To: IEEE 802.1
From: IETF CCAMP Working Group
Cc: Dan Romascanu, Bernard Aboba, Bert Wijnen
     Ross Callon, Bill Fenner, Deborah Brungard
Subject: Control plane operation of Ethernet Bridging
Status: For Information

Dear Tony and Mick,

 We would like to clarify the previous Liaison from CCAMP with respect to 
Ethernet bridging behavior.

We have received requests to evaluate the use of GMPLS protocols for the 
control of bridging in Ethernet networks. At this time we have not initiated 
any work.

We recognise IEEE's authority to define and maintain the Ethernet data 
plane, and fully understand IEEE's concern for other SDOs to adhere to the 
IEEE's specifications. We would like to assure you that within the IETF's 
CCAMP working group we have the understanding that any Ethernet  work shall 
only be based on IEEE specified data planes.

For your information, we have defined the following rules and process for 
advancing this work within CCAMP:

Rules:

A. Data plane (i.e. the data forwarding of established flows) specification 
is out of scope and must not be discussed within CCAMP.

B. CCAMP will not work on the specification of GMPLS except for data planes 
that are already approved by an SDO with responsibility for the Ethernet 
data plane. It is expected that the primary SDO in this case is the IEEE.

Process steps:

1. Decide upon the data plane behavior to be controlled using GMPLS.

2. Ensure that the data plane to be controlled is approved and documented by 
an SDO with responsibility for Ethernet (i.e., the IEEE).
This may be a null op in the case of existing standards, but might require 
work in the other SDO for new standards or for profiles of existing 
standards.

3. Start protocol work in CCAMP with an explicit pointer to the approved 
data plane.

4. When it is clear that protocol work is progressing, CCAMP will liaise 
with the other SDO to get their blessing for using a control plane for the 
nominated data plane and to confirm that that data plane is really approved.

In addition, we expect to liaise our status during the development of any 
control plane extensions.

Best regards,
Deborah Brungard and Adrian Farrel
IETF CCAMP Working Group Co-Chairs