Network Working Group Z. Li
Internet-Draft S. Peng
Intended status: Standards Track Huawei Technologies
Expires: May 7, 2020 D. Voyer
Bell Canada
C. Xie
China Telecom
P. Liu
China Mobile
C. Liu
China Unicom
K. Ebisawa
Toyota Motor Corporation
S. Previdi
Individual
J. Guichard
Futurewei Technologies Ltd.
November 04, 2019
Application-aware IPv6 Networking (APN6) Framework
draft-li-apn6-framework-00
Abstract
A multitude of applications are carried over the network, which have
varying needs for network bandwidth, latency, jitter, and packet
loss, etc. Some new emerging applications (e.g. 5G) have very
demanding performance requirements. However, in current networks,
the network and applications are decoupled, that is, the network is
not aware of the applications' requirements in a fine granularity.
Therefore, it is difficult to provide truly fine-granularity traffic
operations for the applications and guarantee their SLA requirements.
This document proposes a new framework, named Application-aware IPv6
Networking (APN6), which makes use of IPv6 encapsulation to convey
the application characteristic information such as application
identification and its network performance requirements into the
network to facilitate service provisioning, perform application-level
traffic steering and network resource adjustment.
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 https://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 May 7, 2020.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2019 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
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
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the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Specification of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. APN6 Framework and Key Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. APN6 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.1. Application-aware Information Conveying Requirements . . 6
5.2. Application-aware Information Handling Requirements . . . 7
5.2.1. App-aware SLA Guarantee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.2.2. App-aware network slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.2.3. App-aware deterministic networking . . . . . . . . . 8
5.2.4. App-aware service function chaining . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.5. App-aware network measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.3. Security requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9. Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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1. Introduction
A multitude of applications are carried over the network, which have
varying needs for network bandwidth, latency, jitter, and packet
loss, etc. Some applications such as online gaming and live video
streaming has very demanding network requirements and therefore
require special treatment in the network. However, in current
networks, the network and applications are decoupled, that is, the
network is not aware of the applications' requirements in a fine
granularity. Therefore, it is difficult to provide truly fine-
granularity traffic operations for the applications and guarantee
their SLA requirements accordingly.
[I-D.li-apn6-problem-statement-usecases] describes the challenges of
traditional differentiated service provisioning methods, such as five
tuples used for ACL/PBR causing coarse granularity, DPI imposing high
CAPEX & OPEX and security issues, as well as orchestration and SDN-
based solution causing long control loops.
This document proposes a new framework, named Application-aware IPv6
Networking, aiming to guarantee fine-granularity SLA requirements of
applications, which make use of IPv6 encapsulation to convey the
application characteristic such as application identification and its
network performance requirements into the network to determine the
path, steer traffic, and perform network resource adjustment.
2. Specification of Requirements
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
This document is not a protocol specification and the key words in
this document are used for clarity and emphasis of requirements
language.
3. Terminology
ACL: Access Control List
APN6: Application-aware IPv6 Networking
DPI: Deep Packet Inspection
PBR: Policy Based Routing
QoE: Quality of Experience
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4. APN6 Framework and Key Components
The APN6 framework is shown in Figure 1. The key components include
Application-aware App, App-aware Edge Device, App-aware-process Head-
End, App-aware-process Mid-Point, and App-aware-process End-Point.
Packets carry application characteristic information (i.e.
application-aware information) which includes the following
information:
o Application-aware identification information: identifying
application, the user of application, i.e. the packets as part of
the traffic flow belonging to a specific SLA level/Application/
User;
o Network performance requirements information: specifying at least
one of the following parameters: bandwidth, delay, delay
variation, packet loss ratio, security, etc.
Client Server
+-----+ +-----+
|App x|-\ /->|App x|
+-----+ | +-----+ +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ | +-----+
\->|App- | |App-aware|-A-|App-aware|-A-|App-aware|-/
User side |aware|--|process |-B-|process |-B-|process |
/->|Edge | |Head-End |-C-|Mid-Point|-C-|End-Point|-\
+-----+ | +-----+ +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ | +-----+
|App y|-/ \->|App y|
+-----+ ---------- Uplink ----------> +-----+
Figure 1 APN6 Framework and Key Components
The key components are introduced as follows.
1. Application-aware App: The host obtains the application
characteristic information of the Application-aware App and generates
the packets which carry the application characteristic information in
IPv6 encapsulation. If carried in the packets, this information is
used by the App-aware-process Head-End to determine the path between
the App-aware-process Head-End and the App-aware-process End-Point
for forwarding the packets to their destination, that is, to steer
the packet in to a given policy which satisfies the application
requirements. In the APN6 framework, the application is not
mandatory to be application-aware.
2. App-aware Edge Device: This network device receives packets from
applications and obtains the application characteristic information.
If the application is not Application-aware App, the application
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characteristic information can be obtained by packet inspection,
derived from services information such as double VLAN tagging (C-VLAN
and S-VLAN), or added according to the local policies which is out of
the scope of this document. The App-aware Edge Device adds the
application characteristic information in IPv6 encapsulation on
behalf of the application. The packets carrying the application
characteristic information will be sent to the App-aware-process
Head-End, and the application characteristic information will be used
to determine the path between the App-aware-process Head-End and the
App-aware-process End-Point for forwarding the packets.
3. App-aware-process Head-End: This network device receives packets
and obtains the application characteristic information. A set of
paths, tunnels or SR policy, exist between the App-aware-process
Head-End and the App-aware-process End-Point. The App-aware-process
Head-End maintains the matching relationship between the application
characteristic information and the paths between the App-aware-
process Head-End and the App-aware-process End-Point. The App-aware-
process Head-End determines the path between the App-aware-process
Head-End and the App-aware-process End-Point according to the
application characteristic information carried in the packets and the
matching relationship with it, which satisfies the service
requirements of the application. If there is no such matching path
found, the App-aware-process Head-End can set up a path towards the
App-aware-process End-Point, and the matching relationship will be
stored. The App-aware-process Head-End forwards the packets along
the path. The application information conveyed by the packet
received from the App-aware Edge Device can also be copied or be
mapped to the out IPv6 extension header for further application-aware
process.
4. App-aware-process Mid-Point: The Mid-Point provides the path
service according to the path set up by the App-aware-process Head-
End which satisfies the service requirements conveyed by the IPv6
packets. The Mid-Point may also adjust the resource locally to
guarantee the service requirements depending on a specific policy and
the application-aware information conveyed by the packet. Policy
definitions and mechanisms are out of the scope of this document.
5. App-aware-process End-Point: The process of the specific service
path will end at the End-Point. The service requirements information
can be removed at the End-Point together with the outer IPv6
encapsulation or go on to be conveyed with the IPv6 packets.
In this way the network is aware of the service requirements
expressed by the applications explicitly. According to the service
requirement information carried in the IPv6 packets the network is
able to adjust its resources fast in order to satisfy the service
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requirement of applications. The flow-driven method also reduces the
challenges of inter-operability and long control loop.
5. APN6 Requirements
Utilizing IPv6 encapsulation (e.g. IPv6 header as well as, possibly,
extension headers), the application-aware information is conveyed
into the network which performs service provisioning, traffic
steering, and SLA guarantee according to such information. This
section specifies the requirements for supporting the APN6 framework,
including the requirements for conveying and handling the
application-aware information and related security requirements.
5.1. Application-aware Information Conveying Requirements
The application-aware information includes application-aware
identification information and network performance requirements
information.
1. Application-aware identification information includes the
following identifiers (IDs),
* SLA level: indicating the level of SLA requirement of the
application such as Gold, Silver, Bronze. In some cases,
color (e.g. red, green) can be used to indicate the SLA level.
* Application ID: identifying an application.
* User ID: identifying the user of the application.
* Flow ID: identifying the flow which the application traffic
belongs to.
The different combinations of the IDs can be used to provide
different granularity of the service provisioning and SLA
guarantee for the traffic.
2. Network performance requirements information includes the
following parameters,
* Bandwidth: the bandwidth requirement of the application
traffic
* Latency: the latency requirement of the application
* Jitter: the jitter requirement of the application
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The different combinations of the parameters are for further
expressing the more detailed service requirements of an
application, conveyed together with the Application-aware
identifiers, which can be used to match to appropriate tunnels/SR
Policies, queues that can satisfy these service requirements. If
not available, new tunnels/SR Policies can also be triggered to
be set up.
[REQ 1a]. Application-aware identification information MUST include
Application ID to indicate the application that generates the packet.
[REQ 1b]. SLA level is RECOMMENDED to be included in the
Application-aware identification information.
[REQ 1c]. User ID and Flow ID are OPTIONAL to be included in the
Application-aware identification information.
[REQ 1d]. Network performance requirements information is OPTIONAL.
[REQ 1e]. All the nodes along the path SHOULD be able to process the
application-aware information if needed.
[REQ 1f]. The application-aware information can be generated
directly by application, or by the application-aware edge devices
though packet inspection or local policy.
[REQ 1g]. The application-aware information SHOULD be kept intact
when directly copied from the application-aware edge devices and
carried in the IPv6 encapsulation.
5.2. Application-aware Information Handling Requirements
The app-aware-process Head-End and app-aware-process Mid-Point
perform matching operation against the application-aware information,
that is, to match IDs and/or service requirements to the
corresponding network resources (tunnels/SR policies, queues).
5.2.1. App-aware SLA Guarantee
In order to achieve better Quality of Experience (QoE) of end users
and engage customers, the network needs to be able to provide fine-
granularity and even application-level SLA guarantee
[I-D.li-apn6-problem-statement-usecases].
[REQ 2-1a]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End SHOULD be able to steer the traffic to the tunnel/SR
policy that satisfies the matching operation.
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[REQ 2-1b]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End SHOULD be able to trigger the setup of the tunnel/SR
policy that satisfies the matching operation.
[REQ 2-1c]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End and Mid-Point SHOULD be able to steer the traffic to
the queue that satisfies the matching operation.
[REQ 2-1d]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End and Mid-Point SHOULD be able to trigger the
configuration of the queue that satisfies the matching operation.
5.2.2. App-aware network slicing
Network slicing provides ways to partition the network infrastructure
in either control plane or data plane into multiple network slices
that are running in parallel. The resources on each node need to be
associated to corresponding slices.
[REQ 2-2a]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End SHOULD be able to steer the traffic to the slice
that satisfies the matching operation.
[REQ 2-2a]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Mid-Point SHOULD be able to associate the traffic to the
resources in the slice that satisfies the matching operation.
5.2.3. App-aware deterministic networking
Along the path each node needs to provide guaranteed bandwidth,
bounded latency, and other properties relevant to the transport of
time-sensitive data for the Detnet flows that coexist with the best-
effort traffic.
[REQ 2-3a]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End SHOULD be able to steer the traffic to the
appropriate path that satisfies the matching operation.
[REQ 2-3b]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Head-End SHOULD be able to trigger the setup of the
appropriate path that satisfies the matching operation for the Detnet
flows.
[REQ 2-3c]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Mid-Point SHOULD be able to associate the traffic to the
resources along the path that satisfies the performance guarantee.
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[REQ 2-3d]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process Mid-Point SHOULD be able to reserve the resources for the
Detnet flows along the path that satisfies the performance guarantee.
5.2.4. App-aware service function chaining
The end-to-end service delivery often needs to go through various
service functions, including traditional network service functions
such as firewalls, DPI as well as new application-specific functions,
both physical and virtual. SFC is applicable to both fixed and
mobile networks as well as data center networks.
[REQ 2-4a]. With the application-aware information, the App-aware-
process devices SHOULD be able to steer the traffic to the
appropriate service function.
[REQ 2-4b]. The App-aware-process devices SHOULD be able to process
the application-aware information carried in the packets.
5.2.5. App-aware network measurement
Network measurement can be used for locating silent failure and
predicting QoE satisfaction, which enables real-time SLA awareness/
proactive OAM.
[REQ 2-5a]. With the application-aware identification information,
the App-aware-process devices SHOULD be able to perform IOAM based on
the Application ID.
[REQ 2-5a]. With the application-aware information, the network
measurement results can be reported based on the Application ID and
verify whether the performance requirements of the application are
satisfied.
5.3. Security requirements
[REQ 3a]. The security mechanism defined for APN6 MUST allow an
operator to prevent applications sending arbitrary application-aware
information without agreement with the operator.
[REQ 3b]. The security mechanism defined for APN6 MUST prevent an
application requesting a service that is not entitled to get.
6. IANA Considerations
This document does not include an IANA request.
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7. Security Considerations
[I-D.li-apn6-problem-statement-usecases] and section 5.3 describe the
security considerations and requirements for APN6.
8. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Raszuk (Bloomberg LP)
and Yukito Ueno (NTT Communications Corporation) for their valuable
reviews and comments.
9. Contributors
Liang Geng
China Mobile
China
Email: gengliang@chinamobile.com
Chang Cao
China Unicom
China
Email: caoc15@chinaunicom.cn
Cong Li
China Telecom
China
Email: licong.bri@chinatelecom.cn
10. References
10.1. Normative References
[I-D.li-apn6-problem-statement-usecases]
Li, Z., Peng, S., Voyer, D., Xie, C., Liu, P., Liu, C.,
Ebisawa, K., Ueno, Y., Previdi, S., and J. Guichard,
"Problem statement and use cases of Application-aware IPv6
Networking (APN6)", draft-li-apn6-problem-statement-
usecases-00 (work in progress), September 2019.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
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[RFC7665] Halpern, J., Ed. and C. Pignataro, Ed., "Service Function
Chaining (SFC) Architecture", RFC 7665,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7665, October 2015,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7665>.
[RFC8200] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.
[RFC8578] Grossman, E., Ed., "Deterministic Networking Use Cases",
RFC 8578, DOI 10.17487/RFC8578, May 2019,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8578>.
10.2. Informative References
[RFC3272] Awduche, D., Chiu, A., Elwalid, A., Widjaja, I., and X.
Xiao, "Overview and Principles of Internet Traffic
Engineering", RFC 3272, DOI 10.17487/RFC3272, May 2002,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3272>.
Authors' Addresses
Zhenbin Li
Huawei Technologies
China
Email: lizhenbin@huawei.com
Shuping Peng
Huawei Technologies
China
Email: pengshuping@huawei.com
Daniel Voyer
Bell Canada
Canada
Email: daniel.voyer@bell.ca
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Chongfeng Xie
China Telecom
China
Email: xiechf.bri@chinatelecom.cn
Peng Liu
China Mobile
China
Email: liupengyjy@chinamobile.com
Chang Liu
China Unicom
China
Email: liuc131@chinaunicom.cn
Kentaro Ebisawa
Toyota Motor Corporation
Japan
Email: ebisawa@toyota-tokyo.tech
Stefano Previdi
Individual
Italy
Email: stefano@previdi.net
James N Guichard
Futurewei Technologies Ltd.
USA
Email: jguichar@futurewei.com
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