Network Working Group                                      J.-L. Le Roux
Internet Draft                                                  T. Morin
Category: Informational                                   France Telecom
Expires: August 2006
                                                         Vincent Parfait
                                                                  Equant

                                                             Luyuan Fang
                                                                    AT&T

                                                                Lei Wang
                                                                 Telenor

                                                             Yuji Kamite
                                                      NTT Communications

                                                            Shane Amante
                                                  Level 3 Communications

                                                           February 2006


            Requirements for point-to-multipoint extensions to
                     the Label Distribution Protocol

                     draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt


Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
   have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes
   aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
   groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.



Le Roux et al.    Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP               [Page 1]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006



Abstract

   This document lists a set of functional requirements for Label
   Distribution Protocol (LDP) extensions for setting up point-to-
   multipoint (P2MP) Label Switched Paths (LSP), in order to deliver
   point-to-multipoint applications over a Multi Protocol Label
   Switching (MPLS) infrastructure. It is intended that solutions that
   specify LDP procedures for setting up P2MP LSP satisfy these
   requirements.

Conventions used in this document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC-2119.

Table of Contents

   1.      Terminology.................................................3
   2.      Introduction................................................4
   3.      Problem Statement and Requirements Overview.................5
   3.1.    Problem Statement...........................................5
   3.2.    Requirements overview.......................................5
   4.      Application scenario........................................6
   5.      Detailed Requirements.......................................7
   5.1.    P2MP LSPs...................................................7
   5.2.    P2MP LSP FEC................................................7
   5.3.    P2MP LDP routing............................................8
   5.4.    Setting up, tearing down and modifying P2MP LSPs............8
   5.5.    Label Advertisement.........................................8
   5.6.    Data Duplication............................................8
   5.7.    Avoiding loops..............................................9
   5.8.    P2MP LSP Re-routing.........................................9
   5.8.1.  Rerouting upon Network Failure..............................9
   5.8.2.  Rerouting on a Better Path..................................9
   5.8.3.  Rerouting upon Planned Maintenance..........................9
   5.9.    Support for LAN interfaces.................................10
   5.10.   Support for encapsulation in P2P and P2MP TE tunnels.......10
   5.11.   Label spaces...............................................10
   5.12.   IPv4/IPv6 support..........................................10
   5.13.   Multi-Area LSPs............................................11
   5.14.   OAM........................................................11
   5.15.   Graceful Restart and Fault Recovery........................11
   5.16.   Robustness.................................................11
   5.17.   Scalability................................................11
   5.17.1. Orders of magnitude of the expected numbers of P2MP
           LSPs in operational networks...............................12
   5.18.   Backward Compatibility.....................................12
   6.      Shared Trees...............................................12
   6.1.    MP2MP LSPs.................................................13
   7.      Evaluation criteria........................................13

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 2]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


   7.1.    Performances...............................................13
   7.2.    Complexity and Risks.......................................13
   8.      Security Considerations....................................13
   9.      Acknowledgments............................................14
   10.     References.................................................14
   11.     Authors' Addresses:........................................15
   12.     Intellectual Property Statement............................16


1. Terminology

      LSR: Label Switching Router

      LSP: MPLS Label Switched Path

      Ingress LSR: Router acting as a sender of an LSP

      Egress LSR: Router acting as a receiver of an LSP

      P2P LSP: A LSP that has one unique Ingress LSR and one unique
               Egress LSR

      MP2P LSP: A LSP that has one or more Ingress LSRs and one unique
                Egress LSR

      P2MP LSP: A LSP that has one unique Ingress LSR and one or more
                Egress LSRs

      Leaf LSR: Egress LSR of a P2MP LSP

      Transit LSR: A LSR of a P2MP LSP that has one or more downstream
                   LSRs

      Branch LSR: A LSR of a P2MP LSP that has more than one downstream
                  LSR

      Bud LSR: A LSR of a P2MP LSP that is an egress but also has one or
               more directly connected downstream LSRs















Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 3]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006



2. Introduction

   Many operators have deployed LDP [LDP] for setting up point-to-point
   (P2P) and multipoint-to-point (MP2P) LSPs, in order to offer point-to
   -point services in MPLS backbones.

   There are emerging requirements for supporting delivery of point-to-
   multipoint applications in MPLS backbones, such as those defined in
   [L3VPN-MCAST-REQ] and [L2VPN-MCAST-REQ].

   This requires mechanisms for setting up point-to-multipoint LSPs
   (P2MP LSP), i.e. LSPs with one Ingress LSR, a set of Egress LSRs, and
   with MPLS traffic replication at some Branch LSRs.

   RSVP-TE extensions for setting up Point-To-Multipoint Traffic
   Engineered LSPs (P2MP TE LSPs), have been defined in [P2MP-TE-RSVP].
   They meet requirements expressed in [P2MP-TE-REQ]. This approach is
   useful, in network environments where P2MP Traffic Engineering
   capabilities are needed (Optimization, QoS, Fast recovery).

   However for operators who want to support point-to-multipoint traffic
   delivery on an MPLS backbone, without Traffic Engineering needs, and
   have already deployed LDP for P2P traffic, an interesting and useful
   approach would be to rely on LDP extensions in order to setup point-
   to-multipoint (P2MP) LSPs. This would bring consistency with P2P MPLS
   applications and would ease the delivery of point-to-multipoint
   applications in an MPLS backbone.

   This document focuses on the LDP approach for setting up P2MP LSPs.
   It lists a detailed set of requirements for P2MP extensions to LDP,
   so as to deliver P2MP traffic over a LDP-enabled MPLS infrastructure.
   These requirements should be used as guidelines when specifying LDP
   extensions. It is intended that solutions that specify LDP procedures
   for P2MP LSP setup, satisfy these requirements.

   Note that generic requirements for P2MP extensions to MPLS are out of
   the scope of this document. Rather this document describes solution
   specific requirements related to LDP extensions in order to set up
   P2MP LSPs.

   Note also that other mechanisms could be used for setting up P2MP
   LSPs, such as for instance PIM extensions, but these are out of the
   scope of this document. The objective is not to compare these
   mechanisms but rather to focus on the requirements for an LDP
   extension approach.

   The document is structured as follows:
        - Section 3 points out the problem statement.
        - Section 4 illustrates an application scenario.
        - Section 5 addresses detailed requirements.
        - Section 6 finally discusses group communication.

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 4]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006



3. Problem Statement and Requirements Overview

3.1. Problem Statement

   Many operators have deployed LDP [LDP] for setting up P2P and MP2P
   MPLS LSPs as PE-to-PE tunnels so as to carry point-to-point traffic
   essentially in Layer 3 and Layer 2 VPN networks.
   There are emerging requirements for supporting multicast traffic
   delivery within these VPN infrastructures ([L3VPN-MCAST-REQ] and
   [L2VPN-MCAST-REQ]).
   For various reasons, including consistency with P2P applications, and
   taking full advantages of MPLS network infrastructure, it would be
   highly desirable to use MPLS LSPs for the delivery of multicast
   traffic.
   This could be implemented by setting up a group of P2P or MP2P LSPs,
   but such an approach may be sub-optimal since it would result in data
   replication at the ingress LSR, and bandwidth inefficiency (duplicate
   data traffic within the network).
   Hence new mechanisms are required that would allow traffic from an
   Ingress LSR to be efficiently delivered to a number of Egress LSRs in
   an MPLS backbone, avoiding duplicate copies of a packet on a given
   link.

   Such efficient traffic delivery requires setting up P2MP LSPs. A P2MP
   LSPs is an LSP starting at an Ingress LSR, and ending on a set of one
   or more Egress LSRs. Traffic sent by the Ingress LSR is replicated on
   one or more Branch LSRs down to Egress LSRs.

   RSVP-TE extensions for setting up P2MP TE LSPs, which meet
   requirements expressed in [P2MP-TE-REQ], have been defined in [P2MP-
   TE-RSVP]. This approach is useful, in network environments where
   Traffic Engineering capabilities are required.
   However, for operators that deployed LDP for setting up PE-to-PE
   unicast MPLS LSPs, and without the need of traffic engineering, an
   interesting approach would be using LDP extensions for setting up
   P2MP LSPs.

   The following gives a set of guidelines that a specification of LDP
   extensions for setting up P2MP LSPs should follow.

3.2. Requirements overview

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support setting up P2MP LSPs, i.e. LSPs
   with one Ingress LSR and one or more egress LSRs, with traffic
   replication at some Branch LSRs.

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST allow the arbitrary addition or removal
   of leaves associated with a P2MP LSP.

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST interoperate seamlessly with existing P2P
   and MP2P LDP mechanisms.

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 5]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


   It is of paramount importance that the P2MP LDP mechanism MUST NOT
   impede the operation of existing P2P/MP2P LSPs.

   Note that the P2MP LDP mechanism MAY also allow setting up
   multipoint-to-multipoint (MP2MP) LSPs connecting a group of Leaf LSRs
   acting indifferently as Ingress LSR or Egress LSR. This may allow
   reducing the amount of LDP state to be maintained by a LSR. Detailed
   requirements for MP2MP LSPs are left for further study.

4. Application scenario

   Figure 1 below illustrates an LDP enabled MPLS provider network, used
   to carry both unicast and multicast traffic of VPN customers
   following for instance the architecture defined in [2547-MCAST] for
   BGP/MPLS VPNs, or the one defined in [VPLS-MCAST].

   MP2P LDP LSPs are setup between PE routers to carry unicast VPN
   traffic.

   A set of P2MP LDP LSPs are setup between PE routers acting as Ingress
   LSRs and PE routers acting as Egress LSRs, so as to support multicast
   VPN traffic delivery within the MPLS backbone.

   For instance, a P2MP LDP LSP is setup between Ingress LSR PE1 and
   Egress LSRs PE2, PE3, and PE4. It is used to transport multicast
   traffic from PE1 to PE2, PE3 and PE4. P1 is a Branch LSR, it
   replicates MPLS traffic sent by PE1 to P2, P3 and PE2. P2 and P3 are
   non-branch transit LSRs, they forward MPLS traffic sent by P1 to PE3
   and PE4 respectively.


                                 PE1
                                 *|                *** P2MP LDP LSP
                                 *| ****
                                 P1-----PE2
                                */ \*
                               */   \*
                          *****/     \* ****
                       PE3----P2      P3----PE4
                              |       |
                              |       |
                              |       |
                             PE5     PE6

   Figure 1: P2MP LSP from PE1 to PE2, PE3, PE4.

   If later there are new receivers attached to PE5 and PE6, then PE5
   and PE6 join the P2MP LDP LSP. P2 and P3 become Branch LSRs and
   replicate traffic received from P1, to PE3 and PE5, and to PE4 and
   PE6 respectively (see figure 2 below).



Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 6]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006






                                 PE1
                                 *|               *** P2MP LDP LSP
                                 *| ****
                                 P1-----PE2
                                */ \*
                               */   \*
                          *****/     \*  ***
                       PE3----P2      P3----PE4
                             *|       |*
                             *|       |*
                             *|       |*
                             PE5     PE6

   Figure 2: Attachment of PE5 and PE6.

5. Detailed Requirements

5.1. P2MP LSPs

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support setting up P2MP LSPs.
   Data plane aspects related to P2MP LSPs are those already defined in
   [P2MP-TE-REQ]. That is, a P2MP LSP has one Ingress LSR and one or
   more Egress LSRs. Traffic sent by the Ingress LSR is received by all
   Egress LSRs. The specific aspects related to P2MP LSPs is the action
   required at a Branch LSR, where data replication occurs.
   Incoming labelled data is appropriately replicated to several
   outgoing interfaces which may use different labels. Only one copy of
   a packet MUST be sent on a given link of a P2MP LSP.

   A P2MP LSP MUST be identified by a constant and unique identifier
   within the whole LDP domain, whatever the number of leaves, which
   may vary dynamically.
   This identifier will be used so as to add/remove leaves to/from the
   P2MP tree.

5.2. P2MP LSP FEC

   As with P2P MPLS technology [LDP], traffic MUST be classified into a
   FEC in this P2MP extension. All packets which belong to a particular
   P2MP FEC and which travel from a particular node MUST use the same
   P2MP LSP.

   As such, a solution MUST specify a FEC that is suitable for P2MP
   forwarding. Such P2MP FEC MUST be distinguished clearly from the
   exiting P2P FEC.




Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 7]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


5.3. P2MP LDP routing

   As with P2P and MP2P LDP LSPs, the P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support
   hop-by-hop LSP routing. P2MP LDP-based routing SHOULD rely upon the
   information maintained in LSR Routing Information Bases (RIB).

   It is RECOMMENDED that the P2MP LSP routing rely upon a shortest path
   to the Ingress LSR so as to setup an MPLS shortest path tree.

5.4. Setting up, tearing down and modifying P2MP LSPs

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support the establishment, maintenance
   and teardown of P2MP LSPs in a scalable manner. This MUST include
   both the existence of a large amount of P2MP LSPs within a single
   network and a large amount of leaf LSRs for a single P2MP LSP.

   In order to scale well with a large number of leaves it is
   RECOMMENDED to follow a leaf-initiated P2MP LSP setup approach. For
   that purpose, leaves will have to be aware of the P2MP LSP
   identifier. The ways a Leaf LSR discovers P2MP LSPs identifiers rely
   on the applications that will use P2MP LSPs, and are out of the scope
   of this document.

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST allow the dynamic addition and removal of
   leaves to and from a P2MP LSP. It is RECOMMENDED that these
   operations be leaf-initiated.
   It is RECOMMENDED that these operations do not cause any additional
   processing except on the path from the added/removed Leaf LSR to
   the Branch LSR.

5.5. Label Advertisement

   The P2MP LDP mechanism SHOULD support downstream unsolicited label
   advertisement mode. This is well suited to a leaf-initiated approach
   and is consistent with P2P/MP2P LDP operations.

5.6. Data Duplication

   Data duplication refers to the receipt of multiple copies of a packet
   by any leaf. Although this may be a marginal situation, it may also
   be detrimental for certain applications. Hence, data duplication
   SHOULD be avoided as much as possible, and limited to (hopefully
   rare) transitory conditions.

   Note, in particular, that data duplication might occur if P2MP LSP
   rerouting is being performed (See also section 5.8).







Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 8]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


5.7. Avoiding loops

   The P2MP LDP mechanism SHOULD have a mechanism to avoid routing loops
   even during transient events.

   Furthermore, the P2MP LDP mechanism MUST avoid routing loops that may
   trigger unexpected non-localized exponential growth of traffic. Note
   that any loop-avoidance mechanism MUST respect scalability
   requirements.

5.8. P2MP LSP Re-routing

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support the rerouting of a P2MP LSP in
   the following cases:
        - Network failure (link or node)
        - A better path exists (e.g. new link, metric change)
        - Planned maintenance

   Given that P2MP LDP routing must rely on the RIB, the achievement of
   the following requirements also implies the underlying routing
   protocols (IGP, etc.).

5.8.1. Rerouting upon Network Failure

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST allow for rerouting of a P2MP LSP in case
   of link or node failure(s). The rerouting time SHOULD be as much as
   possible minimized so as to reduce traffic disruption.

   A mechanism MUST be defined to prevent constant P2MP LSP teardown and
   rebuild which may be caused by the instability of a specific
   link/node in the network.

5.8.2. Rerouting on a Better Path

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST allow for rerouting of a P2MP LSP in case
   a better path is created in the network, for instance as a result of
   a metric change, or the addition of links or nodes.
   Traffic disruption SHOULD be as much as possible minimized during
   such rerouting. It SHOULD be feasible to avoid packet loss during
   such rerouting.
   Unnecessary data duplication during such rerouting SHOULD also be as
   much as possible minimized.

   Note that there is likely to be a tension between packet loss
   minimization and packet duplication minimization objectives.

5.8.3. Rerouting upon Planned Maintenance

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support planned maintenance operations.
   It MUST be possible to reroute a P2MP LSP before a link/node is
   deactivated for maintenance purposes. Traffic disruption SHOULD be as


Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP           [Page 9]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


   much as possible minimized during such rerouting. It SHOULD be
   feasible to avoid packet loss during such rerouting.
   Unnecessary traffic duplication during such rerouting SHOULD also be
   as much as possible minimized.

   Note that there is likely to be a tension between packet loss
   minimization and packet duplication minimization objectives.

5.9. Support for LAN interfaces

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST provide a way for a Branch LSR to send a
   single copy of the data onto an Ethernet LAN interface and reach
   multiple adjacent downstream nodes. This requires that the same label
   be negotiated will all downstream LSRs for the LSP.

   When there are several candidate upstream LSRs on a LAN interface,
   the P2MP LDP mechanism MUST provide a way for all downstream LSRs of
   a given P2MP LSP to select the same upstream LSR, so as to avoid
   traffic replication.
   In addition, the P2MP LDP mechanism SHOULD allow for an efficient
   balancing of a set of P2MP LSPs among a set of candidate upstream
   LSRs on a LAN interface.

5.10. Support for encapsulation in P2P and P2MP TE tunnels

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support nesting P2MP LSPs into P2P and
   P2MP TE tunnels.
   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST provide a way for a Branch LSR of a P2MP
   LSP, which is also a Head End LSR of a P2MP TE tunnel, to send a
   single copy of the data onto the tunnel and reach all downstream LSRs
   on the P2MP LSP, which are also Egress LSRs of the tunnel. As with
   LAN interfaces, this requires that the same LDP label be negotiated
   with all downstream LSRs for the P2MP LDP LSP.

5.11. Label spaces

   Labels for P2MP LSPs and P2P/MP2P LSPs MAY be assigned from shared or
   dedicated label spaces.

   Note that dedicated label spaces will require the establishment of
   separate P2MP LDP sessions.

5.12. IPv4/IPv6 support

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST be equally applicable to IPv4 and IPv6
   traffic. Likewise, it SHOULD be possible to convey both kinds of
   traffic in a given P2MP LSP facility.

   Also the P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support the establishment of LDP
   sessions over both IPv4 and IPv6 control planes.



Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 10]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


5.13. Multi-Area LSPs

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MUST support the establishment of multi-area
   P2MP LSPs, i.e. LSPs whose leaves do not all reside in the same IGP
   area as the Ingress LSR. This SHOULD be possible without requiring
   the advertisement of Ingress LSRs' addresses across IGP areas.

5.14. OAM

   LDP management tools ([LDP-MIB], etc.) MUST be enhanced to support
   P2MP LDP extensions. This may yield a new MIB module, which may
   possibly be inherited from the LDP MIB.

   In order to facilitate correct management, P2MP LDP LSPs MUST have
   unique identifiers, otherwise it is impossible to determine which LSP
   is being managed.

   Built-in diagnostic tools MUST be defined to check the connectivity,
   trace the path and ensure fast detection of data plane failures on
   P2MP LDP LSPs.

   Further and precise requirements and mechanisms for P2MP MPLS OAM
   purpose are out of the scope of this document and are addressed in
   [P2MP-OAM-REQ].

5.15. Graceful Restart and Fault Recovery

   LDP Graceful Restart mechanisms [LDP-GR] and Fault Recovery [LDP-FT]
   mechanisms SHOULD be enhanced to support P2MP LDP LSPs.

5.16. Robustness

   A solution SHOULD avoid whatever single points of failures or propose
   some technical solutions for a failover mechanism.

5.17. Scalability

   Scalability is a key requirement for the P2MP LDP mechanism.
   It MUST be designed to scale well with an increase in the number of
   any of the following:
      - number of Leaf LSRs per P2MP LSP
      - number of Downstream LSRs per Branch LSR
      - number of P2MP LSPs per LSR

   In order to scale well with an increase in the number of leaves, it
   is RECOMMENDED that the size of a P2MP LSP state on a LSR, for one
   particular LSP, depend only on the number of adjacent LSRs on the
   LSP.





Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 11]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


5.17.1. Orders of magnitude of the expected numbers of P2MP LSPs in
       operational networks

   Typical orders of magnitude that we expect should be supported are:
   - tens of thousands of P2MP trees spread out across core network
      routers
   - hundreds, or a few thousands, of leaves per tree

   See also section 4.2 of [L3VPN-MCAST-REQ].

5.18. Backward Compatibility

   In order to allow for a smooth migration, the P2MP LDP mechanism
   SHOULD offer as much backward compatibility as possible. In
   particular, the solution SHOULD allow the setup of a P2MP LSP along
   non Branch Transit LSRs that do not support P2MP LDP extensions.

   Also, the P2MP LDP solution MUST interoperate seamlessly with current
   LDP mechanisms and inherit its capability sets from [LDP]. The P2MP
   LDP solution MUST not impede the operation of P2P/MP2P LSPs. A P2MP
   LDP solution MUST be designed in such a way that it allows P2P/MP2P
   and P2MP LSPs to be signalled on the same interface.

6. Shared Trees

   For traffic delivery between a group of N Leaf LSRs which are acting
   indifferently as Ingress or Egress LSRs, it may be useful to
   setup a shared tree connecting all these LSRs, instead of having N
   P2MP LSPs. This would reduce the amount of control and forwarding
   state that has to be maintained on a given LSR.

   There are actually two main options for supporting such shared trees:

        - This could rely on the applications protocols that use LDP
         LSPs. A shared tree could consist of the combination of a
         MP2P LDP LSP from Leafs LSRs to a given root node, with a P2MP
         LSP from this root to all Leaf LSRs.
         For instance with Multicast L3 VPN applications, it would be
         possible to build a shared tree by combining:
              - a MP2P unicast LDP LSP, from each PE of the group to a
                particular root PE acting as tree root,
              - with a P2MP LDP LSP from the root PE to all PEs of the
                Group (see also [2547-MCAST]).

        - Or this could rely on a specific LDP mechanism allowing to
          setup multipoint-to-multipoint MPLS LSPs (MP2MP LSPs).

   The former approach (Combination of MP2P and P2MP LSPs at the
   application level) is out of the scope of this document while the
   latter (MP2MP LSPs) belong to the scope of this document.
   Requirements for the set up of MP2MP LSPs are listed below.


Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 12]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


6.1. MP2MP LSPs

   *Editorial note: There is currently no clear analysis of the gain of
   the MP2MP MPLS approach (with the potential impact on LDP), versus
   using application-level shared trees. This is why the requirement for
   MP2MP LSPs is currently optional*

   The P2MP LDP mechanism MAY allow setting up MP2MP LSP. A MP2MP LSP is
   a LSP connecting a group of Leaf LSRs acting indifferently as Ingress
   or Egress LSRs. Traffic sent by any Leaf LSRs is received by all
   other Leaf LSRs of the group. A sender LSR does not receive back the
   traffic sent.

   All detailed requirements for P2MP LSPs listed in section 5, apply
   equally to MP2MP LSPs. Particularly it is RECOMMENDED that the size
   of a MP2MP state on a LSR, for one particular MP2MP LSP, depend only
   on the number of adjacent LSRs on the LSP, and not on the number of
   Leaf LSRs.

   Additional detailed requirements specific to MP2MP LSPs are left for
   further study.

7. Evaluation criteria

7.1. Performances

      The solution will be evaluated with respect to the following
      criteria:

      (1) Time to add or remove a Leaf LSR;
      (2) Time to repair a P2MP LSP in case of link or node
          failure;
      (3) Scalability (state size, number of messages, message size).

   Particularly, the P2MP LDP mechanism SHOULD be designed so that
   convergence times in case of link or node failure are minimized, in
   order to limit traffic disruption.

7.2. Complexity and Risks

   The proposed solution SHOULD not introduce complexity to the current
   LDP operations to such a degree that it would affect the stability
   and diminish the benefits of deploying such P2MP LDP solution.

   The proposed solution SHOULD not require deploying a new routing
   protocol.

8. Security Considerations

   This document does not introduce any new security issue beyond those
   inherent to LDP, and a P2MP LDP solution may rely on the security
   mechanisms defined in [LDP] (e.g. TCP MD5 Signature).

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 13]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


9. Acknowledgments

   We would like to thank Christian Jacquenet (France Telecom),
   Hitoshi Fukuda (NTT Communications), Ina Minei (Juniper) and Dean
   Cheng (Cisco Systems) for their highly useful comments and
   suggestions.

   We would also like to thank authors of [P2MP-TE-REQ] from which some
   text of this document has been inspired.

10. References

   [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
   Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC3667] Bradner, S., "IETF Rights in Contributions", BCP 78, RFC
   3667, February 2004.

   [BCP79] Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF
   Technology", RFC 3979, March 2005.

   [LDP] L. Andersson, P. Doolan, N. Feldman, A. Fredette, B. Thomas,
   "LDP Specification", RFC 3036, January 2001

   [L3VPN-MCAST-REQ] T. Morin, Ed., "Requirements for Multicast in L3
   Provider-Provisioned VPNs", draft-ietf-l3vpn-ppvpn-mcast-reqts, work
   in progress.

   [L2VPN-MCAST-REQ]  Y. Kamite et al. "Requirements for Multicast
   Support in Virtual Private LAN Services", draft-ietf-l2vpn-vpls-
   mcast-reqts, work in progress

   [P2MP-TE-REQ] S. Yasukawa, et. al., "Requirements for Point-to-
   Multipoint capability extension to MPLS", draft-ietf-mpls-p2mp-sig-
   requirement, work in progress.

   [P2MP-TE-RSVP] R. Aggarwal, D. Papadimitriou, S. Yasukawa, et. al..,
   "Extensions to RSVP-TE for Point to Multipoint TE LSPs", draft-ietf-
   mpls-rsvp-te-p2mp, work in progress.

   [LDP-MIB] J. Cuchiarra et al. "Definitions of Managed Objects for the
   Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Label Distribution Protocol
   (LDP)", RFC3815, June 2004.

   [LDP-GR] M. Leelanivas, Y. Rekhter, R. Aggarwal, " Graceful Restart
   Mechanism for Label Distribution Protocol" RFC3478, February 2003.

   [LDP-FT] A. Farrel, " Fault Tolerance for the Label Distribution
   Protocol (LDP)", RFC3479, February 2003.

   [2547-MCAST] E. Rosen, R. Aggarwal, et. al., "Multicast in MPLS/BGP
   IP VPNs", draft-ietf-l3vpn-2547bis-mcast, work in progress.

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 14]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006



   [P2MP-OAM-REQ] S. Yasukawa, A. Farrel, D. King, T. Nadeau, "OAM
   Requirements for Point-To-Multipoint MPLS Networks", draft-ietf-mpls-
   p2mp-oam-reqs, work in progress.

   [VPLS-MCAST] R.Aggarwal, Y Kamite, L Fang, “VPLS Multicast” draft-
   ietf-l2vpn-vpls-mcast, work in progress.

11. Authors' Addresses:

   Jean-Louis Le Roux
   France Telecom
   2, avenue Pierre-Marzin
   22307 Lannion Cedex
   FRANCE
   Email: jeanlouis.leroux@francetelecom.com

   Thomas Morin
   France Telecom
   2, avenue Pierre-Marzin
   22307 Lannion Cedex
   FRANCE
   Email: thomas.morin@francetelecom.com

   Vincent Parfait
   EQUANT
   1041 Route des Dolines
   Sophia Antipolis
   06560 Valbonne
   FRANCE
   Email: vincent.parfait@equant.com

   Luyuan Fang
   AT&T
   200 Laurel Avenue
   Middletown, NJ  07748
   USA
   Email: luyuanfang@att.com

   Lei Wang
   Telenor
   Snaroyveien 30
   Fornebu  1331
   NORWAY
   Email: lei.wang@telenor.com

   Yuji Kamite
   NTT Communications Corporation
   Tokyo Opera City Tower
   3-20-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
   Tokyo 163-1421,
   JAPAN

Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 15]


Internet Draft   draft-leroux-mpls-mp-ldp-reqs-03.txt    February 2006


   Email: y.kamite@ntt.com

   Shane Amante
   Level 3 Communications, LLC
   1025 Eldorado Blvd
   Broomfield, CO 80021
   USA
   Email: shane@level3.net


12. Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.

   Disclaimer of Validity

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
   INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

   Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).  This document is subject
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.




Le Roux et al.      Reqs for P2MP extensions to LDP          [Page 16]