



BIER Working Group                                        G. Mirsky, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                                  Ericsson
Intended status: Informational                                  N. Kumar
Expires: 1 January 2026                              Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                                 M. Chen
                                                     Huawei Technologies
                                                      S. Pallagatti, Ed.
                                                                  VMware
                                                            30 June 2025


 Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) Requirements for Bit
                Index Explicit Replication (BIER) Layer
                  draft-ietf-bier-oam-requirements-17

Abstract

   This document describes a list of functional requirements toward
   Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) toolset in Bit Index
   Explicit Replication (BIER) layer of a network.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 1 January 2026.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 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
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   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
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   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Conventions used in this document . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
       1.1.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
       1.1.2.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
       1.1.3.  Acronyms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Contributors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

1.  Introduction

   [RFC8279] introduces and explains Bit Index Explicit Replication
   (BIER) architecture and how it supports forwarding of multicast data
   packets.

   This document lists the OAM requirements for the BIER layer of the
   multicast domain.  The list can further be used for gap analysis of
   available OAM tools to identify possible enhancements of existing or
   whether new OAM tools are required to support proactive and on-demand
   path monitoring and service validation.

1.1.  Conventions used in this document

1.1.1.  Terminology

   The term "BIER OAM" used in this document interchangeably with longer
   version "set of OAM protocols, methods, and tools for BIER layer".

   *  In-band OAM is an active OAM or hybrid OAM method ([RFC7799]) that
      traverses the same set of links and interfaces receiving the same
      QoS treatment as the monitored BIER flow.

   *  Out-of-band OAM is an active OAM method whose path through the
      BIER domain is not topologically identical to the path of the
      monitored BIER flow, or its test packets receive different QoS, or
      both.





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1.1.2.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

1.1.3.  Acronyms

   BFR: Bit-Forwarding Router

   BFER: Bit-Forwarding Egress Router

   BIER: Bit Index Explicit Replication

   OAM: Operations, Administration and Maintenance

2.  Requirements

   This section lists the requirements for OAM of the BIER layer:

   1.   The listed requirements MUST be supported with any transport
        layer over which the BIER layer can be realized.

   2.   It MUST be possible to initialize a BIER OAM session from any
        Bit-Forwarding Router (BFR) of the given BIER domain.

   3.   It SHOULD be possible to initialize a BIER OAM session from a
        centralized controller.

   4.   BIER OAM MUST support proactive and on-demand OAM monitoring and
        measurement methods.

   5.   BIER OAM MUST support unidirectional OAM methods, both
        continuity check and performance measurement.

   6.   BIER OAM packets MUST be in-band (Section 1.1.1) in the forward
        direction, i.e., from ingress toward egress endpoint(s) of the
        OAM test session.

   7.   BIER OAM MUST support bi-directional OAM methods.  Such OAM
        methods MAY combine in-band monitoring or measurement in the
        forward direction and out-of-band (Section 1.1.1) notification
        in the reverse direction, i.e., from egress to ingress end point
        of the OAM test session.





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   8.   BIER OAM MUST support proactive monitoring of BFER availability
        by a BFR in the given BIER domain, e.g., p2mp BFD active tail
        support.

   9.   BIER OAM MUST support Path Maximum Transmission Unit discovery.

   10.  BIER OAM MUST support Reverse Defect Indication (RDI)
        notification of the source of continuity checking BFR by Bit-
        Forwarding Egress Routers (BFERs), e.g., by using Diag in p2mp
        BFD with active tail support.

   11.  BIER OAM MUST support active and passive performance measurement
        methods [RFC7799].

   12.  BIER OAM MUST support unidirectional performance measurement
        methods to calculate throughput, loss, delay, and delay
        variation metrics.  Simple Two-way Active Measurement Protocol
        ([RFC8762] and [RFC8972]) is an example of an active performance
        measurement method and performance metrics that may be applied
        in a BIER domain.  The Alternate Marking Method, described in
        [RFC9341] and [RFC9342], is an example of a hybrid measurement
        method ([RFC7799]) that may be applied in a BIER domain.

   13.  BIER OAM MUST support defect notification mechanism, like Alarm
        Indication Signal.  Any BFR in the given BIER domain MAY
        originate a defect notification addressed to any subset of BFRs
        within the domain.

   14.  BIER OAM MUST support methods to enable the survivability of a
        BIER layer.  These recovery methods MAY use protection switching
        and restoration.

3.  IANA Considerations

   This document does not propose any IANA consideration.  This section
   may be removed.

4.  Security Considerations

   This document lists the OAM requirement for a BIER-enabled domain and
   thus inherits security considerations discussed in [RFC8279] and
   [RFC8296].  Another general security aspect results from using active
   OAM protocols, according to the [RFC7799], in a multicast network.
   Active OAM protocols inject specially constructed test packets, and
   some active OAM protocols are based on the echo request/reply
   principle.  In the multicast network, test packets are replicated as
   data packets, thus creating a possible amplification effect of
   multiple echo responses being transmitted to the sender of the echo



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   request.  Thus, an implementation of BIER OAM MUST protect the
   control plane from spoofed replies.  Also, an implementation of BIER
   OAM MUST provide control of the number of BIER OAM messages sent to
   the control plane.

5.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

6.  Informative References

   [RFC7799]  Morton, A., "Active and Passive Metrics and Methods (with
              Hybrid Types In-Between)", RFC 7799, DOI 10.17487/RFC7799,
              May 2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7799>.

   [RFC8279]  Wijnands, IJ., Ed., Rosen, E., Ed., Dolganow, A.,
              Przygienda, T., and S. Aldrin, "Multicast Using Bit Index
              Explicit Replication (BIER)", RFC 8279,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8279, November 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8279>.

   [RFC8296]  Wijnands, IJ., Ed., Rosen, E., Ed., Dolganow, A.,
              Tantsura, J., Aldrin, S., and I. Meilik, "Encapsulation
              for Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) in MPLS and Non-
              MPLS Networks", RFC 8296, DOI 10.17487/RFC8296, January
              2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8296>.

   [RFC8762]  Mirsky, G., Jun, G., Nydell, H., and R. Foote, "Simple
              Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol", RFC 8762,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8762, March 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8762>.

   [RFC8972]  Mirsky, G., Min, X., Nydell, H., Foote, R., Masputra, A.,
              and E. Ruffini, "Simple Two-Way Active Measurement
              Protocol Optional Extensions", RFC 8972,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8972, January 2021,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8972>.







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   [RFC9341]  Fioccola, G., Ed., Cociglio, M., Mirsky, G., Mizrahi, T.,
              and T. Zhou, "Alternate-Marking Method", RFC 9341,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9341, December 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9341>.

   [RFC9342]  Fioccola, G., Ed., Cociglio, M., Sapio, A., Sisto, R., and
              T. Zhou, "Clustered Alternate-Marking Method", RFC 9342,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9342, December 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9342>.

Contributors' Addresses

   Erik Nordmark
   Email: nordmark@acm.org


   Sam Aldrin
   Google
   Email: aldrin.ietf@gmail.com


   Lianshu Zheng
   Email: veronique_cheng@hotmail.com


   Nobo Akiya
   Email: nobo.akiya.dev@gmail.com


Authors' Addresses

   Greg Mirsky (editor)
   Ericsson
   Email: gregimirsky@gmail.com


   Nagendra Kumar
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   Email: naikumar@cisco.com


   Mach Chen
   Huawei Technologies
   Email: mach.chen@huawei.com


   Santosh Pallagatti (editor)
   VMware



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   Email: santosh.pallagatti@gmail.com


















































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