Internet Draft  Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling       May 2002


Internet Engineering Task Force                             L. Westberg
INTERNET-DRAFT                                           G. Karagiannis
Expires  November 2002                                       D. Partain
                                                             V. Rexhepi
                                                               Ericsson
                                                               May 2002

               Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling
             draft-westberg-nsis-edge-edge-framework-00.txt





Status of this memo

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   all   provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

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   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.








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Abstract

   Real-time applications impose very strict requirements on the
   underlying transmission network that requires a high level of quality
   of service (QoS). This level of QoS can only be achieved by means of
   QoS management on an end-to-end basis (i.e., end user to end user),
   from application to application, potentially across many domains, as
   the current Internet is a concatenation of many domains, usually
   managed by different QoS administrators (operators).

   The requirement for end-to-end QoS management does not necessarily
   mean that a single resource reservation protocol must be applied end-
   to-end. In fact it is most likely that the end-to-end QoS management
   architecture will consist of many interoperable and concatenated QoS
   management architectures rather than one global end-to-end QoS
   infrastructure. Usually a network consists of three network parts,
   i.e., a host to first hop router, access network and the backbone of
   the network. Each of these three network parts imposes different
   requirements on the provided QoS solution.

   This draft describes a framework for NSIS QoS signaling in edge to
   edge networks. The main goal is to provide a skeleton for lightweight
   edge to edge NSIS signaling in a network. This skeleton would be used
   as input to the NSIS "Framework signaling architecture".

   Even though designed for edge-to-edge signaling the applicability of
   this framework is not to be limited only to signaling between the
   edges of a network, but it can be extended in other signaling
   scenarios as well, such as end host - to - end host signaling.

   The QoS protocol that will be applied in an edge to edge network is
   denoted as edge-to-edge NSIS protocol.


















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Table of Contents

   1 Terminology ..................................................    4
   2 Introduction and Motivation ..................................    4
   3 Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling ....................    6
   3.1 Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling - Design Objec­
        tives .....................................................    7
   3.2 Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling - Design Struc­
        ture ......................................................    9
   3.2.1 NSIS interior-interior (II-Q) Component Features .........   11
   3.2.2 NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) Component Features ...................   11
   3.2.3 NSIS Host<->BN (HB-Q) Components Features ................   12
   4 Edge-to Edge QoS NSIS Protocol ...............................   12
   5 Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling framework operation ..............   14
   6 Conclusion ...................................................   14
   7 Appendix A: Examples of Edge-to-Edge  NSIS  Signaling  Mes­
        sages .....................................................   14
   7.1 NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) Signaling Messages .....................   14
   7.2 NSIS Interior <-> Interior (II-Q) Signaling Messages .......   15
   8  Appendix B: Examples of Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling frame­
        work operation ............................................   16
   8.1 Normal Operation for Unidirectional Reservation ............   17
   8.2 Fault handling for unidirectional reservation ..............   21
   8.3 Normal Operation for bidirectional (successful)  reserva­
        tion ......................................................   23
   9 Authors' Address .............................................   26
























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1.  Terminology

    - End-to-End QoS

      QoS management applied in all the domains from end-host
      to end-host.

    - Edge-to-Edge network

      Network wherein the QoS provisioning is co-ordinated by a
      single administrator (or operator). This is a single QoS
      administrative domain.

    - Edge Node

      The router boundaries of a single QoS administrative domain.

    - Interior Node

      Routers inside a single domain, which are not edge nodes.

    - Boundary Node

      A "box" which represents an endpoint of the local QoS domain
      and it is the interworking point between the end-to-end
      QoS and local QoS mechanism.  This could be a router, BTS,
      BSC/RNC, media gateway, etc.


2.  Introduction and Motivation

   The real time application requirements can only be satisfied by means
   of QoS management mechanisms that will have to be applied end-to-end
   from one host to the other. When considering the variety of
   applications, network access types, the underlying network
   technologies (wired and wireless), management policies and
   administration of the domains, etc, having a single QoS management
   scheme applied end-to-end is not feasible in all networking
   scenarios. For example, what might be a good solution for a wired
   network is not a good solution for networks with frequent mobility
   requirements. Usually a network consists of three network parts,
   i.e., a host to first hop router, access network, and the backbone of
   the network. Each of these three network parts imposes different
   requirements on the provided QoS solution.






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   Typically an end-to-end QoS management architecture consists of many
   interoperable and concatenated QoS management architectures. Each QoS
   domain is responsible for taking its own decisions in its own domain-
   specific ways.  An example is shown in Figure 1, where the end-to-end
   QoS management architecture consists of two concatenated QoS domains.

   This QoS architecture uses different types of interfaces:

    * interior <-> interior interface: provides basic QoS
      functionality, such as scalable, simple and fast QoS
      provisioning.  Due to the fact that different networks
      have different characteristics, such as cost of bandwidth
      and performance, this basic QoS functionality may differ
      from one QoS domain to another.

    * BN <-> BN interface: provides the QoS functionality for
      a complete QoS domain by interacting with the interior <->
      interior interfaces.

    * Host <-> BN interface: in addition to the basic QoS
      functionality, this interface has to provide a user
      with secure access to the network.  Therefore, this
      interface will have to provide security functions, such
      as authentication and authorization.

                 QoS domain               QoS domain
             |---------------|       |---------------|
             |               |       |               |
   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|
   |   |<->|   |<->|   |<->|   |<->|   |<->|   |<->|   |<->|   |
   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|   |---|
    host     |               |       |               |      host
             |---------------|       |---------------|
            BN      interior BN     BN     interior  BN
           (access    w/in   (edge) (edge)  w/in     (access
            router)  domain                 domain    router)

            Figure 1: The end-to-end QoS architecture

   Different types of QoS requirements are imposed on these interfaces
   due to the different characteristics of the interfaces used in the
   QoS architecture.  In addition, the different parts of the network
   often have different service and billing structures, with different
   trust models, all of which translate into signaling needs with
   varying degrees of complexity.  These are the reasons for separating





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   the end to end QoS management in several edge to edge QoS management
   domains.

   This draft describes a framework for edge-to-edge NSIS signaling that
   can mainly be applied in edge to edge networks, e.g., a QoS domain in
   Figure 1.

   The basic design goal of this framework is to satisfy the QoS
   requirements imposed by characteristics of different interfaces in an
   edge-to-edge network, that is:

    * interior <-> interior interface

    * BN <-> BN interface

   Furthermore, due to the fact that the vast majority of the traffic in
   typical networks is point-to-point unicast transport the QoS
   signaling mechanism must deal with unicast effectively.  Therefore,
   this framework focuses on point-to-point and unicast scenarios.

   The edge-to-edge NSIS framework is also an open framework as it
   provides the basis for interoperability with other resource
   reservation schemes, AAA mechanisms,etc and can be extended to other
   signaling scenarios as well, such as end host - to - end host
   signaling.

   This draft is organized as follows. Section 3 describes the basic
   concepts and design structure of the framework for edge-to-edge NSIS
   signaling.  Section 4 describes the NSIS edge-to-edge signaling
   protocol.  Examples of NSIS edge-to-edge signaling protocol messages
   and of the functional operation of the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling
   framework are given in Appendix A, Appendix B, respectively. Note
   that these examples are only used for illustrative purposes.



3.  Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling

   In the QoS architecture as described in Section 2 there are three
   types of interfaces defined:

    * interior-to-interior

    * BN-to-BN






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    * Host-to-BN

   The framework for edge-to-edge NSIS signaling is related only to the
   interfaces relevant to a single QoS domain, that is:

    * interior <-> interior interface

    * BN <-> BN interface

   The interior <-> interior interface provides basic QoS functionality,
   such as scalable, simple and fast QoS provisioning.  Due to the fact
   that different networks have different characteristics, such as cost
   of bandwidth and performance, this basic QoS functionality may differ
   from one QoS domain to another.

   The BN <-> BN interface provides the QoS functionality for a complete
   QoS domain by interacting with the interior <-> interior interfaces.

   The basic idea of the framework is to satisfy the QoS requirements
   imposed by the characteristics of interior-to-interior interface and
   BN-to-BN interface.


3.1.  Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling - Design Objectives

   The design of the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling framework is based on
   two main design goals.

   The first design goal is that the framework should enable scalable,
   simple and fast QoS provisioning on interior <-> interior interface
   (e.g. interior routers (see Figure 2)). Thus in the nodes on interior
   <-> interior interface there will be no per flow states, i.e.  the
   reservation state will be per QoS traffic class, that will enable
   simple and scalable reservation state maintenance and consequently
   fast reservations.

   The second goal is that the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling framework
   should provide QoS guarantees for each flow (microflow or aggregate)
   incoming into the edge-to-edge domain. This implies that reservation
   requests of each flow on some nodes (e.g. access routers (see Figure
   2)) needs to be related to the QoS traffic class reservation state in
   the interior nodes.

   These two goals are met by separating a complex reservation mechanism
   used in some nodes on BN <-> BN interface from a much simpler





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   reservation mechanism needed in other nodes on interior <-> interior
   interface.

   In particular, nodes on BN <-> BN interface will maintain per-flow
   states i.e., are stateful. In the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling
   framework these nodes are denoted as edge nodes (see Figure 2).
   However, any nodes that maintain reservation states can satisfy this
   requirement. Note that the edge nodes that process the traffic that
   is incoming the edge-to-edge domain are denoted as ingress nodes and
   the edge nodes that process the traffic that is going out of the
   edge-to-edge domain are denoted as egress nodes.

   The nodes between these stateful nodes, that is the nodes on interior
   <-> interior interface can have a simpler execution by using only one
   aggregated reservation state per traffic class.  In the NSIS edge-to-
   edge framework these nodes are denoted as interior nodes.

   The edges will generate reservation requests for each flow (micro-
   flow or aggregate), but in order to achieve simplicity in interior
   nodes, a measurement-based like approach on the number of the
   requested resources per QoS traffic class can be applied.  In
   practice, this means that the aggregated reservation state per
   traffic class in the interior nodes is updated by a measurement-based
   algorithm that uses the requested and available resources as input.
   Unlike typical measurement based admission control (MBAC) algorithms,
   that apply admission control using data traffic measurements and
   available resources as input, the edge-to-edge NSIS framework applies
   admission control on resource parameter values included in the
   reservation requests, i.e. signaling messages and available resources
   per traffic c`lass.

                     edge-to-edge network
                |---------------------------|
                |                           |
             |-----|   |----|   |----|   |-----|
             |     |<->|    |<->|    |<->|     |
             |-----|   |----|   |----|   |-----|
                |                           |
                |---------------------------|
               edge  interior  interior   edge

          Figure 2: The edge-to-edge NSIS architecture

   Besides the two main design objectives the framework for edge-to-edge
   NSIS signaling is also intended as an open and extendible framework





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   as it should provide the basis for interoperability with other
   mechanisms for example AAA mechanisms,etc and it can be extended to
   other signaling scenarios as well, such as end host - to - end host
   signaling.


3.2.  Framework for Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling - Design Structure

   The framework for edge-to-edge NSIS signaling is structured in a
   component-based manner (see Figure 3), such that the design
   objectives given above are met.

   As each interface has a certain set of functions different from the
   other interface, in order to distinguish between them, in the
   framework design these sets of functionalities are structured into
   three types of components (see also Figure 3):

                         _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                        /                       \
                       /                         \
    Host              Edge  Interior Interior   Edge            Host
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
   |    |   |   |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |   |   |    |
   |    |   |   |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |   |   |    |
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
   |HB-Q|<--|---|---|HB-Q|---|----|---|----|---|HB-Q|---|---|-->|HB-Q|
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
   |    |<--|---|-->|BB-Q|<--|----|---|----|-->|BB-Q|<--|---|-->|    |
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
   |    |<->|   |<->|II-Q|<->|II-Q|<->|II-Q|<->|II-Q|<->|---|<->|    |
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
   |    |   |   |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |   |   |    |
   |    |   |   |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |   |   |    |
   |----|   |---|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |----|   |---|   |----|
      |                \                          /               |
      |                 \  Edge-to-Edge Network  /                |
      |                  \ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ /                 |
      |                    end-to-end Protocol                    |
      |<--------------------------------------------------------->|

        Figure 3. Hierarchical structure of the edge-to-edge
        framework for QoS signaling

    * NSIS interior-interior (II-Q) component: must be part of
      all the nodes' functionality within a single domain.





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      This component provides the basic QoS functionality for the
      interior nodes. The basic functionality in the interior nodes
      is related to the first design goal for the framework (see
      Section 3), that is to no per-flow state in interior node.
      This component handles the admission control on resource
      parameter values included in the reservation requests, i.e.
      signaling messages and available resources per QoS traffic
      class.

    * NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) component: must be part of border node
      functionality only.

      This component provides the QoS functionality for a whole
      single QoS domain by interacting with the interior <->
      interior interfaces.  Thus the second design goal for the
      edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework (see Section 3),
      i.e. that the framework even though stateless should
      associate each reservation to each flow (microflow or
      aggregate) in order to provide certain QoS guarantees for
      each flow is achieved by these components.  Interior nodes
      in the edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework will not have
      any of this component's functionality.

    * NSIS Host<->BN (HB-Q) components: must be part border node
      functionality only.

      This component provides an interoperation between the
      edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework and other external
      mechanisms used for QoS management.

      In addition to the basic QoS functionality, this interface
      has to provide a user with secure access to the network.
      Therefore, this component will have to provide interoperation
      with security functions, such as authentication and
      authorization.  Interior nodes in the edge-to-edge QoS
      signaling framework will not have any of this component's
      functionality.

   Each of these components have their own features. These features are
   described in the Sections 3.2.1, 3.2.2 and 3.2.3. respectively.










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3.2.1.  NSIS interior-interior (II-Q) Component Features

   NSIS interior-interior (II-Q) component performs the following set of
   functions:


    * Admission control and/or resource reservation within a node.

    * Management of one reservation state per traffic class (e.g.
      PHB) by using a combination of the reservation soft state
      and explicit release principles.

    * Measurement of the user traffic load.

    * Stores a pre-configured threshold value on maximal allowable
      traffic load (or resources) per traffic class (e.g. PHB).

    * Adaptation to load sharing. Load sharing allows interior
      nodes to take advantage of multiple routes to the same
      destination by sending data via some or all of these
      available routes. The signaling protocol has to adapt to
      load sharing once it is used.

    * Severe congestion notification. This situation occurs as
      a result of route changes or a link failure. The  NSIS
      interior-interior (II-Q) component has to notify the edges
      about the occurrence of this network event.


3.2.2.  NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) Component Features

   NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) component performs the following set of
   functions:

    * Admission control and/or resource reservation within
      a domain.

    * Maintenance of flow identifier and reservation state per flow
      (or aggregated flows), e.g. by using soft state refresh.

    * Notification of the ingress border node IP address to the
      egress border node.

    * Notification of lost protocol signaling messages occurred
      in the communication path from the ingress border to the





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      egress border nodes.

    * Notification of resource availability in all the nodes
      located in the communication path from the ingress to the
      egress nodes.

    * Severe congestion handling. Due to a route change or a link
      failure a severe congestion situation may occur.  The egress
      border node is notified by  NSIS II-Q component when such
      a severe congestion situation occurs. By using the BB-Q
      component egress border node notifies the ingress border
      node about this severe congestion situation. The ingress
      node is solving this situation by using a predefined policy,
      e.g., refuses new incoming flows and terminates a portion
      of the affected flows.

    * Transparent transport of NSIS interior-interior (II-Q),
      NSIS Host<->BN signaling components.


3.2.3.  NSIS Host<->BN (HB-Q) Components Features

   NSIS Host<->BN (HB-Q) component functions are dependent on the
   protocols used externally to edge-to-edge network. These functions
   are related to interoperability with these protocols. One such
   function is:

    * Mapping of external QoS requests to resource requests used
      in the edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework.


4.  Edge-to Edge QoS NSIS Protocol

   In the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling framework (see Figure 3) there are
   two types of protocols used:

    * end-to-end QoS protocol used externally to the edge-to-edge
      network

    * edge-to-edge QoS NSIS protocol used in the edge-to-edge
      network

   The End-to-end QoS (EEE-QoS) protocol could be any existing
   reservation protocol or a new one applied end-to-end (end host to end
   host). This protocol is used to signal the QoS requirements of the





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   end hosts to the border nodes. RSVP is an example of such protocol.
   This protocol can also be the protocol developed by NSIS WG.

   The Edge-to-Edge QoS NSIS protocol is a new specialized protocol that
   is needed for signaling a limited set of QoS requirements related to
   interior-to-interior and BN-to-BN interface.

   In order to signal the QoS requirements for different components
   functionality sets, the edge-to-edge QoS NSIS protocol consists of
   the:

    * NSIS interior-interior (II-Q) signaling component

      This signaling component contains the information needed
      for the functionality of the NSIS interior-interior (II-Q)
      component for all the nodes in the edge-to-edge network
      (see Section 4, Figure 3).

    * NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) signaling component

      This signaling component contains the information needed
      for the functionality of the NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) component
      for all the border nodes in the edge-to-edge network (see
      Section 4, Figure 3). This component is not processed in
      interior nodes.

    * NSIS Host<->BN (HB-Q) signaling component

      This component contains the information needed for the
      functionality of the NSIS Host<->BN (BB-Q) component for all
      the border nodes in the edge-to-edge network (see Section 4,
      Figure 3). This component is not processed in interior nodes.

   Note that, signaling component related to the NSIS Host<->BN (BB-Q)
   component may also be assumed as implicitly part of the edge-to-edge
   QoS NSIS protocol functionality. The explicit definition of this NSIS
   BN<->BN (BB-Q) signaling component is dependent of the external QoS
   mechanisms and security protocols and is left out of this draft.

   Definition of edge-to-edge NSIS signaling protocol are outside of the
   scope of this draft. However, for illustrative purposes examples of
   these messages are given in Appendix A.








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5.  Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling framework operation

   The edge-to-edge NSIS signaling framework operation is belongs to the
   solutions/implementation space and therefore is outside the scope of
   this draft.

   However, for the sake of clarity of concepts and illustrative
   purposes some possible examples of edge-to-edge NSIS signaling
   framework operation are given in Appendix B.


6.  Conclusion

   This draft presents the edge-to-edge NSIS signaling framework, that
   can be used as input to the NSIS signaling framework.  It is a
   simple, scalable framework that enables fast QoS reservations and
   provides per flow (microflow or aggregate) QoS guarantees.
   Furthermore it is also an interoperable and extendible framework as
   it can be extended for signaling scenarios other than edge-to-edge,
   such as signaling end-host to end-host.


7.  Appendix A: Examples of Edge-to-Edge NSIS Signaling Messages

   This Appendix presents examples of messages that can be used for
   signaling of the edge-to-edge QoS NSIS protocol signaling components
   in the nodes in the communication path in the edge-to-edge network.
   Their description in this draft is to be used for illustrating the
   functionality of the edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework.


7.1.  NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) Signaling Messages

   Signaling messages that can be used in the communication between the
   NSIS BN<->BN (BB-Q) signaling components are:

    * Border to Border Reservation Request (BBQ-RQ)

       Initiates or updates the BBQ state in the egress. It is
       generated by the ingress node.

    * Border to Border Reservation Refresh (BBQ-RF)

       Refreshes the BBQ states located in the egress. It is
       generated by the ingress node.





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    *  Border to Border Release Request (BBQ-LQ)

       Explicitly release the BBQ state. It is generated by the
       ingress node.

    *  Border to Border Reservation Report (BBQ-RR)

       Reports that a BBQ-RQ/IIQ-RQ message has been received
       and that the request has been admitted or rejected. It is
       sent by the egress to the ingress node.

    * Border to Border Refresh Report (BBQ-FR)

       Reports that a BBQ-RF/IIQ-RF message has been received
       and has been processed. It is sent by the egress to the
       ingress node.

    * Border to Border Congestion Report (BBQ-CR)

       Used for severe congestion notification and is sent by
       egress to ingress.

   In all the messages generated by the ingress node in order to
   associate the information between the ingress node and egress node in
   an edge-to-edge network, an object will be included. i.e. Border to
   Border Request Info (BBQ-RI) object. This object is part of any BBQ
   message that is sent from the ingress to egress node. It contains the
   information that is required by the egress node to associate a IIQ
   signaling message to for example the BBQ flow ID and/or the IP
   address of the ingress node. It is inserted by the ingress node.

   Furthermore in case of bidirectional reservations this object might
   have to carry also the amount of resources needed in the reverse
   path.


7.2.  NSIS Interior <-> Interior (II-Q) Signaling Messages

   Signaling messages that can be used in the communication between the
   Interior <-> Interior (II-Q) signaling components are:

    * Interior to Interior Reservation Request (IIQ-RQ)

      Initiates the IIQ reservation state on all nodes located
      on the communication path between the ingress and egress





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      nodes according to the external reservation request. This
      message can be encapsulated in the BBQ-RQ (BBQ Reservation
      Request) message.


    * Interior to Interior Reservation Refresh (IIQ-RF)

      Refreshes the IIQ reservation soft state on all nodes
      located on the communication path between the ingress and
      egress nodes according to the resource reservation request
      that was successfully processed by the IIQ functionality
      during a previous refresh period. If this reservation state
      does not receive a IIQ-RF message within a refresh period,
      reserved resources associated to this IIQ-RF message will
      be released automatically. This message can be encapsulated
      in the BBQ-RF (BBQ Reservation Refresh) message.


    * Interior to Interior Release Request (IIQ-LQ)

      Explicitly releases the reserved resources for a particular
      flow from a IIQ reservation state. Any node that receives
      this message will release the requested resources associated
      with it, by subtracting the amount of IIQ-LQ requested
      resources from the total reserved amount of resources
      stored in the IIQ reservation state.  This message can be
      encapsulated in the BBQ-LQ (BBQ Release Request) message.


8.  Appendix B: Examples of Edge-to-Edge NSIS signaling framework
operation

   In this Appendix, three illustrative examples of the functional
   operation of the edge-to-edge NSIS framework will be described:

    * Sender-initiated Unidirectional Normal Operation

      Describes the scenario for successful and unsuccessful
      unicast reservations between edges of a domain.

    * Sender-initiated Fault Handling

      Describes the severe congestion handling for unidirectional
      reservations between edges of a domain






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    * Sender initiated Bi-directional Normal Operation

      Describes the scenario for successful bi-directional
      reservation between edges of a domain.


8.1.  Normal Operation for Unidirectional Reservation

   This section describes an example of sender-initiated unidirectional
   normal operation. This operation is described by means of flow
   diagrams of signaling messages used during the sender-initiated
   unidirectional normal. In particular, Figure B-1 and Figure B-2
   depict the successful reservation and Figure B-3 depicts the
   unsuccessful reservation.

   In the successful reservation procedure the IIQ-RQ (IIQ- Reservation
   Request) and IIQ-RF (IIQ- Reservation Refresh) are encapsulated into
   the BBQ-RQ (BBQ- Reservation Request) and BBQ-RF (BBQ- Reservation
   Refresh) messages, respectively.

   The interior nodes process only the IIQ-RQ and IIQ-RF messages,
   respectively.  This means that the IIQ information carried by the IIQ
   messages is processed and used by the interior nodes, without
   processing or using any of the BBQ information.

   If a reservation request can be supported by a node then the request
   is sent further towards the egress node. If the request can not be
   supported by a node, than the IIQ-RQ is marked (special information
   in the IIQ-RQ message that can be marked). The BBQ information
   contained in the BBQ-RQ and BBQ-RF messages is only processed at the
   edge nodes.

   Note that each BBQ message generated by the ingress node carries the
   Border to Border Request Info (BBQ-RI) object that contains the
   information required by the egress node to associate a IIQ signaling
   message encapsulated in the BBQ message to for example the BBQ flow
   ID and/or the IP address of the ingress node.

   The egress nodes receiving the BBQ-RQ or BBQ-RF messages creates a
   BBQ Reservation Report (BBQ-RR) or a BBQ Refresh Report (BBQ-FR). If
   the IIQ messages that were received by the egress node were marked
   than the BBQ report messages  will be marked as well. In this way the
   egress node will notify the ingress node about the resource
   availability in the communication path between the ingress and egress
   node.





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         Ingress     Interior         Interior           Egress
   external |            |                |                |
   reservation           |                |                |
   request  |            |                |                |
   -------->| BBQ-RQ     |                |                |
            |(IIQ-       |                |                |
            | Reservation|                |                |
            | Request)   |                |                |
            |            |      BBQ-RQ    |                |
            |----------->|(IIQ-Reservation|                |
            |            |     Request)   |                |
            |            |                |     BBQ-RQ     |
            |            |--------------->|(IIQ-Reservation|
            |            |                |     Request)   |
            |            |                |                |external
            |            |                |--------------->|reservation
            |            |                |                |request
            |            |                |                |--->
            |           BBQ-Reservation Report             |
            |<-----------|----------------|----------------|
            |            | Traffic(user)  |                |
            |            | Data           |                |
   -------->|----------->|--------------->|--------------->|--->
   external |            |                |                |
   reservation           |                |                |
   refresh  |            |                |                |
   -------->| BBQ-RF     |                |                |
            |(IIQ-       |                |                |
            | Reservation|                |                |
            | Refresh)   |                |                |
            |            |  BBQ-RF        |                |
            |----------->|(IIQ-Reservation|                |
            |            |     Refresh)   |                |
            |            |                |   BBQ-RF       |
            |            |--------------->|(IIQ-Reservation|
            |            |                |      Refresh)  |
            |            |                |                |external
            |            |                |--------------->|reservation
            |            |                |                |refresh
            |            |                |                |--->
            |           BBQ-Refresh Report|                |
            |<-----------|----------------|----------------|
            |            |                |                |
          Figure B-1: Unidirectional Normal operation
                for successful reservation





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   The explicit release procedure is depicted in Figure B-2.  The IIQ
   Release Request (IIQ-LQ) message is encapsulated within a BBQ-Release
   Request (BBQ-LQ) message. Same as previously, interior nodes process
   only the IIQ-LQ. The BBQ information contained in the BBQ-LQ is only
   processed at the edge nodes.


          Ingress     Interior      Interior        Egress
   external |            |             |             |
   release  |            |             |             |
   request  |            |             |             |
   -------->| BBQ-LQ     |             |             |
            |(IIQ-Release|             |             |
            |   Request) |             |             |
            |            |  BBQ-LQ     |             |
            |----------->|(IIQ-Release |             |
            |            | Request)    |             |
            |            |             |   BBQ-LQ    |
            |            |------------>|(IIQ-Release |
            |            |             |  Request)   |
            |            |             |             |external
            |            |             |------------>|release
            |            |             |             |request
            |            |             |             |--->


           Figure B-2: Unidirectional Normal operation
                   for explicit release

   The unsuccessful reservation procedure is depicted in Figure B-3.  As
   already mentioned, if the request can not be supported by a node,
   than the IIQ-RQ is marked (special information in the IIQ-RQ message
   that can be marked) by this node.

   Besides marking this will also include its identity into the IIQ-RQ
   message. All the subsequent nodes in the communication path towards
   the egress node will just forward the marked IIQ-RQ message without
   processing it. The egress node that receives the marked IIQ-RQ it
   will create a BBQ Reservation Report message. This message will be
   marked as unsuccessful and it will include the identity of the node
   that could not support the reservation request.

   When the ingress receives the marked BBQ Reservation Report message
   it will have to generate a BBQ Release Request/IIQ Release Request
   message in order to release unnecessary reserved resources in some





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   nodes.  The IIQ-LQ message will release the same amount of resources
   as the amount of resources requested by the IIQ Reservation Request
   that could not be supported by a node.  All the nodes that process
   the IIQ-LQ message will release these requested resources. When the
   IIQ-LQ message reaches the node that could not support the
   reservation request, the IIQ-LQ message is discarded.


         Ingress     Interior     Interior        Egress
   external |            |            |             |
   reservation           |            |             |
   request  |            |            |             |
   -------->| BBQ-RQ     |            |             |
            | (IIQ-      |            |             |
            | Reservation|            |             |
            |   Request) |            |             |
            |            |BBQ-RQ      |             |
            |----------->|(IIQ-       |             |
            |            |Reservation |             |
            |            | Request)   |             |
            |            |            | BBQ-RQ      |
            |            |----------->|(IIQ-        |
            |            |            |Reservation  |
            |            |            |Request      |
            |            |            |(Marked))    |
            |            |            M             |external
            |            |            M------------>|reserv-
            |            |            |             |ation
            |            |            |             |request
            |            |            |             |--->
            |      BBQ-Reservation Report (Marked)  |
            |<-----------|------------|-------------|
            | BBQ-LQ     |            |             |
            |(IIQ-Release|            |             |
            |   Request) |            |             |
            |            |   BBQ-LQ   |             |
            |----------->|(IIQ-Release|             |
            |            |  Request)  |             |
            |            |            |             |
            |            |----------->|             |
            |            |            |             |
            |            |            |             |
            Figure B-3: Unidirectional Normal operation
                 for unsuccessful reservation






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8.2.  Fault handling for unidirectional reservation

   This section describes an example of sender-initiated unidirectional
   fault handling operation. The fault handling operation explained in
   this section is the severe congestion handling procedure. This
   operation is described by means of flow diagrams given in Figure B-4.

   Severe congestion in a network is a result of a link or router
   failure.  Routing algorithms in networks will adapt to severe
   congestion by changing the routing decisions to reflect changes in
   the topology and traffic volume. As a result the re-routed traffic
   will follow a new path, which may result in overloaded nodes as they
   need to support more traffic than their capacity allows. This is a
   severe congestion occurrence in the communication path.

   In the edge-to-edge QoS signaling framework this event needs to be
   signaled to the ingress nodes. This will be done by the interior
   nodes, that will first detect this occurrence and then by means of
   signaling messages or data traffic will notify the ingress nodes. The
   ingress node has to resolve this situation based on its predefined
   policies related to the flows and QoS guarantees.

   One can think of various detection and notification methods for the
   interior nodes, such as marking of all the data packets passing
   through a severe congested node or marking the IIQ signaling messages
   only.

   In this draft only one method is considered. This is the proportional
   marking method, where the number of the remarked data packets is
   proportional to the detected overload. The severely congested
   interior node will remark the user data packets with with a specific
   severe congestion ID, proportionally to the detected overload. Once
   the severe congestion marked packets arrive at the egress node, the
   egress node will generate a BBQ_Congestion_Report message that will
   be sent to the ingress node. This message will contain the over-
   allocation volume of the flow in question, e.g., a blocking
   probability.

   For each flow ID, the egress node will count the number of severe
   congested marked bytes and the number of unmarked bytes, and it will
   calculate the blocking probability (Pdrop) using the formula (1):

     Pdrop = Bm/(Bm + Bu) (1)

   where Bm =  number of severe congested marked bytes and Bu = number





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   of unmarked bytes.

   The ingress node, based on this blocking probability, might terminate
   the flow.  That is, for a higher blocking probability there is a
   higher chance that the flow will be terminated. If a flow needs to be
   terminated, the ingress node will generate a IIQ_Release Request
   message for this flow.

         Ingress    Interior            Interior              Egress
            |           |                    |                    |
   sent)    |           |                    |                    |
    user    |(sent)     |                    |                    |
            | user data |                    |                    |
    data    |           |                    |                    |
   -------->|---------->| (sent) user data   |  user data         |
            |           |------------------->S(# marked bytes)    |
            |           |                    S------------------->|
            |           |                    S(# unmarked bytes)  |
            |           |                    S------------------->|
            |           |                    |                    |
            |           |                    |                    |
            |           |                    |                    |
            |        (BBQ_Congestion_Report ("S" marked + Pdrop)) |
   external |<----------|--------------------|--------------------|
   Error    |           |                    |                    |
   <--------|           |                    |                    |
   Terminate|           |                    |                    |
    flow?   |BBQ-LQ     |                    |                    |
    YES     |(IIQ_      |                    |                    |
            | Release   |                    |                    |
            | Request)  |     BBQ-LQ         |                    |
            |           |(IIQ_Release Request)  BBQ-LQ            |
            |---------->|                    |(IIQ Release Request)
            |           |------------------->|                    |
            |           |                    |------------------->|
            |           |                    |                    |
            |           |                    |                    |

           Figure B-4: Unidirectional edge-to-edge NSIS
          operation in case of severe congestion handling
                  using proportional marking









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8.3.  Normal Operation for bidirectional (successful) reservation

   This section describes an example of sender-initiated bi-directional
   normal operation for successful reservation. This operation is
   described by means of flow diagrams given in Figure B-5, Figure B-6,
   Figure B-7.

   The method for bi-directional reservations is based on combining two
   uni-directional reservations. This means that the signaling messages
   from the sender of the the bi-directional reservation towards a
   receiver are likely to follow a different path than messages
   traveling in the opposite direction.

   The edge nodes that support a bi-directional reservations have to
   satisfy the following requirements:

    * Be able to distinguish between a uni-directional and a
      bi-directional resource reservation BBQ signaling message.

    * When an egress node receives a bi-directional BBQ/IIQ
      reservation message it will have to construct a
      uni-directional BBQ signaling message and an uni-directional
      IIQ signaling message that will be sent in the reverse
      direction. The destination IP address (and the source IP
      address) of this uni-directional IIQ should be such that
      it should reach the sender of the bi-directional reservation.

    * It should be possible that the ingress and egress create
      a BBQ state that maintains a bi-directional flow
      specification.

   As already mentioned the forwarding path, i.e., ingress to egress,
   may be different from the reverse path, i.e., egress to ingress. This
   means that the forwarding path and the reverse path may go though
   different interior nodes and ingress nodes than the reverse path.

   Note that in order to simplify the description of this feature, in
   this Section it is considered that the that the ingress/egress pairs
   of nodes in the forwarding and reverse path are the same. In practice
   these might be different.

   The flow diagram examples shown in Figure 5-5, Figure 5-6 and Figure
   5-7 are emphasizing the normal operation for an initial bi-
   directional reservation, for a refresh procedure and for an explicit
   release procedure, respectively.





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   The ingress node that triggers a bi-directional reservation, (see
   Figure 5-5), will send a BBQ-RQ message/IIQ-RQ towards the egress
   node. This message will carry the BBQ Request Info object to notify
   the egress node that the BBQ-RQ/IIQ-RQ message is a bi-directional
   message. Note that this message may also include the amount of
   resources that are requested for the reverse path.

   These two messages are denoted as IIQ-RQ(forward) and BBQ_ReqInfo(Bi-
   forward).  The egress by processing the BBQ_ReqInfo object from the
   BBQ_ReqInfo(Bi-forward) will recognize the bidirectional resource
   request. The egress node will have to reuse the BBQ-RQ, IIQ-RQ (and
   the BBQ_ReqInfo object) message for the reverse direction.

   These messages are denoted as BBQ-RQ(reverse)/IIQ_RQ(reverse).  The
   BBQ-RQ(reverse)/IIQ-RQ(reverse) (and BBQ_ReqInfo(reverse)object)
   messages are almost the same as the BBQ-RQ(forward)/IIQ-RQ(forward)
   messages (almost all fields included in the Bi-forward messages are
   copied into the reverse messages). The difference is related to the
   IP source and IP destination addresses of these messages that have to
   be chosen such that the messages are sent to/from the same
   ingress/egress pair of nodes. Moreover, the amount of requested
   resources is equal to the amount of resources that has been carried
   by the BBQ_ReqInfo(bi-forward) object.

       Ingress          Interior          Interior            Egress
           | BBQ-RQ (forward)|                 |                 |
   external|(IIQ-RQ(forward) |                 |                 |
    request|                 | BBQ-RQ(forward) |                 |
   ------->|---------------->|(IIQ-RQ(forward))|                 |
           |                 |                 |BBQ-RQ(forward)  |
           |                 |---------------->|(IIQ-RQ(forward))|
           |                 |                 |---------------->|
           |                 |                 (BBQ-RQ(reverse)  |
           |                 |                 ((IIQ-RQ(reverse) |
           |                 |<----------------|-----------------|
           |  BBQ-RQ(reverse)|                 |                 |
           |(IIQ-RQ(reverse))|                 |                 |
           |<----------------|                 |                 |
           |                 |                 |                 |
           | BBQ Reservation Report(reverse)   |                 |
           |---------------------------------------------------->|
           |                 |BBQ Reservation Report(Bi-forward) |
           |<----------------------------------------------------|
          Figure B-5: Bi-directional resource reservation flow
        diagram for successful reservation (initial reservation)





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   A similar approach is used for the refresh procedure, see Figure B-6,
   and the explicit release procedure, see Figure B-7.

       Ingress          Interior           Interior             Egress
           | BBQ-RF (forward)|                  |                  |
   external|(IIQ-RF(forward) |                  |                  |
    refresh|                 |   BBQ-RF(forward)|                  |
   ------->|---------------->|(IIQ-RF(forward)  |   BBQ-RF(forward)|
           |                 |----------------->| (IIQ-RF(forward))|
           |                 |                  |----------------->|
           |                 |                  (BBQ-RF(reverse)   |
           |                 |                  ((IIQ-RF(reverse)  |
           |                 |<-----------------|------------------|
           |  BBQ-RF(reverse)|                  |                  |
           |(IIQ-RF(reverse))|                  |                  |
           |<----------------|                  |                  |
           |                 |                  |                  |
           | BBQ Refresh Report(reverse)        |                  |
           |---------------- ------------------------------------->|
           |                 |BBQ Refresh Report(Bi-forward)       |
           |<------------------------------------------------------|
           |                 |                  |                  |

         Figure B-6: Bi-directional resource reservation flow
        diagram for successful reservation (refresh procedure)

        Ingress            Interior          Interior             Egress
            | BBQ-LQ (forward)|                  |                   |
   external |(IIQ-LQ(forward) |                  |                   |
    release |                 | BBQ-LQ(forward)  |                   |
   -------> |---------------->|(IIQ-LQ(forward)) |   BBQ-LQ(forward) |
            |                 |----------------->|  (IIQ-LQ(forward))|
            |                 |                  |------------------>|
            |                 |                  (BBQ-LQ(reverse)    |
            |                 |                  ((IIQ-LQ(reverse)   |
            |                 |<-----------------|-------------------|
            |BBQ-LQ(reverse)  |                  |                   |
            |(IIQ-LQ(reverse))|                  |                   |
            |<----------------|                  |                   |
            |                 |                  |                   |

       Figure B-7: Bi-directional resource reservation flow diagram
         for successful reservation (explicit release procedure)







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9.  Authors' Address


      Lars Westberg
      Ericsson Research
      Torshamnsgatan 23
      SE-164 80 Stockholm
      Sweden
      EMail: Lars.Westberg@era.ericsson.se

      Georgios Karagiannis
      Ericsson EuroLab Netherlands B.V.
      Institutenweg 25
      P.O.Box 645  7500 AP Enschede
      The Netherlands
      EMail: Georgios.Karagiannis@eln.ericsson.se

      David Partain
      Ericsson Radio Systems AB
      P.O. Box 1248
      SE-581 12  Linkoping
      Sweden
      EMail: David.Partain@ericsson.com


      Vlora Rexhepi
      Ericsson EuroLab Netherlands B.V.
      Institutenweg 25
      P.O.Box 645  7500 AP Enschede
      The Netherlands
      EMail: Vlora.Rexhepi@eln.ericsson.se



















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