Round-Trip Packet Loss Metrics
RFC 6673

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         A. Morton
Request for Comments: 6673                                     AT&T Labs
Category: Standards Track                                    August 2012
ISSN: 2070-1721

                     Round-Trip Packet Loss Metrics

Abstract

   Many user applications (and the transport protocols that make them
   possible) require two-way communications.  To assess this capability,
   and to achieve test system simplicity, round-trip loss measurements
   are frequently conducted in practice.  The Two-Way Active Measurement
   Protocol specified in RFC 5357 establishes a round-trip loss
   measurement capability for the Internet.  However, there is currently
   no round-trip packet loss metric specified according to the RFC 2330
   framework.

   This memo adds round-trip loss to the set of IP Performance Metrics
   (IPPM).

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6673.

Morton                       Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 6673                     Round-Trip Loss                 August 2012

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 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.

Morton                       Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 6673                     Round-Trip Loss                 August 2012

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
      1.1. Motivation .................................................4
      1.2. Requirements Language ......................................5
   2. Scope ...........................................................5
   3. Common Specifications for Round-Trip Metrics ....................5
      3.1. Name: Type-P-* .............................................5
      3.2. Metric Parameters ..........................................5
      3.3. Metric Definition ..........................................6
      3.4. Metric Units ...............................................6
   4. A Singleton Round-Trip Loss Metric ..............................7
      4.1. Name: Type-P-Round-trip-Loss ...............................7
      4.2. Metric Parameters ..........................................7
      4.3. Definition and Metric Units ................................7
      4.4. Discussion and Other Details ...............................8
   5. A Sample Round-Trip Loss Metric .................................9
      5.1. Name: Type-P-Round-trip-Loss-<Sample>-Stream ...............9
      5.2. Metric Parameters ..........................................9
      5.3. Definition and Metric Units ................................9
      5.4. Discussion and Other Details ..............................10
   6. Round-Trip Loss Statistic ......................................10
      6.1. Type-P-Round-trip-Loss-<Sample>-Ratio .....................10
   7. Round-Trip Testing and One-Way Reporting .......................11
   8. Measurement Considerations and Calibration .....................11
   9. Security Considerations ........................................12
      9.1. Denial-of-Service Attacks .................................12
      9.2. User Data Confidentiality .................................12
      9.3. Interference with the Metrics .............................12
   10. IANA Considerations ...........................................13
   11. Acknowledgements ..............................................13
   12. References ....................................................13
      12.1. Normative References .....................................13
      12.2. Informative References ...................................14

1.  Introduction

   This memo defines a metric to quantify an IP network's ability to
   transfer packets in both directions from one host to another host.