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Multicast-Address Allocation
charter-ietf-malloc-01

Document Charter Multicast-Address Allocation WG (malloc)
Title Multicast-Address Allocation
Last updated 2003-06-27
State Approved
WG State Concluded
IESG Responsible AD (None)
Charter edit AD (None)
Send notices to (None)

charter-ietf-malloc-01

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.