A One-Way Packet Duplication Metric
RFC 5560

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Network Working Group                                      H. Uijterwaal
Request for Comments: 5560                                      RIPE NCC
Category: Standards Track                                       May 2009

                  A One-Way Packet Duplication Metric

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents in effect on the date of
   publication of this document (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

Abstract

   When a packet is sent from one host to the other, one normally
   expects that exactly one copy of the packet that was sent arrives at
   the destination.  It is, however, possible that a packet is either
   lost or that multiple copies arrive.

   In earlier work, a metric for packet loss was defined.  This metric
   quantifies the case where a packet that is sent does not arrive at
   its destination within a reasonable time.  In this memo, a metric for
   another case is defined: a packet is sent, but multiple copies
   arrive.  The document also discusses streams and methods to summarize
   the results of streams.

Uijterwaal                  Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 5560               Packet Duplication Metric                May 2009

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
      1.1. Requirements Notation ......................................3
      1.2. Motivation .................................................4
   2. A Singleton Definition for One-Way Packet Arrival Count .........4
      2.1. Metric Name ................................................4
      2.2. Metrics Parameters .........................................4
      2.3. Metric Units ...............................................4
      2.4. Definition .................................................4
      2.5. Discussion .................................................5
      2.6. Methodology ................................................6
      2.7. Errors and Uncertainties ...................................6
      2.8. Reporting the Metric .......................................6
   3. A Singleton Definition for One-Way Packet Duplication ...........6
      3.1. Metric Name ................................................6
      3.2. Metrics Parameters .........................................7
      3.3. Metric Units ...............................................7
      3.4. Definition .................................................7
      3.5. Discussion .................................................7
   4. Definition for Samples for One-Way Packet Duplication ...........7
      4.1. Poisson Streams ............................................7
           4.1.1. Metric Name .........................................7
           4.1.2. Metric Parameters ...................................8
           4.1.3. Metric Units ........................................8
           4.1.4. Definition ..........................................8
           4.1.5. Methodology .........................................8
           4.1.6. Errors and Uncertainties ............................8
           4.1.7. Reporting the Metric ................................8
      4.2. Periodic Streams ...........................................9
           4.2.1. Metric Name .........................................9
           4.2.2. Metric Parameters ...................................9
           4.2.3. Metric Units ........................................9
           4.2.4. Definition ..........................................9
           4.2.5. Methodology .........................................9
           4.2.6. Errors and uncertainties ............................9
           4.2.7. Reporting the metric ...............................10
   5. Some Statistics Definitions for One-Way Duplication ............10
      5.1. Type-P-one-way-packet-duplication-fraction ................10
      5.2. Type-P-one-way-replicated-packet-rate .....................10
      5.3. Examples ..................................................11
   6. Security Considerations ........................................12
   7. IANA Considerations ............................................12
   8. Acknowledgements ...............................................13
   9. References .....................................................13