Network Working Group                                            C. Li
Internet Draft                                           China Telecom
Intended status: Informational                                O. Havel
Expires: March 2022                                          A. Olariu
                                                   Huawei Technologies
                                                     P. Martinez-Julia
                                                                  NICT
                                                              J. Nobre
                                                                 UFRGS
                                                              D. Lopez
                                                       Telefonica, I+D
                                                    September 30, 2021

                           Intent Classification
                draft-irtf-nmrg-ibn-intent-classification-04


Abstract

   Intent is an abstract, high-level policy used to operate the network.
   Intent management system includes an interface for users to input
   requests and an engine to translate the intents into the network
   configuration and manage their life-cycle.

   This document discusses mostly the concept of network intents, but
   other types of intents are also being considered. Specifically, it
   highlights stakeholder perspectives of intent, methods to classify
   and encode intent, the associated intent taxonomy, and defines
   relevant intent terms where necessary. This document provides a
   foundation for intent related research and facilitates solution
   development.

   This document is a product of the IRTF Network Management Research
   Group (NMRG). The document represents the consensus of the RG. During
   the document's lifecycle it received many positive expressions of
   support and detailed reviews beyond the authors. Only in the last
   call period it received more than 12 positive expressions of support
   and more than 5 detailed reviews. It is published for informational
   purposes.

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




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   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 March 23, 2020.

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   Copyright (c) 2021 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
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.
























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Table of Contents


   1. Introduction ................................................ 3
      1.1. Scope .................................................. 5
   2. Acronyms .................................................... 5
   3. Definitions ................................................. 7
   4. Abstract Intent Requirements................................. 7
      4.1. What is Intent?......................................... 7
      4.2. Intent Solutions and Intent Users....................... 8
      4.3. Benefits of Intents to Respond to Network Requirements.. 9
      4.4. Intent Types that need to be supported................. 11
   5. Functional Characteristics and Behaviour.................... 13
      5.1. Abstracting Intent Operation........................... 13
      5.2. Intent User Types...................................... 14
      5.3. Intent Scope .......................................... 14
      5.4. Intent Network Scope................................... 15
      5.5. Intent Abstraction..................................... 15
      5.6. Intent Life-cycle...................................... 16
      5.7. Autonomous Driving Levels.............................. 16
   6. Intent Classification....................................... 17
      6.1. Intent Classification Methodology...................... 18
      6.2. Intent Taxonomy........................................ 21
      6.3. Intent Classification for Carrier Solution............. 23
         6.3.1. Intent Users and Intent Types..................... 23
         6.3.2. Intent Categories................................. 27
         6.3.3. Intent Classification Example..................... 27
      6.4. Intent Classification for Data Center Network Solutions.31
         6.4.1. Intent Users and Intent Types .....................31
         6.4.2. Intent Categories................................. 35
         6.4.3. Intent Classification Example .....................35
      6.5. Intent Classification for Enterprise Solution ..........39
         6.5.1. Intent Users and Intent Types .....................39
         6.5.2. Intent Categories................................. 41
   7. Conclusions ................................................ 43
   8. Security Considerations..................................... 43
   9. IANA Considerations ........................................ 43
   10. Contributors .............................................. 44
   11. Acknowledgments ........................................... 44
   12. References ................................................ 44
      12.1. Normative References.................................. 44
      12.2. Informative References................................ 45

1. Introduction

   The vision of intent-driven networks has attracted a lot of
   attention, as it promises to simplify the management of networks by


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   human operators. This is done by simply specifying what should happen
   on the network, without giving any instructions on how to do it. This
   promise led many telecom companies to begin adopting this new vision,
   and many Standards Development Organization (SDOs) to propose
   different intent frameworks.

   Several SDOs and open source projects, such as Internet Research Task
   Force (IRTF)/ Network Management Research Group (NMRG), Open
   Networking Foundation (ONF) [ONF]/Open Network Operating System
   (ONOS) [ONOS], European Telecommunications Standards Institute
   (ETSI)/Experiential Networked Intelligence (ENI), TMF with its
   Autonomous Networks, have proposed intents for defining a set of
   network operations to execute in a declarative manner.

   More recently, the IRTF NMRG is working on the Intent-based
   Networking - Concepts and Definitions document, [CLEMM]. This
   document clarifies the concept of "Intent" and provides an overview
   of the functionality that is associated with it.  The goal is to
   contribute towards a common and shared understanding of terms,
   concepts, and functionality that can be used as the foundation to
   guide further definition of associated research and engineering
   problems and their solutions.

   The present document, together with [CLEMM], aims to become the
   foundation for future intent-related topic discussions regarding the
   NMRG.

   The SDOs usually came up with their own way of specifying an intent,
   and with their own understanding of what an intent is. Besides that,
   each SDO defines a set of terms and level of abstraction, its
   intended intent users, and the applications and usage scenarios.

   However, most intent approaches proposed by SDOs share the same
   following features:

   o It must be declarative in nature, meaning that an intent user
      specifies the goal on the network without specifying how to
      achieve that goal.

   o It must be vendor agnostic, in the sense that it abstracts the
      network capabilities, or the network infrastructure from the
      intent user, and it can be ported across different platforms.

   o It must provide an easy-to-use interface, which simplifies the
      intent users' interaction with the intent system through the usage
      of familiar terminology or concepts.


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   o It should be able to detect and resolve intent conflicts, which
      include, for example, static (compile-time) conflicts and dynamic
      (run-time) conflicts.

   This draft proposes an intent classification methodology and an
   intent taxonomy. The scope of these proposals is to ensure a common
   understanding in the research community in terms of what are the
   intent users, intent types, or intent solutions, etc. for specific
   scenarios that are being considered.

   The document describes as well an example on how this proposal has
   been successfully applied in an academic environment [IBN-POC] by
   researchers in the area of SDN/NFV for defining the scope of their
   project. The specific problem addressed by researches is how to apply
   intent concepts at different levels that correspond to different
   stakeholders.


1.1. Scope

   This document mostly addresses intents in the context of network
   intents, however other types of intents are not excluded, as
   presented in section 4.4. and section 6.2. .

   It is impossible to fully differentiate intents only by the common
   characteristics followed by concepts, terms and intentions. This
   document clarifies what an intent represents for different
   stakeholders through a classification on various dimensions, such as
   solutions, intent users, and intent types. This classification
   ensures common understanding among all participants and is used to
   determine the scope and priority of individual projects, proof-of-
   concept (PoCs), research initiatives, or open source projects.

   The scope of intent classification in this document includes
   solutions, intent users and intent types, and the initial
   classification table is made according to this scope. The
   methodology presented can be used to update the classification
   tables by adding or removing different solutions, intent users, or
   intent types to cater for future scenarios, applications or domains.


2. Acronyms

     AI: Artificial Intelligence

     CE: Customer Equipment


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     CFS: Customer Facing Service

     CLI: Command Line Interface

     DB: Database

     DC: Data Center

     ECA: Event-Condition-Action

     GBP: Group-Based Policy

    GPU: Graphics Processing Unit

     IBN: Intent Based Network

     NFV: Network Function Virtualization

     O&M: Operations & Maintenance

     ONF: Open Networking Foundation

     ONOS: Open Network Operating System

     PNF: Physical Network Function

     QoE:  Quality of Experience

     RFS: Resource Facing Service

     SDO: Standards Development Organization

     SD-WAN: Software-Defined Wide-Area Network

     SLA: Service Level Agreement

     SUPA: Simplified Use of Policy Abstractions

     VM: Virtual Machine



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     VNF:  Virtual Network Function

3. Definitions

   A common and shared understanding of terms and definitions related
   to IBN is provided in [CLEMM], as follows:

      o Intent: A set of operational goals (that a network should meet)
        and outcomes (that a network is supposed to deliver), defined
        in a declarative manner without specifying how to achieve or
        implement them.

      o Intent-Based Network: A network that can be managed using
        intent.

      o Policy: A set of rules that governs the choices in behaviour of
        a system.

      o Intent User: A user that defines and issues the intent request
        to the intent management system.

   Other definitions relevant to this draft, such as intent scope,
   intent network scope, intent abstraction, intent abstraction, and
   intent lifecycle are available in section 5.

4. Abstract Intent Requirements

   In order to understand the different intent requirements that would
   drive intent classification, we first need to understand what intent
   means for different intent users.

4.1. What is Intent?

   The term Intent has become very widely used in the industry for
   different purposes, sometimes it is not even in agreement with SDO
   shared principles mentioned in the Introduction section.

   Different stakeholders consider an intent to be an ECA policy, a GBP
   policy, a business policy, a network service, a customer service, a
   network configuration, application/application group policy, any
   operator/administrator task, network troubleshooting/diagnostics/
   test, a new app, a marketing term for existing
   management/orchestration capabilities, etc. Their intent is sometimes
   technical, non-technical, abstract or technology specific. For some
   stakeholders, intent is a subset of these and for other stakeholders



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   intent is all of these. It has in some cases become a term to replace
   a very generic 'service' or 'policy' terminology.

   Concerning this, [CLEMM] draft brings clarification with relation to
   what an intent is and how it differentiates from policies and
   services.

   An intent is mistaken by many to be just a synonym for policy. While
   it is easier for those familiar with different standards to
   understand what service, CFS, RFS, resource, policy continuum, ECA
   policy, declarative policy, abstract policy or intent policy is, it
   may be more difficult for the wider audience. Furthermore, those
   familiar with policies understand the difference between a business,
   intent, declarative, imperative, and ECA policy.

   Therefore, it is important to start a discussion in the industry and
   academia communities about what intent is for different solutions and
   intent users. It is also imperative to try to propose some intent
   categories/ classifications that could be understood by a wider
   audience. This would help us define intent interfaces, domain-
   specific languages, and models.

4.2. Intent Solutions and Intent Users

   Intent types are defined by all aspects that are required to profile
   different requirements to easily distinguish among them. However, in
   order to facilitate a clustered classification, we can focus on two
   aspects, the solution and intent user. They can be considered as the
   main keys to classify intents, as we can easily group requirements by
   solution and intent user. On the one hand, different solutions and
   intent users have different requirements, expectations and priorities
   for intent-driven networking. Therefore, intent users require
   different intent types, depending on their context, since they
   participate in different use cases. For instance, some intent users
   are more technical and require intents that expose more technical
   information. Other intent users do not have knowledge of the network
   infrastructure and require intents that shield them from different
   networking concepts and technologies. The following are the solutions
   and intent users that intent-driven networking needs to support:






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         +--------------------+------------------------------------+
         | Solutions          | Intent Users                       |
         +--------------------+------------------------------------+
         | Carrier Networks   | Network Operator                   |
         |                    | Service Designers/App Developer    |
         |                    | Service Operators                  |
         |                    | Customers/Subscribers              |
         +--------------------+------------------------------------+
         | DC Networks        | Cloud Administrator                |
         |                    | Underlay Network Administrator     |
         |                    | Application Developers             |
         |                    | Customer/Tenants                   |
         +--------------------+------------------------------------+
         | Enterprise Networks| Enterprise Administrator           |
         |                    | Application Developers             |
         |                    | End-Users                          |
         +--------------------+------------------------------------+
                Table 1 - Intent Solutions and Intent Users


   These intent solutions and intent users represent a starting point
   for the classification and are expendable through the methodology
   presented in section 6.1. .

   o For carrier networks scenario, for example, if a
      customer/subscriber wants to watch high-definition video, then the
      intent is to convert the video image to 1080p rate.

   o For DC networks scenario, administrators have their own clear
      network intent such as load balancing. For all traffic flows that
      need NFV service chaining, restrict the maximum load of any VNF
      node/container below 50% and the maximum load of any network link
      below 70%.

   o For enterprise networks scenario, when hosting a video conference
      multiple remote accesses are required. An example of the intent
      from the network administrator is: for any end-user of this
      application, the arrival time of hologram objects of all the
      remote tele-presenters should be synchronised within 50ms to reach
      the destination viewer for each conversation session.

4.3. Benefits of Intents to Respond to Network Requirements

   Current network APIs and CLIs are too complex because they are highly
   integrated with the low level concepts exposed by networks. More
   specifically, network solutions must determine which low level


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   communication technologies (e.g. protocol) they will use and, even
   more specifically, they must deal with the network topology that
   supports such communication (e.g. structure of networks and sub-
   networks). Customers, application developers and end-users must not
   be required to set IP addresses, VLANs, subnets, ports, etc.
   Therefore, all network stakeholders would benefit from the simpler
   interfaces, like:

   o Allow customer site A to be connected to Internet via network B

   o Allow end-user A to access all internal resources, except the
      server B

   o Allow end-user B to access internet via corporate network A

   o Move all end-user from corporate network A to the corporate
      network B

   o Request gold VPN service between my sites A, B and C

   o Provide CE redundancy for all customer sites

   o Add access rules to my service

   Networks are complex, with many different protocols and
   encapsulations. Some basic questions are not easy to answer:

   o Can end-user A talk to end-user B?

   o Can host A talk to host B?

   o Are there any routing loops in my network?

   o Are network A and network B connected?

   o Can end-user A listen to communications between end-user B and C?

   Operators and administrators manually troubleshoot and fix their
   networks and services. They instead want:

   o a reliable network that is self-configured and self-assured based
      on the intent

   o to be notified about the problem before the end-user is aware




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   o automation of network/service recovery based on intent (self-
      healing, self-optimization)

   o to get suggestions about correction/optimization steps based on
      experience (historical data and behaviour)

   Therefore, operators and administrators want to:

   o simplify and automate network operations

   o simplify definitions of network services

   o provide simple customer APIs for value added services (operators)

   o be informed if the network or service is not behaving as requested

   o  enable automatic optimization and correction for selected
      scenarios

   o have systems that learn from historic information and behaviour

   Currently, intent users cannot build their own services and policies
   without becoming technical experts and performing manual maintenance
   actions. They want to be able to:

   o build their own network services with their own policies via
      simple interfaces, without becoming networking experts

   o have their network services up and running based on intent and
      automation only, without any manual actions or maintenance

4.4. Intent Types that need to be supported

   Next to the intent solutions and intent users, another way to
   categorize the intent is through the intent types. The following
   intent types need to be supported, in order to address the
   requirements from different solutions and intent users:

   o Customer service intent

       o for customer self-service with SLA

       o for service operator orders

   o Network and underlay network service intent

       o for service operator orders


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       o for intent driven network configuration, verification,
          correction and optimization

       o for intent created and provided by the underlay network
          administrator

   o Network and underlay network intent

       o For network configuration

       o For automated lifecycle management of network configurations

       o For network resources (switches, routers, routing, policies,
          underlay)

   o Cloud management intent

       o For DC configuration, VMs, DB servers, APP servers

       o For communication between VMs

   o Cloud resource management intent

       o For cloud resource life-cycle management (policy driven self-
          configuration and auto-scaling and recovery/optimization)

   o Strategy intent

       o For security, QoS, application policies, traffic steering, etc.

       o For configuring and monitoring policies, alarms generation for
          non-compliance, auto-recovery

       o For design models and policies for network and network service
          design

       o For design workflows, models and policies for operational task
          intents

   o Operational task intents

       o For network migration

       o For server replacements

       o For device replacements



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       o For network software upgrades

       o To automate any tasks that operators/administrator often
           perform

   o Intents that affect other intents

       o It may be task-based intent that modifies many other intents.

       o The task itself is short-lived, but the modification of other
          intents has an impact on their life-cycle, so those changes
          must continue to be continuously monitored and self-
          corrected/self-optimized.

5. Functional Characteristics and Behaviour

   Intent can be used to operate immediately on a target (much like
   issuing a command), or whenever it is appropriate (e.g., in response
   to an event). In either case, intent has a number of behaviours that
   serve to further organize its purpose, as described by the following
   subsections.

5.1. Abstracting Intent Operation

   The modelling of intents can be abstracted using the following
   three-tuple:

   {Context, Capabilities, Constraints}

    o Context grounds the intent, and determines if it is relevant or
      not for the current situation. Thus, context selects intents based
      on applicability.

    o Capabilities describe the functionality that the intent can
      perform.  Capabilities take different forms, depending on the
      expressivity of the intent as well as the programming paradigm(s)
      used.

    o Constraints define any restrictions on the capabilities to be used
      for that particular context.

   Metadata can be attached via strategy templates to each of the
   elements of the three-tuple, and may be used to describe how the
   intent should be used and how it operates, as well as prescribe any
   operational dependencies that must be taken into account.




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5.2. Intent User Types

   Expanding on the introduction in section 4.2. , intent user types
   represent the intent users that define and issue the intent request.
   Depending on the intent solutions, there are specific intent users.
   Examples of intent users are customers, network operators, service
   operators, enterprise administrators, cloud administrators, and
   underlay network administrators, or application developers.

   o Customers and end-users do not necessarily know the functional and
      operational details of the network that they are using.
      Furthermore, they lack skills to understand such details; in fact,
      such knowledge is typically not relevant to their job. In
      addition, the network may not expose these details to its intent
      users. This class of intent users focuses on the applications that
      they run, and uses services offered by the network.  Hence, they
      want to specify policies that provide consistent behaviour
      according to their business needs. They do not have to worry about
      how the intents are deployed onto the underlying network, and
      especially, whether the intents need to be translated to different
      forms to enable network elements to understand them.

   o Application developers work in a set of abstractions defined by
      their application and programming environment(s). For example,
      many application developers think in terms of objects (e.g., a
      VPN).  While this makes sense to the application developer, most
      network devices do not have a VPN object per se; rather, the VPN
      is formed through a set of configuration statements for that
      device in concert with configuration statements for the other
      devices that together make up the VPN. Hence, the view of
      application developers matches the services provided by the
      network, but may not directly correspond to other views of other
      intent users.

   o Network operators may have the knowledge of the underlying
      network. However, they may not understand the details of the
      applications and services of customers.

5.3. Intent Scope

   Intents are used to manage the behaviour of the networks they are
   applied to and all intents are applied within a specific scope, such
   as:

   o Connectivity scope, if the intent creates or modifies a
      connection.


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   o Security/privacy scope, if the intent specifies the security
      characteristics of the network, customers, or end-users.
   o Application scope, when the intent specifies the applications to
      be affected by the intent request.
   o QoS scope, when the intent specifies the QoS characteristics of
      the network.

   These intent scopes are expendable through the methodology presented
   in section 6.1. .


5.4. Intent Network Scope

   Regardless on the intent user type, their intent request is affecting
   the network, or network components, which are representing the intent
   targets.

   Thus, intent network scope, or policy target as known in the area of
   declarative policy, can represent VNFs or PNFs, physical network
   elements, campus networks, SD-WAN networks, radio access networks,
   cloud edge, cloud core, branch, etc.

5.5. Intent Abstraction

   Intent can be classified by whether it is necessary to feedback
   technical network information or non-technical information to the
   intent user after the intent is executed. As well, intent abstraction
   covers the level of technical details in the intent itself.

   o For non-technical intent users, they do not care how the intent is
      executed, or the details of the network. As a result, they do not
      need to know the configuration information of the underlying
      network. They only focus on whether the intent execution result
      achieves the goal, and the execution effect such as the quality of
      completion and the length of execution. In this scenario, we refer
      to an abstraction without technical feedback.

   o For administrators, such as network administrators, they perform
      intents, such as allocating network resources, selecting
      transmission paths, handling network failures, etc. They require
      multiple feedback indicators for network resource conditions,
      congestion conditions, fault conditions, etc. after execution. In
      this case, we refer to an abstraction with technical feedback.




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   As per intent definition provided in [CLEMM], lower-level intents are
   not considered to qualify as intents. However, we kept this
   classification to identify any PoCs/Demos/Use Cases that still either
   require or implement lower level of abstraction for intents.



5.6. Intent Life-cycle

   Intents can be classified into transient and persistent intents:

   o If the intent is transient, it has no life-cycle management.  As
      soon as the specified operation is successfully carried out, the
      intent is finished, and can no longer affect the target object.

   o If the intent is persistent, it has life-cycle management.  Once
      the intent is successfully activated and deployed, the system will
      keep all relevant intents active until they are deactivated or
      removed.

5.7. Autonomous Driving Levels

   In different phases of the autonomous driving network [TMF-auto], the
   intents are different. A typical example of autonomous driving
   network level 0 to 5 are listed as below.

   o Level 0 - Traditional manual network: O&M personnel manually
      control the network and obtain network alarms and logs. - No
      intent

   o Level 1 - Partially automated network: Automated scripts are used
      to automate service provisioning, network deployment, and
      maintenance. Shallow perception of network status and decision
      making suggestions of machine; - No intent

   o Level 2 - Automated network: Automation of most service
      provisioning, network deployment, and maintenance of a
      comprehensive perception of network status and local machine
      decision making; - simple intent on service provisioning

   o Level 3 - Self-optimization network: Deep awareness of network
      status and automatic network control, meeting requirements of
      intent users of the network. - Intent based on network status
      cognition





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   o Level 4 - Partial autonomous network: In a limited environment,
      people do not need to participate in decision-making and networks
      can adjust itself. - Intent based on limited AI

   o Level 5 - Autonomous network: In different network environments
      and network conditions, the network can automatically adapt to and
      adjust to meet people's intentions. - Intent based on AI

6. Intent Classification

   This section proposes an intent classification approach that may help
   to classify mainstream intent related demos/tools.

   The three classifications in this document have been proposed from
   scratch, following the methodology presented, through three
   iterations: one for carrier network intent solution, one for DC
   intent solution, and one for enterprise intent solution. For each
   intent solution, we identified the specific intent users and intent
   types.  Then, we further identified intent scope, network scope,
   abstractions, and life-cycle requirements.

   These classifications and the generated tables can be easily
   extended. For example, for the DC intent solution, a new category is
   identified, i.e. resource scope, and the classification table has
   been extended accordingly.

   In the future, as new scenarios, applications, and domains are
   emerging, new classifications and taxonomies can be identified,
   following the proposed methodology.

   The intent classifications have been documented to the best of our
   knowledge at this point in time. Additional classifications will most
   probably see the light in the future.

   The output of the intent classification is the intent taxonomy
   introduced in the next sections.

   Thus, this section first introduces the proposed intent
   classification methodology, followed by consolidated intent taxonomy
   for three intent solutions, and then by concrete examples of intent
   classifications for three different intent solutions (e.g. carrier
   network, data center, and enterprise) that were derived using the
   proposed methodology and then can be filled in for PoCs, demos,
   research projects or future drafts.





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6.1. Intent Classification Methodology

   This section describes the methodology used to derive the initial
   classification proposed in the draft. The proposed methodology can be
   used to create new intent classifications from scratch, by analysing
   the solution knowledge. As well, the methodology can be used to
   update existing classification tables by adding or removing different
   solutions, intent users or intent types in order to cater for future
   scenarios, applications or domains.







































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             +------------------------------------------+
             |Solution Knowledge (requirements,         |
             |use cases, technologies, network, intent  |
             |users, intent requirements)               |
             +----------------+-------------------------+
                              | Input             Rx=Read
                              |                   Ux=Update (Add/Remove)
                     +--------V--------+
                     |1.Identify Intent|
                     |  Solution       +------------+
                     |                 |            |
                     +---------^-+-----+            |
                            R1 | | U1               |
   +---------------+ U8        | |    R2         +--v----------------+
   |8.Identify New +---------+ | |   +-----------> 2.Identify        |
   |  Categories   | R8      | | |   | U2        |   Intent          |
   |               <-------- | | |   | +---------+   User Types      |
   +--------^------+       | | | |   | |         +-------|-----------+
            |              | | | |   | |                 |
            |             ++-+-v-v---+-v-+               |
   +--------+------+ U7   |              | R3     +------v------------+
   |7.Identify     +------>   Intent     +--------> 3.Identify        |
   |  Life-cycle   | R7   |Classification| U3     |   Type            |
   |  Requirements <------+              <--------+   of Intent       |
   +--------^------+      +^--^-+--^-+---+        +------|------------+
            |              || | |  | |                   |
            |              || | |  | |                   |
   +--------+-----+        || | |  | | R4        +-------v-----------+
   |6.Identify    | U6     || | |  | +-----------> 4.Identify        |
   |  Abstractions+---------| | |  |   U4        |   Intent          |
   |              <---------+ | |  +-------------+   Scope           |
   +-------^------+ R6        | |                +-------+-----------+
           |                  | |                        |
           |               U5 | |R5                      |
           |          +-------+-v--------+               |
           |          |5.Identify Network|               |
           +----------+  Scope           <---------------+
                      +------------------+
               Figure 1 - Intent Classification Methodology



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   The intent classification workflow starts from the solution
   knowledge, which can provide information on requirements, use cases,
   technologies used, network properties, intent users that define and
   issue the intent request, and requirements. The following, defines
   the steps to classify an intent:

   1. The information provided in the solution knowledge is given as
   input for identifying the intent solution (e.g. carrier, enterprise,
   and data center). Intent solutions are reviewed against the existing
   classification and they can either be used if present or added if not
   there or removed if not needed, from the classification. (R1-U1).

   2. Identify the intent user types (e.g. customer, network operators,
   service operators, etc.), review existing intent classification and
   use the intent user type if present, add if it is not there or remove
   it if not needed (R2-U2).

   3. Identify the types of intent (e.g. network intent, customer
   service intent) and then review existing classification and
   use/add/remove the intent type (R3-U3).

   4. Identify the intent scopes (e.g. connectivity, application) based
   on the solution knowledge and then review existing classification and
   use/add/remove the identified intent scope (R4-U4).

   5. Identify the network scopes (e.g. campus, radio access) and then
   then review existing classification and either use it or add/remove
   the identified network scope (R5-U5).

   6. Identify the abstractions (e.g. technical, non-technical) and
   then review existing classification and use/add/remove the
   abstractions (R6-U6).

   7. Identify the life-cycle requirements (e.g. persistent, transient)
   and then review existing classification and use/add/remove the life-
   cycle requirements (R7-U7).

   8. Identify any new categories and use/add the newly identified
   categories. New categories can be identified as new domains or
   applications are emerging, or new areas of concern (e.g. privacy,
   compliance) might arise, which are not listed in the current
   methodology.



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6.2. Intent Taxonomy

   The following taxonomy describes the various intent solutions, intent
   user types, intent types, intent scopes, network scopes, abstractions
   and life-cycle and represents the output of the intent classification
   tables for each of the solutions addressed (i.e. carrier, data
   center, and enterprise solutions).

   The intent scope categories in Figure 2 are shared among the carrier,
   DC, and enterprise solutions. The abbreviations (Cx) in sections
   6.3.2. 6.4.2. are introduced with the scope of fitting as column
   title in the following tables.




































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                                   +--------------------------------+
                               +-->|Carrier  Enterprise  Data Center|
                               |   +--------------------------------+
                               |   +--------------------------------+
                               |   |Customer/Subscriber/End-User    |
                 +----------+  |   |Network or Service Operator     |
               +>+Solutions +--+   |Application Developer           |
               | +----------+   +->|Enterprise Administrator        |
               |                |  |Cloud Administrator             |
               | +----------+   |  |Underlay Network Administrator  |
               +>+Intent    +---+  +--------------------------------+
               | |User      |      +--------------------------------+
               | |Types     |      |Customer Service Intent         |
               | +----------+      |Strategy Intent                 |
               | +----------+      |Network Service Intent          |
               +>+Intent    +----->|Underlay Network Service Intent |
      +------+ | |Type      |      |Network Intent                  |
      |Intent+-+ +----------+      |Underlay Network Intent         |
      +------+ |                   |Operational Task Intent         |
               | +----------+      |Cloud Management Intent         |
               +>+Intent    +---+  |Cloud Resource Management Intent|
               | |Scope     |   |  +--------------------------------+
               | +----------+   |  +--------------------------------+
               |                +->|Connectivity   Application  QoS |
               | +----------+      |Security/Privacy Storage Compute|
               +>+Network   +---+  +--------------------------------+
               | |Scope     |   |  +--------------------------------+
               | +----------+   |  |Radio Access      Branch        |
               |                +->|Transport Access  SD-WAN        |
               | +----------+      |Transport Aggr.   VNF      PNF  |
               +>+Abstrac   +----+ |Transport Core    Physical      |
               | |tion      |    | |Cloud Edge        Logical       |
               | +----------+    | |Cloud Core        Campus        |
               | +----------+    | +--------------------------------+
               +>+Life      |    | +--------------------------------+
                 |cycle     +--+ +>|Technical         Non-Technical |
                 +----------+  |   +--------------------------------+
                               |   +--------------------------------+
                               +-->|Persistent        Transient     |
                                   +--------------------------------+
                        Figure 2 - Intent Taxonomy


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6.3. Intent Classification for Carrier Solution

6.3.1. Intent Users and Intent Types

   This section addresses step 1, 2, and 3 from Figure 1 and the
   following table describes the intent users in carrier solutions and
   intent types with their descriptions for different intent users.

   +-------------+-------------+---------------------------------------+
   | Intent User | Intent Type |      Intent Type Description          |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Customer/   |Customer     |Customer self-service with SLA and     |
   | Subscriber  |Service      |value added service                    |
   |             |Intent       |Example: Always maintain high quality  |
   |             |             |of service and high bandwidth for gold |
   |             |             |level subscribers.                     |
   |             |             |Operational statement: Measure the     |
   |             |             |network congestion status, give        |
   |             |             |different adaptive parameters to       |
   |             |             |stations of different priority, thus in|
   |             |             |heavy load situation, make the         |
   |             |             |bandwidth of the high-priority         |
   |             |         |customers guaranteed.                  |
   |             |             |At the same time ensure the overall    |
   |             |             |utilization of system, improve         |
   |             |             |the overall throughput of the system.  |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             |Strategy     |Customer designs models and policy     |
   |             |Intent       |intents to be used by customer service |
   |             |             |intents.                               |
   |             |             |Example: Request reliable service      |
   |             |             |during peak traffic periods for apps   |
   |             |             |of type video.                         |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Network      |Network      |Service provided by network service    |
   |Operator     |Service      |operator to the customer               |
   |             |Intent       |(e.g. the service operator)            |
   |             |             |Example: Request network service with  |
   |             |             |delay guarantee for access customer A. |
   |             +-------------+---------------------------------------+
   |             |Network      |Network operator requests network-wide |
   |             |Intent       |(service underlay or other network-wide|


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   |             |             |configuration) or network resource     |
   |             |             |configurations (switches, routers,     |
   |             |             |routing, policies). Includes           |
   |             |             |connectivity, routing, QoS, security,  |
   |             |             |application policies, traffic steering |
   |             |             |policies, configuration policies,      |
   |             |             |monitoring policies, alarm generation  |
   |             |             |for non-compliance, auto-recovery, etc.|
   |             |             |Example: Request high priority queueing|
   |             |             |for traffic of class A.                |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             |Operational  |Network operator requests execution of |
   |             |Task         |any automated task other than network  |
   |             |Intent       |service intent and network intent      |
   |             |             |(e.g. network migration, server        |
   |             |             |replacements, device replacements,     |
   |             |             |network software upgrades).            |
   |             |             |Example: Request migration of all      |
   |             |             |services in network N to backup path P.|
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             |Strategy     |Network operator designs models, policy|
   |             |Intent       |intents and workflows to be used by    |
   |             |             |network service Intents, network       |
   |             |             |intents and operational task intents.  |
   |             |             |Workflows can automate any tasks that  |
   |             |             |network operator often performed in    |
   |             |             |addition to network service intents and|
   |             |             |network intents                        |
   |             |             |Example: Ensure the load on any link in|
   |             |             |the network is not higher than 50%.    |
   +-------------+-------------+---------------------------------------+













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   +-------------+-------------+---------------------------------------+
   | Service     | Customer    | Service operator's customer orders,   |
   | Operator    | Service     | customer service / SLA                |
   |             | Intent      | Example: Provide service S with       |
   |             |             | guaranteed bandwidth for customer A.  |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Network     | Service operator's network orders /   |
   |             | Service     | network SLA                           |
   |             | Intent      | Example: Provide network guarantees in|
   |             |             | terms of security, low latency and    |
   |             |             | high bandwidth                        |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Operational | Service operator requests execution of|
   |             | Task        | any automated task other than         |
   |             | Intent      | customer service intent and network   |
   |             |             | service intent                        |
   |             |             | Example: Update service operator      |
   |             |             | portal platforms and their software   |
   |             |             | regularly. Move services from network |
   |             |             | operator 1 to network operator 2.     |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Strategy    | Service operator designs models,      |
   |             | Intent      | policy intents and workflows to be    |
   |             |             | used by customer service intents,     |
   |             |             | network service intents and           |
   |             |             | operational task intents. Workflows   |
   |             |             | can automate any tasks that service   |
   |             |             | operator often performed in addition  |
   |             |             | to network service intents and network|
   |             |             | intents.                              |
   |             |             | Example: Request network service      |
   |             |             | guarantee to avoid network congestion |
   |             |             | during special periods                |
   |             |             | such as black Friday, and Christmas.  |
   +-------------+-------------+---------------------------------------+
   | Application | Customer    | Customer service intent API provided  |
   | Developer   | Service     | to the application developers         |
   |             | Intent      | Example: API to request network to    |
   |             |             | watch HD video 4K/8K.                 |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+



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   |             | Network     | Network service intent API provided to|
   |             | Service     | the application developers            |
   |             | Intent      | Example:API to request network service|
   |             |             | , monitoring and traffic grooming.    |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Network     | Network intent API provided to the    |
   |             | Intent      | application developers                |
   |             |             | Example: API to request network       |
   |             |             | resources configuration.              |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Operational | Operational task intent API provided  |
   |             | Task        | to the application developers. This is|
   |             | Intent      | for the trusted internal operator /   |
   |             |             | service providers / customer DevOps   |
   |             |             | Example: API to request server        |
   |             |             | migrations.                           |
   |             +-----------------------------------------------------+
   |             | Strategy    | Application developer designs models, |
   |             | Intent      | policy and workflows to be used by    |
   |             |             | customer service intents, network     |
   |             |             | service intents and operational       |
   |             |             | task intents. This is for the trusted |
   |             |             | internal operator/service provider/   |
   |             |             | customer DevOps                       |
   |             |             | Example: API to design network load   |
   |             |             | balancing strategies during peak times|
   +-------------+-------------+---------------------------------------+

            Table 2 - Intent Classification for Carrier Solution
















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6.3.2. Intent Categories

   This subsection addresses step 4 to 7 from Figure 1, and the
   following are the proposed categories:

      o Intent Scope: C1=Connectivity, C2=Security/Privacy,
        C3=Application, C4=QoS
      o Network Scope:
           o Network Domain: C1=Radio Access, C2=Transport Access,
             C3=Transport Aggregation, C4=Transport Core, C5=Cloud Edge,
             C6=Cloud Core)
           o Network Function (NF) Scope: C1=VNFs, C2=PNFs
      o Abstraction (ABS): C1=Technical (with technical feedback),
        C2=Non-technical (without technical feedback) see section 5.2. .
      o Life-cycle (L-C): C1=Persistent (full life-cycle), C2=Transient
        (short lived)


6.3.3. Intent Classification Example

   This section depicts an example on how the methodology described in
   section 6.1. can be used in order to classify intents introduced in
   the 'A Multi-Level Approach to IBN' PoC demonstration [POC-IBN]. This
   PoC is led by academics carrying research in the area of SDN/NFV and
   the specific problem they are addressing is to apply the intent
   concept at different levels that correspond to different
   stakeholders. For this research work,  they considered two types of
   intents: slice intents and service chain intents.

   In this PoC [POC-IBN], a slice intent expresses a request for a
   network slice with two types of components: a set of top layer
   virtual functions, and a set of virtual switches and/or routers of
   L2/L3 VNFs. A service chain intent expressed a request for a service
   operated through a chain of service components running in L4-L7
   virtual functions.

   Following the intent classification methodology described step-by-
   step in section 6.1. , the following can be derived:

   1. The intent solution for both intents is carrier network.

   2. The intent user type is network operator for the slice intent, and
      service operator for the service chain intent.

   3. The type of intent, is a network service intent for the slice
      intent,and a customer service intent for the service chain intent.


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   4. The intent scopes are connectivity and application.

   5. The network scope is VNF, cloud edge, and cloud core.

   6. The abstractions are with technical feedback for the slice intent,
      and without technical feedback for the service chain intent

   7. The life-cycle is persistent.

   The following table shows how to represent this information in a
   tabular form. The 'X' in the table refers to the slice intent, and
   the 'Y' in the table refers to the service chain intent.



































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+---------+---------+-----------+-----+-----------------+-----+-----+
| Intent  | Intent  | Intent    | NF  | Network         | ABS |L-C  |
| User    | Type    | Scope     |Scope| Scope           |     |     |
|         |         +-----------+-----+-----------------+-----+-----+
|         |         |C1|C2|C3|C4|C1|C2|C1|C2|C3|C4|C5|C6|C1|C2|C1|C2|
+---------+---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|Customer |Customer |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|/ Sub-   |Service  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| scriber |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Strategy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
+---------+---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|Network  |Network  |X |  |X |  |X |  |  |  |  |  |X |  |X |  |X |  |
|Operator |Service  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Network  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Operatio-|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |nal Task |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Strategy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
+---------+---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|Service  |Customer |Y |  |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |
|Operator |Service  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Network  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Service  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Op Task  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Strategy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
+---------+---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+


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|App      |Customer |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|Developer|Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Network  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Service  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Network  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Op Task  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         +---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|         |Strategy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|         |Intent   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
+---------+---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

        Table 3 - Intent Classification Example for Carrier Solution




























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6.4. Intent Classification for Data Center Network Solutions

6.4.1. Intent Users and Intent Types

   The following table describes the intent users in DC network
   solutions and intent types with their descriptions for different
   intent users.

   +---------------+-------------+-------------------------------------+
   | Intent User   | Intent Type |    Intent Type Description          |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Customer /    | Customer    | Customer self-service via tenant    |
   | Tenants       | Service     | portal.                             |
   |               |             | Example: Request GPU computing and  |
   |               |             | storage resources to meet 10k video |
   |               |             | surveillance services.              |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Strategy    | This includes models and policy     |
   |               | Intent      | intents designed by customers/      |
   |               |             | tenants to be reused later during   |
   |               |             | instantiation.                      |
   |               |             | Example: Request dynamic computing  |
   |               |             | and storage resources of the service|
   |               |             | in special and daily times.         |
   |               |             |                                     |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Cloud       | Configuration of VMs, DB Servers,   |
   | Cloud         | Management  | app servers, connectivity,          |
   | Administrator | Intent      | communication between VMs.          |
   |               |             | Example: Request connectivity       |
   |               |             | between VMs A,B,and C in network N1.|
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Cloud       | Policy-driven self-configuration and|
   |               | Resource    | and recovery / optimization         |
   |               | Management  | Example: Request automatic life     |
   |               | Intent      |-cycle management of VM cloud        |
   |               |             | resources.                          |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Operational | Cloud administrator requests        |
   |               | Task Intent | execution of any automated task     |
   |               |             | other than cloud management         |
   |               |             | intents and cloud resource          |
   |               |             | management intents.                 |
   |               |             | Example: Request upgrade operating  |
   |               |             | system to version X on all VMs      |
   |               |             | in network N1.                      |


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   |               |             |Operational statement: an intent to  |
   |               |             |update a system might reconfigure the|
   |               |             |system topology (connect to a service|
   |               |             |and to peers), exchange data (update |
   |               |             |the content), and uphold a certain   |
   |               |             |QoE level (allocate sufficient       |
   |               |             |network resources). The network,     |
   |               |             |thus, carries out the necessary      |
   |               |             |configuration to best serve such an  |
   |               |             |intent; e.g. setting up direct       |
   |               |             |connections between terminals, and   |
   |               |             |allocating fair shares of router     |
   |               |             |queues considering other network     |
   |               |             |services.                            |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Strategy    | Cloud administrator designs models, |
   |               | Intent      | policy intents and workflows to be  |
   |               |             | used by other intents. Automate any |
   |               |             | tasks that administrator often      |
   |               |             | performs, in addition to life-cycle |
   |               |             | of cloud management intents and     |
   |               |             | cloud management resource intents.  |
   |               |             | Example: In case of emergency,      |
   |               |             | automatically migrate all cloud     |
   |               |             | resources to DC2.                   |
   +---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
   | Underlay      | Underlay    | Service created and provided by     |
   | Network       | Network     | the underlay network administrator. |
   | Administrator | Service     | Example: Request underlay service   |
   |               | Intent      | between DC1 and DC2 with            |
   |               |             | bandwidth B.                        |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Underlay    | Underlay network administrator      |
   |               | Network     | requests some DCN-wide underlay     |
   |               | Intent      | network configuration or network    |
   |               |             | resource configurations.            |
   |               |             | Example: Establish and allocate     |
   |               |             | DHCP address pool.                  |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Operational | Underlay network administrator      |
   |               | Task Intent | requests execution of the any       |
   |               |             | automated task other than underlay  |
   |               |             | network service and resource        |


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   |               |             | intent.                             |
   |               |             | Example: Request automatic rapid    |
   |               |             | detection of device failures and    |
   |               |             | pre-alarm correlation.              |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Strategy    | Underlay network administrator      |
   |               | Intent      | designs models, policy intents &    |
   |               |             | workflows to be used by other       |
   |               |             | intents. Automate any tasks that    |
   |               |             | administrator often performs.       |
   |               |             | Example: For all traffic flows      |
   |               |             | that need NFV service chaining,     |
   |               |             | restrict the maximum load of any    |
   |               |             | VNF node/container below 50% and    |
   |               |             | the maximum load of any network     |
   |               |             | link below 70%.                     |
   +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Cloud       | Cloud management intent API         |
   |               | Management  | provided to the application         |
   |               | Intent      | developers.                         |
   |               |             | Example: API to request             |
   |               |             | configuration of VMs, or DB Servers.|
   | Application   +---------------------------------------------------+
   | Developer     | Cloud       | Cloud resource management intent    |
   |               | Resource    | API provided to the application     |
   |               | Management  | developers.                         |
   |               | Intent      | Example: API to request automatic   |
   |               |             | life-cycle management of cloud      |
   |               |             | resources.                          |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Underlay    | Underlay network service API        |
   |               | Network     | provided to the application         |
   |               | Service     | developers.                         |
   |               | Intent      | Example: API to request real-time   |
   |               |             | monitoring of device condition.     |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Underlay    | Underlay network resource API       |
   |               | Network     | provided to the application         |
   |               | Intent      | developers.                         |
   |               |             | Example: API to request dynamic     |
   |               |             | management of IPv4 address pool     |
   |               |             | resources.                          |


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   |               |             |                                     |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Operational | Operational task intent API         |
   |               | Task Intent | provided to the trusted             |
   |               |             | application developer (internal     |
   |               |             | DevOps).                            |
   |               |             | Example: API to request automatic   |
   |               |             | rapid detection of device failures  |
   |               |             | and pre-alarm correlation           |
   |               |             |                                     |
   |               +---------------------------------------------------+
   |               | Strategy    | Application developer designs       |
   |               | Intent      | models, policy intents and          |
   |               |             | building blocks to be used by       |
   |               |             | other intents. This is for the      |
   |               |             | trusted internal DCN DevOps.        |
   |               |             | Example: API to request load        |
   |               |             | balancing thresholds.               |
   +---------------+-------------+-------------------------------------+

     Table 4 - Intent Classification for Data Center Network Solutions

























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6.4.2. Intent Categories

   The following are the proposed categories:
      o Intent Scope: C1=Connectivity, C2=Security/Privacy,
        C3=Application, C4=QoS C5=Storage C6=Compute
      o Network Scope
           o Network Domain: DC Network
           o DCN Network (DCN Net) Scope: C1=Logical, C2=Physical
           o DCN Resource (DCN Res) Scope: C1=Virtual, C2=Physical
      o Abstraction (ABS): C1=Technical (with technical feedback),
        C2=Non-technical (without technical feedback), see section 5.2.
      o Life-cycle (L-C): C1=Persistent (full life-cycle), C2=Transient
        (short lived)


6.4.3. Intent Classification Example

   This section depicts an example on how the methodology described in
   section 6.1. can be used by the research community to classify
   intents. As mentioned in 6.3.3. a successful use of the
   classification proposed in this draft is introduced in the 'A Multi-
   Level Approach to IBN' PoC demonstration [POC-IBN]. The PoC is led by
   academics carrying research in the area of SDN/NFV and the specific
   problem they are addressing is to apply the intent concept at
   different levels that correspond to different stakeholders.

   For their research work, they considered two types of intents: slice
   intents and service chain intents. For the data center solution, only
   the slice intent is relevant.

   As already mentioned in section 6.3.3. , a slice intent expresses a
   request for a network slice with two types of components: a set of
   top layer virtual functions, and a set of virtual switches and/or
   routers of L2/L3 VNFs.

   Following the intent classification methodology described step-by-
   step in section 6.1. , we identify the following:

   1. The intent solution is for the data center.

   2. The intent user type is the cloud administrator for the slice
      intent and service chain intent.

   3. The type of intent, is a cloud management intent, for the slice
      intent.


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   4. The intent scopes are connectivity and application.

   5. The network scope is logical, and the resource scope is virtual.

   6. The abstractions are with technical feedback for the slice intent.

   7. The life-cycle is persistent.

   The following table shows how to represent this information in a
   tabular form, where the 'X' in the table refers to the slice intent.





































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   +---------+-------------+-----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   |Intent   | Intent      | Intent          | DCN | DCN | ABS | L-C |
   |User     | Type        | Scope           | Res | Net |     |     |
   |         |             +-----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   |         |             |C1|C2|C3|C4|C5|C6|C1|C2|C1|C2|C1|C2|C1|C2|
   +---------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |Customer | Customer    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |/Tenants | Service     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   | Cloud   | Cloud       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   | Admin   | Management  |X |  |X |  |  |  |X |  |X |  |X |  |X |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Cloud       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Resource    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Management  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Operational |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Task Intent |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |Underlay | Underlay    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |Network  | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |Admin    | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Underlay    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Resource    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Operational |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Task Intent |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |


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   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |App      | Cloud       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |Developer| Management  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Cloud       |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Resource    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Management  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Underlay    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Underlay    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Resource    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Operational |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Task Intent |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |         | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |         | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

      Table 5 - Intent Classification Example for Data Center Network
                                Solutions
















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6.5. Intent Classification for Enterprise Solution

6.5.1. Intent Users and Intent Types

   The following table describes the intent users in enterprise
   solutions and their intent types.

   +--------------+-------------+-------------------------------------+
   | Intent User  | Intent Type |    Intent Type Description          |
   +--------------+---------------------------------------------------+
   | End-User     | Customer    | Enterprise end-user self-service or |
   |              | Service     | applications, enterprise may have   |
   |              | Intent      | multiple types of end-users.        |
   |              |             | Example: Request access to VPN      |
   |              |             | service.                            |
   |              |             | Request video conference between    |
   |              |             | end-user A and B.                   |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Strategy    | This includes models and policy     |
   |              | Intent      | intents designed by end-users to be |
   |              |             | used by end-user intents and their  |
   |              |             | applications.                       |
   |              |             | Example: Create a video conference  |
   |              |             | type for a weekly meeting.          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |Enterprise    | Network     | Service provided by the             |
   |Administrator | Service     | administrator to the end-users      |
   |(internal or  | Intent      | and their applications.             |
   | MSP)         |             | Example: For any end-user of        |
   |              |             | application X, the arrival of       |
   |              |             | hologram objects of all the remote  |
   |              |             | tele-presenters should be           |
   |              |             | synchronised within 50ms to reach   |
   |              |             | the destination viewer for each     |
   |              |             | conversation session.               |
   |              |             | Create management VPN connectivity  |
   |              |             | for type of service A.              |
   |              |             | Operational statement: The job of   |
   |              |             | the network layer is to ensure that |
   |              |             | the delay is between 50-70ms through|


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   |              |             | the routing algorithm. At the same  |
   |              |             | time,the node resources need to meet|
   |              |             | the bandwidth requirements of 4K    |
   |              |             | video conferences.                  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Network     | Administrator requires network wide |
   |              | Intent      | configuration (e.g. underlay,       |
   |              |             | campus) or resource configuration   |
   |              |             | (switches, routers, policies).      |
   |              |             | Example: Configure switches in      |
   |              |             | campus network 1 to prioritise      |
   |              |             | traffic of type A.                  |
   |              |             | Configure YouTube as business       |
   |              |             | non-relevant.                       |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Operational | Administrator requests execution of |
   |              | Task Intent | any automated task other than       |
   |              |             | network service intents and network |
   |              |             | intents.                            |
   |              |             | Example: Request network security   |
   |              |             | automated tasks such as web         |
   |              |             | filtering and DDOS cloud protection.|
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Strategy    | Administrator designs models, policy|
   |              | Intent      | intents and workflows to be used by |
   |              |             | other intents. Automate any tasks   |
   |              |             | that administrator often performs.  |
   |              |             | Example: In case of emergency,      |
   |              |             | automatically shift all traffic of  |
   |              |             | type A through network N.           |
   |              |             |                                     |
   +--------------+-------------+-------------------------------------+
   | Application  | End-User    | End-user service / application      |
   | Developer    | Intent      | intent API provided to the          |
   |              |             | application developers.             |
   |              |             | Example: API for request to open a  |
   |              |             | VPN service.                        |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Network     | Network service API provided to     |
   |              | Service     | application developers.             |
   |              | Intent      | Example: API for request network    |


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   |              |             | bandwidth and latency for           |
   |              |             | hosting video conference.           |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Network     | Network API provided to application |
   |              | Intent      | developers.                         |
   |              |             | Example: API for request of network |
   |              |             | devices configuration.              |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Operational | Operational task intent API provided|
   |              | Task Intent | to the trusted application developer|
   |              |             | (internal DevOps).                  |
   |              |             | Example: API for requesting         |
   |              |             | automatic monitoring and            |
   |              |             | interception for network security   |
   |              +---------------------------------------------------+
   |              | Strategy    | Application developer designs       |
   |              | Intent      | models, policy intents and building |
   |              |             | blocks to be used by other intents. |
   |              |             | This is for the trusted internal    |
   |              |             | DevOps.                             |
   |              |             | Example: API for strategy intent in |
   |              |             | case of emergencies.                |
   |              |             |                                     |
   +--------------+-------------+-------------------------------------+
          Table 6 - Intent Classification for Enterprise Solution




6.5.2. Intent Categories

   The following are the proposed categories:
      o Intent Scope: C1=Connectivity, C2=Security/Privacy,
        C3=Application, C4=QoS
      o Network (Net) Scope: C1=Campus, C2=Branch, C3=SD-WAN
      o Abstraction (ABS): C1=Technical (with technical feedback),
        C2=Non-technical (without technical feedback), see section 5.2.
      o Life-cycle (L-C): C1=Persistent (full life-cycle), C2=Transient
        (short lived)






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   The following is the intent classification table example for
   enterprise solutions.

   +---------------+-------------+-----------+--------+-----+-----+
   | Intent User   | Intent Type | Intent    | Net    | ABS | L-C |
   |               |             | Scope     |        |     |     |
   |               |             +-----------+--------+-----+-----+
   |               |             |C1|C2|C3|C4|C1|C2|C3|C1|C2|C1|C2|
   +---------------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   | End-User      | Customer    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Service     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   | Enterprise    | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   | Administrator | Service     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Operational |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Task        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   | Application   | End-User    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   | Developer     | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Service     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Network     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+


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   |               | Operational |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Task        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               +-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   |               | Strategy    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   |               | Intent      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
   +---------------+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
            Table 7 - Intent Categories for Enterprise Solution



7. Conclusions

   This document is aligned with the RG objectives and supports
   investigations into intent-driven networking by proposing an intent
   categorization methodology and taxonomy. It brings clarification on
   what an intent represents for different stakeholders through the
   proposal of an Intent Classification approach, ensuring that a
   common understanding among all the participants exists. This,
   together with the proposed intent taxonomy provides a solid
   foundation for future intent-related topic discussions within NMRG.

   The benefits of this intent classification draft in the research
   community have been demonstrated through a PoC implementation [POC-
   IBN] in which the draft's concepts at different levels corresponding
   to different stakeholders have been applied to.

8. Security Considerations

   This document identifies the security and privacy as categories of
   the intent scope. The intents could be solely security intents and
   privacy intents or security can be embedded in the intents that
   include also connectivity, application, and QoS scope.

   Security and privacy scope, is when the intent specifies the security
   characteristics of the network, customers, or end-users, and privacy
   for customers and end-users.

   More details of these security intents would be described in future
   documents that specify architecture, functionality, user intents and
   models. As well, an analysis of the security considerations of the
   overall intent-based system is provided in section 10 of [CLEMM].

9. IANA Considerations

   This document has no actions for IANA.


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10. Contributors

   The following people all contributed to creating this document:

   Xueyuan Sun, China Telecom
   Will (Shucheng) Liu, Huawei
   Ying Chen, China Unicom
   John Strassner, Huawei
   Weiping Xu, Huawei
   Richard Meade, Huawei




11. Acknowledgments

   Special thanks to Xueyuan Sun from China Telecom for significant
   contributions to this document, and to Will (Shucheng) Liu from
   Huawei for contributions and guidance.

   This document has benefited from reviews, suggestions, comments and
   proposed text provided by the following members, listed in
   alphabetical order: Mehdi Bezahaf, Brian E Carpenter, Laurent
   Ciavaglia, Benoit Claise, Alexander Clemm, Yehia Elkhatib, Jerome
   Francois, Pedro Andres Aranda Gutierrez, Daniel King, Branislav
   Meandzija, Bob Natale, Juergen Schoenwaelder, Xiaolin Song, Jeff
   Tantsura.

   We thank to Barbara Martini, Walter Cerroni, Molka Gharbaoui, Davide
   Borsatti, for contributing with their 'A multi-level approach to
   IBN' PoC demonstration a first attempt to adopt the intent
   classification methodology.

12. References

12.1. Normative References

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

   [RFC7575] Behringer, M., Pritikin, M., Bjarnason, S., Clemm, A.,
             Carpenter, B., Jiang, S., and L. Ciavaglia, "Autonomic
             Networking: Definitions and Design Goals", RFC 7575, June
             2015.





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   [RFC8328] Liu, W., Xie, C., Strassner, J., Karagiannis, G., Klyus,
             M., Bi, J., Cheng, Y., and D. Zhang, "Policy-Based
             Management Framework for the Simplified Use of Policy
             Abstractions (SUPA)", March 2018.

   [RFC3198] Westerinen, A., Schnizlein, J., Strassner, J.,
             Scherling, M., Quinn, B., Herzog, S., Huynh, A., Carlson,
             M., Perry, J., Waldbusser, S., "Terminology for Intent-
             driven Management", RFC 3198, November 2001.

   [CLEMM]  A. Clemm, L. Ciavaglia, L. Granville, J. Tantsura, "Intent-
             Based Networking - Concepts and Overview", Work in
             Progress, draft-irtf-nmrg-ibn-concepts-definitions-03,
             February 2021, https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-irtf-nmrg-
             ibn-concepts-definitions-03



12.2. Informative References

   [RFC6020] Bjorklund, M., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for the
             Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020,
             October 2010.

   [RFC7285] R. Alimi, R. Penno, Y. Yang, S. Kiesel, S. Previdi, W.
             Roome, S. Shalunov, R. Woundy "Application-Layer Traffic
             Optimization (ALTO) Protocol", September 2014.

   [ANIMA] Du, Z., "ANIMA Intent Policy and Format", 2017,
             <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-du-anima-an-
             intent/>.

   [ONF] ONF, "Intent Definition Principles", 2017,
             <https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/
             sdn-resources/technical-reports/TR-
             523_Intent_Definition_Principles.pdf>.

   [ONOS] ONOS, "ONOS Intent Framework", 2017,
             <https://wiki.onosproject.org/display/ONOS/Intent+Framework
             />.

   [SUPA] Strassner, J., "Simplified Use of Policy Abstractions",
             2017, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-supa-
             generic-policy-info-model/?include_text=1>.





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   [ANIMA-Prefix] Jiang, S., Du, Z., Carpenter, B., and Q. Sun,
             "Autonomic IPv6 Edge Prefix Management in Large-scale
             Networks", draft-ietf-anima-prefix-management-07 (work in
             progress), December 2017.

   [TMF-auto] Aaron Richard Earl Boasman-Patel,et, A whitepaper of
             Autonomous Networks: Empowering Digital Transformation For
             the Telecoms Industry, inform.tmforum.org, 15 May, 2019.

    [POC-IBN] Barbara Martini, Walter Cerroni, Molka Gharbaoui, Davide
             Borsatti, "A multi-level approach to IBN", July 2020,
             https://www.ietf.org/proceedings/108/slides/slides-108-
             nmrg-ietf-108-hackathon-report-a-multi-level-approach-to-
             ibn-02


































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Authors' Addresses

   Chen Li
   China Telecom
   No.118 Xizhimennei street, Xicheng District
   Beijing  100035
   P.R. China
   Email: lichen.bri@chinatelecom.cn


   Olga Havel
   Huawei Technologies
   Ireland
   Email: olga.havel@huawei.com

   Adriana Olariu
   Huawei Technologies
   Ireland
   Email: adriana.olariu@huawei.com

   Pedro Martinez-Julia
   NICT
   Japan
   Email: pedro@nict.go.jp

   Jeferson Campos Nobre
   Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
   Porto Alegre
   Brazil
   Email: jcnobre@inf.ufrgs.br

   Diego R. Lopez
   Telefonica I+D
   Don Ramon de la Cruz, 82
   Madrid  28006
   Spain
   Email: diego.r.lopez@telefonica.com











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