A Common API for Transparent Hybrid Multicast
RFC 7046
Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) M. Waehlisch
Request for Comments: 7046 link-lab & FU Berlin
Category: Experimental T. Schmidt
ISSN: 2070-1721 HAW Hamburg
S. Venaas
Cisco Systems
December 2013
A Common API for Transparent Hybrid Multicast
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 provided by the application itself. This
document describes a common multicast API that is suitable for
transparent communication in underlay and overlay and that grants
access to the different flavors of multicast. It proposes an
abstract naming scheme that uses multicast URIs, and it discusses
mapping mechanisms between different namespaces and distribution
technologies. Additionally, this document describes the application
of this API for building gateways that interconnect current Multicast
Domains throughout the Internet. It reports on an implementation of
the programming Interface, including service middleware. This
document is a product of the Scalable Adaptive Multicast (SAM)
Research Group.
Waehlisch, et al. Experimental [Page 1]
RFC 7046 Common Mcast API December 2013
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for examination, experimental implementation, and
evaluation.
This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
community. This document is a product of the Internet Research Task
Force (IRTF). The IRTF publishes the results of Internet-related
research and development activities. These results might not be
suitable for deployment. This RFC represents the consensus of the
Scalable Adaptive Multicast Research Group of the Internet Research
Task Force (IRTF). Documents approved for publication by the IRSG
are not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see 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/rfc7046.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2013 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.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................4
1.1. Use Cases for the Common API ...............................6
1.2. Illustrative Examples ......................................7
1.2.1. Support of Multiple Underlying Technologies .........7
1.2.2. Support of Multi-Resolution Multicast ...............9
2. Terminology ....................................................10
3. Overview .......................................................10
3.1. Objectives and Reference Scenarios ........................10
3.2. Group Communication API and Protocol Stack ................12
3.3. Naming and Addressing .....................................14
3.4. Namespaces ................................................15
Waehlisch, et al. Experimental [Page 2]
RFC 7046 Common Mcast API December 2013
3.5. Name-to-Address Mapping ...................................15
3.5.1. Canonical Mapping ..................................16
3.5.2. Mapping at End Points ..............................16
3.5.3. Mapping at Inter-Domain Multicast Gateways .........16
3.6. A Note on Explicit Multicast (Xcast) ......................16
3.7. MTU Handling ..............................................17
4. Common Multicast API ...........................................18
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