This document presents a set of requirements for Traffic Engineering over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). It identifies the functional capabilities required to implement policies that facilitate efficient and reliable network operations in an MPLS domain. These capabilities can be used to optimize the utilization of network resources and to enhance traffic oriented performance characteristics.

Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over MPLS

In this paper we present a framework for the emerging Internet Quality of Service (QoS) All the important components of this framework, ie, Integrated Services, RSVP, Differentiated Services, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Constraint Based Routing are covered We describe what Integrated Services and Differentiated Services are, how they can be implemented, and the problems they have We then describe why MPLS and Constraint Based Routing have been introduced into this framework, how they differ from and relate to each other, and where they fit into the Differentiated Services architecture Two likely service architectures are presented, and the end-to-end service deliveries in these two architectures are illustrated We also compare ATM networks to router networks with Differentiated Services and MPLS Putting all these together, we give the readers a grasp of the big picture of the emerging Internet QoS

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Internet QoS: the Big Picture

We present a framework for the emerging Internet quality of service (QoS). All the important components of this framework-integrated services, RSVP, differentiated services, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and constraint-based routing-are covered. We describe what integrated services and differentiated services are, how they can be implemented, and the problems they have. We then describe why MPLS and constraint-based routing have been introduced into this framework, how they differ from and relate to each other, and where they fit into the differentiated services architecture. Two likely service architectures are presented, and the end-to-end service deliveries in these two architectures are illustrated. We also compare ATM networks to router networks with differentiated services and MPLS. Putting all these together, we give the readers a grasp of the big picture of the emerging Internet QoS.

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Internet QoS: a big picture

The ability to provide differentiated services to users with widely varying requirements is becoming increasingly important, and Internet Service Providers would like to provide these differentiated services using the same shared network infrastructure. The key mechanism, that enables differentiation in a connectionless network, is the packet classification function that parses the headers of the packets, and after determining their context, classifies them based on administrative policies or real-time reservation decisions. Packet classification, however, is a complex operation that can become the bottleneck in routers that try to support gigabit link capacities. Hence, many proposals for differentiated services only require classification at lower speed edge routers and also avoid classification based on multiple fields in the packet header even if it might be advantageous to service providers. In this paper, we present new packet classification schemes that, with a worst-case and traffic-independent performance metric, can classify packets, by checking amongst a few thousand filtering rules, at rates of a million packets per second using range matches on more than 4 packet header fields. For a special case of classification in two dimensions, we present an algorithm that can handle more than 128K rules at these speeds in a traffic independent manner. We emphasize worst-case performance over average case performance because providing differentiated services requires intelligent queueing and scheduling of packets that precludes any significant queueing before the differentiating step (i.e., before packet classification). The presented filtering or classification schemes can be used to classify packets for security policy enforcement, applying resource management decisions, flow identification for RSVP reservations, multicast look-ups, and for source-destination and policy based routing. The scalability and performance of the algorithms have been demonstrated by implementation and testing in a prototype system.

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High-speed policy-based packet forwarding using efficient multi-dimensional range matching

Destination-based forwarding in traditional IP routers has not been able to take full advantage of multiple paths that frequently exist in Internet service provider networks. As a result, the networks may not operate efficiently, especially when the traffic patterns are dynamic. This paper describes a multipath adaptive traffic engineering mechanism, called MATE, which is targeted for switched networks such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networks. The main goal of MATE is to avoid network congestion by adaptively balancing the load among multiple paths based on measurement and analysis of path congestion. MATE adopts a minimalist approach in that intermediate nodes are not required to perform traffic engineering or measurements besides normal packet forwarding. Moreover MATE does not impose any particular scheduling, buffer management, or a priori traffic characterization on the nodes. This paper presents an analytical model, derives a class of MATE algorithms, and proves their convergence. Several practical design techniques to implement MATE are described. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the efficacy of MATE under various network scenarios.

MATE: MPLS adaptive traffic engineering

This document describes the Provider Architecture for Differentiated Services and Traffic Engineering (PASTE) for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Providing differentiated services in ISPs is a challenge because the scaling problems presented by the sheer number of flows present in large ISPs makes the cost of maintaining per-flow state unacceptable. Coupled with this, large ISPs need the ability to perform traffic engineering by directing aggregated flows of traffic along specific paths.

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Y. Rekhter

Papers

A Provider Architecture for Differentiated Services and Traffic Engineering (PASTE)