MPLS Inter-Autonomous System (AS) Traffic Engineering (TE) Requirements
RFC 4216

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Network Working Group                                    R. Zhang, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4216                Infonet Services Corporation
Category: Informational                             J.-P. Vasseur, Ed.
                                                   Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                         November 2005

                   MPLS Inter-Autonomous System (AS)
                 Traffic Engineering (TE) Requirements

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

   This document discusses requirements for the support of inter-AS MPLS
   Traffic Engineering (MPLS TE).  Its main objective is to present a
   set of requirements and scenarios which would result in general
   guidelines for the definition, selection, and specification
   development for any technical solution(s) meeting these requirements
   and supporting the scenarios.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
      1.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................3
   2. Contributing Authors ............................................4
   3. Definitions and Requirements Statement ..........................5
      3.1. Definitions ................................................5
      3.2. Objectives and Requirements of Inter-AS Traffic
           Engineering ................................................7
           3.2.1. Inter-AS Bandwidth Guarantees .......................7
           3.2.2. Inter-AS Resource Optimization ......................8
           3.2.3. Fast Recovery across ASes ...........................8
      3.3. Inter-AS Traffic Engineering Requirements Statement ........9
   4. Application Scenarios ...........................................9
      4.1. Application Scenarios Requiring Inter-AS Bandwidth
           Guarantees .................................................9
           4.1.1. Scenario I - Extended or Virtual PoP (VPoP) .........9
           4.1.2. Scenario II - Extended or Virtual Trunk ............11

Zhang & Vasseur              Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4216             MPLS Inter-AS TE Requirements         November 2005

           4.1.3. Scenario III - End-to-End Inter-AS MPLS TE
                  from CE to CE ......................................12
      4.2. Application Scenarios Requiring Inter-AS Resource
           Optimization ..............................................13
           4.2.1. Scenario IV - TE across multi-AS within a
                  Single SP ..........................................13
           4.2.2. Scenario V - Transit ASes as Primary and
                  Redundant Transport ................................14
   5. Detailed Requirements for Inter-AS MPLS Traffic Engineering ....16
      5.1. Requirements within One SP Administrative Domain ..........16
           5.1.1. Inter-AS MPLS TE Operations and Interoperability ...16
           5.1.2. Protocol Signaling and Path Computations ...........16
           5.1.3. Optimality .........................................17
           5.1.4. Support of Diversely Routed Inter-AS TE LSP ........17
           5.1.5. Re-Optimization ....................................18
           5.1.6. Fast Recovery Support Using MPLS TE Fast Reroute ...18
           5.1.7. DS-TE Support ......................................18
           5.1.8. Scalability and Hierarchical LSP Support ...........19
           5.1.9. Mapping of Traffic onto Inter-AS MPLS TE Tunnels ...19
           5.1.10. Inter-AS MPLS TE Management .......................19
                  5.1.10.1. Inter-AS MPLS TE MIB Requirements ........19
                  5.1.10.2. Inter-AS MPLS TE Fault Management
                            Requirements .............................20
           5.1.11. Extensibility .....................................21
           5.1.12. Complexity and Risks ..............................21
           5.1.13. Backward Compatibility ............................21
           5.1.14. Performance .......................................21
      5.2. Requirements for Inter-AS MPLS TE across Multiple SP ......22
           5.2.1. Confidentiality ....................................22
           5.2.2. Policy Control .....................................23
                  5.2.2.1. Inter-AS TE Agreement Enforcement
                           Polices ...................................23
                  5.2.2.2. Inter-AS TE Rewrite Policies ..............24
                  5.2.2.3. Inter-AS Traffic Policing .................24
   6. Security Considerations ........................................24
   7. Acknowledgements ...............................................24
   8. Normative References ...........................................25