Pseudo-Wire Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) Working Group             Stewart Bryant
Internet Draft                                                Lloyd Wood
Document: <draft-ietf-pwe3-protocol-layer-00.txt>          Mark Townsley
Expires: November 2002                                 Cisco Systems Ltd

                                                         Danny McPherson
                                                                     TCB

                                                                May 2002


                       Protocol Layering in PWE3


Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of section 10 of RFC2026.

   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.

Abstract

   This draft proposes a unified protocol layering approach for pseudo-
   wire emulation edge-to-edge (PWE3). It adopts the principle that PWE3
   should be a single transport type operating over a common packet-
   switched network (PSN) service model using, wherever possible,
   existing IETF protocols.  The draft defines the protocol layering
   model for pseudo-wires, guidelines for the design of a specific
   encapsulation type, and the service requirements on the underlying
   PSN tunneling mechanism.










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   Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction.............................................    3

   2.  Terminology..............................................    3

   3.  Protocol Layering Model..................................    5
      3.1  Protocol Layers......................................    5
      3.2  Domain of PWE3.......................................    7
      3.3  Payload Types........................................    7

   4.  Architecture of Pseudo-wires.............................   10
      4.1  Network Reference Model..............................   10
      4.2  PWE3 Pre-processing..................................   11
      4.3  Maintenance Reference Model..........................   15
      4.4  Protocol Stack Reference Model.......................   15
      4.5  Pre-processing Extension to Protocol Stack Reference
           Model................................................   16

   5.  PW Encapsulation.........................................   17
      5.1  Payload Convergence Layer............................   18
      5.2  Payload-independent PW Encapsulation Layers..........   20
      5.3  Fragmentation........................................   22
      5.4  Instantiation of the Protocol Layers.................   23

   6.  PW Demultiplexer Layer and PSN Requirements..............   25
      6.1  Multiplexing.........................................   26
      6.2  Fragmentation........................................   26
      6.3  Length and Delivery..................................   26

   7.  Control Plane............................................   26
      7.1  Set-up or Teardown of Pseudo-Wires...................   26
      7.2  Status Monitoring....................................   27
      7.3  Notification of Pseudo-wire Status Changes...........   27
      7.4  Keep-alive...........................................   29
      7.5  Handling Control Messages of the Native Services.....   29

   8.  IANA considerations......................................   29

   9.  Security Considerations..................................   29
      9.1  PW Tunnel End-Point and PW Demultiplexer Security....   30
      9.2  Validation of PW Encapsulation.......................   30
      9.3  End-to-End Security..................................   30








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1.  Introduction

   This document presents a unified protocol layering approach for
   pseudo-wire emulation edge-to-edge (PWE3). Wherever possible,
   existing IETF protocols [RFC-1958] are used.  PWE3 is intended to
   provide only the necessary and sufficient functionality to emulate
   the wire with the required degree of faithfulness for the given
   service definition. A pseudo-wire (PW) may be point-to-point,
   multipoint-to-point or point-to-multipoint. Any required switching
   functionality, is the responsibility of a forwarder function.  Any
   translation or other operation needing a knowledge of the payload
   semantics is carried out by native service processing (NSP) elements.
   The functional definition of any forwarder of NSP elements is outside
   the scope of PWE3.

   This document defines the protocol layering model for pseudo-wires
   (PW), guidelines for the design of a pseudowire encapsulations, and
   the service requirements on the underlying PSN tunneling mechanism.







2.  Terminology

   This document uses the following definition of terms.  These terms
   are illustrated in context in Figure 2.

   Attachment Circuit   The circuit or virtual circuit attaching
   (AC)                 a CE to a PE.

   CE-bound             The traffic direction where PW-PDUs are
                        received on a PW via the PSN, processed
                        and then sent to the destination CE.

   CE Signaling         Messages sent and received by the CEs
                        control plane.  It may be desirable or
                        even necessary for the PE to participate
                        in or monitor this signaling in order
                        to effectively emulate the service.

   Customer Edge (CE)   A device where one end of a service
                        originates and/or terminates.  The CE is not
                        aware that it is using an emulated service
                        rather than a native service.




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   Forwarder            A PE sub-system that determines which PW
                        a payload received on an AC must be sent over.

   Fragmentation        When a packet MTU is greater than that
                        supported by the PSN, either the PSN
                        packet or the payload is fragmented into
                        smaller data units which are transmitted
                        separately and reassembled elsewhere in the
                        network.

   Inter-working        Interactions between networks, between end
                        systems, or between parts thereof, with the
                        aim of providing a functional entity
                        capable of supporting an end-to-end
                        communication.

   Inter-working        A function that facilitates inter-working
   Function (IWF)       between two dissimilar services.  NSP may
                        perform the IWF function.

   Native Service       Processing of the data received by the PE
   Processing (NSP)     from the CE before presentation to the PW
                        for transmission across the core.

   Packet Switched      A network using IP or MPLS as the mechanism
   Network (PSN)        for packet forwarding.

   Protocol Data        The unit of data output to, or received
   Unit (PDU)           from, the network by a protocol layer.

   Provider Edge (PE)   A device that provides PWE3 to a CE.

   PE-bound             The traffic direction where information
                        from a CE is adapted to a PW, and PW-PDUs
                        are sent into the PSN.

   PE/PW Maintenance    Used by the PEs to set up, maintain and
                        tear down the PW.  It may be coupled with
                        CE Signaling in order to effectively manage
                        the PW.

   Pseudo Wire (PW)     A mechanism that carries the essential
                        elements of an emulated service from one PE
                        to one or more other PEs over a PSN.

   PW End Service       The interface between a PE and a CE.  This
   (PWES)               can be a physical interface like a T1 or
                        Ethernet, or a virtual interface like a VC



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                        or VLAN.

   Pseudo Wire          A mechanism that emulates the essential
   Emulation Edge to    attributes of service (such as a T1 leased
   Edge (PWE3)          line or frame relay) over a PSN.

   Pseudo Wire PDU      A PDU sent on the PW that contains all of
   (PW-PDU)             the data and control information necessary
                        to emulate the desired service.

   PSN Tunnel           A tunnel across a PSN inside which one or
                        more PWs can be carried.

   PSN Tunnel           Used to set up, maintain and tear down the
   Signaling            underlying PSN tunnel.

   PW Demultiplexer     Data-plane method of identifying PW terminating
                        at a PE.

   Tunnel               A method of transparently carrying information
                        over a network.










3.  Protocol Layering Model

   The PWE3 protocol-layering model is intended to minimise the
   differences between PWs operating over different PSN types.  The
   design of the protocol-layering model thus has the goals of making
   each PW definition independent of the underlying PSN, and maximizing
   the reuse of IETF protocol definitions and their implementations.

3.1  Protocol Layers

   The logical protocol-layering model required to support a PW is shown
   in Figure 1.








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          +---------------------------+
          |         Payload           |
          +---------------------------+
          |      Encapsulation        | <==== May be empty
          +---------------------------+
          |     PW Demultiplexer      |
          +---------------------------+
          |     PSN Convergence       | <==== May be empty
          +---------------------------+
          |           PSN             |
          +---------------------------+
          |       MAC/Data-link       |
          +---------------------------+
          |          Physical         |
          +---------------------------+

     Figure 1: Logical Protocol Layering Model

   The payload is transported over the Encapsulation Layer.  The
   Encapsulation Layer carries any information, not already present
   within the payload itself, that is needed by the PW CE-bound PE
   interface to send the payload to the CE via the physical interface.
   If no information is needed beyond that in the payload itself, this
   layer is empty.

   If needed, this layer also provides support for real-time processing,
   and also sequencing, if needed.

   The PW Demultiplexer Layer provides the ability to deliver multiple
   PWs over a single PSN tunnel. The PW demultiplexer value used to
   identify the PW in the data-plane may be unique per PE, but this is
   not a PWE3 requirement.  It must however be unique per tunnel.  If it
   is necessary to identify a particular tunnel, then that is the
   responsibility of the PSN layer.

   The PSN Convergence Layer provides the enhancements needed to make
   the PSN conform to the assumed PSN service requirement.  This layer
   therefore provides a consistent interface to the PW, making the PW
   independent of the PSN type.  If the PSN already meets the service
   requirements, this layer is empty.

   The PSN header, MAC/Data-link and Physical Layer definitions are
   outside the scope of this document. The PSN can be any PSN type
   defined by the IETF.  These are currently IPv4, IPv6 and MPLS.







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3.2  Domain of PWE3

   PWE3 defines the Encapsulation Layer, the method of carrying various
   payload types, and the interface to the PW Demultiplexer Layer.  It
   is expected that the other layers will be provided by tunneling
   methods such as L2TP or MPLS over the PSN.

3.3  Payload Types

   The payload is classified into the following generic types of native
   data unit:

       o Bit-stream
       o Structured bit-stream
       o Cell
       o Packet

   Within these generic types there are specific service types.  For
   example:

       Generic Payload Type    PW Service
       --------------------    ----------
       Bit-stream              SONET, TDM (e.g. DS1, DS3, E1).

       Structured bit-stream   SONET, TDM.

       Cell                    ATM.

       Packet                  Ethernet (all types), HDLC,
                               frame-relay, ATM AAL5 PDU.


3.3.1.  Bit-stream

   A bit-stream payload is created by capturing, transporting and
   replaying the bit pattern on the emulated wire, without taking
   advantage of any structure that, on inspection, may be visible within
   the relayed traffic.  The Encapsulation Layer submits an identical
   number of bits for transport in each PW-PDU.

   This service will require sequencing and real-time support.

3.3.2.  Structured bit-stream

   A bit-stream payload is created by using some knowledge of the
   underlying structure of the bit-stream to capture, transport and
   replay the bit pattern on the emulated wire.




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   Two important points distinguish structured and unstructured bit-
   streams:

       o Some part of the original (unstructured) bit stream are
         stripped by, for example, the PSN-bound direction of the
         NSP block.  For example, in Structured SONET the section
         and line overhead (and, possibly, more) may be stripped.

       o The PW must preserve the structure across the PSN so that
         the CE-bound NSP block can insert it correctly into the
         reconstructed unstructured bit stream.

   The Encapsulation Layer may also perform silence/idle suppression or
   similar compression on a structured bit stream.

   Structured bit streams are distinguished from cells in that the
   structures may be too long to be carried in a single packet (i.e.
   structured SONET).  Note that "short" structures are
   indistinguishable from cells and may benefit from the use of cell
   encapsulations.

   This service will require sequencing and real-time support.

3.3.3.  Cell Payload

   A cell payload is created by capturing, transporting and replaying
   groups of bits presented on the wire in a fixed-size format.  The
   delineation of the group of bits that comprise the cell is specific
   to the encapsulation type.  Two common examples of cell payloads are
   53-octet cells carrying ATM AAL2, and the larger 188-octet MPEG
   Transport Stream packets [ETSI].

   To reduce per-PSN packet overhead, multiple cells may be concatenated
   into a single payload.  The Encapsulation Layer may consider the
   payload complete on the expiry of a timer, or after a fixed number of
   cells have been received.  The benefit of concatenating multiple PDUs
   should be weighed against the resulting increase in jitter and the
   larger penalty incurred by packet loss.  In some cases, it may be
   appropriate for the Encapsulation Layer to perform a silence
   suppression or a similar compression.

   The generic cell payload service will normally need sequence number
   support, and may also need real-time support.  The generic cell
   payload service would not normally require fragmentation.

   The Encapsulation Layer may apply some form of compression to some of
   these sub-types.




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   In some instances, the cells to be incorporated in the payload may be
   selected by filtering them from the stream of cells presented on the
   wire.  For example, an ATM PWE3 service may select cells based on
   their VCI or VPI fields. This is an NSP function, and the selection
   would therefore be made before the packet was presented to the PW
   Encapsulation Layer.

3.3.4.  Packet Payload

   A packet payload is a variable-size data unit presented to the PE on
   the AC.  A packet payload may be large compared to the PSN MTU. The
   delineation of the packet boundaries is encapsulation-specific.  HDLC
   or Ethernet PDUs can be considered as examples of packet payloads.
   Typically a packet will be stripped of transmission overhead such as
   HDLC flags and stuffing bits before transmission over the PW.

   A packet payload would normally be relayed across the PW as a single
   unit.  However, there will be cases where the combined size of the
   packet payload and its associated PWE3 and PSN headers exceeds the
   PSN path MTU.  In this case some fragmentation methodology needs to
   be applied.  This is likely to be the case when a user is providing
   the service and attaching to the service provider via an Ethernet, or
   where nested pseudo-wires are involved. Fragmentation is discussed in
   more detail in Section 5.

   A packet payload may need sequencing and real-time support.

   In some situations, the packet payload may be selected from the
   packets presented on the emulated wire on the basis of some sub-
   multiplexing technique.  For example, one or more frame-relay PDUs
   may be selected for transport over a particular pseudo-wire based on
   the frame-relay Data-Link Connection Identifier (DLCI), or, in the
   case of Ethernet payloads, on the basis of the VLAN identifier.  This
   is an NSP function, and this selection would therefore be made before
   the packet was presented to the PW Encapsulation Layer.

3.3.5.  Principle of Minimum Intervention

   To minimise the scope of information, and to improve the efficiency
   of data flow through the Encapsulation Layer, the payload should be
   transported as received with as few modifications as possible [RFC-
   1958].

   This minimum intervention approach decouples payload development from
   PW development and requires fewer translations at the NSP in a system
   with similar CE interfaces at each end.  It also prevents any
   unwanted side-effects due to subtle mis-representation of the payload
   in the intermediate format.



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   An intervention approach can be more wire-efficient in some cases and
   may result in fewer translations at the NSP where the the CE
   interfaces are of different types.

   The intermediate format is effectively a new framing type.




4.  Architecture of Pseudo-wires

   This section describes the PWE3 architectural model.

4.1  Network Reference Model

   Figure 2 illustrates the network reference model for point-to-point
   PWs.


            |<-------------- Emulated Service ---------------->|
            |                                                  |
            |          |<------- Pseudo Wire ------>|          |
            |          |                            |          |
            |          |    |<-- PSN Tunnel -->|    |          |
            | PW End   V    V                  V    V  PW End  |
            V Service  +----+                  +----+  Service V
      +-----+    |     | PE1|==================| PE2|     |    +-----+
      |     |----------|............PW1.............|----------|     |
      | CE1 |    |     |    |                  |    |     |    | CE2 |
      |     |----------|............PW2.............|----------|     |
      +-----+  ^ |     |    |==================|    |     | ^  +-----+
            ^  |       +----+                  +----+     | |  ^
            |  |   Provider Edge 1         Provider Edge 2  |  |
            |  |                                            |  |
      Customer |                                            | Customer
      Edge 1   |                                            | Edge 2
               |                                            |
               |                                            |
         native service                               native service

                   Figure 2: PWE3 Network Reference Model

   The two PEs (PE1 and PE2) need to provide one or more PWs on behalf
   of their client CEs (CE1 and CE2) to enable the client CEs to
   communicate over the PSN.  A PSN tunnel is established to provide a
   data path for the PW.  The PW traffic is invisible to the core
   network, and the core network is transparent to the CEs.  Native data
   units (bits, cells or packets) presented at the PW End Service (PWES)



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   are encapsulated in a PW-PDU and carried across the underlying
   network via the PSN tunnel. The PEs perform the necesssary
   encapsulation and decapsulation of PW-PDUs, as well as handling any
   other functions required by the PW service, such as sequencing or
   timing.

   There are situations in which a particular packet payload needs to be
   multicast so that it is received by a  number of CEs.  This is useful
   when using PWs  as part of a "virtual LAN"  service (see, e.g.,
   [VPLS]). This can  be achieved  by replicating the  payload and
   transmitting the replicas on PWs, but it may also be useful to have a
   type of PW which is inherently point-to-multipoint.  In  that case,
   the PW would  need to be carried through a point-to-multipoint PSN
   tunnel, employing a multicast mechanism provided by the PSN.

4.2  PWE3 Pre-processing

   In some applications, there is a need to perform operations on the
   native data units received from the CE (including both payload and
   signalling traffic) before they are transmitted across the PW by the
   PE. Examples include Ethernet bridging, SONET cross-connect,
   translation of locally-significant identifiers such as VCI/VPI, or
   translation to another service type.  These operations could be
   carried out in external equipment, and the processed data sent to the
   PE over one or more physical interfaces.  In most cases, there are
   cost and operational benefits in undertaking these operations within
   the PE.  This processed data is then presented to the PW via a
   virtual interface within the PE.

   These pre-processing operations are included in the PWE3 reference
   model to provide a common reference point, but the detailed
   description of these operations is outside the scope of the PW
   definition given here.


















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                       PW
                    End Service
                        |
                        |<------- Pseudo Wire ------>|
                        |                            |
                        |    |<-- PSN Tunnel -->|    |
                        V    V                  V    V     PW
                  +-----+----+                  +----+ End Service
       +-----+    |PREP | PE1|==================| PE2|     |    +-----+
       |     |    |     |............PW1.............|----------|     |
       | CE1 |----|     |    |                  |    |     |    | CE2 |
       |     | ^  |     |............PW2.............|----------|     |
       +-----+ |  |     |    |==================|    |     | ^  +-----+
               |  +-----+----+                  +----+     | |
               |        ^                                  | |
               |        |                                  | |
               |        |<------- Emulated Service ------->| |
               |        |                                    |
               | Virtual physical                            |
               |  termination                                |
               |        ^                                    |
          CE1 native    |                                CE2 native
           service      |                                service
                        |
                   CE2 native
                    service

          Figure 3: Pre-processing within the PWE3 Network Reference Model

   Figure 3 shows the inter-working of one PE with pre-processing
   (PREP), and a second without this functionality.  This is a useful
   reference point because it emphasises that the functional interface
   between PREP and the PW is that represented by a physical interface
   carrying the service.  This effectively defines the necessary inter-
   working specification.

   The operation of a system in which both PEs include PREP
   functionality is also supported.

   The required pre-processing can be divided into two components:
       o Forwarding (FWD)

       o Native Service Processing (NSP)

4.2.1. Forwarders

   In some applications there is the need to selectively forward payload
   elements from one of more ACs to one or more PWs. In such cases there



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   will also be the need to perform the inverse function on PWE3-PDUs
   received by a PE from the PSN. This is the function of the Forwarder
   (FWD).

   The forwarder selects the PW based on for example: the incoming AC,
   the contents of the payload, or some statically or dynamically
   configured forwarding information.


                +----------------------------------------+
                |                PE Device               |
                +----------------------------------------+
         Single |                 |                      |
         PWES   |                 |        Single        | PW Instance
        <------>o   Forwarder     +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |                 |        Instance      |
                +----------------------------------------+

                Figure 4a: Simple point-to-point service


                +----------------------------------------+
                |                PE Device               |
                +----------------------------------------+
        Multiple|                 |        Single        | PW Instance
        PWES    |                 +        PW IWF        X<===========>
        <------>o                 |        Instance      |
                |                 |----------------------|
        <------>o                 |        Single        | PW Instance
                |                 +        PW IWF        X<===========>
        <------>o                 |        Instance      |
                |   Forwarder     |----------------------|
        <------>o                 |        Single        | PW Instance
                |                 +        PW IWF        X<===========>
        <------>o                 |        Instance      |
                |                 |----------------------| Multipoint
                |                 |        Multipoint    | PW Instance
                |                 +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |                 |        Instance      |
                +----------------------------------------+

                Figure 4b: Multiple PWEs to Multiple PW Forwarding

   Figure 4a shows a simple forwarder that performs some type of
   filtering operation. Figure 4b shows a more general forwarding
   situation where payloads are extracted from one or more PWESs and
   directed to one or more PWs, including, in this instance, a
   multipoint PW.



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4.2.2. Native Service Processing

   In some applications some form of data or address translation, or
   other operation requiring knowledge of the semantics of the payload,
   will be required. This is the function of the Native Service
   Processor (NSP).

   The use of the NSP approach simplifies the design of the PW by
   restricting a PW to homogeneous operation.  NSP is included in the
   reference model to provide a defined interface to this functionality.
   The specification of the various types of NSP is outside the scope of
   PWE3.



                +----------------------------------------+
                |                PE Device               |
        Multiple+----------------------------------------+
        PWES    |      |          |        Single        | PW Instance
        <------>o  NSP #          +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |      |          |        Instance      |
                |------|          |----------------------|
                |      |          |        Single        | PW Instance
        <------>o  NSP #          +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |      |          |        Instance      |
                |------|Forwarder |----------------------|
                |      |          |        Single        | PW Instance
        <------>o  NSP #          +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |      |          |        Instance      |
                |------|          |----------------------| Multipoint
                |      |          |        Multipoint    | PW Instance
        <------>o  NSP #          +        PW IWF        X<===========>
                |      |          |        Instance      |
                +----------------------------------------+

                Figure 5: NSP in a Multiple PWEs to Multiple
                          PW Forwarding PE


   Figure 5 illustrates the relationship between NSP, Forwarding and PWs
   in a PE.  The NSP function may apply any transformation operation
   (modification, injection, etc.) on the payloads as they pass between
   the physical interface to the CE and the virtual interface to the
   Forwarder.  A PE device may contain more than one Forwarder.

   The operation of a system in which the NSP functionality includes
   terminating the data-link and applying network layer processing to
   the payload is also supported.



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4.3  Maintenance Reference Model

   Figure 6 illustrates the maintenance reference model for PWs.

             |<------- CE (end-to-end) Signaling ------>|
             |     |<---- PW/PE Maintenance ----->|     |
             |     |     |<-- PSN Tunnel -->|     |     |
             |     |     |    Signaling     |     |     |
             |     V     V  (out of scope)  V     V     |
             v     +-----+                  +-----+     v
       +-----+     | PE1 |==================| PE2 |     +-----+
       |     |-----|.............PW1..............|-----|     |
       | CE1 |     |     |                  |     |     | CE2 |
       |     |-----|.............PW2..............|-----|     |
       +-----+     |     |==================|     |     +-----+
                   +-----+                  +-----+
       Customer   Provider                 Provider     Customer
        Edge 1     Edge 1                   Edge 2       Edge 2

            Figure 6: PWE3 Maintenance Reference Model

   The following signaling mechanisms are required:

       o The CE (end-to-end) signaling is between the CEs.  This
         signaling could be frame relay PVC status signaling, ATM SVC
         signaling, etc.

       o The PW/PE Maintenance is used between the PEs (or NSPs) to set
         up, maintain and tear down PWs, including any required
         coordination of parameters.

       o The PSN Tunnel signaling controls the PW multiplexing and some
         elements of the underlying PSN.  Examples are L2TP control protocol,
         MPLS LDP and RSVP-TE.  This type of signaling is not within the
         scope of PWE3.

4.4  Protocol Stack Reference Model

   Figure 7 illustrates the protocol stack reference model for PWs.












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    +-----------------+                           +-----------------+
    |Emulated Service |                           |Emulated Service |
    |(e.g. TDM, ATM)  |<==== Emulated Service ===>|(e.g. TDM, ATM)  |
    +-----------------+                           +-----------------+
    |    Payload      |                           |    Payload      |
    |  Encapsulation  |<====== Pseudo Wire ======>|  Encapsulation  |
    +-----------------+                           +-----------------+
    |PW Demultiplexer |                           |PW Demultiplexer |
    |   PSN Tunnel,   |<======= PSN Tunnel ======>|  PSN Tunnel,    |
    | PSN & Physical  |                           | PSN & Physical  |
    |     Layers      |                           |    Layers       |
    +-------+---------+        ___________        +---------+-------+
            |                /             \               |
            +===============/     PSN       \================+
                            \               /
                             \_____________/


             Figure 7: PWE3 Protocol Stack Reference Model

   The PW provides the CE with an emulated physical or virtual
   connection to its peer at the far end.  Native data units from the CE
   are passed through an encapsulation layer at the sending PE, and then
   sent over the PSN. The receiving PE removes the encapsulation and
   restores the payload to its native format for transmission to the
   destination CE.

4.5  Pre-processing Extension to Protocol Stack Reference Model

   Figure 8 illustrates how the protocol stack reference model is
   extended to include the provision of pre-processing (Fowarding and
   NSP).  This shows the ideal placement of the physical interface
   relative to the CE.


















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      /======================================\
      H             Forwarder                H<----Pre-processing
      H----------------======================/
      H Native Service H   |                 |
      H  Processing    H   |                 |
      \================/   |                 |
      |                |   | Emulated        |
      | Service        |   | Service         |
      | Interface      |   | (TDM, ATM,      |
      | (TDM, ATM,     |   | Ethernet,       |<== Emulated Service ==
      | Ethernet,      |   | frame relay,    |
      | frame relay,   |   | etc.)           |
      | etc.)          |   +-----------------+
      |                |   |    Payload      |
      |                |   | Encapsulation   |<=== Pseudo Wire ======
      |                |   +-----------------+
      |                |   |PW Demultiplexer |
      |                |   |  PSN Tunnel,    |
      |                |   | PSN & Physical  |<=== PSN Tunnel =======
      |                |   |    Headers      |
      +----------------+   +-----------------+
      |   Physical     |   |   Physical      |
      +-------+--------+   +-------+---------+
              |                    |
              |                    |
              |                    |
              |                    |
              |                    |
              |                    |
    To CE <---+                    +---> To PSN

        Figure 8: Protocol Stack Reference Model with Pre-processing





5.  PW Encapsulation

   The PW Encapsulation Layer provides the necessary infrastructure to
   adapt the specific payload type being transported over the PW to the
   PW Demultiplexer Layer that is used to carry the PW over the PSN.

   The PW Encapsulation Layer consists of three sub-layers:

       o Payload Convergence
       o Timing
       o Sequencing



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   The PW Encapsulation sub-layering and its context with the protocol
   stack are shown, in Figure 9.

          +---------------------------+
          |         Payload           |
          /===========================\ <------ Encapsulation
          H    Payload Convergence    H         Layer
          H---------------------------H
          H          Timing           H
          H---------------------------H
          H        Sequencing         H
          \===========================/
          |     PW Demultiplexer      |
          +---------------------------+
          |     PSN Convergence       |
          +---------------------------+
          |           PSN             |
          +---------------------------+
          |       MAC/Data-link       |
          +---------------------------+
          |          Physical         |
          +---------------------------+

     Figure 9: PWE3 Encapsulation Layer in Context

   The Payload Convergence Sub-layer is highly tailored to the specific
   payload type, but, by grouping a number of target payload types into
   a generic class, and then providing a single convergence sub-layer
   type common to the group, we achieve a reduction in the number of
   payload convergence sub-layer types.  This decreases implementation
   complexity. The provision of per-packet signalling and other out-of-
   band information (other than sequencing or timing) is undertaken by
   this layer.

   The Timing Layer and the Sequencing Layer provide generic services to
   the Payload Convergence Layer for all payload types, when required.

5.1  Payload Convergence Layer

5.1.1.  Encapsulation

   The primary task of the Payload Convergence Layer is the
   encapsulation of the payload in PW-PDUs.  The native data units to be
   encapsulated may or may not contain L2 or L1 header information.
   This is service specific.  The Payload Convergence header carries the
   additional information needed to replay the native data units at the
   CE-bound physical interface. The PW Demultiplexer header is not
   considered as part of the PW header.



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   Not all the additional information needed to replay the native data
   units need to be carried in the PW header of the PW PDUs.  Some
   information (e.g. service type of a PW) may be stored as state
   information at the destination PE during PW set-up.

5.1.2.  PWE3 Channel Types

   The PW Encapsulation Layer and its associated signaling require one
   or more of the following types of channel from its underlying PW
   Demultiplexer and PSN Layers:

       1. A reliable control channel for signaling line events, status
          indications, and, in some exceptional cases, CE-CE events
          which must be translated and sent reliably between PEs.

          For example, this capability is needed in [PPPoL2TP]
          (PPP negotiation has to be split between the two ends of the
          tunnel).  PWE3 may also need this type of control channel to
          provide faithful emulation of complex data-link protocols.

       plus one or more data channels with the following characteristics:

       2. A high-priority, unreliable, sequenced channel.  A typical use
          is for CE-to-CE signaling.  "High priority" may simply be
          indicated via DSCP/EXP bits for priority during transit.
          This channel type could also use a bit in the tunnel header
          itself to indicate that packets received at the PE should be
          processed with higher priority.

       3. A sequenced channel for data traffic that is sensitive to
          packet reordering (one classification for use could be for
          any non-IP traffic).

       4. An un-sequenced channel for data traffic insensitive to packet
          order.

   The data channels (2, 3 and 4 above) should be carried "in band" with
   one another to as much of a degree as is reasonably possible on a
   PSN.

   Where end-to-end connectivity may be disrupted by address translation
   [RFC3022], access-control lists, firewalls etc., there exists the
   possibility that the control channel may be able to pass traffic and
   set up the PW, but the PW data-path data traffic is blocked by one or
   more of these mechanisms.  In these cases unless the control channel
   is also  carried "in  band" the  signalling to set-up the PW will not
   confirms the existence of an end-to-end data path.




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   In some cases there is a need to synchronize some CE events with the
   data carried over a PW.  This is especially the case with TDM
   circuits (e.g., on-hook/off-hook events in PSTN switches).

   PWE3 channel types that are not needed by the supported PWs need not
   be included in such an implementation.

5.1.3.  Quality of Service Considerations

   Where possible, it is desirable to employ mechanisms to provide PW
   Quality of Service (QoS) support over PSNs.  Specification of a QoS
   design common to all PW Service types needs further investigation.

5.2  Payload-independent PW Encapsulation Layers

   Two PWE3 Encapsulation Sub-layers provide common services to all
   payload types: Sequencing and Timing.  These services are optional
   and are only used if needed by a particular PW instance.  If the
   service is not needed, the associated header may be omitted in order
   to conserve processing and network resources.

   There will be instances where a specific payload type will be
   required to be transported with or without sequence and/or real-time
   support.  For example, an invariant of frame relay transport is the
   preservation of packet order. Some frame-relay applications expect
   in-order delivery, and may not cope with reordering of the frames.
   However, where the frame relay service is itself only being used to
   carry IP, it may be desirable to relax that constraint in return for
   reduced per-packet processing cost.

   The guiding principle is that, where possible, an existing IETF
   protocol should be used to provide these services.  Where a suitable
   protocol is not available, the existing protocol should be extended
   or modified to meet the PWE3 requirements, thereby making that
   protocol available for other IETF uses. In the particular case of
   timing, more than one general method may be necessary to provide for
   the full scope of payload timing requirements.

5.2.1.  Sequencing

   The sequencing function provides three services: frame ordering,
   frame duplication detection and frame loss detection. These services
   allow the invariant properties of a physical wire to be emulated.
   Support for sequencing depends on the payload type, and may be
   omitted if not needed.

   The size of the sequence-number space depends on the speed of the
   emulated service, and the maximum time of the transient conditions in



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   the PSN.  A sequence number space greater than approximately 2^16 may
   therefore be needed to prevent the sequence number space wrapping
   during the transient.

5.2.1.1  Frame Ordering

   When packets carrying the PW-PDUs traverse a PSN, they may arrive out
   of order at the destination PE.  For some services, the frames
   (control frames, data frames, or both control and data frames) must
   be delivered in order.  For such services, some mechanism must be
   provided for ensuring in-order delivery. Providing a sequence number
   in the sequence sub-layer header for each packet is one possible
   approach to out-of-sequence detection.  Alternatively it can be noted
   that sequencing is a subset of the problem of delivering timed
   packets, and that a single combined mechanism such as [RTP] may be
   employed.

   There are two possible misordering strategies:

       o Drop misordered PW PDUs.

       o Try to sort PW PDUs into the correct order.

   The choice of strategy will depend on:

       o How critical the loss of packets is to the operation of
         the PW (e.g. the acceptable bit error rate).

       o The speeds of the PW and PSN.

       o The acceptable delay (since delay must be introduced to reorder)

       o The incidence of expected misordering.

5.2.1.2  Frame Duplication Detection

   In rare cases, packets traversing a PW may be duplicated by the
   underlying PSN.  For some services, frame duplication is not
   acceptable.  For such services, some mechanism must be provided to
   ensure that duplicated frames will not be delivered to the
   destination CE. The mechanism may or may not be the same as the
   mechanism used to ensure in-order frame delivery.

5.2.1.3  Frame Loss Detection

   A destination PE can determine whether a frame has been lost by
   tracking the sequence numbers of the received PW PDUs.




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   In some instances, a destination PE will have to presume that a PW
   PDU is lost if it fails to arrive within a certain time.  If a PW-PDU
   that has been processed as lost subsequently arrives, the destination
   PE must discard it.

5.2.2.  Timing

   A number of native services have timing expectations based on the
   characteristics of the networks that they were designed to travel
   over, and it can be necessary for the emulated service to duplicate
   these network characteristics as closely as possible, e.g. in
   delivering native traffic with the same jitter, bit-rate and timing
   characteristics as it was sent.

   In such cases, it is necessary for the receiving PE to play out the
   native traffic as it was received at the sending PE.  This relies on
   either timing information sent between the two PEs, or in some case
   timing information received from an external reference.

   The Timing Sub-layer must therefore support two timing functions:
   clock recovery and timed payload delivery.  A particular payload type
   may require either or both of these services.

5.2.2.1  Clock Recovery

   Clock recovery is the extraction of output transmission bit timing
   information from the delivered packet stream, and requires a phase-
   locking mechanism.  A physical wire provides this naturally, but it
   is a relatively complex task to extract this from a highly jittered
   source such as packet stream.  It is therefore desirable that an
   existing real-time protocol such as [RTP] be used for this purpose,
   unless it can be shown that this is unsuitable or unnecessary for a
   particular payload type.

5.2.2.2  Timed delivery

   Timed delivery is the delivery of non-contiguous PW PDUs to the PW
   output interface with a constant phase relative to the input
   interface.  The timing of the delivery may be relative to a clock
   derived from the packet stream via clock recovery, or via an external
   clock.

5.3  Fragmentation

   A payload would normally be relayed across the PW as a single unit.
   However, there will be cases where the combined size of the payload
   and its associated PWE3 and PSN headers exceeds the PSN path MTU.
   When a packet exceeds the MTU of a given network, fragmentation and



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   reassembly may have to be performed in order for the packet to be
   delivered.  Since fragmentation and reassembly generally consume a
   large amount of network resource as compared to simply switching a
   packet in its entirety, efforts should be made to reduce or eliminate
   the need for fragmentation and reassembly as much as possible
   throughout a network. Of particular concern for fragmentation and
   reassembly are aggregation points where large numbers of pseudowires
   are processed (e.g. at the PE).

   Ideally, the equipment originating the traffic being sent over the PW
   will be configured to have adaptive measures [e.g. [RFC1191],
   [RFC1981]] in place such that it never sends a packet which must be
   fragmented.  When this fails, the point closest to the sending host
   with fragmentation and reassembly capabilities should attempt to
   reduce the size of packets further into the network.  Thus, in the
   reference model for PWE3 [Figure 3] fragmentation should first be
   performed at the CE if at all possible.  If and only if the CE cannot
   adhere to an acceptable MTU size for the PW should the PE attempt its
   own fragmentation methods.  Further, if an adequate general
   fragmentation method exists (e.g. as part of the native protocol
   being carried by the PW, or the PSN itself) then this should be
   employed when possible.

   Examining fragmentation mechanisms for PWE3 is a current work item.
   Further study may establish the need for a common PWE3 specific
   method.

   It is acceptable for a PE implementation not to support
   fragmentation.  A PE that does not support fragmentation will drop
   packets that exceed the PSN MTU, and the management plane of the
   encapsulating PE may be notified.

   If the length of a L2/L1 frame, restored from a PW PDU, exceeds the
   MTU of the destination PWES, it must be dropped.  In this case, the
   management plane of the destination PE may be notified.

5.4  Instantiation of the Protocol Layers

   This document does not address the detailed mapping of the Protocol
   Layering model to existing or future IETF standards.  The
   instantiation of the logical Protocol Layering model is shown in
   Figure 9.

5.4.1. PWE3 over an IP PSN

   The protocol definition of PWE3 over an IP PSN therefore should
   employ existing IETF protocols where possible.




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          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+
          |      Payload        |------------->| Raw payload if possible |
          /=====================\              +-------------------------+
          H Payload Convergence H------------->|        As Needed        |
          H---------------------H              +-------------------------+
          H       Timing        H----------+-->|            RTP          |
          H---------------------H         /    +-------------+           |
          H     Sequencing      H----one of    |             |
          \=====================/         \    |             +-----------+
          |  PW Demultiplexer   |----------+-->| L2TP, GRE, IPSec, MPLS  |
          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+
          |  PSN Convergence    |------------->|       Not needed        |
          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+
          |        PSN          |------------->|            IP           |
          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+
          |    MAC/Data-link    |------------->|       MAC/Data-link     |
          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+
          |       Physical      |------------->|          Physical       |
          +---------------------+              +-------------------------+

   Figure 10: PWE3 over an IP PSN

   Figure 10 shows the protocol layering for PWE3 over an IP PSN. As a
   rule, the payload should be carried as received from the NSP, with
   the Payload Convergence Layer provided when needed.  (It is accepted
   that there may sometimes be good reason not to follow this rule, but
   the exceptional circumstances need to be documented in the
   encapsulation layer definition for that payload type).

   Where appropriate, timing is provided by RTP, which when used also
   provides a sequencing service.  PW demultiplexing may be provided by
   a number of existing IETF tunnel protocols.  Some of these tunnel
   protocols provide an optional sequencing service.  (Sequencing is
   provided either by RTP, or by the PW Demultiplexer Layer, but not
   both).  A PSN convergence layer is not needed, because all the tunnel
   protocols shown above are designed to operate directly over an IP
   PSN.

   As a special case, if the PW demultiplexer label is MPLS, the
   protocol architecture of section 5.4.2 can be used instead of the
   protocol architecture of this section.

5.4.2. PWE3 over an MPLS PSN

   The MPLS ethos places importance on wire efficiency.  By using a
   control word, some components of the PWE3 protocol layers can be
   compressed to increase wire efficiency.




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          +---------------------+
          |      Payload        |
          /=====================\
          H Payload Convergence H-----------------+
          H---------------------H                 |
          H       Timing        H                 |
          H---------------------H                 |
          H     Sequencing      H------------------------------------+
          \=====================/                 |                  |
          |  PW Demultiplexer   |---+             |                  |
          +---------------------+   |             |                  |
          |  PSN Convergence    |-----------------------+----+----+  |
          +---------------------+   |             |     |    |    |  |
          |        PSN          |-+ |             v     v    v    v  v
          +---------------------+ | |  +--------------------------------+
          |    MAC/Data-link    | | |  |      Flags   |Frag| Len |Seq # |
          +---------------------+ | |  +--------------------------------+
          |       Physical      | | +->|          Inner Label           |
          +---------------------+ |    +--------------------------------+
                                  +--->| Outer Label or MPLS-in-IP encap|
                                       +--------------------------------+

   Figure 11: PWE3 over an MPLS PSN using a control word

   Figure 11 shows the protocol layering for PWE3 over an MPLS PSN.  An
   inner MPLS label is used to provide the PW demultiplexing function.
   A control word is used to carry most of the information needed by the
   PWE3 Encapsulation Layer and the PSN Convergence Layer in a compact
   format.  The flags in the control word provide the necessary payload
   convergence.  A sequence field provides support for both in-order
   payload delivery and (supported by fragmentation control bits) a PSN
   fragmentation service within the PSN Convergence Layer.  To allow
   PWE3 carried in MPLS to correctly pass over an Ethernet data-link, a
   length correction field is needed in the control word.

   In some networks it may be necessary to carry PWE3 over MPLS over IP.
   In these circumstances, the PW is encapsulated for carriage over MPLS
   as described in this section, and then a standard method of carrying
   MPLS over an IP PSN is applied to the resultant PW-PDU.





6.  PW Demultiplexer Layer and PSN Requirements

   PWE3 places three service requirements on the protocol layers used to
   carry it across the PSN:



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       o Multiplexing
       o Fragmentation
       o Length and Delivery

6.1  Multiplexing

   The purpose of the PW Demultiplexer Layer is to allow multiple PWs to
   be carried in a single tunnel.  This minimizes complexity and
   conserves resources.

   Some types of native service are capable of grouping multiple
   circuits into a "trunk", e.g. multiple ATM VCs in a VP, multiple
   Ethernet VLANs in a port, or multiple DS0 services within a T1 or E1.
   A PW may interconnect two end-trunks.  That trunk would have a single
   multiplexing value.

6.2  Fragmentation

   Fragmentation is discussed in Section 5.3.

   If the PSN provides a fragmentation service of adequate performance,
   that mechanism may be used by the PE to fragment and reassemble PW
   PDUs which exceed the PSN MTU.  This fragmentation service is
   transparent to the PW Encapsulation Layer.

6.3  Length and Delivery

   PDU delivery to the egress PE is the function of the PSN Layer.

   If the underlying PSN does not provide all the information necessary
   to determine the length of a PW-PDU, the encapsulation layer will
   provide it.





7.  Control Plane

   This section describes PWE3 control plane services.

7.1  Set-up or Teardown of Pseudo-Wires

   A PW must be set up before an emulated service can be established,
   and must be torn down when an emulated service is no longer needed.

   Set up or teardown of a PW can be triggered by a CLI command, from
   the management plane of a PE, by signaling (i.e., set-up or teardown)



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   of a PWES, e.g., an ATM SVC, or by an auto-discovery mechanism e.g.
   [BGPAUTO].

   During the set-up process, the PEs need to exchange some information
   (e.g. learn each others' capabilities).  The tunneling control
   protocol may be extended to provide mechanisms to enable the PEs to
   exchange all necessary information on behalf of the PW.

   Manual configuration of PWs can be considered a special kind of
   signaling, and is explicitly allowed.

7.2  Status Monitoring

   Some native services have mechanisms for status monitoring. For
   example, ATM supports OAM for this purpose.  For such services, the
   corresponding emulated services must specify how to perform status
   monitoring.

7.3  Notification of Pseudo-wire Status Changes

7.3.1.  Pseudo-wire Up/Down Notification

   If a native service requires bi-directional connectivity, the
   corresponding emulated service can only be signaled up when the
   associated PWs, and PSN tunnels if any, are functional in both
   directions.

   Because the two CEs of an emulated service are not adjacent, a
   failure may occur at a place such that one or both physical links
   between the CEs and PEs remain up.  For example, in Figure 2, if the
   physical link between CE1 and PE1 fails, the physical link between
   CE2 and PE2 will not be affected and will remain up.  Unless CE2 is
   notified about the remote failure, it will continue to send traffic
   over the emulated service to CE1.  Such traffic will be discarded at
   PE1.  Some native services have failure notification so that when the
   services fail, both CEs will be notified.  For such native services,
   the corresponding PWE3 service must provide a failure notification
   mechanism.

   Similarly, if a native service has notification mechanisms so that
   when a network failure is fixed, all the affected services will
   change status from "Down" to "Up", the corresponding emulated service
   must provide a similar mechanism for doing so.

   These mechanisms may already be built into the tunneling protocol.
   For example, the L2TP control protocol has this capability and LDP
   has the ability to withdraw the corresponding MPLS label.




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7.3.2.  Misconnection and Payload Type Mismatch

   With PWE3, misconnection and payload type mismatch can occur.  If a
   misconnection occurs it can breach the integrity of the system.  If a
   payload mismatch occurs it can disrupt the customer network.  In both
   instances, there are security concerns.

   The services of the underlying tunneling mechanism, and its
   associated control protocol, can be used to mitigate this.

   This area needs further study.

7.3.3.  Packet Loss, Corruption, and Out-of-order Delivery

   A PW can incur packet loss, corruption, and out-of-order delivery on
   the PSN path between the PEs.  This can impact the working condition
   of an emulated service. For some payload types, packet loss,
   corruption, and out-of-order delivery can be mapped to either a bit
   error burst, or loss of carrier on the PW.  If a native service has
   some mechanism to deal with bit error, the corresponding PWE3 service
   should provide a similar mechanism.

7.3.4.  Other Status Notification

   A PWE3 approach may provide a mechanism for other status
   notification, if any.

7.3.5.  Collective Status Notification

   Status of a group of emulated services may be affected identically by
   a single network incident.  For example, when the physical link (or
   sub-network) between a CE and a PE fails, all the emulated services
   that go through that link (or sub-network) will fail.  It is likely
   that there exists a group of emulated services that all terminate at
   a remote CE. There may also be multiple such CEs affected by the
   failure. Therefore, it is desirable that a single notification
   message be used to notify failure of the whole group of emulated
   services.

   A PWE3 approach may provide some mechanism for notifying status
   changes of a group of emulated circuits.  One possible method is to
   associate each emulated service with a group ID when the PW for that
   emulated service is set up.  Multiple emulated services can then be
   grouped by associating them with the same group ID. In status
   notification, that group ID can be used to refer all the emulated
   services in that group.

   This should be a mechanism provided by the underlying tunneling



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   protocol.

7.4  Keep-alive

   If a native service has a keep-alive mechanism, the corresponding
   emulated service needs to use a mechanism to propagate this across
   the PW.  An approach following the principle of minimum intervention
   would be to transparently transport keep-alive messages over the PW.
   However, to accurately reproduce the semantics of the native
   mechanism, some PWs may require an alternative approach, such as
   piggy-backing on the PW signalling mechanism.

7.5  Handling Control Messages of the Native Services

   Some native services use control messages for maintaining the
   circuits.  These control messages may be in-band, e.g. Ethernet flow
   control or ATM performance management, or out-of-band, e.g. the
   signaling VC of an ATM VP.

   From the principle of minimum intervention, it is desirable that the
   PEs participate as little as possible in the signaling and
   maintenance of the native services.  This principle should not,
   however, override the need to satisfactorily emulate the native
   service.

   If control messages are passed through, it may be desirable to send
   them using a reliable channel provided by the PW Demultiplexer layer.
   See Bearer Channel Types.




8.  IANA considerations

   There are no IANA considerations for this document.




9.  Security Considerations

   PWE3 provides no means of protecting the contents or delivery of the
   native data units.  PWE3 may, however, leverage security mechanisms
   provided by the PW Demultiplexer or PSN Layers, such as IPSec
   [RFC2401].  This section addresses the PWE3 vulnerabilities, and the
   mechanisms available to protect the emulated native services.

   The PW Tunnel End-Point, PW demultiplexing mechanism, and the



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   payloads of the native service are all vulnerable to attack.

   The security aspects of PWE3 need further study.

9.1  PW Tunnel End-Point and PW Demultiplexer Security

   Protection mechanisms must be considered for the PW Tunnel end-point
   and PW Demultiplexer mechanism in order to avoid denial-of-service
   attacks upon the native service, and to prevent spoofing of the
   native data units.  Exploitation of vulnerabilities from within the
   PSN may be directed to the PW Tunnel end-point so that PW
   Demultiplexer and PSN tunnel services are disrupted.  Controlling PSN
   access to the PW Tunnel end-point may protect against this.

   By restricting PW Tunnel end-point access to legitimate remote PE
   sources of traffic, the PE may reject traffic that would interfere
   with the PW demultiplexing and PSN tunnel services.

9.2  Validation of PW Encapsulation

   Protection mechanisms must address the spoofing of tunneled PW data.
   The validation of traffic addressed to the PW demultiplexer end-point
   is paramount in ensuring integrity of PW encapsulation.  Security
   protocols such as IPSec [RFC2401] may be used by the PW Demultiplexer
   Layer in order to maintain the integrity of the PW by authenticating
   data between the PW Demultiplexer End-points.  IPSec may provide
   authentication, integrity, non-repudiation, and confidentiality of
   data transferred between two PE.  It cannot provide the equivalent
   services to the native service.

   Based on the type of data being transferred, the PW may indicate to
   the PW Demultiplexer Layer that enhanced security services are
   required.  The PW Demultiplexer Layer may define multiple protection
   profiles based on the requirements of the PW emulated service.  CE-
   to-CE signaling and control events emulated by the PW and some data
   types may require additional protection mechanisms.  Alternatively,
   the PW Demultiplexer Layer may use peer authentication for every PSN
   packet to prevent spoofed native data units from being sent to the
   destination CE.

9.3  End-to-End Security

   Protection of the PW encapsulated data stream between PEs should not
   be considered equivalent to end-to-end security, because the CE-PE
   interface and the PE processing element remain unprotected.  PW
   service emulation does not preclude the application of additional
   security mechanisms, such as IPSec, that are implemented end-to-end.
   Likewise, end-to-end security mechanisms applied in the native



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   service do not protect the PW demultiplexing and PSN tunnel services
   provided by the PE for PW encapsulation.



Acknowledgments

   We thank Sasha Vainshtein for his work on Native Service Processing
   and advice on bit-stream over PW services.  We thank Scott Wainner
   Stephen Casner, Andy Malis and Eric Rosen for their comments and
   contributions.


References

   Internet-drafts are works in progress available from
   <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/>

   [BGPAUTO]   Using BGP as an Auto-Discovery Mechanism for Network-based
               VPNs. Ould-Brahim et al.
               <draft-ietf-ppvpn-bgpvpn-auto-02.txt>, work in progress.

   [ETSI]      EN 300 744 Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing
               structure, channel coding and modulation for digital
               terrestrial television (DVB-T), European Telecommunications
               Standards Institute (ETSI)

   [PPPoL2TP]  PPP Tunneling Using Layer Two Tunneling Protocol,
               J Lau et al. <draft-ietf-l2tpext-l2tp-ppp-01.txt>,
               work in progress.

   [RFC1191]   RFC-1191: Path MTU discovery. J.C. Mogul, S.E. Deering.

   [RFC1958]   RFC-1958: Architectural Principles of the Internet,
               B. Carpenter et al.

   [RFC1981]   RFC-1981: Path MTU Discovery for IP version 6. J. McCann,
               S. Deering, J.Mogul.

   [RFC2401]   RFC-2401: Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol.
               S. Kent, R. Atkinson.

   [RFC3022]   RFC-3022: Traditional IP Network Address Translator
               (Traditional NAT). P Srisuresh et al.

   [RTP]       RFC-1889: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications, H.
               Schulzrinne et al.




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Authors' Addresses

   Stewart Bryant
   Cisco Systems,
   4, The Square,
   Stockley Park,
   Uxbridge UB11 1BL,
   United Kingdom.             Email: stbryant@cisco.com

   Danny McPherson
   TCB.                        Email: danny@tcb.net

   W. Mark Townsley
   Cisco Systems,
   7025 Kit Creek Road,
   PO Box 14987,
   Research Triangle Park,
   NC 27709                    Email: mark@townsley.net

   Lloyd Wood
   Cisco Systems,
   4, The Square,
   Stockley Park,
   Uxbridge UB11 1BL,
   United Kingdom.             Email: lwood@cisco.com


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