SAM Research Group                                          M. Waehlisch
Internet-Draft                                      link-lab & FU Berlin
Intended status: Informational                              T C. Schmidt
Expires: January 12, 2012                                    HAW Hamburg
                                                               S. Venaas
                                                           cisco Systems
                                                           July 11, 2011


             A Common API for Transparent Hybrid Multicast
                     draft-irtf-samrg-common-api-02

Abstract

   Group communication services exist in a large variety of flavors, and
   technical implementations at different protocol layers.  Multicast
   data distribution is most efficiently performed on the lowest
   available layer, but a heterogeneous deployment status of multicast
   technologies throughout the Internet requires an adaptive service
   binding at runtime.  Today, it is difficult to write an application
   that runs everywhere and at the same time makes use of the most
   efficient multicast service available in the network.  Facing
   robustness requirements, developers are frequently forced to use a
   stable, upper layer protocol controlled by the application itself.
   This document describes a common multicast API that is suitable for
   transparent communication in underlay and overlay, and grants access
   to the different multicast flavors.  It proposes an abstract naming
   by multicast URIs and discusses mapping mechanisms between different
   namespaces and distribution technologies.  Additionally, it describes
   the application of this API for building gateways that interconnect
   current multicast domains throughout the Internet.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 12, 2012.



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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.1.  Use Cases for the Common API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   3.  Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.1.  Objectives and Reference Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.2.  Group Communication API & Protocol Stack . . . . . . . . .  8
     3.3.  Naming and Addressing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     3.4.  Mapping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   4.  Common Multicast API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     4.1.  Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     4.2.  Abstract Data Types  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.2.1.  Multicast URI  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.2.2.  Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       4.2.3.  Membership Events  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     4.3.  Group Management Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       4.3.1.  Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       4.3.2.  Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       4.3.3.  Join . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       4.3.4.  Leave  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
       4.3.5.  Source Register  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
       4.3.6.  Source Deregister  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     4.4.  Send and Receive Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
       4.4.1.  Send . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
       4.4.2.  Receive  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
     4.5.  Socket Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       4.5.1.  Get Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       4.5.2.  Add Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       4.5.3.  Delete Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
       4.5.4.  Set TTL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
       4.5.5.  Get TTL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18



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     4.6.  Service Calls  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
       4.6.1.  Group Set  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
       4.6.2.  Neighbor Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
       4.6.3.  Children Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
       4.6.4.  Parent Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
       4.6.5.  Designated Host  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
       4.6.6.  Enable Membership Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
       4.6.7.  Disable Membership Events  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   5.  Functional Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
     5.1.  Namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   8.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   9.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix A.  C Signatures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   Appendix B.  Practical Example of the API  . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
   Appendix C.  Deployment Use Cases for Hybrid Multicast . . . . . . 26
     C.1.  DVMRP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
     C.2.  PIM-SM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
     C.3.  PIM-SSM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
     C.4.  BIDIR-PIM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   Appendix D.  Change Log  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31




























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1.  Introduction

   Currently, group application programmers need to make the choice of
   the distribution technology that the application will require at
   runtime.  There is no common communication interface that abstracts
   multicast transmission and subscriptions from the deployment state at
   runtime.  The standard multicast socket options [RFC3493], [RFC3678]
   are bound to an IP version and do not distinguish between naming and
   addressing of multicast identifiers.  Group communication, however,
   is commonly implemented in different flavors such as any source (ASM)
   vs. source specific multicast (SSM), on different layers (e.g., IP
   vs. application layer multicast), and may be based on different
   technologies on the same tier as with IPv4 vs. IPv6.  It is the
   objective of this document to provide a universal access to group
   services.

   Multicast application development should be decoupled of
   technological deployment throughout the infrastructure.  It requires
   a common multicast API that offers calls to transmit and receive
   multicast data independent of the supporting layer and the underlying
   technological details.  For inter-technology transmissions, a
   consistent view on multicast states is needed, as well.  This
   document describes an abstract group communication API and core
   functions necessary for transparent operations.  Specific
   implementation guidelines with respect to operating systems or
   programming languages are out-of-scope of this document.

   In contrast to the standard multicast socket interface, the API
   introduced in this document abstracts naming from addressing.  Using
   a multicast address in the current socket API predefines the
   corresponding routing layer.  In this specification, the multicast
   name used for joining a group denotes an application layer data
   stream that is identified by a multicast URI, independent of its
   binding to a specific distribution technology.  Such a group name can
   be mapped to variable routing identifiers.

   The aim of this common API is twofold:

   o  Enable any application programmer to implement group-oriented data
      communication independent of the underlying delivery mechanisms.
      In particular, allow for a late binding of group applications to
      multicast technologies that makes applications efficient, but
      robust with respect to deployment aspects.

   o  Allow for a flexible namespace support in group addressing, and
      thereby separate naming and addressing/routing schemes from the
      application design.  This abstraction does not only decouple
      programs from specific aspects of underlying protocols, but may



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      open application design to extend to specifically flavored group
      services.

   Multicast technologies may be of various P2P kinds, IPv4 or IPv6
   network layer multicast, or implemented by some other application
   service.  Corresponding namespaces may be IP addresses or DNS naming,
   overlay hashes, or other application layer group identifiers like
   <sip:*@peanuts.org> but also names independently defined by the
   applications.  Common namespaces are introduced later in this
   document, but follow an open concept suitable for further extensions.

   This document also proposes and discusses mapping mechanisms between
   different namespaces and forwarding technologies.  Additionally, the
   multicast API provides internal interfaces to access current
   multicast states at the host.  Multiple multicast protocols may run
   in parallel on a single host.  These protocols may interact to
   provide a gateway function that bridges data between different
   domains.  The application of this API at gateways operating between
   current multicast instances throughout the Internet is described, as
   well.

1.1.  Use Cases for the Common API

   Four generic use cases can be identified that require an abstract
   common API for multicast services:

   Application Programming Independent of Technologies:  Application
      programmers are provided with group primitives that remain
      independent of multicast technologies and their deployment in
      target domains.  They are thus enabled to develop programs once
      that run in every deployment scenario.  The employment of group
      names in the form of abstract meta data types allows applications
      to remain namespace-agnostic in the sense that the resolution of
      namespaces and name-to-address mappings may be delegated to a
      system service at runtime.  Thereby, the complexity is minimized
      as developers need not care about how data is distributed in
      groups, while the system service can take advantage of extended
      information of the network environment as acquired at startup.

   Global Identification of Groups:  Groups can be identified
      independent of technological instantiations and beyond deployment
      domains.  Taking advantage of the abstract naming, an application
      is thus enabled to match data received from different interface
      technologies (e.g., IPv4, IPv6, or overlays) to belong to the same
      group.  This not only increases flexibility, an application may
      for instance combine heterogeneous multipath streams, but also
      simplifies the design and implementation of gateways and
      translators.



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   Simplified Service Deployment through Generic Gateways:  The common
      multicast API allows for an implementation of abstract gateway
      functions with mappings to specific technologies residing at a
      system level.  Such generic gateways may provide a simple bridging
      service and facilitate an inter-domain deployment of multicast.

   Mobility-agnostic Group Communication:  Group naming and management
      as foreseen in the common multicast API remain independent of
      locators.  Naturally, applications stay unaware of any mobility-
      related address changes.  Handover-initiated re-addressing is
      delegated to the mapping services at the system level and may be
      designed to smoothly interact with mobility management solutions
      provided at the network or transport layer.


2.  Terminology

   This document uses the terminology as defined for the multicast
   protocols [RFC2710],[RFC3376],[RFC3810],[RFC4601],[RFC4604].  In
   addition, the following terms will be used.

   Group Address:  A Group Address is a routing identifier.  It
      represents a technological specifier and thus reflects the
      distribution technology in use.  Multicast packet forwarding is
      based on this ID.

   Group Name:  A Group Name is an application identifier that is used
      by applications to manage communication in a multicast group
      (e.g., join/leave and send/receive).  The Group Name does not
      predefine any distribution technologies, even if it syntactically
      corresponds to an address, but represents a logical identifier.

   Multicast Namespace:  A Multicast Namespace is a collection of
      designators (i.e., names or addresses) for groups that share a
      common syntax.  Typical instances of namespaces are IPv4 or IPv6
      multicast addresses, overlay group IDs, group names defined on the
      application layer (e.g., SIP or Email), or some human readable
      strings.

   Interface:  An Interface is a forwarding instance of a distribution
      technology on a given node.  For example, the IP interface
      192.168.1.1 at an IPv4 host.

   Multicast Domain:  A Multicast Domain hosts nodes and routers of a
      common, single multicast forwarding technology and is bound to a
      single namespace.





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   Inter-domain Multicast Gateway (IMG):  An Inter-domain Multicast
      Gateway (IMG) is an entity that interconnects different Multicast
      Domains.  Its objective is to forward data between these domains,
      e.g., between IP layer and overlay multicast.


3.  Overview

3.1.  Objectives and Reference Scenarios

   The default use case addressed in this document targets at
   applications that participate in a group by using some common
   identifier taken from some common namespace.  This Group Name is
   typically learned at runtime from user interaction like the selection
   of an IPTV channel, from dynamic session negotiations like in the
   Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), but may as well have been
   predefined for an application as a common Group Name.  Technology-
   specific system functions then transparently map the Group Name to
   Group Addresses such that

   o  programmers are enabled to process group names in their programs
      without the need to consider technological mappings to designated
      deployments in target domains;

   o  applications are enabled to identify packets that belong to a
      logically named group, independent of the interface technology
      used for sending and receiving packets.  The latter shall also
      hold for multicast gateways.

   This document considers two reference scenarios that cover the
   following hybrid deployment cases displayed in Figure 1:

   1.  Multicast Domains running the same multicast technology but
       remaining isolated, possibly only connected by network layer
       unicast.

   2.  Multicast Domains running different multicast technologies but
       hosting nodes that are members of the same multicast group.













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                                        +-------+         +-------+
                                        | Member|         | Member|
                                        |  Foo  |         |   G   |
                                        +-------+         +-------+
                                              \            /
                                            ***  ***  ***  ***
                                           *   **   **   **   *
                                          *                    *
                                           *   MCast Tec A    *
                                          *                    *
                                           *   **   **   **   *
                                            ***  ***  ***  ***
   +-------+          +-------+                      |
   | Member|          | Member|                  +-------+
   |   G   |          |  Foo  |                  |  IMG  |
   +-------+          +-------+                  +-------+
       |                |                            |
       ***  ***  ***  ***                  ***  ***  ***  ***
      *   **   **   **   *                *   **   **   **   *
     *                    *  +-------+   *                    *
      *   MCast Tec A    * --|  IMG  |--  *   MCast Tec B    *    +-------+
     *                    *  +-------+   *                    * - | Member|
      *   **   **   **   *                *   **   **   **   *    |   G   |
       ***  ***  ***  ***                  ***  ***  ***  ***     +-------+


    Figure 1: Reference scenarios for hybrid multicast, interconnecting
    group members from isolated homogeneous and heterogeneous domains.

   It is assumed throughout the document that the domain composition, as
   well as the node attachment to a specific technology, remain
   unchanged during a multicast session.

3.2.  Group Communication API & Protocol Stack

   The group communication API consists of four parts.  Two parts
   combine the essential communication functions, while the remaining
   two offer optional extensions for an enhanced monitoring and
   management:

   Group Management Calls  provide the minimal API to instantiate a
      multicast socket and to manage group membership.

   Send/Receive Calls  provide the minimal API to send and receive
      multicast data in a technology-transparent fashion.






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   Socket Options  provide extension calls for an explicit configuration
      of the multicast socket such as setting hop limits or associated
      interfaces.

   Service Calls  provide extension calls that grant access to internal
      multicast states of an interface such as the multicast groups
      under subscription or the multicast forwarding information base.

   Multicast applications that use the common API require assistance by
   a group communication stack.  This protocol stack serves two needs:

   o  It provides system-level support to transfer the abstract
      functions of the common API, including namespace support, into
      protocol operations at interfaces.

   o  It bridges data distribution between different multicast
      technologies at the local host.

   A general initiation of a multicast communication in this setting
   proceeds as follows:

   1.  An application opens an abstract multicast socket.

   2.  The application subscribes/leaves/(de)registers to a group using
       a Group Name.

   3.  An intrinsic function of the stack maps the logical group ID
       (Group Name) to a technical group ID (Group Address).  This
       function may make use of deployment-specific knowledge such as
       available technologies and group address management in its
       domain.

   4.  Packet distribution proceeds to and from one or several
       multicast-enabled interfaces.

   The multicast socket describes a group communication channel composed
   of one or multiple interfaces.  A socket may be created without
   explicit interface association by the application, which leaves the
   choice of the underlying forwarding technology to the group
   communication stack.  However, an application may also bind the
   socket to one or multiple dedicated interfaces, which predefines the
   forwarding technology and the namespace(s) of the Group Address(es).

   Applications are not required to maintain mapping states for Group
   Addresses.  The group communication stack accounts for the mapping of
   the Group Name to the Group Address(es) and vice versa.  Multicast
   data passed to the application will be augmented by the corresponding
   Group Name.  Multiple multicast subscriptions thus can be conducted



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   on a single multicast socket without the need for Group Name encoding
   at the application side.

   Hosts may support several multicast protocols.  The group
   communication stack discovers available multicast-enabled interfaces.
   It provides a minimal hybrid function that bridges data between
   different interfaces and Multicast Domains.  Details of service
   discovery are out-of-scope of this document.

   The extended multicast functions can be implemented by a middleware
   as conceptually visualized in Figure 2.

   *-------*     *-------*
   | App 1 |     | App 2 |
   *-------*     *-------*
       |             |
   *---------------------*         ---|
   |   Middleware        |            |
   *---------------------*            |
        |          |                  |
   *---------*     |                  |
   | Overlay |     |                   \  Group Communication
   *---------*     |                   /  Stack
        |          |                  |
        |          |                  |
   *---------------------*            |
   |   Underlay          |            |
   *---------------------*         ---|

    Figure 2: A middleware for offering uniform access to multicast in
                           underlay and overlay

3.3.  Naming and Addressing

   Applications use Group Names to identify groups.  Names can uniquely
   determine a group in a global communication context and hide
   technological deployment for data distribution from the application.
   In contrast, multicast forwarding operates on Group Addresses.  Even
   though both identifiers may be identical in symbols, they carry
   different meanings.  They may also belong to different namespaces.
   The namespace of a Group Address reflects a routing technology, while
   the namespace of a Group Name represents the context in which the
   application operates.

   URIs [RFC3986] are a common way to represent namespace-specific
   identifiers in applications in the form of an abstract meta-data
   type.  Throughout this document, any kind of Group Name follows a URI
   notation with the syntax defined in Section 4.2.1.  Examples are,



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   ip://224.1.2.3:5000 for a canonical IPv4 ASM group,
   sip://news@cnn.com for an application-specific naming with service
   instantiator and default port selection.

   An implementation of the group communication middleware can provide
   convenience functions that detect the namespace of a Group Name and
   use it to optimize service instantiation.  In practice, such a
   library would provide support for high-level data types to the
   application, similar to the current socket API (e.g., InetAddress in
   Java).  Using this data type could implicitly determine the
   namespace.  Details of automatic namespace identification is out-of-
   scope of this document.

3.4.  Mapping

   All group members subscribe to the same Group Name taken from a
   common namespace and thereby identify the group in a technology-
   agnostic way.

   Group Names require a mapping to addresses prior to service
   instantiation at an Interface.  Similarly, a mapping is needed at
   gateways to translate between Group Addresses from different
   namespaces.  Some namespaces facilitate a canonical transformation to
   default address spaces.  For example, ip://224.1.2.3:5000 has an
   obvious correspondence to 224.1.2.3 in the IPv4 multicast address
   space.  Note that in this example the multicast URI can be completely
   recovered from any data packet received from this group.

   However, mapping in general can be more complex and need not be
   invertible.  Mapping functions can be stateless in some contexts, but
   may require states in others.  The application of such functions
   depends on the cardinality of the namespaces, the structure of
   address spaces, and possible address collisions.  For example, it is
   not obvious how to map a large identifier space (e.g., IPv6) to a
   smaller, collision-prone set like IPv4.

   Two (or more) Multicast Addresses from different namespaces may
   belong to

   a.  the same logical group (i.e., same Group Name)

   b.  different multicast channels (i.e., different Group Addresses).

   A mapping can be realized by embedding smaller in larger namespaces
   or selecting an arbitrary, unused ID in the target space.  The
   relation between logical and technical ID is maintained by mapping
   functions which can be stateless or stateful.  The middleware thus
   queries the mapping service first, and creates a new technical group



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   ID only if there is no identifier available for the namespace in use.
   The Group Name is associated with one or more Group Addresses, which
   belong to different namespaces.  Depending on the scope of the
   mapping service, it ensures a consistent use of the technical ID in a
   local or global domain.


4.  Common Multicast API

4.1.  Notation

   The following description of the common multicast API is described in
   pseudo syntax.  Variables that are passed to function calls are
   declared by "in", return values are declared by "out".  A list of
   elements is denoted by <>.  The pseudo syntax assumes that lists
   include an attribute which represents the number of elements.

   The corresponding C signatures are defined in Appendix A.

4.2.  Abstract Data Types

4.2.1.  Multicast URI

   Multicast Names and Multicast Addresses used in this API follow an
   URI scheme that defines a subset of the generic URI specified in
   [RFC3986] and is compliant with the guidelines in [RFC4395].

   The multicast URI is defined as follows:

      scheme "://" group "@" instantiation ":" port "/" sec-credentials

   The parts of the URI are defined as follows:

   scheme  refers to the specification of the assigned identifier
      [RFC3986] which takes the role of the namespace.

   group  identifies the group uniquely within the namespace given in
      scheme.

   instantiation  identifies the entity that generates the instance of
      the group (e.g., a SIP domain or a source in SSM) using the
      namespace given in scheme.

   port  identifies a specific application at an instance of a group.







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   sec-credentials  used to implement security credentials (e.g., to
      authorize a multicast group access).

4.2.2.  Interface

   The interface denotes the layer and instance on which the
   corresponding call will be effective.  In agreement with [RFC3493] we
   identify an interface by an identifier, which is a positive integer
   starting at 1.

   Properties of an interface are stored in the following struct:

       struct if_prop {
         unsigned int if_index; /* 1, 2, ... */
         char        *if_name;  /* "eth0", "eth1:1", "lo", ... */
         char        *if_addr;  /* "1.2.3.4", "abc123", ... */
         char        *if_tech;  /* "ip", "overlay", ... */
       };

   The following function retrieves all available interfaces from the
   system:

       getInterfaces(out Interface <ifs>);

   It extends the functions for Interface Identification in [RFC3493]
   (cf., Section 4) and can be implemented by:

       struct if_prop *if_prop(void);

4.2.3.  Membership Events

   A membership event is triggered by a multicast state change, which is
   observed by the current node.  It is related to a specific Group Name
   and may be receiver or source oriented.

       event_type {
               join_event;
               leave_event;
               new_source_event;
       };

       event {
              event_type event;
              Uri group_name;
              Interface if;
       };

   An event will be created by the middleware and passed to applications



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   that are registered for events.

4.3.  Group Management Calls

4.3.1.  Create

   The create call initiates a multicast socket and provides the
   application programmer with a corresponding handle.  If no interfaces
   will be assigned based on the call, the default interface will be
   selected and associated with the socket.  The call may return an
   error code in the case of failures, e.g., due to a non-operational
   middleware.

       createMSocket(in Interface <ifs>,
                     out Socket s);

   The if argument denotes a list of interfaces (if_indexes) that will
   be associated with the multicast socket.  This parameter is optional.

   On success a multicast socket identifier is returned, otherwise NULL.

4.3.2.  Delete

   The delete call removes the multicast socket.

       deleteMSocket(in Socket s, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket for destruction.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.3.3.  Join

   The join call initiates a subscription for the given group.
   Depending on the interfaces that are associated with the socket, this
   may result in an IGMP/MLD report or overlay subscription, for
   example.

       join(in Socket s, in Uri group_name, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name argument identifies the group.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.






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4.3.4.  Leave

   The leave call results in an unsubscription for the given Group Name.

       leave(in Socket s, in Uri group_name, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name identifies the group.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.3.5.  Source Register

   The srcRegister call registers a source for a Group on all active
   interfaces of the socket s.  This call may assist group distribution
   in some technologies, the creation of sub-overlays, for example.  Not
   all multicast technologies require his call.

       srcRegister(in Socket s, in Uri group_name,
                   in Interface <ifs>, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name argument identifies the multicast group to which a
   source intends to send data.

   The ifs argument points to the list of interface indexes for which
   the source registration failed.  A NULL pointer is returned, if the
   list is empty.  This parameter is optional.

   If source registration succeeded for all interfaces associated with
   the socket, the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.3.6.  Source Deregister

   The srcDeregister indicates that a source does no longer intend to
   send data to the multicast group.  This call may remain without
   effect in some multicast technologies.

       srcDeregister(in Socket s, in Uri group_name,
                     in Interface <ifs>, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name argument identifies the multicast group to which a
   source has stopped to send multicast data.




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   The ifs argument points to the list of interfaces for which the
   source deregistration failed.  A NULL pointer is returned, if the
   list is empty.

   If source deregistration succeeded for all interfaces associated with
   the socket, the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.4.  Send and Receive Calls

4.4.1.  Send

   The send call passes multicast data for a Multicast Name from the
   application to the multicast socket.

       send(in Socket s, in Uri group_name,
            in Size msg_len, in Msg msg_buf,
            out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name argument identifies the group to which data will be
   sent.

   The msg_len argument holds the length of the message to be sent.

   The msg_buf argument passes the multicast data to the multicast
   socket.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.4.2.  Receive

   The receive call passes multicast data and the corresponding Group
   Name to the application.

       receive(in Socket s, out Uri group_name,
               out Size msg_len, out Msg msg_buf,
               out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The group_name argument identifies the multicast group for which data
   was received.

   The msg_len argument holds the length of the received message.

   The msg_buf argument points to the payload of the received multicast
   data.



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   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.5.  Socket Options

   The following calls configure an existing multicast socket.

4.5.1.  Get Interfaces

   The getInterface call returns an array of all available multicast
   communication interfaces associated with the multicast socket.

       getInterfaces(in Socket s,
                     out Interface <ifs>, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies the multicast socket.

   The ifs argument points to an array of interface index identifiers.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.5.2.  Add Interface

   The addInterface call adds a distribution channel to the socket.
   This may be an overlay or underlay interface, e.g., IPv6 or DHT.
   Multiple interfaces of the same technology may be associated with the
   socket.

       addInterface(in Socket s, in Interface if,
                    out Int error);

   The s and if arguments identify a multicast socket and interface,
   respectively.

   On success the value 0 is returned, otherwise -1.

4.5.3.  Delete Interface

   The delInterface call removes the interface if from the multicast
   socket.

       delInterface(in Socket s, Interface if,
                    out Int error);

   The s and if arguments identify a multicast socket and interface,
   respectively.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.




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4.5.4.  Set TTL

   The setTTL call configures the maximum hop count for the socket a
   multicast message is allowed to traverse.

       setTTL(in Socket s, in Int h,
              in Interface <ifs>,
              out Int error);

   The s and h arguments identify a multicast socket and the maximum hop
   count, respectively.

   The ifs argument points to an array of interface index identifiers.
   This parameter is optional.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.5.5.  Get TTL

   The getTTL call returns the maximum hop count a multicast message is
   allowed to traverse for the socket.

       getTTL(in Socket s,
              out Int h, out Int error);

   The s argument identifies a multicast socket.

   The h argument holds the maximum number of hops associated with
   socket s.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.6.  Service Calls

4.6.1.  Group Set

   The groupSet call returns all multicast groups registered at a given
   interface.  This information can be provided by group management
   states or routing protocols.  The return values distinguish between
   sender and listener states.











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       struct GroupSet {
         uri group_name; /* registered multicast group */
         int type;       /* 0 = listener state, 1 = sender state,
                            2 = sender & listener state */
       }

       groupSet(in Interface if, out Int num_groups,
                out GroupSet <groupSet>, out Int error);

   The if argument identifies the interface for which states are
   maintained.

   The num_groups argument holds the number of groups in the groupSet
   array.

   The groupSet argument points to a list of group states.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.6.2.  Neighbor Set

   The neighborSet function returns the set of neighboring nodes for a
   given interface as seen by the multicast routing protocol.

       neighborSet(in Interface if, out Int num_neighbors,
                   out Uri <neighbor_address>, out Int error);

   The if argument identifies the interface for which neighbors are
   inquired.

   The num_neighbors argument holds the number of addresses in the
   neighbor_address array.

   The neighbor_address argument points to a list of neighboring nodes
   on a successful return.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.6.3.  Children Set

   The childrenSet function returns the set of child nodes that receive
   multicast data from a specified interface for a given group.  For a
   common multicast router, this call retrieves the multicast forwarding
   information base per interface.







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       childrenSet(in Interface if, in Uri group_name,
                   out Int num_children, out Uri <child_address>,
                   out Int error);

   The if argument identifies the interface for which children are
   inquired.

   The group_name argument defines the multicast group for which
   distribution is considered.

   The num_children argument holds the number of addresses in the
   child_address array.

   The child_address argument points to a list of neighboring nodes on a
   successful return.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.6.4.  Parent Set

   The parentSet function returns the set of neighbors from which the
   current node receives multicast data at a given interface for the
   specified group.

       parentSet(in Interface if, in Uri group_name,
                 out Int num_parents, out Uri parent_address,
                 out Int error);

   The if argument identifies the interface for which parents are
   inquired.

   The group_name argument defines the multicast group for which
   distribution is considered.

   The num_parents argument holds the number of addresses in the
   parent_address array.

   The parent_address argument points to a list of neighboring nodes on
   a successful return.

   On success the out parameter error is 0, otherwise -1.

4.6.5.  Designated Host

   The designatedHost function inquires whether the host has the role of
   a designated forwarder resp. querier, or not.  Such an information is
   provided by almost all multicast protocols to prevent packet
   duplication, if multiple multicast instances serve on the same



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   subnet.

       designatedHost(in Interface if, in Uri group_name
                      out Int return);

   The if argument identifies the interface for which designated
   forwarding is inquired.

   The group_name argument specifies the group for which the host may
   attain the role of designated forwarder.

   The function returns 1 if the host is a designated forwarder or
   querier, otherwise 0.  The return value -1 indicates an error.

4.6.6.  Enable Membership Events

   The enableEvents function registers an application at the middleware
   to inform the application about a group change.  This is the result
   of receiver new subscriptions or leaves as well as the observation of
   source changes.  The group service may call other service calls to
   get additional information.

       enableEvents();

   Calling this function, the middleware starts to pass membership
   events to the application.  Each event includes an event type
   identifier and a Group Name (cf., Section 4.2.3).

4.6.7.  Disable Membership Events

   The disableEvents function deactivates the information about group
   state changes.

       disableEvents();

   On success the middleware will not pass membership events to the
   application.


5.  Functional Details

   In this section, we describe specific functions of the API and the
   associated system middleware in detail.








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5.1.  Namespaces

   Namespace identifiers in URIs are placed in the scheme element and
   characterize syntax and semantic of the group identifier.  They
   enable the use of convenience functions and high-level data types
   while processing URIs.  When used in names, they may facilitate a
   default mapping and a recovery of names from addresses.  They
   characterize its type, when used in addresses.

   Compliant to the URI concept, namespace-schemes can be added.
   Examples of schemes and functions currently foreseen include

   IP This namespace is comprised of regular IP node naming, i.e., DNS
      names and addresses taken from any version of the Internet
      Protocol.  A processor dealing with the IP namespace is required
      to determine the syntax (DNS name, IP address version) of the
      group expression.

   OLM  This namespace covers address strings immediately valid in an
      overlay network.  A processor handling those strings need not be
      aware of the address generation mechanism, but may pass these
      values directly to a corresponding overlay.

   SIP  The SIP namespace is an example of an application-layer scheme
      that bears inherent group functions (conferencing).  SIP
      conference URIs may be directly exchanged and interpreted at the
      application, and mapped to group addresses on the system level to
      generate a corresponding multicast group.

   Opaque  This namespace transparently carries strings without further
      syntactical information, meanings or associated resolution
      mechanism.


6.  IANA Considerations

   This document makes no request of IANA.


7.  Security Considerations

   This draft does neither introduce additional messages nor novel
   protocol operations.


8.  Acknowledgements

   We would like to thank the HAMcast-team, Dominik Charousset, Gabriel



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   Hege, Fabian Holler, Alexander Knauf, Sebastian Meiling, and
   Sebastian Woelke, at the HAW Hamburg for many fruitful discussions
   and for their continuous critical feedback while implementing API and
   a hybrid multicast middleware.

   This work is partially supported by the German Federal Ministry of
   Education and Research within the HAMcast project, which is part of
   G-Lab.


9.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-mboned-auto-multicast]
              Thaler, D., Talwar, M., Aggarwal, A., Vicisano, L.,
              Pusateri, T., and T. Morin, "Automatic IP Multicast
              Tunneling", draft-ietf-mboned-auto-multicast-11 (work in
              progress), July 2011.

   [RFC1075]  Waitzman, D., Partridge, C., and S. Deering, "Distance
              Vector Multicast Routing Protocol", RFC 1075,
              November 1988.

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

   [RFC2710]  Deering, S., Fenner, W., and B. Haberman, "Multicast
              Listener Discovery (MLD) for IPv6", RFC 2710,
              October 1999.

   [RFC3376]  Cain, B., Deering, S., Kouvelas, I., Fenner, B., and A.
              Thyagarajan, "Internet Group Management Protocol, Version
              3", RFC 3376, October 2002.

   [RFC3493]  Gilligan, R., Thomson, S., Bound, J., McCann, J., and W.
              Stevens, "Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6",
              RFC 3493, February 2003.

   [RFC3678]  Thaler, D., Fenner, B., and B. Quinn, "Socket Interface
              Extensions for Multicast Source Filters", RFC 3678,
              January 2004.

   [RFC3810]  Vida, R. and L. Costa, "Multicast Listener Discovery
              Version 2 (MLDv2) for IPv6", RFC 3810, June 2004.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
              RFC 3986, January 2005.




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   [RFC4395]  Hansen, T., Hardie, T., and L. Masinter, "Guidelines and
              Registration Procedures for New URI Schemes", BCP 35,
              RFC 4395, February 2006.

   [RFC4601]  Fenner, B., Handley, M., Holbrook, H., and I. Kouvelas,
              "Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM):
              Protocol Specification (Revised)", RFC 4601, August 2006.

   [RFC4604]  Holbrook, H., Cain, B., and B. Haberman, "Using Internet
              Group Management Protocol Version 3 (IGMPv3) and Multicast
              Listener Discovery Protocol Version 2 (MLDv2) for Source-
              Specific Multicast", RFC 4604, August 2006.

   [RFC5015]  Handley, M., Kouvelas, I., Speakman, T., and L. Vicisano,
              "Bidirectional Protocol Independent Multicast (BIDIR-
              PIM)", RFC 5015, October 2007.


Appendix A.  C Signatures

   This section describes the C signatures of the common multicast API,
   which is defined in Section 4.

       int createMSocket(uint32_t *if);

       int deleteMSocket(int s);

       int join(int s, const uri group_name);

       int leave(int s, const uri group_name);

       int srcRegister(int s, const uri group_name,
                       uint_t num_ifs, uint_t *ifs);

       int srcDeregister(int s, const uri group_name,
                         uint_t num_ifs, uint_t *ifs);

       int send(int s, const uri group_name,
                size_t msg_len, const void *buf);

       int receive(int s, const uri group_name,
                   size_t msg_len, msg *msg_buf);









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       int getInterfaces(int s, uint_t num_ifs, uint_t *ifs);

       int addInterface(int s, uint32_t if);

       int delInterface(int s, uint32_t if);

       int setTTL(int s, int h, uint_t num_ifs, uint_t *ifs);

       int getTTL(int s, int h);

       int groupSet(uint32_t if, uint_t *num_groups,
                    struct groupSet *groupSet);

       struct groupSet {
         uri group_name; /* registered multicast group */
         int type;       /* 0 = listener state, 1 = sender state,
                            2 = sender & listener state */

       int neighborSet(uint32_t if, uint_t *num_neighbors,
                       const uri *neighbor_address);

       int childrenSet(uint32_t if, const uri group_name,
                      uint_t *num_children, const uri *child_address);

       int parentSet(uint32_t if, const uri group_name, uint_t *num_parents,
                       const uri *parent_address);

       int designatedHost(uint32_t if, const uri *group_name);


Appendix B.  Practical Example of the API




















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     -- Application above middleware:

     //Initialize multicast socket;
     //the middleware selects all available interfaces
     MulticastSocket m = new MulticastSocket();

     m.join(URI("ip://224.1.2.3:5000"));
     m.join(URI("ip://[FF02:0:0:0:0:0:0:3]:6000"));
     m.join(URI("sip://news@cnn.com"));

     -- Middleware:

     join(URI mcAddress) {
       //Select interfaces in use
       for all this.interfaces {
         switch (interface.type) {
           case "ipv6":
             //... map logical ID to routing address
             Inet6Address rtAddressIPv6 = new Inet6Address();
             mapNametoAddress(mcAddress,rtAddressIPv6);
             interface.join(rtAddressIPv6);
           case "ipv4":
             //... map logical ID to routing address
             Inet4Address rtAddressIPv4 = new Inet4Address();
             mapNametoAddress(mcAddress,rtAddressIPv4);
             interface.join(rtAddressIPv4);
           case "sip-session":
             //... map logical ID to routing address
             SIPAddress rtAddressSIP = new SIPAddress();
             mapNametoAddress(mcAddress,rtAddressSIP);
             interface.join(rtAddressSIP);
           case "dht":
             //... map logical ID to routing address
             DHTAddress rtAddressDHT = new DHTAddress();
             mapNametoAddress(mcAddress,rtAddressDHT);
             interface.join(rtAddressDHT);
            //...
         }
       }
     }



Appendix C.  Deployment Use Cases for Hybrid Multicast

   This section describes the application of the defined API to
   implement an IMG.




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C.1.  DVMRP

   The following procedure describes a transparent mapping of a DVMRP-
   based any source multicast service to another many-to-many multicast
   technology.

   An arbitrary DVMRP [RFC1075] router will not be informed about new
   receivers, but will learn about new sources immediately.  The concept
   of DVMRP does not provide any central multicast instance.  Thus, the
   IMG can be placed anywhere inside the multicast region, but requires
   a DVMRP neighbor connectivity.  The group communication stack used by
   the IMG is enhanced by a DVMRP implementation.  New sources in the
   underlay will be advertised based on the DVMRP flooding mechanism and
   received by the IMG.  Based on this the event "new_source_event" is
   created and passed to the application.  The relay agent initiates a
   corresponding join in the native network and forwards the received
   source data towards the overlay routing protocol.  Depending on the
   group states, the data will be distributed to overlay peers.

   DVMRP establishes source specific multicast trees.  Therefore, a
   graft message is only visible for DVMRP routers on the path from the
   new receiver subnet to the source, but in general not for an IMG.  To
   overcome this problem, data of multicast senders will be flooded in
   the overlay as well as in the underlay.  Hence, an IMG has to
   initiate an all-group join to the overlay using the namespace
   extension of the API.  Each IMG is initially required to forward the
   received overlay data to the underlay, independent of native
   multicast receivers.  Subsequent prunes may limit unwanted data
   distribution thereafter.

C.2.  PIM-SM

   The following procedure describes a transparent mapping of a PIM-SM-
   based any source multicast service to another many-to-many multicast
   technology.

   The Protocol Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) [RFC4601]
   establishes rendezvous points (RP).  These entities receive listener
   and source subscriptions of a domain.  To be continuously updated, an
   IMG has to be co-located with a RP.  Whenever PIM register messages
   are received, the IMG must signal internally a new multicast source
   using the event "new_source_event".  Subsequently, the IMG joins the
   group and a shared tree between the RP and the sources will be
   established, which may change to a source specific tree after a
   sufficient number of data has been delivered.  Source traffic will be
   forwarded to the RP based on the IMG join, even if there are no
   further receivers in the native multicast domain.  Designated routers
   of a PIM-domain send receiver subscriptions towards the PIM-SM RP.



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   The reception of such messages initiates the event "join_event" at
   the IMG, which initiates a join towards the overlay routing protocol.
   Overlay multicast data arriving at the IMG will then transparently be
   forwarded in the underlay network and distributed through the RP
   instance.

C.3.  PIM-SSM

   The following procedure describes a transparent mapping of a PIM-SSM-
   based source specific multicast service to another one-to-many
   multicast technology.

   PIM Source Specific Multicast (PIM-SSM) is defined as part of PIM-SM
   and admits source specific joins (S,G) according to the source
   specific host group model [RFC4604].  A multicast distribution tree
   can be established without the assistance of a rendezvous point.

   Sources are not advertised within a PIM-SSM domain.  Consequently, an
   IMG cannot anticipate the local join inside a sender domain and
   deliver a priori the multicast data to the overlay instance.  If an
   IMG of a receiver domain initiates a group subscription via the
   overlay routing protocol, relaying multicast data fails, as data are
   not available at the overlay instance.  The IMG instance of the
   receiver domain, thus, has to locate the IMG instance of the source
   domain to trigger the corresponding join.  In the sense of PIM-SSM,
   the signaling should not be flooded in underlay and overlay.

   One solution could be to intercept the subscription at both, source
   and receiver sites: To monitor multicast receiver subscriptions
   ("join_event" or "leave_event") in the underlay, the IMG is placed on
   path towards the source, e.g., at a domain border router.  This
   router intercepts join messages and extracts the unicast source
   address S, initializing an IMG specific join to S via regular
   unicast.  Multicast data arriving at the IMG of the sender domain can
   be distributed via the overlay.  Discovering the IMG of a multicast
   sender domain may be implemented analogously to AMT
   [I-D.ietf-mboned-auto-multicast] by anycast.  Consequently, the
   source address S of the group (S,G) should be built based on an
   anycast prefix.  The corresponding IMG anycast address for a source
   domain is then derived from the prefix of S.

C.4.  BIDIR-PIM

   The following procedure describes a transparent mapping of a BIDIR-
   PIM-based any source multicast service to another many-to-many
   multicast technology.

   Bidirectional PIM [RFC5015] is a variant of PIM-SM.  In contrast to



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   PIM-SM, the protocol pre-establishes bidirectional shared trees per
   group, connecting multicast sources and receivers.  The rendezvous
   points are virtualized in BIDIR-PIM as an address to identify on-tree
   directions (up and down).  However, routers with the best link
   towards the (virtualized) rendezvous point address are selected as
   designated forwarders for a link-local domain and represent the
   actual distribution tree.  The IMG is to be placed at the RP-link,
   where the rendezvous point address is located.  As source data in
   either cases will be transmitted to the rendezvous point address, the
   BIDIR-PIM instance of the IMG receives the data and can internally
   signal new senders towards the stack via the "new_source_event".  The
   first receiver subscription for a new group within a BIDIR-PIM domain
   needs to be transmitted to the RP to establish the first branching
   point.  Using the "join_event", an IMG will thereby be informed about
   group requests from its domain, which are then delegated to the
   overlay.


Appendix D.  Change Log

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-irtf-samrg-common-api-01

   1.  Pseudo syntax for lists objects changed

   2.  Editorial improvements

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-irtf-samrg-common-api-00

   1.  Incorrect pseudo code syntax fixed

   2.  Minor editorial improvements

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-06

   1.  no changes; draft adopted as WG document (previous
       draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-06, now
       draft-irtf-samrg-common-api-00)

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-05

   1.  Description of the Common API using pseudo syntax added

   2.  C signatures of the Comon API moved to appendix




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   3.  updateSender() and updateListener() calls replaced by events

   4.  Function destroyMSocket renamed as deleteMSocket.

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-04

   1.  updateSender() added.

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-03

   1.  Use cases added for illustration.

   2.  Service calls added for inquiring on the multicast distribution
       system.

   3.  Namespace examples added.

   4.  Clarifications and editorial improvements.

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-02

   1.  Rename init() in createMSocket().

   2.  Added calls srcRegister()/srcDeregister().

   3.  Rephrased API calls in C-style.

   4.  Cleanup code in "Practical Example of the API".

   5.  Partial reorganization of the document.

   6.  Many editorial improvements.

   The following changes have been made from
   draft-waehlisch-sam-common-api-01

   1.  Document restructured to clarify the realm of document overview
       and specific contributions s.a. naming and addressing.

   2.  A clear separation of naming and addressing was drawn.  Multicast
       URIs have been introduced.

   3.  Clarified and adapted the API calls.





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   4.  Introduced Socket Option calls.

   5.  Deployment use cases moved to an appendix.

   6.  Simple programming example added.

   7.  Many editorial improvements.


Authors' Addresses

   Matthias Waehlisch
   link-lab & FU Berlin
   Hoenower Str. 35
   Berlin  10318
   Germany

   Email: mw@link-lab.net
   URI:   http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/~waehl


   Thomas C. Schmidt
   HAW Hamburg
   Berliner Tor 7
   Hamburg  20099
   Germany

   Email: schmidt@informatik.haw-hamburg.de
   URI:   http://inet.cpt.haw-hamburg.de/members/schmidt


   Stig Venaas
   cisco Systems
   Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA  95134
   USA

   Email: stig@cisco.com













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