PCN                                                              K. Chan
Internet-Draft                                                    Nortel
Intended status: Informational                              T. Moncaster
Expires: August 10, 2008                                     BT Research
                                                                M. Menth
                                                  University of Wurzburg
                                                          G. Karagiannis
                                                    University of Twente
                                                              P. Eardley
                                                              B. Briscoe
                                                             BT Research
                                                        February 7, 2008


            Pre-Congestion Notification Encoding Comparison
                 draft-chan-pcn-encoding-comparison-02

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   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2008).






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Abstract

   A number of mechanisms have been proposed to support differential
   Qualiy of Service for packets in the Internet.  DiffServ is an
   example of such a mechanism.  However, the level of assurance that
   can be provided with DiffServ without substantial over-provisioning
   is limited.  Pre-Congestion Notification (PCN) uses path congestion
   information across a PCN region to enable per-flow admission control
   to provide the required service guarantees for the admitted traffic.
   While admission control will protect the QoS under normal operating
   conditions, an additional flow termination mechanism is necessary to
   cope with extreme events (e.g. route changes due to link or node
   failure).

   In order to allow the PCN mechanisms to work it is necessary for IP
   packets to be able to carry the pre-congestion information to the PCN
   egress nodes.  This document explores different ways in which this
   information can be encoded into IP packets.  This document does not
   choose the encoding but provide guidance and recommendation based on
   different criteria.































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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.  Encoding Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.1.  Encoding States  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       2.1.1.  Non PCN Capable Packet Encoding State  . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.2.  Nonce Encoding State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     2.2.  Encoding Selection Criteria  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   3.  Encoding Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     3.1.  Encoding Using ECN and DSCP Fields . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       3.1.1.  Benefits of Using DSCP and ECN Fields  . . . . . . . . 10
       3.1.2.  Drawbacks of Using DSCP and ECN Fields . . . . . . . . 11
       3.1.3.  Comparing DSCP and ECN Fields Encoding Options . . . . 11
       3.1.4.  Concerns on Alternate Semantics for the ECN Field  . . 11
       3.1.5.  Encoding Choice Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     3.2.  Encoding Using DSCP Field  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       3.2.1.  Benefits of Using DSCP Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
       3.2.2.  Drawbacks of Using DSCP Field  . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
       3.2.3.  Comparing DSCP Field Encoding Options  . . . . . . . . 15
   4.  Encoding Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   5.  Security Implications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   7.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   Appendix A.   Encoding Using ECN Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   Appendix A.1. Benefits of Using ECN Field  . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   Appendix A.2. Drawbacks of Using ECN Field . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   Appendix A.3. Concerns on Alternate Semantics for the ECN Field  . 19
   Appendix A.4. Encoding Choice Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   Appendix B.   Out-of-Band Channel as Encoding Transport  . . . . . 22
   Appendix B.1. Benefits of Using Out-Of-Band Channel  . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix B.2. Drawbacks of Using Out-Of-Band Channel . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix C.   Current PCN Detection, Marking and Transport
                 Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix C.1. Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in
                 CL-PHB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix C.2. Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in
                 Three State Marking  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix C.3. Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in
                 Single Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   Appendix C.4. Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in
                 Load Control Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   8.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 28







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1.  Introduction

   This document examines the ways to encode pre-congestion notification
   (PCN) [1] information in IP packets for transporting the information
   from the PCN interior nodes to the PCN egress nodes.  Using the
   examination results to assist the selection of PCN encoding in IP
   packets.

   This document first discuss the PCN information that is required to
   be transported.  Then investigate the different fields in the IP
   header for transporting the required PCN information.  Followed with
   the encoding choices, discussions, and recommendations, when specific
   field(s) of the IP header is/are used to transport the PCN
   information.

   The main goal of this document is a survey and comparison of several
   encoding methods that are required to encode the pre-congestion
   information and to transport it from the PCN interior nodes to the
   PCN egress nodes.  In order to accomplish this comparison, a number
   of criteria are developed.  For transporting using data packet (IP)
   header, the encoding methods investigated are:

   1.  Encoding using the combination of the ECN and DSCP bits of a data
       packet header

   2.  Encoding using only the DSCP bits of a data packet header

   We have also considered:

   1.  Encoding using only the ECN bits of a data packet header

   2.  Encoding and transport using a different channel than data
       packets

   But these have been considered out of scope for the current PCN
   Charter and hence moved to the Appendix sections.  Keeping them for
   this version of the document to not loose our understanding of them
   and for completeness of the survey.

   The rest of this document is organized as follows:

   o  Section 2 describes the encoding requirements indicated by
      currently known detection and marking mechanisms that can be used
      within the PCN-domain.

   o  Section 3 describes the encoding options, organized based on the
      IP header field(s) used for the encoding.




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   o  Section 4 provides a summary on the encoding options
      recommendation.


2.  Encoding Requirements

   The internal PCN encoding requirements are based on the functionality
   of PCN [1], and possibly how the PCN Marking Algorithms achieve the
   functionality.  There may be external requirements depending on the
   environment in which PCN operates, for example co-existence with ECN
   as indicated by RFC 4774 [22].  These are discussed secondary to the
   internal PCN encoding requirements because we have limited the PCN
   operational environment in the PCN WG's first phase charter.  But we
   also need to take into consideration of the encoding standard should
   not need to be modified for PCN to work in both current charter's
   environment and when current charter's environment is expanded.

2.1.  Encoding States

   Currently, there are a number of proposals for Pre-Congestion
   Detection Algorithms.  The authors of the different PCN Algorithm
   documents have agreed to use the notion of Encoding States to
   represent the information each algorithm wants to export, and hence
   to be carried from the interior nodes to the edge nodes for flow
   admission control and flow termination decisions.  These Encoding
   States form the fundamental functional requirements for the encoding
   choices.

   Please notice the number of "Encoding State" can be different from
   the number of encoding bit patterns.  For example more than two
   "Encoding States" may be carried by two encoding bit pattern when the
   multiple "Encoding States" can be modulated/ multiplexed over some
   time domains.

   For simplicity purpose, we indicate the main required encoding states
   for PCN capable packets:

   o  Not PreCongested Marking for PCN traffic (PCN), for indication of
      No Pre-Congestion Indication for PCN capable traffic

   o  Admission Marking (AM), for indication of Flow Admission
      Information

   o  Termination Marking (TM), for indication of Flow Termination
      Information

   o  Affected Marking (AfM), for ECMP Information.




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   A total of four main required encoding states for PCN capable
   packets.

   There are also encoding states that may be required, depending on the
   environment assumptions made, these encoding states are described in
   the following sub sections together with their environmental
   considerations.

2.1.1.  Non PCN Capable Packet Encoding State

   Non PCN Capable packet encoding, for separation from PCN Capable
   packet.  This encoding allows the PCN nodes to provide the PCN
   treatments to only the PCN Capable packets.  Allowing separation
   between PCN Capable and Non PCN Capable packets.

   The Working Group assumes the PCN traffic will be identified by the
   DSCP codepoint it carries.  But the precise meaning of this is not
   entirely clear.  There is a question whether:

   1.  a DSCP is meant to only represent a scheduling behaviour and
       (pre-)congestion marking behaviour is an optional addition that
       needs to be turned on or off within each existing DSCP (as for
       RFC3168 ECN), or

   2.  we redefine the meaning of the DSCP field to represent a
       combination of scheduling and marking behaviour.

   If the first approach is used, for certain PHBs (e.g.  EF [rfc3246])
   PCN marking would be the congestion marking behaviour turned on by
   the setting of another field (e.g. the ECN field).  Then there would
   be a need to further distinguish PCN from Not-PCN packets, both using
   the same DSCP.  Requiring a Non PCN Capable Encoding State
   represented by a bit pattern using bits outside of the DSCP field.

   In the second approach, for each scheduling behaviour needing to be
   combined with PCN marking, a new paired DSCP would need to be
   defined.  Then both DSCPs would map to the same scheduling behaviour
   but one will and one will not receive PCN treatment.  For this
   approach, the DSCP provides the indication of PCN Capable packets.

   Hence the decision of taking approach one or approach two will
   indicate if Non PCN Capable Packet Encoding State will be necessary.

   When the Non PCN Capable Packet Encoding State is needed, we use the
   encoding of Not-PCN Capable (Not-PCN) to represent this state.  The
   use of the other required PCN Encoding States will indicate this is a
   PCN Capable Packet.




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   Superficially, the proposed new DSCP for capacity-admitted traffic
   [6] seems like it could turn on PCN marking with EF scheduling
   (approach 2).  In this document an early version of PCN is given as
   an example of schemes that might need to use the new voice-admit
   codepoint.  But the proposed new DSCP for capacity-admitted traffic
   [6] is really intended to distinguish EF traffic that is admission
   controlled per flow at the edge of a Diffserv domain from EF traffic
   merely policed in bulk.  The new codepoint is not really intended to
   switch on a new marking behaviour like PCN.

2.1.2.  Nonce Encoding State

   The ECN nonce RFC 3540 [19] for end-to-end ECN is used to protect the
   sender from cheating by the receiver and/or by other down stream
   nodes.  PCN may or may not need a mechanism like the ECN nonce.
   However single bit nonce schemes such as the ECN nonce require in-
   order, reliable data delivery to function correctly.  As PCN operates
   at the IP layer, in-order delivery cannot be guaranteed.  If PCN
   needs a nonce functionality, it may need to think beyond the current
   ECN nonce mechanism.  And this is beyond the scope of this document.

   Currently, the PCN work we are doing assumes the trust relationship
   between all the functional entities are already established.  If this
   assumption is not true, the trust relationships will need to be
   addressed, but may or may not involve the needing of additional
   encoding states or the use of the ECN nonce mechanism.

2.2.  Encoding Selection Criteria

   Two possible locations within the IP header have been identified as
   suitable for encoding PCN.  These are the 2 bit ECN field whose
   default meaning is defined in RFC 3168 [16] and the 6 bit DSCP field
   defined in RFC 2474 [11] and RFC 2475 [12].  It is already accepted
   that PCN traffic will be distinguished according to which DSCP
   codepoint it carries.  The implications of this decision were
   discussed in section 2.1.1 above.  The current assumption is that PCN
   will need to be specified as the marking behaviour through definition
   of a new PCN DSCP.

   There are a number of other potential issues that might affect the
   exact choice of encoding to be used.  The key ones are:

   1.  The support of the required encoding states to satisfy the
       functional requirement of PCN.

   2.  Compliance with RFC 4774 [22] if the ECN field is to be re-used
       for PCN encoding.




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   3.  Compliance with the requirements for specifying DSCPs and DSCP
       per-hop-behaviour groups [11].

   Each of these are examined in further details in encoding option
   sections describing their usage.

   RFC 4774 [22] have also required one to give consideration to what
   harm might be caused by the leaking of PCN traffic into a non-PCN
   domain.  The following looks at each ECN codepoint and shows what
   harm, if any, would be caused were that codepoint to leak from the
   PCN domain:

   o  '00': The leak should be safe in all circumstances.  RFC 3168
      compliant routers will believe such packets to be not-ECN capable
      and as such will drop them if the router is congested.  This
      codepoint may be suitable for different use by PCN.

   o  '01' and '10': RFC 3168 compliant routers will believe these
      packets are from an ECN capable flow.  If the routers are
      congested they will mark these packets '11' (CE) instead of
      dropping them.  If the endpoints are not ECN capable then this is
      not good for congestion control.  The use of '01' and '10' by PCN
      can be a potential issue.  To be completely safe, it would be best
      to avoid giving any PCN semantics to these codepoints.

   o  '11': If the packet was already part of an ECN capable flow then
      receivers will believe this was an indication of congestion on the
      path.  They will thus inform their source of this and the source
      will perform a congestion response.  This codepoint may be
      suitable for different use by PCN, the degree of suitability may
      depend on the exact PCN encoding and the metering and marking
      algorithm using the encoding.

   More detailed consideration of these points are provided in the
   sections describing the encoding options.

   Additional criterion of handling ECN packets traversing the PCN
   domain brings up the notion of tunneling in the PCN domain.  As
   indicated earlier, the working group is using a different DSCP to
   indicate a PHB for PCN packets.  We can take the view of using such
   DSCP, hence the PCN PHB, as handling the PCN packets in its own
   tunnel.  And the other non-PCN packets are in one or more other
   tunnels.  Taking this view allows us to totally separate the PCN and
   non-PCN (including ECN) traffic using DiffServ.  Allowing an easy
   solution for ECN packets traversing the PCN domain.  With violation
   of such traffic separation be considered leakage of other traffic
   into the PCN domain and leakage of PCN traffic out of the PCN domain.




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   With the above discussion, in additon to the criteria indicated so
   far, we should give higher preference to encoding options that:

   o  Minimize problems if there are packet leakage by the PCN domain.

   o  Is safest for wider deployment of PCN, when the current chartered
      environment restriction is relaxed.


3.  Encoding Options

   There are couple of methods to carry the encoding states.  The method
   used affects the encoding options.  Hence when we describe the
   different encoding options in this section, we group them based on
   how the encoding states are carried.

   The encoding transport methods considered are:

   o  using the combination of the ECN and DSCP bits of a data packet
      header

   o  using only the ECN bits of a data packet header

   o  using only the DSCP bits of a data packet header

   We discuss the encoding options for each of the encoding transport
   methods separately in their own subsections.  For shorter reading, we
   have moved the encoding choices the working group have agreed to not
   consider (Using only ECN field, Out-of-Band Channel) sections to the
   Appendix.

3.1.  Encoding Using ECN and DSCP Fields

   The use of both DSCP and ECN fields is following the second approach
   indicated in section 2.1.1.  This approach allows a clean traffic
   treatment separation of PCN Capable traffic and Non PCN Capable
   traffic.  This natural use of the DSCP field, to provide treatment
   differentiation of packets using different DSCP encoding, is one way
   of providing the "PCN Capable Transport Marking" encoding state.  The
   using of this approach allows us to focus on encoding the four
   required PCN Encoding States indicated in section 2.1 using the two
   ECN bits.









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 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
| ECN Bits     ||    00    |    01    |    10    |    11    ||   DSCP   |
|==============++==========+==========+==========+==========++==========|
| RFC 3168     || Not-ECT  |  ECT(1)  |  ECT(0)  |    CE    ||    NA    |
|==============++==========+==========+==========+==========++==========|
| Option 1     ||    AM    |    PCN   |    PCN   |    TM    ||   PCN    |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 2     ||    AfM   |    PCN   |    PCN   |   AM/TM  ||   PCN    |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 3     ||    PCN   |     NA   |     NA   |   AM/TM  ||   PCN    |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 4     ||    PCN   |     NA   |     NA   |     AM   ||   PCN 1  |
|              ||          |          |          |     TM   ||   PCN 2  |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 5     ||    AM    |     TM   |    PCN   |     NA   ||   PCN    |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Notes: NA means Not Applicable.  PCN, PCN 1, PCN 2 under the DSCP
   column denotes specific DSCPs used for PCN capable packets.  AM/TM
   means the two encoding states are sharing the same encoding bit
   pattern.

      Figure 1: Encoding of PCN Information Using DSCP and ECN Fields

   In Figure 1, we listed the fundamental options when both DSCP and ECN
   fields are used.  There are couple of variations of the theme
   provided by these options.  For example, the "01" and "10" encoding
   can be interpreted as PCN(A) and PCN(T) instead of just PCN.  Using
   the PCN(A) and PCN(T) variation provides the additional information
   of the ratio of packets AM marked to packets Not AM marked, and the
   ratio of packets TM marked to packets Not TM marked.  Having these
   ratios being independent from one another.  Another variation on the
   theme is the use of an extra DSCP value to represent the TM encoding
   state for Option 2.  Doing so will eliminate the need to modulate
   both AM and TM using the single "11" encoding.

   Notice the Affected Mark encoding state is not directly carried by
   the ECN bits in Option 1.  A variation of Option 1 is to represent
   the Affected Mark encoding state using '01'.  But this may result in
   interference by RFC 3168 ECN routers when there is mis-configuration,
   please see section 3.1.4 on discussion of RFC 4774 Concern 2 for more
   details.

3.1.1.  Benefits of Using DSCP and ECN Fields

   A major feature of using both DSCP and ECN fields is the ability to
   use the inherent nature of DiffServ for traffic class separation to
   allow PCN treatment be applied to PCN traffic, without concerns of



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   applying PCN treatment to none PCN traffic and vise versa.  This
   feature frees this approach for PCN encoding from some of the
   concerns raised by RFC 4774 [22].  This feature will also keep none
   PCN Capable traffic out of the PCN treatment mechanisms, allowing the
   PCN treatment mechanisms focus on their respective PCN tasks.

   This approach also leaves the ECN field available totally for PCN
   encoding states purposes.  Removing the need to carry the Not-PCN
   Encoding in the ECN field.

3.1.2.  Drawbacks of Using DSCP and ECN Fields

   The use of both DSCP and ECN fields will require the setting aside of
   one (or possibly two) DSCP for use by PCN.  This may add complexity
   to the PCN encoding standardization effort.

3.1.3.  Comparing DSCP and ECN Fields Encoding Options

   Here we discuss the differences between the different encoding
   options when both DSCP and ECN fields are used.  There are many
   encoding options, we have provided the ones we think are favorable in
   Figure 1.

   When DSCP is used to differentiate between PCN capable and Not-PCN
   capable traffic, the encoding of "Not-PCN" in the ECN field is not
   required.  This is the motivation for Option 1 in Figure 1, where the
   encoding "00" for "Not-ECT" is being used for "AM" (Admission
   Marking) encoding state.  The encodings "01" and "10" for "ECT(1)"
   and "ECT(0)" supports the required encoding states for "Not Pre-
   Congested Marking" (PCN), and reserving them for any "Nonce Marking"
   if necessary.  With the possible additional encoding of "PCN(A)" and
   "PCN(T)" in place of "ECT(1)" and "ECT(0)" for indicating percentage
   of Admission Marked traffic and percentage of Termination Marked
   traffic when the algorithm benefits from such additional information.

   Option 2 in Figure 1 uses the "00" encoding for "AfM".  With '01' and
   '10' encoding the same as for Option 1, requiring the use of "11"
   encoding for both "AM" (Admission Mark) and "TM" (Termination Mark)
   states or requiring the allocation of a DSCP for encoding the "TM"
   state.

3.1.4.  Concerns on Alternate Semantics for the ECN Field

   Section 2 of RFC 4774 [22] raised couple of concerns for usage of
   alternate semantics for the ECN field.  We try to address each of the
   concerns in this section.





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   1.  Section 3.1 of RFC 4774 [22] discusses Concern 1: "How routers
       know which ECN semantics to use with which packets."  This use of
       DSCP and ECN for encoding PCN states address this by following
       the recommendation of RFC 4774 [22] on using a diffserv codepoint
       to identify the packets using the alternate ECN semantics.  This
       diffserv codepoint may possibly be a new diffserv codepoint to
       minimize the possible confusion between using the old per hop
       behavior of the codepoint and the using of the alternate ECN
       semantics per hop behavior of the codepoint.

   2.  Section 4 of RFC 4774 [22] discusses Concern 2: "How does the
       possible presence of old routers affect the performance of the
       alternate ECN connections."  With the notion of old routers
       meaning routers that performs RFC 3168 ECN processing instead of
       PCN processing.  The easy answer is the environment using the
       alternate ECN semantics is envisioned to be within a single
       administrative domain.  With the ability to ensure that all
       routers along the path understand and agree to the use of the
       alternate ECN semantics for the traffic identified by the use of
       a diffserv codepoint.  This uses option 2 indicated in section
       4.2 of RFC 4774 [22].  But incase there is mis-configuration, the
       choice of encoding may make a difference:

       *  With encoding Option 1, the old routers will interprete:

          +  '00' encoding as Not-ECT, and will drop AM marked packets.
             The PCN edge nodes should not admit traffic that it does
             not receive, hence the PCN admission functionality should
             be OK.

          +  '01' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             The RFC 3168 ECN CE encoding have the same functionality as
             the PCN TM encoding, to reduce the offered traffic load.
             Hence the PCN termination functionality should be OK.

          +  '10' encoding as ECT(0).  The discussion for '01' above
             applies equally to this encoding.

          +  '11' encoding as CE.  The old router should use this
             encoding to reduce the offered traffic load and should not
             remark this to any other ECN encoding, the same
             functionality the PCN TM encoding requires, hence should be
             OK for PCN.

          The above discussion for Option 1 applies equally for PCN
          traffic leaked out of the PCN domain and interpreted by RFC
          3168 ECN nodes.



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       *  With encoding Option 2, the old routers will interprete:

          +  '00' encoding as Not-ECT, and will drop AfM marked packets.
             This may possibly affect the efficiency of the Affected
             Marking functionality.

          +  '01' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             The RFC 3168 ECN CE encoding have the same functionality as
             the PCN TM encoding, to reduce the offered traffic load.
             Depending on the PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the
             same '11' encoding, this may or may not affect the
             functionality of PCN.

          +  '10' encoding as ECT(0).  The discussion for '01' above
             applies equally to this encoding.

          +  '11' encoding as CE.  The old router should use this
             encoding to reduce the offered traffic load and should not
             remark this to any other ECN encoding.  Depending on the
             PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the same '11'
             encoding, this may or may not affect the functionality of
             PCN.

          The above discussion for Option 2 applies equally for PCN
          traffic leaked out of the PCN domain and interpreted by RFC
          3168 ECN nodes.

   3.  Concern 3: "How does the possible presence of old routers affect
       the coexistence of the alternate ECN traffic with competing
       traffic on the path."  Within the PCN domain, the PCN (alternate
       ECN) traffic is separated from the other traffic using diffserv.
       If by mis-configuration, an old routers that does not understand
       PCN handles PCN traffic, the PCN traffic will get the per hop
       behavior as the other traffic, hence not receiving the benefits
       of PCN at the old router, but will not affect the coexistence of
       the PCN and the other traffic.  If the old router uses RFC 3168
       ECN congestion treatment, then the discussion for Concern 2 above
       applies.

   4.  Concern 4: "How well does the alternate ECN traffic perform."
       The performance of the different proposed PCN (alternate ECN)
       metering and marking algorithms are currently under study with
       their simulation and study results described by their respective
       documents.

   The environment using the alternate ECN semantics is envisioned to be
   within a single administrative domain.  With the ability to ensure



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   that all routers along the path understand and agree to the use of
   the alternate ECN semantics for the traffic identified by the use of
   a diffserv codepoint.  This uses option 2 indicated in section 4.2 of
   RFC 4774 [22].

3.1.5.  Encoding Choice Considerations

   o  If three encoding states need to be separately represented, Option
      1 is recommended.

   o  If two encoding states need to be separately represented, for
      example the marking algorithm allows the AM and TM encoding states
      be represented using the same bit pattern, Options 2 and 3 are
      recommended.

   o  If RFC 4774 [22] concerns need to be addressed by PCN encoding,
      then Option 1 is recommended, please see section 3.1.4 for the
      detail discussion.  Options 2 and 3 may be able to address the RFC
      4774 [22] concerns, but a heavier burden is placed on the metering
      and marking algorithms to differentiate between TM and AM meaning
      of the '11' encoding when a RFC 3168 ECN router sets the '11'
      encoding.

   o  If the metering and marking algorithm requires the use of Affected
      Marking encoding state, Option 2 is recommended.  Alternatively
      one of the bit patterns of '01' or '10' may be used for the AfM
      purpose.  But using '01' or '10' bit patterns for AfM may increase
      the interference between RFC 3168 ECN and PCN encodings, please
      see section 3.1.4 for the detail discussion.

   o  If Option 1 is used and the functionality of Affected Marking
      encoding state is required, the metering and marking algorithms
      will need to provide this functionality without the use of the
      Affected Marking encoding state.

3.2.  Encoding Using DSCP Field

   In this type of encoding and transport method the congestion and
   precongestion information is encoded into the 6 DSCP bits that are
   transported in the IP header of the data packets.  Four possible
   alternatives can be distinguished, as can be seen in Figure 3, with
   details provided by draft-westberg-pcn-load-control-02.txt [4].
   Option 7 needs 2 additional DSCP values, Options 8 and 9 need three
   additional DSCP values and Option 10 needs four additional DSCP
   values.  Note that all additional and experimental DSCP values are
   representing and are associated with the same PHB.  The 1st, 2nd,
   3rd, and 4th DSCP values are representing DSCP values that are
   assigned by IANA as DSCP experimental values, see RFC 2211 [9].



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 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
| DSCP Bits || Original |Add DSCP 1 |Add DSCP 2 |Add DSCP 3 |Add DSCP 4 |
|===========++==========+===========+===========+===========+===========|
| Option 6  || Not-PCN  |    PCN    |   AM/TM   |    NA     |    NA     |
|-----------++----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| Option 7  || Not-PCN  |    PCN    |   AM/TM   |    AfM    |    NA     |
|-----------++----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| Option 8  || Not-PCN  |    PCN    |     AM    |    TM     |    NA     |
|-----------++----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
| Option 9  || Not-PCN  |    PCN    |     AM    |    TM     |    AfM    |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Notes: Not-PCN means the packet is not PCN capable.

          Figure 2: Encoding of PCN Information Using DSCP Field

3.2.1.  Benefits of Using DSCP Field

   The main benefit of using the DSCP field is that it is not affecting
   the end-to-end ECN semantics and therefore the issues and concerns
   raised in RFC 4774 [22] are not applicable for this encoding scheme.
   Another benefit is related to the fact that all 4 DSCP encoding
   options depicted in Figure 3 can support the PCN capable not
   congested (PCN) indication, the admission control (AM) and flow
   termination (TM) encoding states.  In addition Option 8 and 10 can
   support the ECMP solution.

3.2.2.  Drawbacks of Using DSCP Field

   This type of encoding needs to use per PHB, in addition to the
   original DSCP and depending on the encoding option used, one, two,
   three, or four DSCP values, respectively.  These additional DSCP
   values can be taken from the DSCP values that are not defined by
   standards action, see RFC 2211 [9].  Note that all the additional
   DSCP values are representing and are associated with one PHB.  The
   value of this DSCP/PHB can either follow a standards action or use a
   value that is applied for experimental or local use.  It is important
   to note that the number of the DSCP values used for local or
   experimental use is restricted and therefore the number of different
   PHBs supported in the PCN domain will also be restricted.

3.2.3.  Comparing DSCP Field Encoding Options

   Option 6 can support the basic encoding states, i.e,.not PCN, not
   congested PCN (PCN), and the AM/TM encoding states.  Option 7 can
   support the basic encoding states supported by Option 6, but in
   addition it can support the AfM state.  Option 8 can support the
   following basic encoding states: not PCN, not congested PCN(PCN), AM



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   and TM states.  Option 9 can support the states supported by Option
   8, but in addition it can support the AfM state.


4.  Encoding Recommendations


5.  Security Implications

   Packets from normal precedence and higher precedence sessions [24]
   aren't distinguishable by PCN Interior Nodes.  This prevents an
   attacker specifically targeting, in the data plane, higher precedence
   packets (perhaps for DoS or for eavesdropping).  However, PCN End
   Nodes can access this information to help decide whether to admit or
   terminate a flow.  The separation of network information provided by
   the Interior Nodes and the precedence information at the PCN End
   Nodes allows simpler, easier and better focused security enforcement.

   PCN End Nodes police packets to ensure a flow sticks within its
   agreed limit.  This is similar to the existing IntServ behaviour.
   Between them the PCN End Nodes must fully encircle the PCN-Region,
   otherwise packets could enter the PCN-Region without being subject to
   admission control, which would potentially destroy the QoS of
   existing flows.

   It is assumed that all the Interior Nodes and PCN End Nodes run PCN
   and trust each other (ie the PCN-enabled Internet Region is a
   controlled environment).  For instance a non-PCN router wouldn't be
   able to alert that it's suffering pre-congestion, which potentially
   would lead to too many calls being admitted (or too few being
   terminated).  Worse, a rogue router could perform attacks such as
   marking all packets so that no flows were admitted.

   So security requirements are focussed at specific parts of the PCN-
   Region:

      The PCN End Nodes become the trust points.  The degree of trust
      required depends on the kinds of decisions it has to make and the
      kinds of information it needs to make them.  For example when the
      PCN End Node needs to know the contents of the sessions for making
      the decisions, when the contents are highly classified, the
      security requirements for the PCN End Nodes involved will also
      need to be high.

      PCN-marking by the Interior Nodes along the packet forwarding path
      needs to be trusted, because the PCN End Nodes rely on this
      information.




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6.  IANA Considerations

   To be completed.


7.  Acknowledgements

   To be completed.


Appendix A.  Encoding Using ECN Field

   This section takes the approach 1 option indicated in section 2.1.1.
   Which the DSCP field only indicates the packet forwarding behavior,
   for which both PCN Capable and Non PCN Capable traffic use/share the
   same DSCP.  This approach requires the use of the Not PCN Capable
   Encoding State to be encoding using the ECN bits.  Hence this section
   describes the encoding options that uses only the ECN field (without
   the DSCP field) available in the IP header of the data packets to
   encode the PCN states.

   The use of the same DSCP for both PCN Capable and Non PCN Capable
   also opens the question of having PCN and RFC 3168 ECN traffic using
   the same DSCP.  Which increases the importance of satisfying the
   concerns indicated in RFC 4774.


 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
| ECN Bits     ||    00    |    01    |    10    |    11    ||   DSCP   |
|==============++==========+==========+==========+==========++==========|
| RFC 3168     || Not-ECT  |  ECT(1)  |  ECT(0)  |    CE    ||    NA    |
|==============++==========+==========+==========+==========++==========|
| Option 10    || Not-PCN  |    AM    |   PCN    |    TM    ||    NA    |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 11    || Not-PCN  |    PCN   |    PCN   |  AM/TM   ||    NA    |
|--------------++----------+----------+----------+----------++----------|
| Option 12    || Not-PCN  |    AfM   |    PCN   |  AM/TM   ||    NA    |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

           Figure 3: Encoding of PCN Information Using ECN Field

   In Figure 2, we listed the fundamental options when only the ECN
   field is used.  Like in Figure 1, there are variations of the theme
   provided by these options.  For example, when both "01" and "10"
   encoding are used for NPM in Option 4, they can be interpreted as
   PCN(A) and PCN(T) instead of just PCN.  Using the PCN(A) and PCN(T)
   variation provides the additional information of the ratio of packets
   AM marked to packets Not AM marked, and the ratio of packets TM



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   marked to packets Not TM marked.  Having these ratios being
   independent from one another.

   For Option 10, the use of '01' for AM and '10' for PCN can be swapped
   and provide the same functionality.  For Option 12, the use of '01'
   for AfM and '10' for PCN can also be swapped without change of
   functionality.

Appendix A.1.  Benefits of Using ECN Field

   The using of only the ECN field for encoding PCN encoding states
   allow more efficient use of the DSCP field, not requiring the
   allocation of PCN specific DSCP values.

   This approach also opens the question of possibly having both PCN and
   ECN traffic using the same DSCP.

   When the same treatment can be provided to both ECN and PCN traffic
   to achieve each of ECN and PCN purpose, then not having DiffServ as
   separation between ECN and PCN traffic may be a benefit.  Under such
   circumstances, having the same encoding between ECN and PCN may be
   desireable.  But this can only be true if the requirement set forth
   in RFC 4774 [22] for alternate ECN semantics can be satisfied.

   If the same treatment can be applied to both ECN and PCN traffic,
   then:

   o  The first issue of RFC 4774 [22]: "How routers know which ECN
      semantics to use with which packets." may be solved because there
      are no difference in the treatments of ECN and PCN packets, hence
      they can use the same semanics.

   o  The second and third issues of RFC 4774 [22]: "How does the
      possible presence of old routers affect the performance of the
      alternate ECN connections." and "How does the possible presence of
      old routers affect the coexistence of the alternate ECN traffic
      with competing traffic on the path." are also solved because there
      are no difference in the treatment of ECN and PCN packets.

   o  The forth issue of RFC 4774 [22]: "How well does the alternate ECN
      traffic perform." are dependent on the algorithm used, and should
      be provided by the respective algorithm document, and not in the
      scope of this document.








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Appendix A.2.  Drawbacks of Using ECN Field

   Notice this group of encoding options does not use DiffServ code
   points for PCN encoding.  With this group of encoding options, the
   required states of "PCN Capable Transport"/"None PCN Capable
   Transport" must be encoded using the ECN field.  Leaving less
   encoding real estate to carry the remaining required PCN encoding
   states.  Another drawback is without the protection/separation
   capability provided by DiffServ, it is typically harder to satisfy
   the requirement set forth in RFC 4774 [22] for alternate ECN
   semantics.

Appendix A.3.  Concerns on Alternate Semantics for the ECN Field

   Section 2 of RFC 4774 [22] raised couple of concerns for usage of
   alternate semantics for the ECN field.  We try to address each of the
   concerns in this section.

   1.  Section 3.1 of RFC 4774 [22] discusses Concern 1: "How routers
       know which ECN semantics to use with which packets."  When this
       group of PCN encodings are used without the use of DSCP, routers
       can not distinguished PCN encoded packets from RFC 3168 ECN
       encoded packets.  Hence there needs to be some kind of
       differentiation between PCN and RFC 3168 ECN packets, may be
       using PCN for real-time traffic types (with specific DSCP) and
       ECN for elastic traffic (with specific DSCP).  And only
       distinguishing PCN Capable and Non-PCN Capable packets in real-
       time traffic.  Only distinguishing ECT and Not-ECT packets in
       elastic traffic.  But not having PCN and ECN traffic together.

   2.  Section 4 of RFC 4774 [22] discusses Concern 2: "How does the
       possible presence of old routers affect the performance of the
       alternate ECN connections."  With the notion of old routers
       meaning routers that performs RFC 3168 ECN processing instead of
       PCN processing, or drop packets instead of encoding the
       congestion information.  The easy answer is the environment using
       the alternate ECN semantics is envisioned to be within a single
       administrative domain.  With the ability to ensure that all
       routers along the path understand and agree to the use of the
       alternate ECN semantics for the traffic identified to be PCN
       Capable.  This uses option 2 indicated in section 4.2 of RFC 4774
       [22].  But incase there is mis-configuration, the choice of
       encoding may make a difference:

       *  With encoding Option 10, the old routers will interprete:

          +  '00' encoding as Not-ECT, and will drop Not-PCN marked
             packets when congestion is detected.  With '00' the



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             encoding for Not-PCN, requiring the same functionality as
             Not-ECT, the presence of old routers will not affect the
             performance of PCN functionality.

          +  '01' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             For Option 3, the old router can possibly remark AM to TM.
             This puts a burden on the metering and marking algorithms
             to treat TM encoded packets to indicate stop admission.
             This may or may not be acceptable, depending on the
             algorithm.

          +  '10' encoding as ECT(0), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             The RFC 3168 ECN CE encoding have the same functionality as
             the PCN TM encoding, to reduce the offered traffic load.
             Hence the PCN termination functionality should be OK.

          +  '11' encoding as CE.  The old router should use this
             encoding to reduce the offered traffic load and should not
             remark this to any other ECN encoding, the same
             functionality the PCN TM encoding requires, hence should be
             OK for PCN.

          The above discussion for Option 10 applies equally for PCN
          traffic leaked out of the PCN domain and interpreted by RFC
          3168 ECN nodes.

       *  With encoding Option 11, the old routers will interprete:

          +  '00' encoding as Not-ECT, and will drop Not-PCN marked
             packets when congestion is detected.  With '00' the
             encoding for Not-PCN, requiring the same functionality as
             Not-ECT, the presence of old routers will not affect the
             performance of PCN functionality.

          +  '01' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             The RFC 3168 ECN CE encoding have the same functionality as
             the PCN TM encoding, to reduce the offered traffic load.
             Depending on the PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the
             same '11' encoding, this may or may not affect the
             functionality of PCN.

          +  '10' encoding as ECT(0).  The discussion for '01' above
             applies equally to this encoding.





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          +  '11' encoding as CE.  The old router should use this
             encoding to reduce the offered traffic load and should not
             remark this to any other ECN encoding.  Depending on the
             PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the same '11'
             encoding, this may or may not affect the functionality of
             PCN.

          The above discussion for Option 11 applies equally for PCN
          traffic leaked out of the PCN domain and interpreted by RFC
          3168 ECN nodes.

       *  With encoding Option 12, the old routers will interprete:

          +  '00' encoding as Not-ECT, and will drop Not-PCN marked
             packets when congestion is detected.  With '00' the
             encoding for Not-PCN, requiring the same functionality as
             Not-ECT, the presence of old routers will not affect the
             performance of PCN functionality.

          +  '01' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             For Option 5, the old router can possibly remark AfM to TM.
             This may or may not be acceptable, depending on the
             algorithm's Affected Marking functionality.

          +  '10' encoding as ECT(1), which indicates ECN capable and
             can be remarked to '11' to indicate congestion experienced.
             The RFC 3168 ECN CE encoding have the same functionality as
             the PCN TM encoding, to reduce the offered traffic load.
             Depending on the PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the
             same '11' encoding, this may or may not affect the
             functionality of PCN.

          +  '11' encoding as CE.  The old router should use this
             encoding to reduce the offered traffic load and should not
             remark this to any other ECN encoding.  Depending on the
             PCN algorithm on how AM and TM share the same '11'
             encoding, this may or may not affect the functionality of
             PCN.

          The above discussion for Option 12 applies equally for PCN
          traffic leaked out of the PCN domain and interpreted by RFC
          3168 ECN nodes.

   3.  Concern 3: "How does the possible presence of old routers affect
       the coexistence of the alternate ECN traffic with competing
       traffic on the path."  If RFC 3168 ECN and PCN traffic are to be
       treated within a single DiffServ PHB, because with these encoding



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       there is no way to differentiate between the ECN packets from the
       PCN traffic, the metering and marking algorithm used must be
       totally friendly between ECN and PCN traffic, else they will
       affect each other in possibly non-acceptable ways.  These
       encoding will work OK with traffic besides ECN because of the use
       of 'Not-PCN' encoding.

   4.  Concern 4: "How well does the alternate ECN traffic perform."
       The performance of the different proposed PCN (alternate ECN)
       metering and marking algorithms are currently under study with
       their simulation and study results described by their respective
       documents.

Appendix A.4.  Encoding Choice Considerations

   o  If three encoding states need to be separately represented, Option
      10 is recommended.

   o  If the marking algorithm allows the AM and TM encoding states be
      represented using the same bit pattern, Option 11 is recommended.

   o  If the marking algorithm requires the use of Affected Marking
      encoding state, Option 12 is recommended.  For Option 12,
      alternative NPM bit patterns ('01' or '10') may be used for the
      AfM purpose.


Appendix B.  Out-of-Band Channel as Encoding Transport

   In this type of encoding and transport method the congestion and
   precongestion information can be encoded using the IPFIX protocol RFC
   3955 [18], that is normally used to carry flow-based IP traffic
   measurements from an observation point to a collecting point.  Note
   that this encoding scheme is denoted in this document as "IPFIX
   channel".  An observation point is a location in a network where IP
   packets can be observed and measured.  A collecting point can be a
   process or a node that receives flow records from one or more
   observation points.  In the PCN case, each PCN-interior-node will be
   an IPFIX observation point and the PCN-egress-node will be the IPFIX
   collecting point.

   The PCN-interior-node will support the metering process and the flow
   records.  Note that in this case each flow record can be associated
   with the record of the congestion and pre-congestion metering
   information associated with each PHB.  The PCN-egress-node will then
   support the IPFIX collecting process, which will receive flow records
   from one or more congested and pre-congested PCN-interior-nodes.
   Using this encoding method the encoding modes/states can be



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   aggregated and transported to the egress node by using the flow
   records at regular intervals or at the moment that a congestion and
   pre-congestion situation occurs.  The used transport channel in this
   case is not the data path but a signaling protocol.

Appendix B.1.  Benefits of Using Out-Of-Band Channel

   This encoding scheme does not use the data path for encoding and
   transport, but it is able to transport the congestion and pre-
   congestion information associated with the encoding states by using a
   separate signaling channel.  Another benefit of using this encoding
   scheme is that it is not affecting the end-to-end ECN semantics and
   therefore the issues and concerns raised in RFC 4774 are not
   applicable for this encoding scheme.

Appendix B.2.  Drawbacks of Using Out-Of-Band Channel

   The "IPFIX channel" encoding mode needs a separate signaling channel
   for the transport of the congestion and precongestion information
   from the PCN-interior-nodes towards the PCN-egress-node.  The
   requirement of using an additional channel increases the complexity
   and influences negatively the performance of the PCN-interior-nodes
   since each PCN-interior-node needs to support in addition to the data
   path a separate channel.


Appendix C.  Current PCN Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms

   This appendix indicates the different available PCN based mechanisms
   that can be used for congestion and pre-congestion detection and
   marking used at interior nodes.  The requirements and characteristics
   of such algorithms may influence the encoding and transport of the
   PCN encoding states.

Appendix C.1.  Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in CL-PHB

   Please see draft-briscoe-tsvwg-cl-phb-03.txt [5] for details on the
   Controlled-Load PHB Algorithm.

Appendix C.2.  Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in Three
               State Marking

   Please see draft-babiarz-pcn-3sm-01.txt [2] for details on the Three
   State Marking Algorithm.







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Appendix C.3.  Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in Single
               Marking

   Please see draft-charny-pcn-single-marking-03.txt [3] for details on
   the Single Marking Algorithm.

Appendix C.4.  Detection, Marking and Transport Mechanisms in Load
               Control Marking

   Please see draft-westberg-pcn-load-control-02.txt [4] for details on
   the Load Control Algorithm.


8.  Informative References

   [1]   Eardley, P., "Pre-Congestion Notification Architecture",
         draft-ietf-pcn-architecture-03 (work in progress),
         February 2008.

   [2]   Babiarz, J., Liu, X., Chan, K., and M. Menth, "Three State PCN
         Marking", draft-babiarz-pcn-3sm-01 (work in progress),
         November 2007.

   [3]   Charny, A., Zhang, X., Faucheur, F., and V. Liatsos, "Pre-
         Congestion Notification Using Single Marking for Admission and
         Termination", draft-charny-pcn-single-marking-03 (work in
         progress), November 2007.

   [4]   Westberg, L., "LC-PCN: The Load Control PCN Solution",
         draft-westberg-pcn-load-control-02 (work in progress),
         November 2007.

   [5]   Briscoe, B., "Pre-Congestion Notification marking",
         draft-briscoe-tsvwg-cl-phb-03 (work in progress), October 2006.

   [6]   Baker, F., Polk, J., and M. Dolly, "DSCPs for Capacity-Admitted
         Traffic", draft-ietf-tsvwg-admitted-realtime-dscp-03 (work in
         progress), December 2007.

   [7]   Baker, F. and J. Polk, "MLEF Without Capacity Admission Does
         Not Satisfy MLPP Requirements",
         draft-ietf-tsvwg-mlef-concerns-00 (work in progress),
         February 2005.

   [8]   Braden, B., Clark, D., and S. Shenker, "Integrated Services in
         the Internet Architecture: an Overview", RFC 1633, June 1994.

   [9]   Wroclawski, J., "Specification of the Controlled-Load Network



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         Element Service", RFC 2211, September 1997.

   [10]  Braden, B., Clark, D., Crowcroft, J., Davie, B., Deering, S.,
         Estrin, D., Floyd, S., Jacobson, V., Minshall, G., Partridge,
         C., Peterson, L., Ramakrishnan, K., Shenker, S., Wroclawski,
         J., and L. Zhang, "Recommendations on Queue Management and
         Congestion Avoidance in the Internet", RFC 2309, April 1998.

   [11]  Nichols, K., Blake, S., Baker, F., and D. Black, "Definition of
         the Differentiated Services Field (DS Field) in the IPv4 and
         IPv6 Headers", RFC 2474, December 1998.

   [12]  Blake, S., Black, D., Carlson, M., Davies, E., Wang, Z., and W.
         Weiss, "An Architecture for Differentiated Services", RFC 2475,
         December 1998.

   [13]  Heinanen, J., Baker, F., Weiss, W., and J. Wroclawski, "Assured
         Forwarding PHB Group", RFC 2597, June 1999.

   [14]  Awduche, D., Malcolm, J., Agogbua, J., O'Dell, M., and J.
         McManus, "Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over MPLS",
         RFC 2702, September 1999.

   [15]  Bernet, Y., Ford, P., Yavatkar, R., Baker, F., Zhang, L.,
         Speer, M., Braden, R., Davie, B., Wroclawski, J., and E.
         Felstaine, "A Framework for Integrated Services Operation over
         Diffserv Networks", RFC 2998, November 2000.

   [16]  Ramakrishnan, K., Floyd, S., and D. Black, "The Addition of
         Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to IP", RFC 3168,
         September 2001.

   [17]  Davie, B., Charny, A., Bennet, J., Benson, K., Le Boudec, J.,
         Courtney, W., Davari, S., Firoiu, V., and D. Stiliadis, "An
         Expedited Forwarding PHB (Per-Hop Behavior)", RFC 3246,
         March 2002.

   [18]  Charny, A., Bennet, J., Benson, K., Boudec, J., Chiu, A.,
         Courtney, W., Davari, S., Firoiu, V., Kalmanek, C., and K.
         Ramakrishnan, "Supplemental Information for the New Definition
         of the EF PHB (Expedited Forwarding Per-Hop Behavior)",
         RFC 3247, March 2002.

   [19]  Spring, N., Wetherall, D., and D. Ely, "Robust Explicit
         Congestion Notification (ECN) Signaling with Nonces", RFC 3540,
         June 2003.

   [20]  Leinen, S., "Evaluation of Candidate Protocols for IP Flow



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         Information Export (IPFIX)", RFC 3955, October 2004.

   [21]  Babiarz, J., Chan, K., and F. Baker, "Configuration Guidelines
         for DiffServ Service Classes", RFC 4594, August 2006.

   [22]  Floyd, S., "Specifying Alternate Semantics for the Explicit
         Congestion Notification (ECN) Field", BCP 124, RFC 4774,
         November 2006.

   [23]  "Supporting Real-Time Applications in an Integrated Services
         Packet Network: Architecture and Mechanisms", Proceedings of
         SIGCOMM '92 at Baltimore MD, August 1992.

   [24]  "Multilevel Precedence and Pre-emption Service (MLPP)", ITU-T
         Recommendation I.255.3, 1990.

   [25]  "Economics and Scalability of QoS Solutions", BT Technology
         Journal Vol 23 No 2, April 2005.


Authors' Addresses

   Kwok Ho Chan
   Nortel
   600 Technology Park Drive
   Billerica, MA  01821
   USA

   Email: khchan@nortel.com


   Toby Moncaster
   BT Research
   B54/70, Sirius House Adastral Park Martlesham Heath
   Ipswich, Suffolk  IP5 3RE
   United Kingdom

   Email: toby.moncaster@bt.com













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   Michael Menth
   University of Wurzburg
   Institute of Computer Science
   Room B206
   Am Hubland, Wuerzburg  D-97074
   Germany

   Email: menth@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de


   Georgios Karagiannis
   University of Twente
   P.O. Box 217
   7500 AE Enschede,
   The Netherlands

   Email: g.karagiannis@ewi.utwente.nl


   Philip Eardley
   BT Research
   B54/77, Sirius House Adastral Park Martlesham Heath
   Ipswich, Suffolk  IP5 3RE
   United Kingdom

   Email: philip.eardley@bt.com


   Bob Briscoe
   BT Research
   B54/77, Sirius House Adastral Park Martlesham Heath
   Ipswich, Suffolk  IP5 3RE
   United Kingdom

   Email: bob.briscoe@bt.com
















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