLS LSPs once converted to
   an Explicit Route Object for use in RSVP-TE signaling.  Note that the
   resultant path(s) may be made up of a set of strict or loose hops, or
   any combination of strict and loose hops.  Moreover, a hop may have
   the form of a non-simple abstract node.  See RFC 3209 for the
   definition of strict hop, loose hop, and abstract node.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt> [Page 9]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   A positive response from the PCE will include the paths that have
   been computed.  When a Path satisfying the constraints cannot be
   found, or if the computation fails or cannot be performed, a
   negative response MUST be sent.  This response MAY include further
   details of the reason(s) for the failure, and potentially advice
   about which constraints might be relaxed to be more likely to achieve
   a positive result.  Optionally the PCE MAY provide a
   less-constrained path taking into account one or more relaxation
   policy's that could potentially be provided by the PCC in the
   request.  As discussed in Section 6.1.4, a PCC MAY optionally
   request a less-constrained TE LSP path, and the path computation
   request MAY also include one or more constraint-relaxation policy's.

   Hence the Response message SHOULD support the inclusion of the
   reasons for a failure, and the inclusion of less-constrained path.
   The Request message SHOULD support the inclusion of a request for a
   less-constrained path, including one or more constraint-relaxation
   policy's.

6.1.6 Cancellation of Pending Requests

   A PCC or PCE MUST be able to cancel a pending request.

6.1.7 Multiple Requests and Responses

   It MUST be possible to send multiple path computation requests,
   correlated or not, within the same request message. There are
   various motivations for doing so (optimality, path diversity, etc.).
   It MUST be possible to limit by configuration the number of requests
   that can be carried within a single message.

   Similarly, it MUST be possible to return multiple computed paths
   within the same response message, corresponding either to the same
   request (e.g. load balancing) or to distinct requests, correlated or
   not, of the same request message or distinct request messages.

   It MUST be possible to provide "continuation correlation" where all
   related requests or computed paths cannot fit within one message.

   Maximum acceptable message sizes and the maximum number of requests
   per message supported by a PCE MAY form part of PCE capabilities
   advertisement [PCE-DISC-REQ], or MAY be exchanged through information
   messages from the PCE as part of the protocol described here.

   Maximum acceptable message sizes and the maximum number of computed
   paths per message supported by a PCC MAY be indicated in the request
   message.

   An implementation MAY choose to limit message size to avoid a big
   message from unduly delaying a small message.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 10]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


6.1.8 Reliable Message Exchange

   The PCEP MUST include reliability. This may form part of the
   protocol itself or may be achieved by the selection of a suitable
   transport protocol (see Section 6.1.3).

   In particular, it MUST allow for the detection and recovery of lost
   messages to occur quickly and not impede the operation of the PCEP.

   In some cases (e.g. after link failure), a large number of PCCs may
   simultaneously send requests to a PCE, leading to a potential
   saturation of the PCEs.  The PCEP or the transport protocol it uses
   MUST properly handle such overload situations without a significant
   decrease in performance, such as through throttling of such requests.

   The PCEP or the transport protocol it uses MUST provide:

   - Acknowledged message delivery with retransmission.
   - In order message delivery or the facility (such as message
     numbering) to restore the order of received messages.
   - Message corruption detection.
   - Flow control and back-pressure, as specified above with the
     throttling of requests.
   - Rapid partner failure detection. The PCC/PCE MUST be informed of
     the failure of any PCE/PCC or PCC-PCE connection rapidly after
     the failure happens.

   Functionality SHOULD NOT be added to the PCEP where the chosen
   transport protocol already provides it.

6.1.9 Secure Message Exchange

   The PCC-PCE and PCE-PCE communication MUST be secure. In particular,
   it MUST support mechanisms to prevent spoofing (e.g.,
   authentication), snooping (e.g., encryption) and DOS attacks.

   This function may be provided by the transport protocol or directly
   by the PCEP.

6.1.10 Request Prioritization

   The PCEP MUST allow a PCC to specify the priority of a computation
   request. This priority is used by a PCE to service high priority
   requests before lower priority requests considering all requests
   received and queued by a single PCE from all PCCs.

   Implementation of priority-based activity within a PCE is subject to
   implementation and local policy. This application processing is out
   of scope of the PCEP.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 11]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


6.1.11 Unsolicited Notifications

   The normal operational mode is for the PCC to make path computation
   requests to the PCE, and for the PCE to respond.

   The PCEP SHOULD support unsolicited notifications from PCE to PCC,
   PCE to PCE, or PCC to PCE.  This requirement facilitates the
   unsolicited communication of information, updated paths, and alerts
   between PCCs and PCEs and between PCEs.

6.1.12 Asynchronous Communication

   The PCC-PCE protocol MUST allow for asynchronous communication.  A
   PCC MUST NOT have to wait for a response before it can make another
   request.

   It MUST also be possible to have the order of responses differ from
   the order of the corresponding requests. This may occur, for
   instance, when path request messages have different priorities (see
   Requirement 6.1.10).

6.1.13 Communication Overhead Minimization

   The request and response messages SHOULD be designed so that the
   communication overhead is minimized.  Particular attention SHOULD be
   given to the message size.  Other considerations in overhead
   minimization include the following:

   - the number of messages exchanged to arrive at a computation answer
   - the amount of background messages used by the protocol or its
     transport protocol to keep alive any session or association
     between the PCE and PCC
   - the processing cost at the PCE (or PCC) associated with
     request/response messages (as distinct from processing the
     computation requests themselves).

6.1.14 Extensibility

   The PCEP MUST provide a way for the introduction of new path
   computation constraints, diversity types, objective functions,
   optimization methods and parameters, etc., without requiring
   modifications in the protocol.

   The PCEP MUST be easily extensible to support various PCE based
   applications that have been currently identified including:

   - intra-area path computation
   - inter-area path computation
   - inter-AS intra provider and inter-AS inter-provider path
     computation


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 12]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   The PCEP MUST also allow extensions as more PCE applications will be
   introduced in the future.  For example, the protocol may be extended
   to support PCE-based multi-layer path computation and virtual network
   topology computation/reconfiguration.

   The PCEP SHOULD also be easily extensible to support future
   applications not currently in the scope of the PCE working group,
   such as, for instance, P2MP path computations, etc.

   Note that application specific requirements are out of the scope of
   this document and will be addressed in separate requirements
   documents.

6.1.15 Scalability

   The PCEP MUST scale well, at least as good as linearly, with an
   increase of any of the following parameters:

   - number of PCCs
   - number of PCEs
   - number of PCCs communicating with a single PCE
   - number of PCEs communicated to by a single PCC
   - number of PCEs communicated to by another PCE
   - number of domains
   - number of path requests
   - handling bursts of requests.

   Bursts of requests may arise, for example, after a network outage
   when multiple recomputations are requested. It is RECOMMENDED that
   the protocol handle the congestion in a graceful way so that it does
   not unduly impact the rest of the network, and so that it does not
   gate the ability of the PCE to perform computation.

6.1.16 Constraints

   This section provides a list of generic constraints that MUST be
   supported by the PCEP. Other constraints may be added to service
   specific applications as identified by separate application-specific
   requirements documents.

   Note that the absence of a constraint in this list does not mean that
   that constraint must not be supported.  Note also that the provisions
   of Section 6.1.14 mean that new constraints can be added to this list
   without impacting the protocol.

   Here is the list of generic constraints that MUST be supported:

   o MPLS-TE and GMPLS generic constraints:
     - Bandwidth
     - Affinities inclusion/exclusion
     - Link, Node, SRLG inclusion/exclusion

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 13]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


     - Maximum end-to-end delay metrics
     - Hop Count

   o MPLS-TE specific constraints
     - Class-Type

   o GMPLS specific constraints
     - Switching Type, Encoding Type
     - Protection type

   o TBD

6.2 Deployment Support Requirements

6.2.1 Support for Different Service Provider Environments

   The PCEP MUST operate in various different service provider network
   environments that utilize an IP-based control plane, such as

   - MPLS-TE and GMPLS networks
   - centralized and distributed PCE path computation
   - single and multiple PCE path computation

   Definitions of centralized, distributed, single, and multiple PCE
   path computation can be found in [PCE-ARCH].

6.2.2 Policy Support

   The PCEP MUST allow for policies to accept/reject requests, and
   include the ability for a PCE to reject requests with sufficient
   detail to allow the PCC to determine the reason for rejection or
   failure.  For example, filtering could be required for intra-AS PCE
   path computation such that all requests are rejected that come from
   another AS.  However, specific policy details are left to
   application-specific PCEP requirements.  Furthermore, the PCEP MUST
   allow for the notification of a policy violation. Actual policies,
   configuration of policies, and applicability of policies are out of
   scope.

6.3 Detection & Recovery Requirements

6.3.1 Aliveness Detection

   The PCEP MUST allow a PCC to check the liveliness of PCEs it is using
   for path computation, and a PCE to check the liveliness of PCCs it is
   serving.  The PCEP MUST provide partner failure detection.

   Depending on the solution, this requirement MAY be met by the PCEP
   design or the transport protocol design.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 14]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


6.3.2 PCC/PCE Failure Response

   Appropriate PCC and PCE procedures MUST be defined to deal with PCE
   and PCC failures.  A PCC must be able to clear any pending request to
   a PCE so that it is no longer waiting for a response.  Clearing a
   pending request does not imply any message exchange; this differs
   from pending request cancellation (Section 6.1.6), which requires
   message exchange.  It is RECOMMENDED that a PCC select another PCE
   upon detection of PCE failure or unreachability of a PCE but note
   that PCE selection procedure are out of the scope of this document.

   Similarly, a PCE must be able to clear pending requests from a PCC,
   for instance, when it detects the failure of the requesting PCC or
   when its buffer of requests is full.  Clearing a pending request does
   not imply any message exchange.

   It is assumed that the aliveness detection mechanism (see Section
   6.3.1) ensures reciprocal knowledge of PCE and PCC liveness.

6.3.3 Protocol Recovery

   Information distributed in asynchronous/unsolicited messages MAY
   persist at the recipient in the event of the failure of the sender or
   of the communication channel. Upon recovery, the Communication
   Protocol MUST support resynchronization of information and requests
   between the sender and the receiver, and this SHOULD be arranged so
   as to minimize repeat data transfer.

   For example, the PCEP SHOULD allow a PCE to respond to computation
   requests issued before the failure without the requests being
   re-issued.

   Similarly, a stateful PCE SHOULD be able to resynchronize and recover
   states (e.g., LSP status, paths, etc.) after a restart.

7. Security Considerations

   The impact of the use of a PCEP MUST be considered in the light of
   the impact that it has on the security of the existing routing and
   signaling protocols and techniques in use within the network.  There
   is unlikely to be any impact on intra-domain security, but an
   increase in inter-domain information flows and the facilitation of
   inter-domain path establishment may increase the vulnerability to
   security attacks.

   Of particular relevance are the implications for confidentiality
   inherent in a PCEP for multi-domain networks.  It is not necessarily
   the case that a multi-domain PCE solution will compromise security,
   but solutions MUST examine their impacts in this area.

   Applicability statements for particular combinations of signaling,

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 15]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


   routing and path computation techniques are expected to contain
   detailed security sections.

   It should be observed that the use of an external PCE does introduce
   additional security issues.  Most notable amongst these are:

   - interception of PCE requests or responses
   - impersonation of PCE
   - falsification of TE information
   - denial of service attacks on PCE or PCE communication mechanisms

   It is expected that the PCEP will address these issues in detail
   using authentication and security techniques.  See also Section
   6.1.9.

8. Manageability Considerations

   Manageability of the PCEP MUST address the following considerations:

   - need for a MIB module for control and monitoring
   - need for built-in diagnostic tools (e.g., partner failure
     detection, OAM, etc.)
   - configuration implications for the protocol

9. IANA Considerations

   This document makes no requests for IANA action.

10. Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to extend their warmest thanks to (in
   alphabetical order) Adrian Farrel, Thomas Morin, and JP Vasseur for
   their review and suggestions.

11. Normative References

   [PCE-ARCH] Farrel, A., Vasseur, JP, Ash, J., "Path Computation
   Element (PCE) Architecture", work in progress.

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

   [RFC3667] Bradner, S., "IETF Rights in Contributions", BCP 78, RFC
   3667, February 2004.

   [RFC3668] Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF
   Technology", BCP 79, RFC 3668, February 2004.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 16]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


12. Informational References

   [PCE-DISC-REQ] Le Roux, JL, et. al., "Requirements for Path
   Computation Element (PCE) Discovery," work in progress.

   [RFC3209] Awduche, D., et. al., "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP
   Tunnels," RFC 3209, December 2001.

13. Authors' Addresses

   Jerry Ash
   AT&T
   Room MT D5-2A01
   200 Laurel Avenue
   Middletown, NJ 07748, USA
   Phone: +1-(732)-420-4578
   Email: gash@att.com

   Alia K. Atlas
   Avici Systems, Inc.
   101 Billerica Avenue
   N. Billerica, MA 01862, USA
   Phone: +1 978 964 2070
   Email: aatlas@avici.com

   Arthi Ayyangar
   Juniper Networks, Inc.
   1194 N.Mathilda Ave
   Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA
   Email: arthi@juniper.net

   Nabil Bitar
   Verizon
   40 Sylvan Road
   Waltham, MA 02145
   Email: nabil.bitar@verizon.com

   Igor Bryskin
   Independent Consultant
   Email: i_bryskin@yahoo.com

   Dean Cheng
   Cisco Systems Inc.
   3700 Cisco Way
   San Jose CA 95134 USA
   Phone: +1 408 527 0677
   Email: dcheng@cisco.com

   Durga Gangisetti
   MCI
   Email: durga.gangisetti@mci.com

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 17]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005



   Kenji Kumaki
   KDDI Corporation
   Garden Air Tower
   Iidabashi, Chiyoda-ku,
   Tokyo 102-8460, JAPAN
   Phone: +81-3-6678-3103
   Email: ke-kumaki@kddi.com

   Jean-Louis Le Roux
   France Telecom
   2, avenue Pierre-Marzin
   22307 Lannion Cedex, FRANCE
   Email: jeanlouis.leroux@francetelecom.com

   Eiji Oki
   NTT
   Midori-cho 3-9-11
   Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8585, JAPAN
   Email: oki.eiji@lab.ntt.co.jp

   Raymond Zhang
   BT INFONET Services Corporation
   2160 E. Grand Ave.
   El Segundo, CA 90245 USA
   Email: Raymond_zhang@bt.infonet.com

Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.


PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 18]


Internet Draft   PCE Communication Protocol Generic Reqmnts   July 2005


Disclaimer of Validity

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
   INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).  This document is subject
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

PCE Design Team <draft-ietf-pce-comm-protocol-gen-reqs-01.txt>[Page 19]