Forwarding and Control Element Separation (forces)
--------------------------------------------------

 Charter
 Last Modified: 2008-11-17

 Current Status: Active Working Group

 Chair(s):
     Patrick Droz  <dro@zurich.ibm.com>
     Jamal Hadi Salim  <hadi@mojatatu.com>

 Routing Area Director(s):
     Ross Callon  <rcallon@juniper.net>
     Adrian Farrel  <adrian.farrel@huawei.com>

 Routing Area Advisor:
     Ross Callon  <rcallon@juniper.net>

 Mailing Lists: 
     General Discussion:forces@peach.ease.lsoft.com
     To Subscribe:      listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com
         In Body:       (un)subscribe forces <your name>
     Archive:           http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/forces/

Description of Working Group:

The emergence of off-the-shelf network processor devices that 
implement 
the fast path or forwarding plane in network devices such as routers, 
along with the appearance of a new generation of third party 
signaling, 
routing, and other router control plane software, has created the need 
for standard mechanisms to allow these components to be combined into 
functional wholes. ForCES aims to define a framework and associated 
mechanisms for standardizing the exchange of information between the 
logically separate functionality of the control plane, including 
entities such as routing protocols, admission control, and signaling, 
and the forwarding plane, where per-packet activities such as packet
forwarding, queuing, and header editing occur. By defining a set
of standard mechanisms for control and forwarding separation, ForCES 
will enable rapid innovation in both the control and forwarding 
planes. 
A standard separation mechanism allows the control and forwarding
planes to innovate in parallel while maintaining interoperability.

The products of this working group will be:

o A set of requirements for mechanisms to logically
  separate the control and data forwarding planes of
  an IP network element (NE)

o An applicability statement for the ForCES model
  and protocol

o Informational RFCs as necessary documenting current
  approaches to the functional model and controlled
  objects therein

o An architectural framework defining the entities
   comprising a ForCES network element and identifying
   the interactions between them.

o A description of the functional model of a
  Forwarding Element

o A formal definition of the controlled objects in the
  functional model of a forwarding element. This
  includes IP forwarding, IntServ and DiffServ QoS. An
  existing specification language shall be used for
  this task.

o Specification of IP-based protocol for transport of the
  controlled objects. When the control and forwarding devices
  are separated beyond a single hop, ForCES will make use of an
  existing  RFC2914 compliant L4 protocol with adequate reliability,
  security and congestion control (e.g. TCP, SCTP) for transport
  purposes.

The main focus area of the working group will be control and
forwarding separation for IP forwarding devices where the
control and forwarding elements are in close (same room/small
number of hops) or very close (same box/one hop) proximity. Other
scenarios will be considered but at not the main focus of the
work. The functional model of the forwarding element will include
QoS (DiffServ and IntServ) capabilities of modern networking
devices such as routers.  In order to minimize the effort to
integrate forwarding elements and control elements, a mechanism
for auto discovery and capability information exchange will form
an integral part of the standardized interface.

ForCES will coordinate with other standards bodies and working
groups as appropriate. Examples of such bodies include IETF/GSMP,
IETF/Megaco, the Network Processing Forum (NPF), the Multiservice
Switching Forum (MSF), IEEE P1520, and SoftSwitch. ForCES will
review relevant protocol efforts such as GSMP and Megaco and will
extend or reuse them if appropriate. If protocol reuse is
accepted as satisfactory for fulfilling the ForCES requirements
then ForCES may recharter to adopt specific deliverables around
the selected protocol.

 Goals and Milestones:

   Done         Submit requirements document to IESG 

   Done         Submit framework document to IESG 

   Done         Submit forwarding element functional model document to IESG 

   Mar 2005       Submit formal definition of controlled objects in functional 
                model 

   Done         Submit protocol selection/definition document to IESG 

   Mar 2009       Submit applicability statement to IESG 


 Internet-Drafts:

Posted Revised         I-D Title   <Filename>
------ ------- --------------------------------------------
Jun 2002 Jul 2009   <draft-ietf-forces-applicability-06.txt>
                ForCES Applicability Statement 

Aug 2003 Oct 2008   <draft-ietf-forces-model-16.txt>
                ForCES Forwarding Element Model 

Sep 2004 Mar 2009   <draft-ietf-forces-protocol-22.txt>
                ForCES Protocol Specification 

Jan 2006 Sep 2008   <draft-ietf-forces-mib-10.txt>
                ForCES MIB 

Nov 2007 Jun 2009   <draft-ietf-forces-sctptml-04.txt>
                SCTP based TML (Transport Mapping Layer) for ForCES protocol 

Mar 2009 Jun 2009   <draft-ietf-forces-interoperability-02.txt>
                ForCES Interoperability Draft 

Jun 2009 Jun 2009   <draft-ietf-forces-lfb-lib-00.txt>
                ForCES LFB Library 

 Request For Comments:

  RFC   Stat Published     Title
------- -- ----------- ------------------------------------
RFC3549 I    Jul 2003    Linux Netlink as an IP Services Protocol 

RFC3654 I    Dec 2003    Requirements for Separation of IP Control and Forwarding 

RFC3746 I    Apr 2004    Forwarding and Control Element Separation (ForCES) 
                       Framework