Concluded WG Multicast-Address Allocation (malloc)

Note: The data for concluded WGs is occasionally incorrect.

WG Name Multicast-Address Allocation
Acronym malloc
Area Transport Area (tsv)
State Concluded
Charter charter-ietf-malloc-01 Approved
Document dependencies
Additional resources Additional MALLOC Page
Personnel Chairs Dave Thaler, Steve Hanna
Tech Advisor Dr. Thomas Narten
Mailing list Address malloc@ietf.org
To subscribe https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/malloc/
Archive ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf-mail-archive/malloc/

Final Charter for Working Group

Note: This Working Group is co-chartered in the Internet Area.

Multicast address allocation is an essential part of using IP
multicast. Multicast addresses are an even more limited resource than
unicast addresses, and must be allocated dynamically if they are to
satisfy expected demand. To this end, the MALLOC WG will define three
protocols which work together to form a global dynamic multicast
address allocation mechanism. These protocols will be:

  • a "host to Address Allocation Server" protocol used by a host to
    obtain one or more multicast addresses from an address allocation
    server within its domain.

  • an intra-domain server to server protocol that address allocation
    servers within the same domain can use to ensure that they do not
    give
    out conflicting addresses.

  • an inter-domain protocol to provide aggregatable multicast address
    ranges to domains, which the servers in that domain can then allocate
    individual multicast addresses out of. This protocol will work in
    conjunction with the IDMR WG's Border Gateway Multicast Protocol to
    provide a scalable inter-domain multicast routing solution.

Although mechanisms for enforcing policies for multicast address
allocation may be considered, setting any such policies is not within
the scope of this WG. Alternative multicast models are also out of
scope.

Done milestones

Date Milestone Associated documents
Done Submit the MIB to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.
Done Complete action of withdrawing intra-domain protocol (due to lack of community interest and serious fixes needed)
Done Review and finalize the intra-domain protocol
Done Submit the MADCAP scope-nesting option document to the IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
Done Submit the architecture document to the IESG for consideration as Informational
Done Submit the inter-domain protocol to the IESG for consideration as Experimental
Done Review and finalize the inter-domain protocol
Done Submit the abstract API document(s) to the IESG for consideration as Informational.
Done Repost the updated architecture document as a WG Internet-Draft
Done Repost the MADCAP scope-nesting option document as a WG Internet-Draft
Done Submit the host-server protocol to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard.
Done Meet at Orlando IETF. Review and finalize the host-server protocol.
Done Report on simulation and implementation efforts with existing protocol proposals. Address any problems in the specifications that were found.