Internet Engineering Task Force                                   Q. Sun
Internet-Draft                                             China Telecom
Intended status: Standards Track                            M. Boucadair
Expires: November 21, 2013                                France Telecom
                                                            S. Sivakumar
                                                           Cisco Systems
                                                                 C. Zhou
                                                     Huawei Technologies
                                                                 T. Tsou
                                               Huawei Technologies (USA)
                                                            S. Perreault
                                                                Viagenie
                                                            May 20, 2013


     Port Control Protocol (PCP) Extension for Port Set Allocation
                       draft-ietf-pcp-port-set-01

Abstract

   This document defines an extension to PCP allowing clients to
   manipulate sets of ports as a whole.  This is accomplished by a new
   MAP option: PORT_SET.

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 http://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 November 21, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 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



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

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Lightweight 4over6  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.2.  Applications Using Port Sets  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.3.  Firewall Control  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.4.  Discovering Stateless Port Set Mappings . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  The need for PORT_SET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  The PORT_SET Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  Client Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.  Server Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.3.  Port Set Renewal and Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       4.3.1.  Overlap Conditions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   5.  Operational Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   8.  Authors List  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   9.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

1.  Introduction

   This section describes a few (and non-exhaustive) envisioned use
   cases.  Note that the PCP extension defined in this document is
   generic and is expected to be applicable to other use cases.

1.1.  Lightweight 4over6

   In the Lightweight 4over6 [I-D.ietf-softwire-lw4over6] architecture,
   shared global addresses can be allocated to customers.  It allows
   moving the Network Address Translation (NAT) function, otherwise
   accomplished by a Carrier-Grade NAT (CGN) [RFC6888], to the Customer-
   Premises Equipment (CPE).  This provides more control over the NAT
   function to the user, and more scalability to the ISP.





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   In the lw4o6 architecture, the PCP-controlled device corresponds to
   the lwAFTR, and the PCP client corresponds to the lwB4.  The client
   sends a PCP MAP request containing a PORT_SET option to trigger
   shared address allocation on the lwAFTR.  The PCP response contains
   the shared address information, including the port set allocated to
   the lwB4.

1.2.  Applications Using Port Sets

   Some applications require not just one port, but a port set.  One
   example is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) User Agent Server
   (UAS) [RFC3261] expecting to handle multiple concurrent calls,
   including media termination.  When it receives a call, it needs to
   signal media port numbers to its peer.  Generating individual PCP MAP
   requests for each of the media ports during call setup would
   introduce unwanted latency.  Instead, the server can pre-allocate a
   set of ports such that no PCP exchange is needed during call setup.

   Using PORT_SET, an application can manipulate port sets much more
   efficiently than with individual MAP requests.

   Another example of an application using port sets is that of a busy
   back-to-back PCP server/client [I-D.cheshire-recursive-pcp], handling
   many requests per second.  It could benefit from PORT_SET by
   obtaining ports from upstream in big chunks.  Then it would manage
   those chunks like port pools from which it would allocate to
   downstream clients.  That could be more efficient than obtaining
   ports from upstream with individual MAP requests.

1.3.  Firewall Control

   Port sets are often used in firewall rules.  For example, defining a
   range for RTP [RFC3550] traffic is common practice.  The MAP request
   can already be used for firewall control.  The PORT_SET option brings
   the additional ability to manipulate firewall rules operating on port
   sets instead of single ports.

1.4.  Discovering Stateless Port Set Mappings

   A MAP request can be used to discover a stateless mapping.
   Similarly, a MAP request with a PORT_SET request can be used to
   discover a stateless port set mapping.  Hence, PORT_SET is applicable
   for port set mapping discovery in Stateless NAT44
   [I-D.tsou-stateless-nat44].

2.  Terminology





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   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 [RFC2119].

3.  The need for PORT_SET

   Multiple MAP requests can be used to manipulate a set of ports,
   having roughly the same effect as a single use of a MAP request with
   a PORT_SET option.  However, use of the PORT_SET option is more
   efficient when considering the following aspects:

   Network Traffic:  A single request uses less network resources than
      multiple requests.

   Latency:  Even though MAP requests can be sent in parallel, we can
      expect the total processing time to be longer for multiple
      requests than a single one.

   Client-side simplicity:  The logic that is necessary for maintaining
      a set of ports using a single port set entity is much simpler than
      that required for maintaining individual ports, especially when
      considering failures, retransmissions, lifetime expiration, and
      re-allocations.

   Server-side efficiency:  Some PCP-controlled devices can allocate
      port sets in a manner such that data passing through the device is
      processed much more efficiently than the equivalent using
      individual port allocations.  For example, a CGN having a "bulk"
      port allocation scheme (see [RFC6888] section 5) often has this
      property.

   Server-side scalability:  The number of mapping entries in PCP-
      controlled devices is often a limiting factor.  Allocating port
      sets in a single request can result in a single mapping entry
      being used, therefore allowing greater scalability.

   Therefore, while it is functionally possible to obtain the same
   results using plain MAP, the extension proposed in this document
   allows greater efficiency, scalability, and simplicity, while
   lowering latency and necessary network traffic.  In a nutshell,
   PORT_SET is a necessary optimization.

   In addition, PORT_SET supports parity preservation.  Some protocols
   (e.g.  RTP [RFC3550]) assign meaning to a port number's parity.  When
   mapping sets of ports for the purpose of using such kind of protocol,
   preserving parity can be necessary.





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4.  The PORT_SET Option

   Option Name:  PORT_SET

   Number:  TBD

   Purpose:  To map sets of ports.

   Valid for Opcodes:  MAP

   Length:  3 bytes

   May appear in:  Both requests and responses

   Maximum occurrences:  1

      NOTE TO IANA (to be removed prior to publication as an RFC): The
      number is to be assigned by IANA in the range 128-191 (i.e.,
      optional to process and created via Standards Action).

   The PORT_SET Option indicates that the client wishes to reserve a set
   of ports.  The requested number of ports in that set is indicated in
   the option.

   The PORT_SET Option is formatted as shown in Figure 1.

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   | Option Code=? |   Reserved    |    Option Length=3            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |        Port Set Size          |    Reserved   |P|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                         Figure 1: PORT_SET Option

   The fields are as follows:

   Port Set Size:  Number of ports requested.  MUST NOT be zero.

   P: 1 if parity preservation is requested, 0 otherwise.

      NOTE: In its current form, PORT_SET does not support allocating
      discontinuous port sets.  That feature could be added in the
      future depending on input from the working group.

   The Internal Port Set is defined as being the range of Port Set Size
   ports starting from the Internal Port.  The External Port Set is



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   respectively defined as being the range of Port Set Size ports
   starting from the Assigned External Port.  The two ranges always have
   the same size (i.e., the Port Set Size returned by the server).

4.1.  Client Behavior

   To retrieve a set of ports, the PCP client adds a PORT_SET option to
   its PCP MAP request.  If port preservation is required, the PCP
   Client MUST set the parity bit (to 1) to ask the server to preserve
   the port parity (i.e., the Assigned External Port and Internal Port
   have the same parity).  The PCP client MUST indicate a suggested Port
   Set Size.  A non-null value MUST be used.

   The PCP Client MUST NOT include more than one PORT_SET option in a
   MAP request.  If several port sets are needed, the PCP client MUST
   issue as many MAP requests each of them include a PORT_SET option.
   These individual MAP requests MUST include distinct Internal Port.

   If the PCP Client does not know the exact number of ports it
   requires, it may then set the Port Set Size to 0xffff, indicating
   that it is willing to accept as many ports as the server can offer.

   If the PORT_SET option is not supported by the server, the PCP client
   will receive a response with no PORT_SET option.  The PCP client will
   then have to issue individual MAP requests with no PORT_SET option to
   achieve similar functionality.

4.2.  Server Behavior

   In addition to regular MAP request processing, the following checks
   are made upon receipt of a PORT_SET option with non-zero Requested
   Lifetime:

   o  If multiple PORT_SET options are present in a single MAP request,
      a MALFORMED_OPTION error is returned.

   o  If the Port Set Size is zero, a MALFORMED_OPTION error is
      returned.

   If the PREFER_FAILURE option is present and the server is unable to
   map all ports in the requested External Port Set or is unable to
   preserve parity (P = 1), the CANNOT_PROVIDE_EXTERNAL error is
   returned.

   If the PREFER_FAILURE option is absent, the server MAY map fewer
   ports than the value of Port Set Size from the request.  It MUST NOT
   map more ports than the client asked for.  The Internal Port Set
   always begins from the Internal Port indicated by the client and



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   extends for a number of ports less than or equal to the requested
   Port Set Size.

   If the port mapping fails because of the unavailability of ports, the
   PCP Server SHOULD reserve only one external port if possible.  That
   is, the PCP server ignores the PORT_SET option and falls back to
   ordinary MAP request processing.

   If the server ends up mapping only a single port, for any reason, the
   PORT_SET option MUST NOT be present in the response.

   If the PREFER_FAILURE option is absent and port parity preservation
   is requested (P = 1), the server MAY preserve port parity.  In that
   case, the External Port is set to a value having the same parity as
   the Internal Port.

   If the mapping is successful, the MAP response's Assigned External
   Port is set to the first port in the External Port Set, and the
   PORT_SET option's Port Set Size is set to number of ports in the
   mapped port set.

4.3.  Port Set Renewal and Deletion

   Port set mappings are renewed and deleted as a single entity.  That
   is, the lifetime of all port mappings in the set is set to the
   Assigned Lifetime at once.

   A client attempting to refresh or delete a port set mapping MUST
   include the PORT_SET option in its request.

4.3.1.  Overlap Conditions

   Port set map requests can overlap with existing single port or port
   set mappings.  This can happen either by mistake or after a client
   becomes out of sync with server state.

   If a server receives a MAP request, with or without a PORT_SET
   option, that tries to map one or more internal ports or port sets
   already belonging to other mappings, then the request is considered
   to be a refresh request applying to those other mappings.  The nonce
   check MUST be performed independently for each mapping, and only
   those whose nonce matches the one from the request are refreshed.
   For each port or port set mapping that is thus refreshed, the server
   MUST send a separate response.  Each response will contain the
   Internal and External Ports pertaining to that particular mapping,
   with also a PORT_SET option in case of a port set.





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      Example: suppose internal port 100 is mapped to external port 100
      and port set 101-199 is mapped to external port set 201-299.  The
      server receives a MAP request with Internal Port = 100, External
      Port = 0, and a PORT_SET option with Port Set Size = 100.  The
      request's Mapping Nonce is equal to those of the existing single
      port and port set mappings.  This request is therefore treated as
      a two refresh requests, the first one applying to the single port
      mapping and the second one applying to the port set mapping.  The
      server updates both mapping's lifetimes as usual then sends two
      MAP responses: the first one contains Internal Port = 100,
      External Port = 100, and no PORT_SET option, while the second one
      contains Internal Port = 101, External Port = 201, and a PORT_SET
      option with Port Set Size = 99.

      Note (to be removed before publication): It is possible to
      enumerate mappings with this mechanism.  Is it a problem,
      security- or other-wise?

5.  Operational Considerations

   It is totally up to the PCP server to determine the port-set quota
   for each PCP client.  In addition, when the PCP-controlled device
   supports multiple port-sets delegation for a given PCP client, the
   PCP client MAY re-initiate a PCP request to get another port set when
   it has exhausted all the ports within the port-set.

   If the PCP server is configured to allocate multiple port-set
   allocation for one subscriber, the same Assigned External IP Address
   SHOULD be assigned to one subscriber in multiple port-set requests.

   To optimize the number of mapping entries maintained by the PCP
   server, it is RECOMMENDED to configure the server to assign the
   maximum allowed port set in a single response.  This policy SHOULD be
   configurable.

   The failover mechanism in MAP [section 14 in [RFC6887]] and
   [I-D.boucadair-pcp-failure] can also be applied to port sets.

6.  Security Considerations

   It is believed that no additional security considerations beyond
   those discussed in [RFC6887] apply to this extension.









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7.  IANA Considerations

   IANA shall allocate a code in the range 1-63 for the new PCP option
   defined in Section 4.

8.  Authors List

   The following are extended authors who contributed to the effort:

   Yunqing Chen

   China Telecom

   Room 502, No.118, Xizhimennei Street

   Beijing 100035

   P.R.China

   Chongfeng Xie

   China Telecom

   Room 502, No.118, Xizhimennei Street

   Beijing 100035

   P.R.China

   Yong Cui

   Tsinghua University

   Beijing 100084

   P.R.China

   Phone: +86-10-62603059

   Email: yong@csnet1.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn

   Qi Sun

   Tsinghua University

   Beijing 100084

   P.R.China



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   Phone: +86-10-62785822

   Email: sunqibupt@gmail.com

   Gabor Bajko

   Nokia

   Email: gabor.bajko@nokia.com

   Xiaohong Deng

   France Telecom

   Email: xiaohong.deng@orange-ftgroup.com

9.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to show sincere appreciation to Alain Durand,
   Dan Wing, Dave Thaler, Reinaldo Penno, Sam Hartman, Stuart Cheshire,
   and Yoshihiro Ohba, for their useful comments and suggestions.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

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

   [RFC6887]  Wing, D., Cheshire, S., Boucadair, M., Penno, R., and P.
              Selkirk, "Port Control Protocol (PCP)", RFC 6887, April
              2013.

10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.boucadair-pcp-failure]
              Boucadair, M. and R. Penno, "Analysis of Port Control
              Protocol (PCP) Failure Scenarios", draft-boucadair-pcp-
              failure-06 (work in progress), May 2013.

   [I-D.cheshire-recursive-pcp]
              Cheshire, S., "Recursive PCP", draft-cheshire-recursive-
              pcp-02 (work in progress), March 2013.

   [I-D.ietf-softwire-lw4over6]






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              Cui, Y., Sun, Q., Boucadair, M., Tsou, T., Lee, Y., and I.
              Farrer, "Lightweight 4over6: An Extension to the DS-Lite
              Architecture", draft-ietf-softwire-lw4over6-00 (work in
              progress), April 2013.

   [I-D.tsou-stateless-nat44]
              Tsou, T., Liu, W., Perreault, S., Penno, R., and M. Chen,
              "Stateless IPv4 Network Address Translation", draft-tsou-
              stateless-nat44-02 (work in progress), October 2012.

   [RFC3261]  Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., Camarillo, G., Johnston,
              A., Peterson, J., Sparks, R., Handley, M., and E.
              Schooler, "SIP: Session Initiation Protocol", RFC 3261,
              June 2002.

   [RFC3550]  Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V.
              Jacobson, "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time
              Applications", STD 64, RFC 3550, July 2003.

   [RFC6888]  Perreault, S., Yamagata, I., Miyakawa, S., Nakagawa, A.,
              and H. Ashida, "Common Requirements for Carrier-Grade NATs
              (CGNs)", BCP 127, RFC 6888, April 2013.

Authors' Addresses

   Qiong Sun
   China Telecom
   P.R.China

   Phone: 86 10 58552936
   Email: sunqiong@ctbri.com.cn


   Mohamed Boucadair
   France Telecom
   Rennes  35000
   France

   Email: mohamed.boucadair@orange.com












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   Senthil Sivakumar
   Cisco Systems
   7100-8 Kit Creek Road
   Research Triangle Park, North Carolina  27709
   USA

   Phone: +1 919 392 5158
   Email: ssenthil@cisco.com


   Cathy Zhou
   Huawei Technologies
   Bantian, Longgang District
   Shenzhen  518129
   P.R. China

   Email: cathy.zhou@huawei.com


   Tina Tsou
   Huawei Technologies (USA)
   2330 Central Expressway
   Santa Clara, CA 95050
   USA

   Phone: +1 408 330 4424
   Email: Tina.Tsou.Zouting@huawei.com


   Simon Perreault
   Viagenie
   246 Aberdeen
   Quebec, QC  G1R 2E1
   Canada

   Phone: +1 418 656 9254
   Email: simon.perreault@viagenie.ca













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