Note: this WG is one of a set of WGs that comprise the 'sub-IP'
pseudo-area that the IESG recently created. All of the sub-IP WGs are
temporarily being housed in the General Area until the IESG decides on
a final management structure for managing these groups. The Area
Directors for the following areas acting as a group will be the Area
Advisors: INT, O&M, RTG and TSV.  The name(s) listed above under
"Technical Advisor(s)" are the the responsible Area Directors for the
working group.

Resilient Packet Rings, under development within the IEEE's
802.17 RPRWG, will provide substantial enhancements in both
efficiency and flexibility over current bi-directional ring
topologies. Benefits of resilient packet rings (RPRs) will
include spatial re-use (full utilization of both counter-
rotating rings) while maintaining APS-like protection switching
during media faults. The 802.17 RPRWG will develop mechanisms
for topology discovery, congestion control, and protection
switching. Reference the IEEE 802.17 RPRWG at
http://www.ieee802.org/rprsg/index.html for further information.

This work is specifically being done in parallel with the IEEE
effort so that cross fertilization between the IEEE and IETF
groups takes place while the IEEE standard is being developed.
In particular, the IPoRPR Working Group would produce a
requirements and framework document which will be used as input
to the IEEE RPRSG to help it formulate its requirements. Areas
which are of particular interest to the IPoRPR Working Group will
involve the layer 2 to layer 3 interaction in areas such as:

- alarm notification

- fast restoration

- fast convergence

- traffic engineering
     (e.g. resource availability/usage information)

- quality of service issues


The requirements and framework document will:

- Clearly state requirements for L2-L3 interaction within
  these rings

- Highlight the motivation and associated benefits

- Define key components, Layer abstractions and partitioning

- Document assumptions, any observations and issues

- Formulate the mechanisms required to accomplish IP-awareness
  within these Resilient Packet Rings

The WG will not address issues that are clearly within the MAC Layer
and will not develop any protocols at this time. No formal liaison
with the IEEE is anticipated. It is expected that individuals will
participate directly in both groups.