IPv6 Working Groups A. Conta (Transwitch) INTERNET-DRAFT November 2000 A proposal for the IPv6 flows Specification draft-conta-ipv6-flow-label-00.txt Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. 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. Abstract This memo describes a proposal for the IPv6 flows. 1. Introduction This document specifies a proposal for the IPv6 Flows. At this point, it is rather a place holder, a stake in the ground, for a couple of ideas that have to be further discussed, and developed. The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, MAY, OPTIONAL, REQUIRED, RECOMMENDED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT are to be interpreted as defined in [KEYWORDS]. Conta Expires in six months [Page 1] INTERNET-DRAFT Proposal for IPv6 Flows November 17, 19100 2. IPv6 Flows A flow is a sequence of packets sent from a particular source, and a particular application running on the source host, using a particular host-to-host protocol for the transmission of data over the Internet, to a particular (unicast or multicast) destination, and particular application running on the destination host, with a certain set of quality of service requirements. The source of the packets, or routers downstream from the source on the path to the final destination may desire special handling of a flow, by routers that are further downstream on the path to the final destination. The nature of that special handling is conveyed to the downstream routers by a control protocol, such as a resource reservation protocol, or a label distribution protocol. The flow type is uniquely defined by the "Flow Type" field, which is a 20 bit long field. At an interface of a node, a flow is uniquely identified by the "Flow Identification" field, which is a 20 bit long field. 2.1. Flow Type Field The Flow Type field replaces the current "Flow Label" field in the IPv6 main header. This field has two possible ways of being defined: 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |0| Server Port Number| H-to-H protocol| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ or: 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |1| IANA Assigned Value | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ The "Server Port Number" is the port number assigned to the server side of the application The "H-to-H protocol" is the transport protocol identifier, that is, TCP, UDP, etc.... Conta Expires in six months [Page 2] INTERNET-DRAFT Proposal for IPv6 Flows November 17, 19100 The "IANA Assigned Value" is a value that is assigned by IANA for a particular application that is using a particular host-to-host protocol, and has certain quality of service requirements. Further to be defined. 2.2 IPv6 FLow Label The IPv6 Flow Label is carried in an MPLS label stack which is prepended to the IPv6 header. The MPLS label stack, and MPLS protocols are described by MPLS specifications [MPLS-ENCAPS], {MPLS-ATM], [MPLS-FR], [MPLS_ARCH}. The control protocols used to assign IPv6 Flow Labels are the protocols used for MPLS label distribution, that is LDP, RSVP-TE, CR-LDP, etc [MPLS-LDP].... 5. Security Considerations [tbd] 6. IANA Considerations [tbd] 7. Acknowledgments [tbd] 8. References [IPv6] S. Deering, R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol Version 6 Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998. [MPLS-Arch] Rosen, E., Viswanathan, A., and Callon, R., "Multiprotocol Label Switching Architecture", Work in Progress, July 2000. [MPLS-LDP] L. Anderson, P. Doolan, N. Feldman, A. Fredette, R. Thomas, Conta Expires in six months [Page 3] INTERNET-DRAFT Proposal for IPv6 Flows November 17, 19100 "Label Distribution Protocol", Work in Progress, June 2000. [MPLS-Encaps] Rosen, E., Rekhter, Y., Tappan, D., Farinacci, D., Fedorkow, G., Li, T., Conta, A., "MPLS Label Stack Encoding", Work in Progress, June 2000. [MPLS-ATM] Davie, B., Lawrence, J., McCloghrie, K., Rekhter, Y., Rosen, E. and Swallow G., "MPLS Using LDP and ATM VC Switching", Work in Progress, June 2000. [MPLS-FR] Conta, A., Doolan, P., Malis A. "MPLS Using LDP and ATM VC Switching", Work in Progress, June 2000. [KEYWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. 9. Authors' Addresses Alex Conta Transwitch Corporation 3 Enterprise Drive Shelton, CT 06484 +1-203-929-8810 email: aconta@txc.com Conta Expires in six months [Page 4] 236