Requirements for Path Computation Element (PCE) Discovery
RFC 4674
Network Working Group J.L. Le Roux, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4674 France Telecom
Category: Informational October 2006
Requirements for Path Computation Element (PCE) Discovery
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 (2006).
Abstract
This document presents a set of requirements for a Path Computation
Element (PCE) discovery mechanism that would allow a Path Computation
Client (PCC) to discover dynamically and automatically a set of PCEs
along with certain information relevant for PCE selection. It is
intended that solutions that specify procedures and protocols or
extensions to existing protocols for such PCE discovery satisfy these
requirements.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
1.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................3
1.2. Terminology ................................................3
2. Problem Statement and Requirements Overview .....................4
2.1. Problem Statement ..........................................4
2.2. Requirements Overview ......................................5
3. Example of Application Scenario .................................6
4. Detailed Requirements ...........................................7
4.1. PCE Information to Be Disclosed ............................7
4.1.1. General PCE Information (Mandatory Support) .........8
4.1.1.1. Discovery of PCE Location ..................8
4.1.1.2. Discovery of PCE Domains and
Inter-domain Functions .....................8
4.1.2. Detailed PCE Information (Optional Support) .........9
4.1.2.1. Discovery of PCE Capabilities ..............9
4.1.2.2. Discovery of Alternate PCEs ...............10
4.2. Scope of PCE Discovery ....................................10
4.2.1. Inter-AS Specific Requirements .....................10
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RFC 4674 Requirements for PCE Discovery October 2006
4.3. PCE Information Synchronization ...........................11
4.4. Discovery of PCE Deactivation .............................11
4.5. Policy Support ............................................12
4.6. Security Requirements .....................................12
4.7. Extensibility .............................................13
4.8. Scalability ...............................................13
4.9. Operational Orders of Magnitudes ..........................13
4.10. Manageability Considerations .............................14
4.10.1. Configuration of PCE Discovery Parameters .........14
4.10.2. PCE Discovery MIB Modules .........................14
4.10.2.1. PCC MIB Module ...........................14
4.10.2.2. PCE MIB module ...........................15
4.10.3. Monitoring Protocol Operations ....................15
4.10.4. Impact on Network Operations ......................16
5. Security Considerations ........................................16
6. Acknowledgements ...............................................16
7. Contributors ...................................................17
8. References .....................................................17
8.1. Normative References ......................................17
8.2. Informative References ....................................17
1. Introduction
The PCE-based network architecture [RFC4655] defines a Path
Computation Element (PCE) as an entity capable of computing TE-LSP
paths based on a network graph, and applying computational
constraints. A PCE serves path computation requests sent by Path
Computation Clients (PCC).
A PCC is a client application requesting a path computation to be
performed by a PCE. This can be, for instance, an LSR requesting a
path for a TE-LSP for which it is the head-end, or a PCE requesting a
path computation of another PCE (inter-PCE communication). The
communication between a PCC and a PCE requires a client-server
protocol whose generic requirements are listed in [RFC4657].
The PCE based architecture requires that a PCC be aware of the
location of one or more PCEs in its domain, and also potentially of
some PCEs in other domains, e.g., in case of inter-domain path
computation.
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RFC 4674 Requirements for PCE Discovery October 2006
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