Network Working Group D. Estrin
Request for Comments: 2117 USC
Category: Experimental D. Farinacci
CISCO
A. Helmy
USC
D. Thaler
UMICH
S. Deering
XEROX
M. Handley
UCL
V. Jacobson
LBL
C. Liu
USC
P. Sharma
USC
L. Wei
CISCO
June 1997
Protocol Independent Multicast-Sparse Mode (PIM-SM): Protocol
Specification
Status of This Memo
This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any
kind. Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Acknowledgements
The author list has been reordered to reflect the involvement in
detailed editorial work on this specification document. The first
four authors are the primary editors and are listed alphabetically.
The rest of the authors, also listed alphabetically, participated in
all aspects of the architectural and detailed design but managed to
get away without hacking the latex!
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1 Introduction
This document describes a protocol for efficiently routing to
multicast groups that may span wide-area (and inter-domain)
internets. We refer to the approach as Protocol Independent
Multicast--Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) because it is not dependent on any
particular unicast routing protocol, and because it is designed to
support sparse groups as defined in [1][2]. This document describes
the protocol details. For the motivation behind the design and a
description of the architecture, see [1][2]. Section 2 summarizes
PIM-SM operation. It describes the protocol from a network
perspective, in particular, how the participating routers interact to
create and maintain the multicast distribution tree. Section 3
describes PIM-SM operations from the perspective of a single router
implementing the protocol; this section constitutes the main body of
the protocol specification. It is organized according to PIM-SM
message type; for each message type we describe its contents, its
generation, and its processing.
Sections 3.8 and 3.9 summarize the timers and flags referred to
throughout this document. Section 4 provides packet format details.
The most significant functional changes since the January '95 version
involve the Rendezvous Point-related mechanisms, several resulting
simplifications to the protocol, and removal of the PIM-DM protocol
details to a separate document [3] (for clarity).
2 PIM-SM Protocol Overview
In this section we provide an overview of the architectural
components of PIM-SM.
A router receives explicit Join/Prune messages from those neighboring
routers that have downstream group members. The router then forwards
data packets addressed to a multicast group, G, only onto those
interfaces on which explicit joins have been received. Note that all
routers mentioned in this document are assumed to be PIM-SM capable,
unless otherwise specified.
A Designated Router (DR) sends periodic Join/Prune messages toward a
group-specific Rendezvous Point (RP) for each group for which it has
active members. Each router along the path toward the RP builds a
wildcard (any-source) state for the group and sends Join/Prune
messages on toward the RP. We use the term route entry to refer to
the state maintained in a router to represent the distribution tree.
A route entry may include such fields as the source address, the
group address, the incoming interface from which packets are
accepted, the list of outgoing interfaces to which packets are sent,
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timers, flag bits, etc. The wildcard route entry's incoming interface
points toward the RP; the outgoing interfaces point to the
neighboring downstream routers that have sent Join/Prune messages
toward the RP. This state creates a shared, RP-centered, distribution
tree that reaches all group members. When a data source first sends
to a group, its DR unicasts Register messages to the RP with the
source's data packets encapsulated within. If the data rate is high,
the RP can send source-specific Join/Prune messages back towards the
source and the source's data packets will follow the resulting
forwarding state and travel unencapsulated to the RP. Whether they
arrive encapsulated or natively, the RP forwards the source's
decapsulated data packets down the RP-centered distribution tree
toward group members. If the data rate warrants it, routers with
local receivers can join a source-specific, shortest path,
distribution tree, and prune this source's packets off of the shared
RP-centered tree. For low data rate sources, neither the RP, nor
last-hop routers need join a source-specific shortest path tree and
data packets can be delivered via the shared, RP-tree.
The following subsections describe SM operation in more detail, in
particular, the control messages, and the actions they trigger.
2.1 Local hosts joining a group
In order to join a multicast group, G, a host conveys its membership
information through the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), as
specified in [4][5], (see figure 1). From this point on we refer to
such a host as a receiver, R, (or member) of the group G.
Note that all figures used in this section are for illustration and
are not intended to be complete. For complete and detailed protocol
action see Section 3.
[Figures are present only in the postscript version]
Fig. 1 Example: how a receiver joins, and sets up shared tree
When a DR (e.g., router A in figure 1) gets a membership indication
from IGMP for a new group, G, the DR looks up the associated RP. The
DR creates a wildcard multicast route entry for the group, referred
to here as a (*,G) entry; if there is no more specific match for a
particular source, the packet will be forwarded according to this
entry.
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The RP address is included in a special field in the route entry and
is included in periodic upstream Join/Prune messages. The outgoing
interface is set to that included in the IGMP membership indication
for the new member. The incoming interface is set to the interface
used to send unicast packets to the RP.
When there are no longer directly connected members for the group,
IGMP notifies the DR. If the DR has neither local members nor
downstream receivers, the (*,G) state is deleted.
2.2 Establishing the RP-rooted shared tree
Triggered by the (*,G) state, the DR creates a Join/Prune message
with the RP address in its join list and the the wildcard bit (WC-
bit) and RP-tree bit (RPT-bit) set to 1. The WC-bit indicates that
any source may match and be forwarded according to this entry if
there is no longer match; the RPT-bit indicates that this join is
being sent up the shared, RP-tree. The prune list is left empty. When
the RPT-bit is set to 1 it indicates that the join is associated with
the shared RP-tree and therefore the Join/Prune message is propagated
along the RP-tree. When the WC-bit is set to 1 it indicates that the
address is an RP and the downstream receivers expect to receive
packets from all sources via this (shared tree) path. The term RPT-
bit is used to refer to both the RPT-bit flags associated with route
entries, and the RPT-bit included in each encoded address in a
Join/Prune message.
Each upstream router creates or updates its multicast route entry for
(*,G) when it receives a Join/Prune with the RPT-bit and WC-bit set.
The interface on which the Join/Prune message arrived is added to the
list of outgoing interfaces (oifs) for (*,G). Based on this entry
each upstream router between the receiver and the RP sends a
Join/Prune message in which the join list includes the RP. The packet
payload contains Multicast-Address=G, Join=RP,WC-bit,RPT-bit,
Prune=NULL.
2.3 Hosts sending to a group
When a host starts sending multicast data packets to a group,
initially its DR must deliver each packet to the RP for distribution
down the RP-tree (see figure 2). The sender's DR initially
encapsulates each data packet in a Register message and unicasts it
to the RP for that group. The RP decapsulates each Register message
and forwards the enclosed data packet natively to downstream members
on the shared RP-tree.
[Figures are present only in the postscript version]
Fig. 2 Example: a host sending to a group
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If the data rate of the source warrants the use of a source-specific
shortest path tree (SPT), the RP may construct a new multicast route
entry that is specific to the source, hereafter referred to as (S,G)
state, and send periodic Join/Prune messages toward the source. Note
that over time, the rules for when to switch can be modified without
global coordination. When and if the RP does switch to the SPT, the
routers between the source and the RP build and maintain (S,G) state
in response to these messages and send (S,G) messages upstream toward
the source.
The source's DR must stop encapsulating data packets in Registers
when (and so long as) it receives Register-Stop messages from the RP.
The RP triggers Register-Stop messages in response to Registers, if
the RP has no downstream receivers for the group (or for that
particular source), or if the RP has already joined the (S,G) tree
and is receiving the data packets natively. Each source's DR
maintains, per (S,G), a Register-Suppression-timer. The Register-
Suppression-timer is started by the Register-Stop message; upon
expiration, the source's DR resumes sending data packets to the RP,
encapsulated in Register messages.
2.4 Switching from shared tree (RP-tree) to shortest path tree (SP-
tree)
A router with directly-connected members first joins the shared RP-
tree. The router can switch to a source's shortest path tree (SP-
tree) after receiving packets from that source over the shared RP-
tree. The recommended policy is to initiate the switch to the SP-tree
after receiving a significant number of data packets during a
specified time interval from a particular source. To realize this
policy the router can monitor data packets from sources for which it
has no source-specific multicast route entry and initiate such an
entry when the data rate exceeds the configured threshold. As shown
in figure 3, router `A' initiates a (S,G) state.
[Figures are present only in the postscript version]
Fig. 3 Example: Switching from shared tree to shortest path tree
When a (S,G) entry is activated (and periodically so long as the
state exists), a Join/Prune message is sent upstream towards the
source, S, with S in the join list. The payload contains Multicast-
Address=G, Join=S, Prune=NULL. When the (S,G) entry is created, the
outgoing interface list is copied from (*,G), i.e., all local shared
tree branches are replicated in the new shortest path tree. In this
way when a data packet from S arrives and matches on this entry, all
receivers will continue to receive the source's packets along this
path. (In more complicated scenarios, other entries in the router
have to be considered, as described in Section 3). Note that (S,G)
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state must be maintained in each last-hop router that is responsible
for initiating and maintaining an SP-tree. Even when (*,G) and (S,G)
overlap, both states are needed to trigger the source-specific
Join/Prune messages. (S,G) state is kept alive by data packets
arriving from that source. A timer, Entry-timer, is set for the (S,G)
entry and this timer is restarted whenever data packets for (S,G) are
forwarded out at least one oif, or Registers are sent. When the
Entry-timer expires, the state is deleted. The last-hop router is the
router that delivers the packets to their ultimate end-system
destination. This is the router that monitors if there is group
membership and joins or prunes the appropriate distribution trees in
response. In general the last-hop router is the Designated Router
(DR) for the LAN. However, under various conditions described later,
a parallel router connected to the same LAN may take over as the
last-hop router in place of the DR.
Only the RP and routers with local members can initiate switching to
the SP-tree; intermediate routers do not. Consequently, last-hop
routers create (S,G) state in response to data packets from the
source, S; whereas intermediate routers only create (S,G) state in
response to Join/Prune messages from downstream that have S in the
Join list.
The (S,G) entry is initialized with the SPT-bit cleared, indicating
that the shortest path tree branch from S has not yet been setup
completely, and the router can still accept packets from S that
arrive on the (*,G) entry's indicated incoming interface (iif). Each
PIM multicast entry has an associated incoming interface on which
packets are expected to arrive.
When a router with a (S,G) entry and a cleared SPT-bit starts to
receive packets from the new source S on the iif for the (S,G) entry,
and that iif differs from the (*,G) entry's iif, the router sets the
SPT-bit, and sends a Join/Prune message towards the RP, indicating
that the router no longer wants to receive packets from S via the
shared RP-tree. The Join/Prune message sent towards the RP includes S
in the prune list, with the RPT-bit set indicating that S's packets
must not be forwarded down this branch of the shared tree. If the
router receiving the Join/Prune message has (S,G) state (with or
without the route entry's RPT-bit flag set), it deletes the arriving
interface from the (S,G) oif list. If the router has only (*,G)
state, it creates an entry with the RPT-bit flag set to 1. For
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brevity we refer to an (S,G) entry that has the RPT-bit flag set to 1
as an (S,G)RPT-bit entry. This notational distinction is useful to
point out the different actions taken for (S,G) entries depending on
the setting of the RPT-bit flag. Note that a router can have no more
than one active (S,G) entry for any particular S and G, at any
particular time; whether the RPT-bit flag is set or not. In other
words, a router never has both an (S,G) and an (S,G)RPT-bit entry for
the same S and G at the same time. The Join/Prune message payload
contains Multicast-Address=G, Join=NULL, Prune=S,RPT-bit.
A new receiver may join an existing RP-tree on which source-specific
prune state has been established (e.g., because downstream receivers
have switched to SP-trees). In this case the prune state must be
eradicated upstream of the new receiver to bring all sources' data
packets down to the new receiver. Therefore, when a (*,G) Join
arrives at a router that has any (Si,G)RPT-bit entries (i.e., entries
that cause the router to send source-specific prunes toward the RP),
these entries must be updated upstream of the router so as to bring
all sources' packets down to the new member. To accomplish this, each
router that receives a (*,G) Join/Prune message updates all existing
(S,G)RPT-bit entries. The router may also trigger a (*,G) Join/Prune
message upstream to cause the same updating of RPT-bit settings
upstream and pull down all active sources' packets. If the arriving
(*,G) join has some sources included in its prune list, then the
corresponding (S,G)RPT-bit entries are left unchanged (i.e., the
RPT-bit remains set and no oif is added).
2.5 Steady state maintenance of distribution tree (i.e., router state)
In the steady state each router sends periodic Join/Prune messages
for each active PIM route entry; the Join/Prune messages are sent to
the neighbor indicated in the corresponding entry. These messages are
sent periodically to capture state, topology, and membership changes.
A Join/Prune message is also sent on an event-triggered basis each
time a new route entry is established for some new source (note that
some damping function may be applied, e.g., a short delay to allow
for merging of new Join information). Join/Prune messages do not
elicit any form of explicit acknowledgment; routers recover from lost
packets using the periodic refresh mechanism.
2.6 Obtaining RP information
To obtain the RP information, all routers within a PIM domain collect
Bootstrap messages. Bootstrap messages are sent hop-by-hop within the
domain; the domain's bootstrap router (BSR) is responsible for
originating the Bootstrap messages. Bootstrap messages are used to
carry out a dynamic BSR election when needed and to distribute RP
information in steady state.
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A domain in this context is a contiguous set of routers that all
implement PIM and are configured to operate within a common boundary
defined by PIM Multicast Border Routers (PMBRs). PMBRs connect each
PIM domain to the rest of the internet.
Routers use a set of available RPs (called the {RP-Set}) distributed
in Bootstrap messages to get the proper Group to RP mapping. The
following paragraphs summarize the mechanism; details of the
mechanism may be found in Sections 3.6 and Appendix 6.2. A (small)
set of routers, within a domain, are configured as candidate BSRs
and, through a simple election mechanism, a single BSR is selected
for that domain. A set of routers within a domain are also configured
as candidate RPs (C-RPs); typically these will be the same routers
that are configured as C-BSRs. Candidate RPs periodically unicast
Candidate-RP-Advertisement messages (C-RP-Advs) to the BSR of that
domain. C-RP-Advs include the address of the advertising C-RP, as
well as an optional group address and a mask length field, indicating
the group prefix(es) for which the candidacy is advertised. The BSR
then includes a set of these Candidate-RPs (the RP-Set), along with
the corresponding group prefixes, in Bootstrap messages it
periodically originates. Bootstrap messages are distributed hop-by-
hop throughout the domain.
Routers receive and store Bootstrap messages originated by the BSR.
When a DR gets a membership indication from IGMP for (or a data
packet from) a directly connected host, for a group for which it has
no entry, the DR uses a hash function to map the group address to one
of the C-RPs whose Group-prefix includes the group (see Section 3.7).
The DR then sends a Join/Prune message towards (or unicasts Registers
to) that RP.
The Bootstrap message indicates liveness of the RPs included therein.
If an RP is included in the message, then it is tagged as `up' at the
routers; while RPs not included in the message are removed from the
list of RPs over which the hash algorithm acts. Each router continues
to use the contents of the most recently received Bootstrap message
until it receives a new Bootstrap message.
If a PIM domain partitions, each area separated from the old BSR will
elect its own BSR, which will distribute an RP-Set containing RPs
that are reachable within that partition. When the partition heals,
another election will occur automatically and only one of the BSRs
will continue to send out Bootstrap messages. As is expected at the
time of a partition or healing, some disruption in packet delivery
may occur. This time will be on the order of the region's round-trip
time and the bootstrap router timeout value.
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2.7 Interoperation with dense mode protocols such as DVMRP
In order to interoperate with networks that run dense-mode,
{broadcast and prune}, protocols, such as DVMRP, all packets
generated within a PIM-SM region must be pulled out to that region's
PIM Multicast Border Routers (PMBRs) and injected (i.e., broadcast)
into the DVMRP network. A PMBR is a router that sits at the boundary
of a PIM-SM domain and interoperates with other types of multicast
routers such as those that run DVMRP. Generally a PMBR would speak
both protocols and implement interoperability functions not required
by regular PIM routers. To support interoperability, a special entry
type, referred to as (*,*,RP), must be supported by all PIM routers.
For this reason we include details about (*,*,RP) entry handling in
this general PIM specification.
A data packet will match on a (*,*,RP) entry if there is no more
specific entry (such as (S,G) or (*,G)) and the destination group
address in the packet maps to the RP listed in the (*,*,RP) entry. In
this sense, a (*,*,RP) entry represents an aggregation of all the
groups that hash to that RP. PMBRs initialize (*,*,RP) state for each
RP in the domain's RPset. The (*,*,RP) state causes the PMBRs to send
(*,*,RP) Join/Prune messages toward each of the active RPs in the
domain. As a result distribution trees are built that carry all data
packets originated within the PIM domain (and sent to the RPs) down
to the PMBRs.
PMBRs are also responsible for delivering externally-generated
packets to routers within the PIM domain. To do so, PMBRs initially
encapsulate externally-originated packets (i.e., received on DVMRP
interfaces) in Register messages and unicast them to the
corresponding RP within the PIM domain. The Register message has a
bit indicating that it was originated by a border router and the RP
caches the originating PMBR's address in the route entry so that
duplicate Registers from other PMBRs can be declined with a
Register-Stop message.
All PIM routers must be capable of supporting (*,*,RP) state and
interpreting associated Join/Prune messages. We describe the handling
of (*,*,RP) entries and messages throughout this document; however,
detailed PIM Multicast Border Router (PMBR) functions will be
specified in a separate interoperability document (see directory,
http://catarina.usc.edu/pim/interop/).
2.8 Multicast data packet processing
Data packets are processed in a manner similar to other multicast
schemes. A router first performs a longest match on the source and
group address in the data packet. A (S,G) entry is matched first if
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one exists; a (*,G) entry is matched otherwise. If neither state
exists, then a (*,*,RP) entry match is attempted as follows: the
router hashes on G to identify the RP for group G, and looks for a
(*,*,RP) entry that has this RP address associated with it. If none
of the above exists, then the packet is dropped. If a state is
matched, the router compares the interface on which the packet
arrived to the incoming interface field in the matched route entry.
If the iif check fails the packet is dropped, otherwise the packet is
forwarded to all interfaces listed in the outgoing interface list.
Some special actions are needed to deliver packets continuously while
switching from the shared to shortest-path tree. In particular, when
a (S,G) entry is matched, incoming packets are forwarded as follows:
1 If the SPT-bit is set, then:
1 if the incoming interface is the same as a matching
(S,G) iif, the packet is forwarded to the oif-list of
(S,G).
2 if the incoming interface is different than a matching
(S,G) iif , the packet is discarded.
2 If the SPT-bit is cleared, then:
1 if the incoming interface is the same as a matching
(S,G) iif, the packet is forwarded to the oif-list of
(S,G). In addition, the SPT bit is set for that entry
if the incoming interface differs from the incoming
interface of the (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry.
2 if the incoming interface is different than a matching
(S,G) iif, the incoming interface is tested against a
matching (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry. If the iif is the
same as one of those, the packet is forwarded to the
oif-list of the matching entry.
3 Otherwise the iif does not match any entry for G and
the packet is discarded.
Data packets never trigger prunes. However, data packets may trigger
actions that in turn trigger prunes. For example, when router B in
figure 3 decides to switch to SP-tree at step 3, it creates a (S,G)
entry with SPT-bit set to 0. When data packets from S arrive at
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interface 2 of B, B sets the SPT-bit to 1 since the iif for (*,G) is
different than that for (S,G). This triggers the sending of prunes
towards the RP.
2.9 Operation over Multi-access Networks
This section describes a few additional protocol mechanisms needed to
operate PIM over multi-access networks: Designated Router election,
Assert messages to resolve parallel paths, and the Join/Prune-
Suppression-Timer to suppress redundant Joins on multi-access
networks.
* Designated router election
When there are multiple routers connected to a multi-access network,
one of them must be chosen to operate as the designated router (DR)
at any point in time. The DR is responsible for sending triggered
Join/Prune and Register messages toward the RP.
A simple designated router (DR) election mechanism is used for both
SM and traditional IP multicast routing. Neighboring routers send
Hello messages to each other. The sender with the largest IP address
assumes the role of DR. Each router connected to the multi-access LAN
sends the Hellos periodically in order to adapt to changes in router
status.
* Parallel paths to a source or the RP--Assert process
If a router receives a multicast datagram on a multi-access LAN from
a source whose corresponding (S,G) outgoing interface list includes
the interface to that LAN, the packet must be a duplicate. In this
case a single forwarder must be elected. Using Assert messages
addressed to `224.0.0.13' (ALL-PIM-ROUTERS group) on the LAN,
upstream routers can resolve which one will act as the forwarder.
Downstream routers listen to the Asserts so they know which one was
elected, and therefore where to send subsequent Joins. Typically this
is the same as the downstream router's RPF (Reverse Path Forwarding)
neighbor; but there are circumstances where this might not be the
case, e.g., when using multiple unicast routing protocols on that
LAN. The RPF neighbor for a particular source (or RP) is the next-hop
router to which packets are forwarded en route to that source (or
RP); and therefore is considered a good path via which to accept
packets from that source.
The upstream router elected is the one that has the shortest distance
to the source. Therefore, when a packet is received on an outgoing
interface a router sends an Assert message on the multi-access LAN
indicating what metric it uses to reach the source of the data
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packet. The router with the smallest numerical metric (with ties
broken by highest address) will become the forwarder. All other
upstream routers will delete the interface from their outgoing
interface list. The downstream routers also do the comparison in case
the forwarder is different than the RPF neighbor.
Associated with the metric is a metric preference value. This is
provided to deal with the case where the upstream routers may run
different unicast routing protocols. The numerically smaller metric
preference is always preferred. The metric preference is treated as
the high-order part of an assert metric comparison. Therefore, a
metric value can be compared with another metric value provided both
metric preferences are the same. A metric preference can be assigned
per unicast routing protocol and needs to be consistent for all
routers on the multi-access network.
Asserts are also needed for (*,G) entries since an RP-Tree and an
SP-Tree for the same group may both cross the same multi- access
network. When an assert is sent for a (*,G) entry, the first bit in
the metric preference (RPT-bit) is always set to 1 to indicate that
this path corresponds to the RP tree, and that the match must be done
on (*,G) if it exists. Furthermore, the RPT-bit is always cleared for
metric preferences that refer to SP-tree entries; this causes an SP-
tree path to always look better than an RP-tree path. When the SP-
tree and RPtree cross the same LAN, this mechanism eliminates the
duplicates that would otherwise be carried over the LAN.
In case the packet, or the Assert message, matches on oif for
(*,*,RP) entry, a (*,G) entry is created, and asserts take place as
if the matching state were (*,G).
The DR may lose the (*,G) Assert process to another router on the LAN
if there are multiple paths to the RP through the LAN. From then on,
the DR is no longer the last-hop router for local receivers and
removes the LAN from its (*,G) oif list. The winning router becomes
the last-hop router and is responsible for sending (*,G) join
messages to the RP.
* Join/Prune suppression
Join/Prune suppression may be used on multi-access LANs to reduce
duplicate control message overhead; it is not required for correct
performance of the protocol. If a Join/Prune message arrives and
matches on the incoming interface for an existing (S,G), (*,G), or
(*,*,RP) route entry, and the Holdtime included in the Join/Prune
message is greater than the recipient's own [Join/Prune-Holdtime]
(with ties resolved in favor of the higher IP address), a timer (the
Join/Prune-Suppression-timer) in the recipient's route entry may be
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started to suppress further Join/Prune messages. After this timer
expires, the recipient triggers a Join/Prune message, and resumes
sending periodic Join/Prunes, for this entry. The Join/Prune-
Suppression-timer should be restarted each time a Join/Prune message
is received with a higher Holdtime.
2.10 Unicast Routing Changes
When unicast routing changes, an RPF check is done on all active
(S,G), (*,G) and (*,*,RP) entries, and all affected expected incoming
interfaces are updated. In particular, if the new incoming interface
appears in the outgoing interface list, it is deleted from the
outgoing interface list. The previous incoming interface may be added
to the outgoing interface list by a subsequent Join/Prune from
downstream. Join/Prune messages received on the current incoming
interface are ignored. Join/Prune messages received on new
interfaces or existing outgoing interfaces are not ignored. Other
outgoing interfaces are left as is until they are explicitly pruned
by downstream routers or are timed out due to lack of appropriate
Join/Prune messages. If the router has a (S,G) entry with the SPT-bit
set, and the updated iif(S,G) does not differ from iif(*,G) or
iif(*,*,RP), then the router resets the SPT-bit.
The router must send a Join/Prune message with S in the Join list out
any new incoming interfaces to inform upstream routers that it
expects multicast datagrams over the interface. It may also send a
Join/Prune message with S in the Prune list out the old incoming
interface, if the link is operational, to inform upstream routers
that this part of the distribution tree is going away.
2.11 PIM-SM for Inter-Domain Multicast
Future documents will address the use of PIM-SM as a backbone inter-
domain multicast routing protocol. Design choices center primarily
around the distribution and usage of RP information for wide area,
inter-domain groups.
2.12 Security
All PIM control messages may use IPsec [6] to address security
concerns. Security mechanisms are likely to be enhanced in the near
future.
3 Detailed Protocol Description
This section describes the protocol operations from the perspective
of an individual router implementation. In particular, for each
message type we describe how it is generated and processed.
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3.1 Hello
Hello messages are sent so neighboring routers can discover each
other.
3.1.1 Sending Hellos
Hello messages are sent periodically between PIM neighbors, every
[Hello-Period] seconds. This informs routers what interfaces have
PIM neighbors. Hello messages are multicast using address 224.0.0.13
(ALL-PIM-ROUTERS group). The packet includes a Holdtime, set to
[Hello-Holdtime], for neighbors to keep the information valid.
Hellos are sent on all types of communication links.
3.1.2 Receiving Hellos
When a router receives a Hello message, it stores the IP address for
that neighbor, sets its Neighbor-timer for the Hello sender to the
Holdtime included in the Hello, and determines the Designated Router
(DR) for that interface. The highest IP addressed system is elected
DR. Each Hello received causes the DR's address to be updated.
When a router that is the active DR receives a Hello from a new
neighbor (i.e., from an IP address that is not yet in the DRs
neighbor table), the DR unicasts its most recent RP-set information
to the new neighbor.
3.1.3 Timing out neighbor entries
A periodic process is run to time out PIM neighbors that have not
sent Hellos. If the DR has gone down, a new DR is chosen by scanning
all neighbors on the interface and selecting the new DR to be the one
with the highest IP address. If an interface has gone down, the
router may optionally time out all PIM neighbors associated with the
interface.
3.2 Join/Prune
Join/Prune messages are sent to join or prune a branch off of the
multicast distribution tree. A single message contains both a join
and prune list, either one of which may be null. Each list contains
a set of source addresses, indicating the source- specific trees or
shared tree that the router wants to join or prune.
3.2.1 Sending Join/Prune Messages
Join/Prune messages are merged such that a message sent to a
particular upstream neighbor, N, includes all of the current joined
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and pruned sources that are reached via N; according to unicast
routing Join/Prune messages are multicast to all routers on multi-
access networks with the target address set to the next hop router
towards S or RP. Join/Prune messages are sent every [Join/Prune-
Period] seconds. In the future we will introduce mechanisms to rate-
limit this control traffic on a hop by hop basis, in order to avoid
excessive overhead on small links. In addition, certain events cause
triggered Join/Prune messages to be sent.
3.2.1.1 Periodic Join/Prune Messages
A router sends a periodic Join/Prune message to each distinct RPF
neighbor associated with each (S,G), (*,G) and (*,*,RP) entry.
Join/Prune messages are only sent if the RPF neighbor is a PIM
neighbor. A periodic Join/Prune message sent to a particular RPF
neighbor is constructed as follows:
1 Each router determines the RP for a (*,G) entry by using
the hash function described. The RP address (with RPT and
WC bits set) is included in the join list of a periodic
Join/Prune message under the following conditions:
1 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward the RP for an active (*,G) or (*,*,RP)
entry, and
2 The outgoing interface list in the (*,G) or (*,*,RP)
entry is non-NULL, or the router is the DR on the same
interface as the RPF neighbor.
2 A particular source address, S, is included in the join
list with the RPT and WC bits cleared under the following
conditions:
1 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward S, and
2 There exists an active (S,G) entry with the RPT-bit
flag cleared, and
3 The oif list in the (S,G) entry is not null.
3 A particular source address, S, is included in the prune
list with the RPT and WC bits cleared under the following
conditions:
1 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward S, and
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2 There exists an active (S,G) entry with the RPT-bit
flag cleared, and
3 The oif list in the (S,G) entry is null.
4 A particular source address, S, is included in the prune
list with the RPT-bit set and the WC bit cleared under the
following conditions:
1 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward the RP and there exists a (S,G) entry
with the RPT-bit flag set and null oif list, or
2 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward the RP, there exists a (S,G) entry
with the RPT-bit flag cleared and SPT-bit set, and the
incoming interface toward S is different than the
incoming interface toward the RP, or
3 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward the RP, and there exists a (*,G) entry
and (S,G) entry for a directly connected source.
5 The RP address (with RPT and WC bits set) is included in
the prune list if:
1 The Join/Prune message is being sent to the RPF
neighbor toward the RP and there exists a (*,G) entry
with a null oif list (see Section 3.5.2).
3.2.1.2 Triggered Join/Prune Messages
In addition to periodic messages, the following events will trigger
Join/Prune messages if as a result, a) a new entry is created, or b)
the oif list changes from null to non-null or non-null to null. The
contents of triggered messages are the same as the periodic,
described above.
1 Receipt of an indication from IGMP that the state of
directly-connected- membership has changed (i.e., new members
have just joined `membership indication' or all members have
left), for a group G, may cause the last-hop router to build
or modify corresponding (*,G) state. When IGMP indicates
that there are no longer directly connected members, the oif
is removed from the oif list if the oif- timer is not
running. A Join/Prune message is triggered if and only if
a) a new entry is created, or b) the oif list changes from
null to non-null or non-null to null, as follows :
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1 If the receiving router does not have a route entry
for G the router creates a (*,G) entry, copies the
oif list from the corresponding (*,*,RP) entry
(if it exists), and includes the interface included
in the IGMP membership indication in the oif list;
as always, the router never includes the entry's iif
in the oif list. The router sends a Join/Prune
message towards the RP with the RP address and RPT-bit
and WC-bits set in the join list. Or,
2 If a (S,G)RPT-bit or (*,G) entry already exists, the
interface included in the IGMP membership indication
is added to the oif list (if it was not included already).
2 Receipt of a Join/Prune message for (S,G), (*,G) or (*,*,RP)
will cause building or modifying corresponding state, and
subsequent triggering of upstream Join/Prune messages, in the
following cases:
1 When there is no current route entry, the RP address
included in the Join/Prune message is checked against
the local RP-Set information. If it matches, an entry
will be created and the new entry will in turn trigger
an upstream Join/Prune message. If the router has no
RP-Set information it may discard the message, or
optionally use the RP address included in the message.
2 When the outgoing interface list of an (S,G)RPT-bit
entry becomes null, the triggered Join/Prune message
will contain S in the prune list.
3 When there exists a (S,G)RPT-bit with null oif list,
and an (*,G) Join/Prune message is received, the
arriving interface is added to the oif list and a (*,G)
Join/Prune message is triggered upstream.
4 When there exists a (*,G) with null oif list, and a
(*,*,RP) Join/Prune message is received, the receiving
interface is added to the oif list and a (*,*,RP)
Join/Prune message is triggered upstream.
3 Receipt of a packet that matches on a (S,G) entry whose
SPT-bit is cleared triggers the following if the packet
arrived on the correct incoming interface and there is a
(*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry with a different incoming
interface: a) the router sets the SPT-bit on the (S,G)
entry, and b) the router sends a Join/Prune message
towards the RP with S and a set RPT-bit in the prune list.
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4 When a Join/Prune message is received for a group G, the
prune list is checked. If the prune list contains a source
or RP for which the receiving router has a corresponding
active (S,G), (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry, and whose iif is
that on which the Join/Prune was received, then a join for
(S,G), (*,G) or (*,*,RP) is triggered to override the prune,
respectively. (This is necessary in the case of parallel
downstream routers connected to a multi-access network.)
5 When the RP fails, the RP will not be included in the
Bootstrap messages sent to all routers in that domain.
This triggers the DRs to send (*,G) Join/Prune messages
towards new RP for the group, as determined by the RP-Set
and the hash function. As described earlier, PMBRs trigger
(*,*,RP) joins towards each RP in the RP-Set.
6 When an entry's Join/Prune-Suppression timer expires, a
Join/Prune message is triggered upstream corresponding to
that entry, even if the outgoing interface has not
transitioned between null and non-null states.
7 When the RPF neighbor changes (whether due to an Assert or
changes in unicast routing), the router sets a random delay
timer (the Random-Delay-Join-Timer) whose expiration triggers
sending of a Join/Prune message for the asserted route entry
to the Assert winner (if the Join/Prune Suppression timer has
expired.)
We do not trigger prunes onto interfaces based on data packets. Data
packets that arrive on the wrong incoming interface are silently
dropped. However, on point-to-point interfaces triggered prunes may
be sent as an optimization.
3.2.1.3 Fragmentation: It is possible that a Join/Prune message
constructed according to the preceding rules could exceed the MTU of
a network. In this case, the message can undergo semantic
fragmentation whereby information corresponding to different groups
can be sent in different messages. However, if a Join/Prune message
must be fragmented the complete prune list corresponding to a group G
must be included in the same Join/Prune message as the associated
RP-tree Join for G. If such semantic fragmentation is not possible,
IP fragmentation should be used between the two neighboring hops.
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3.2.2 Receiving Join/Prune Messages When a router receives a
Join/Prune message, it processes it as follows.
The receiver of the Join/Prune notes the interface on which the PIM
message arrived, call it I. The receiver then checks to see if the
Join/Prune message was addressed to the receiving router itself
(i.e., the router's address appears in the Unicast Upstream Neighbor
Router field of the Join/Prune message). (If the router is connected
to a multiaccess LAN, the message could be intended for a different
router.) If the Join/Prune is for this router the following actions
are taken.
For each group address G, in the Join/Prune message, the associated
join list is processed as follows. We refer to each address in the
join list as Sj; Sj refers to the RP if the RPT- bit and WC-bit are
both set. For each Sj in the join list of the Join/Prune message:
1 If an address, Sj, in the join list of the Join/Prune
message has the RPT-bit and WC-bit set, then Sj is the RP
address used by the downstream router(s) and the following
actions are taken:
1 If Sj is not the same as the receiving router's RP
mapping for G, the receiving router may ignore the
Join/Prune message with respect to that group entry.
If the router does not have any RP-Set information, it
may use the address Sj included in the Join/Prune
message as the RP for the group.
2 If Sj is the same as the receiving router's RP mapping
for G, the receiving router adds I to the outgoing
interface list of the (*,G) route entry (if there is
no (*,G) entry, the router creates one first) and sets
the Oif-timer for that interface to the Holdtime
specified in the Join/Prune message. In addition, the
Oif-Deletion-Delay for that interface is set to 1/3rd
the Holdtime specified in the Join/Prune message.
If a (*,*,RP) entry exists, for the RP associated with
G, then the oif list of the newly created (*,G) entry
is copied from that (*,*,RP) entry.
3 For each (Si,G) entry associated with group G, if Si
is not included in the prune list, and if I is not the
iif then interface I is added to the oif list and the
Oif-timer for that interface in each affected entry
is increased (never decreased) to the Holdtime included
in the Join/Prune message. In addition, if the
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Oif-timer for that interface is increased, the
Oif-Deletion-Delay for that interface is set to 1/3rd
the Holdtime specified in the Join/Prune message.
If the group address in the Join/Prune message is `*'
then every (*,G) and (S,G) entry, whose group address
hashes to the RP indicated in the (*,*,RP) Join/Prune
message, is updated accordingly. A `*' in the group
field of the Join/Prune is represented by a group
address 224.0.0.0 and a group mask length of 4,
indicating a (*,*,RP) Join.
4 If the (Si,G) entry has its RPT-bit flag set to 1, and
its oif list is the same as the (*,G) oif list, then
the (Si,G)RPT-bit entry is deleted,
5 The incoming interface is set to the interface used to
send unicast packets to the RP in the (*,G) route
entry, i.e., RPF interface toward the RP.
2 For each address, Sj, in the join list whose RPT-bit and
WC-bit are not set, and for which there is no existing (Sj,G)
route entry, the router initiates one. The router creates a
(S,G) entry and copies all outgoing interfaces from the
(S,G)RPT-bit entry, if it exists. If there is no (S,G) entry,
the oif list is copied from the (*,G) entry; and if there is
no (*,G) entry, the oif list is copied from the (*,*,RP)
entry, if it exists. In all cases, the iif of the (S,G)
entry is always excluded from the oif list.
1 The outgoing interface for (Sj,G) is set to I. The
incoming interface for (Sj,G) is set to the interface
used to send unicast packets to Sj (i.e., the RPF
neighbor).
2 If the interface used to reach Sj, is the same as I,
this represents an error (or a unicast routing change)
and the Join/Prune must not be processed.
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3 For each address, Sj, in the join list of the Join/Prune
message, for which there is an existing (Sj,G) route entry,
1 If the RPT-bit is not set for Sj listed in the
Join/Prune message, but the RPT-bit flag is set on the
existing (Sj,G) entry, the router clears the RPT-bit
flag on the (Sj,G) entry, sets the incoming interface
to point towards Sj for that (Sj,G) entry, and sends a
Join/Prune message corresponding to that entry through
the new incoming interface; and
2 If I is not the same as the existing incoming
interface, the router adds I to the list of outgoing
interfaces.
3 The Oif-timer for I is increased (never decreased)
to the Holdtime included in the Join/Prune message.
In addition, if the Oif-timer for that interface is
increased, the Oif-Deletion-Delay for that interface
is set to 1/3rd the Holdtime specified in the
Join/Prune message.
4 The (Sj,G) entry's SPT bit is cleared until data comes
down the shortest path tree.
For each group address G, in the Join/Prune message, the associated
prune list is processed as follows. We refer to each address in the
prune list as Sp; Sp refers to the RP if the RPT-bit and WC-bit are
both set. For each Sp in the prune list of the Join/Prune message:
1 For each address, Sp, in the prune list whose RPT-bit and
WC-bit are cleared:
1 If there is an existing (Sp,G) route entry, the router
lowers the Oif-timer for I to its Oif-Deletion-Delay,
allowing for other downstream routers on a multi-
access LAN to override the prune. However, on point-
to-point links, the oif-timer is expired immediately.
2 If the router has a current (*,G), or (*,*,RP), route
entry, and if the existing (Sp,G) entry has its RPT-
bit flag set to 1, then this (Sp,G)RPT-bit entry is
maintained (not deleted) even if its outgoing
interface list is null.
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2 For each address, Sp, in the prune list whose RPT-bit is
set and whose WC-bit cleared:
1 If there is an existing (Sp,G) route entry, the router
lowers the entry's Oif-timer for I to its
Oif-Deletion-Delay, allowing for other downstream
routers on a multi- access LAN to override the prune.
However, on point-to-point links, the oif-timer is
expired immediately.
2 If the router has a current (*,G), or (*,*,RP), route
entry, and if the existing (Sp,G) entry has its
RPT- bit flag set to 1, then this (Sp,G)RPT-bit entry
is not deleted, and the Entry-timer is restarted, even
if its outgoing interface list is null.
3 If (*,G), or corresponding (*,*,RP), state exists, but
there is no (Sp,G) entry, an (Sp,G)RPT-bit entry is
created. The outgoing interface list is copied from the
(*,G), or (*,*,RP), entry, with the interface, I, on
which the prune was received, is deleted. Packets from
the pruned source, Sp, match on this state and are not
forwarded toward the pruned receivers.
4 If there exists a (Sp,G) entry, with or without the
RPT-bit set, the oif-timer for I is expired, and the
Entry-timer is restarted.
3 For each address, Sp, in the prune list whose RPT-bit and
WC-bit are both set:
1 If there is an existing (*,G) entry, with Sp as the RP
for G, the router lowers the entry's Oif-timer for I
to its Oif-Deletion-Delay, allowing for other
downstream routers on a multi-access LAN to override the
prune. However, on point-to-point links, the oif-timer
is expired immediately.
2 If the corresponding (*,*,RP) state exists, but there
is no (*,G) entry, a (*,G) entry is created. The
outgoing interface list is copied from (*,*,RP) entry,
with the interface, I, on which the prune was
received, deleted.
For any new (S,G), (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry created by an
incoming Join/Prune message, the SPT-bit is cleared (and if a
Join/Prune-Suppression timer is used, it is left off.)
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If the entry has a Join/Prune-Suppression timer associated with it,
and if the received Join/Prune does not indicate the router as its
target, then the receiving router examines the join and prune lists
to see if any addresses in the list `completely- match' existing
(S,G), (*,G), or (*,*,RP) state for which the receiving router
currently schedules Join/Prune messages. An element on the join or
prune list `completely-matches' a route entry only if both the IP
addresses and RPT-bit flag are the same. If the incoming Join/Prune
message completely matches an existing (S,G), (*,G), or (*,*,RP)
entry and the Join/Prune arrived on the iif for that entry, then the
router compares the Holdtime included in the Join/Prune message, to
its own [Join/Prune-Holdtime]. If its own [Join/Prune-Holdtime] is
lower, the Join/Prune-Suppression-timer is started at the
[Join/Prune-Suppression-Timeout]. If the [Join/Prune-Holdtime] is
equal, the tie is resolved in favor of the Join/Prune Message
originator that has the higher IP address. When the Join/Prune timer
expires, the router triggers a Join/Prune message for the
corresponding entry(ies).
3.3 Register and Register-Stop
When a source first starts sending to a group its packets are
encapsulated in Register messages and sent to the RP. If the data
rate warrants source-specific paths, the RP sets up source specific
state and starts sending (S,G) Join/Prune messages toward the source,
with S in the join list.
3.3.1 Sending Registers and Receiving Register-Stops
Register messages are sent as follows:
1 When a DR receives a packet from a directly connected
source, S
1 If there is no corresponding (S,G) entry, and the
router has RP-Set information, the DR creates one with
the Register-Suppression-timer turned off and the RP
address set according to the hash function mapping for
the corresponding group. The oif list is copied from
existing (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entries, if they exist. The
iif of the (S,G) entry is always excluded from the oif
list.
2 If there is a (S,G) entry in existence, the DR simply
restarts the corresponding Entry-timer.
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When a PMBR (e.g., a router that connects the PIM-SM region to
a dense mode region running DVMRP or PIM-DM) receives a packet
from a source in the dense mode region, the router treats the
packet as if it were from a directly connected source. A
separate document will describe the details of
interoperability.
2 If the new or previously-existing (S,G) entry's Register-
Suppression-timer is not running, the data packet is
encapsulated in a Register message and unicast to the RP
for that group. The data packet is also forwarded according
to (S,G) state in the DR if the oif list is not null; since
a receiver may join the SP-tree while the DR is still
registering to the RP.
3 If the (S,G) entry's Register-Suppression-timer is running,
the data packet is not sent in a Register message, it is
just forwarded according to the (S,G) oif list.
When the DR receives a Register-Stop message, it restarts the
Register-Suppression-timer in the corresponding (S,G) entry(ies) at
[Register-Suppression-Timeout] seconds. If there is data to be
registered, the DR may send a null Register (a Register message with
a zero-length data portion in the inner IP packet) to the RP,
[Probe-Time] seconds before the Register- Suppression-timer expires,
to avoid sending occasional bursts of traffic to an RP unnecessarily.
3.3.2 Receiving Register Messages and Sending Register-Stops
When a router (i.e., the RP) receives a Register message, the router
does the following:
1 Decapsulates the data packet, and checks for a
corresponding (S,G) entry.
1 If a (S,G) entry with cleared (0) SPT bit exists, and
the received Register does not have the Null-
Register-Bit set to 1, the packet is forwarded; and
the SPT bit is left cleared (0). If the SPT bit is 1,
the packet is dropped, and Register-Stop messages are
triggered. Register-Stops should be rate-limited (in
an implementation-specific manner) so that no more
than a few are sent per round trip time. This prevents
a high datarate stream of packets from triggering a
large number of Register-Stop messages between the
time that the first packet is received and the time
when the source receives the first Register-Stop.
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2 If there is no (S,G) entry, but there is a (*,G)
entry, and the received Register does not have the
Null-Register-Bit set to 1, the packet is forwarded
according to the (*,G) entry.
3 If there is a (*,*,RP) entry but no (*,G) entry, and
the Register received does not have the Null-
Register-Bit set to 1, a (*,G) or (S,G) entry is
created and the oif list is copied from the (*,*,RP)
entry to the new entry. The packet is forwarded
according to the created entry.
4 If there is no G or (*,*,RP) entry corresponding to G,
the packet is dropped, and a Register-Stop is
triggered.
5 A "Border bit" bit is added to the Register message,
to facilitate interoperability mechanisms. PMBRs set
this bit when registering for external sources (see
Section 2.7). If the "Border bit" is set in the
Register, the RP does the following:
1 If there is no matching (S,G) state, but there
exists (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry, the RP creates a
(S,G) entry, with a `PMBR' field. This field
holds the source of the Register (i.e. the outer
IP address of the register packet). The RP
triggers a (S,G) join towards the source of the
data packet, and clears the SPT bit for the (S,G)
entry. If the received Register is not a `null
Register' the packet is forwarded according to
the created state. Else,
2 If the `PMBR' field for the corresponding (S,G)
entry matches the source of the Register packet,
and the received Register is not a `null
Register', the decapsulated packet is forwarded
to the oif list of that entry. Else,
3 If the `PMBR' field for the corresponding (S,G)
entry matches the source of the Register packet,
the decapsulated packet is forwarded to the oif
list of that entry, else
4 The packet is dropped, and a Register-stop is
triggered towards the source of the Register.
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The (S,G) Entry-timer is restarted by Registers arriving from
that source to that group.
2 If the matching (S,G) or (*,G) state contains a null oif
list, the RP unicasts a Register-Stop message to the source
of the Register message; in the latter case, the source-
address field, within the Register-Stop message, is set to
the wildcard value (all 0's). This message is not processed
by intermediate routers, hence no (S,G) state is
constructed between the RP and the source.
3 If the Register message arrival rate warrants it and there
is no existing (S,G) entry, the RP sets up a (S,G) route
entry with the outgoing interface list, excluding iif(S,G),
copied from the (*,G) outgoing interface list, its SPT-bit
is initialized to 0. If a (*,G) entry does not exist, but
there exists a (*,*,RP) entry with the RP corresponding to
G , the oif list for (S,G) is copied -excluding the iif-
from that (*,*,RP) entry.
A timer (Entry-timer) is set for the (S,G) entry and this
timer is restarted by receipt of data packets for (S,G).
The (S,G) entry causes the RP to send a Join/Prune message
for the indicated group towards the source of the register
message.
If the (S,G) oif list becomes null, Join/Prune messages
will not be sent towards the source, S.
3.4 Multicast Data Packet Forwarding
Processing a multicast data packet involves the following steps:
1 Lookup route state based on a longest match of the source
address, and an exact match of the destination address in
the data packet. If neither S, nor G, find a longest match
entry, and the RP for the packet's destination group
address has a corresponding (*,*,RP) entry, then the
longest match does not require an exact match on the
destination group address. In summary, the longest match is
performed in the following order: (1) (S,G), (2) (*,G). If
neither is matched, then a lookup is performed on (*,*,RP)
entries.
2 If the packet arrived on the interface found in the
matching-entry's iif field, and the oif list is not
null:
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1 Forward the packet to the oif list for that entry
and restart the Entry-timer if the matching entry is
(S,G). Optionally, the (S,G) Entry-timer may be
restarted by periodic checking of the matching packet
count.
2 If the entry is a (S,G) entry with a cleared SPT-bit,
and a (*,G) or associated (*,*,RP) also exists whose
incoming interface is different than that for (S,G),
set the SPT-bit for the (S,G) entry and trigger an
(S,G) RPT-bit prune towards the RP.
3 If the source of the packet is a directly-connected
host and the router is the DR on the receiving
interface, check the Register-Suppression-timer
associated with the (S,G) entry. If it is not running,
then the router encapsulates the data packet in a
register message and sends it to the RP.
This covers the common case of a packet arriving on the RPF
interface to the source or RP and being forwarded to all
joined branches. It also detects when packets arrive on the
SP-tree, and triggers their pruning from the RP-tree. If it
is the DR for the source, it sends data packets
encapsulated in Registers to the RPs.
3 If the packet matches to an entry but did not arrive on the
interface found in the entry's iif field, check the
SPT-bit of the entry. If the SPT-bit is set, drop the
packet. If the SPT-bit is cleared, then lookup the (*,G),
or (*,*,RP), entry for G. If the packet arrived on the
iif found in (*,G), or the corresponding (*,*,RP),
forward the packet to the oif list of the matching
entry. This covers the case when a data packet matches on a
(S,G) entry for which the SP-tree has not yet been
completely established upstream.
4 If the packet does not match any entry, but the source of
the data packet is a local, directly-connected host, and
the router is the DR on a multi-access LAN and has RP-Set
information, the DR uses the hash function to determine the
RP associated with the destination group, G. The DR creates
a (S,G) entry, with the Register-Suppression-timer not
running, encapsulates the data packet in a Register message
and unicasts it to the RP.
5 If the packet does not match to any entry, and it is not a
local host or the router is not the DR, drop the packet.
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3.4.1 Data triggered switch to shortest path tree (SP-tree)
Different criteria can be applied to trigger switching over from the
RP-based shared tree to source-specific, shortest path trees.
One proposed example is to do so based on data rate. For example,
when a (*,G), or corresponding (*,*,RP), entry is created, a data rate
counter may be initiated at the last-hop routers. The counter is
incremented with every data packet received for directly connected
members of an SM group, if the longest match is (*,G) or (*,*,RP). If
and when the data rate for the group exceeds a certain configured
threshold (t1), the router initiates `source-specific' data rate
counters for the following data packets. Then, each counter for a
source, is incremented when packets matching on (*,G), or (*,*,RP),
are received from that source. If the data rate from the particular
source exceeds a configured threshold (t2), a (S,G) entry is created
and a Join/Prune message is sent towards the source. If the RPF
interface for (S,G) is not the same as that for (*,G) -or (*,*,RP),
then the SPT-bit is cleared in the (S,G) entry.
Other configured rules may be enforced to cause or prevent
establishment of (S,G) state.
3.5 Assert
Asserts are used to resolve which of the parallel routers connected to
a multi-access LAN is responsible for forwarding packets onto the LAN.
3.5.1 Sending Asserts
The following Assert rules are provided when a multicast packet is
received on an outgoing multi-access interface "I" of an existing
(S,G) entry:
1 Do unicast routing table lookup on source IP address from
data packet, and send assert on interface "I" for source
IP address in data packet; include metric preference of
routing protocol and metric from routing table lookup.
2 If route is not found, use metric preference of 0x7fffffff
and metric 0xffffffff.
When an assert is sent for a (*,G) entry, the first bit in the
metric preference (the RPT-bit) is set to 1, indicating the data
packet is routed down the RP-tree.
Asserts should be rate-limited in an implementation-specific
manner.
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3.5.2 Receiving Asserts
When an Assert is received the router performs a longest match on the
source and group address in the Assert message. The router checks the
first bit of the metric preference (RPT-bit).
1 If the RPT-bit is set, the router first does a match on
(*,G), or (*,*,RP), entries; if no matching entry is found,
it ignores the Assert.
2 If the RPT-bit is not set in the Assert, the router first
does a match on (S,G) entries; if no matching entry is
found, the router matches (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entries.
3.5.2.1 Receiving Asserts on an entry's outgoing interface
If the interface that received the Assert message is in the oif list
of the matched entry, then this Assert is processed by this router as
follows:
1 If the Assert's RPT-bit is set and the matching entry is
(*,*,RP), the router creates a (*,G) entry. If the Assert's
RPT-bit is cleared and the matching entry is (*,G), or
(*,*,RP), the router creates a (S,G)RPT-bit entry.
Otherwise, no new entry is created in response to the
Assert.
2 The router then compares the metric values received in the
Assert with the metric values associated with the matched
entry. The RPT-bit and metric preference (in that order)
are treated as the high-order part of an Assert metric
comparison. If the value in the Assert is less than the
router's value (with ties broken by the IP address, where
higher IP address wins), delete the interface from the
entry. When the deletion occurs for a (*,G) or (*,*,RP)
entry , the interface is also deleted from any associated
(S,G)RPT-bit or (*,G) entries, respectively. The Entry-
timer for the affected entries is restarted.
3 If the router has won the election the router keeps the
interface in its outgoing interface list. It acts as the
forwarder for the LAN.
The winning router sends an Assert message containing its own metric
to that outgoing interface. This will cause other routers on the LAN
to prune that interface from their route entries. The winning router
sets the RPT-bit in the Assert message if a (*,G) or (S,G)RPT-bit
entry was matched.
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3.5.2.2 Receiving Asserts on an entry's incoming interface
If the Assert arrived on the incoming interface of an existing (S,G),
(*,G), or (*,*,RP) entry, the Assert is processed as follows. If the
Assert message does not match the entry, exactly, it is ignored; i.e,
longest-match is not used in this case. If the Assert message does
match exactly, then:
1 Downstream routers will select the upstream router with the
smallest metric preference and metric as their RPF
neighbor. If two metrics are the same, the highest IP
address is chosen to break the tie. This is important so
that downstream routers send subsequent Joins/Prunes (in
SM) to the correct neighbor. An Assert-timer is initiated
when changing the RPF neighbor to the Assert winner. When
the timer expires, the router resets its RPF neighbor
according to its unicast routing tables to capture network
dynamics and router failures.
2 If the downstream routers have downstream members, and if
the Assert caused the RPF neighbor to change, the
downstream routers must trigger a Join/Prune message to
inform the upstream router that packets are to be forwarded
on the multi-access network.
3.6 Candidate-RP-Advertisements and Bootstrap messages
Candidate-RP-Advertisements (C-RP-Advs) are periodic PIM messages
unicast to the BSR by those routers that are configured as
Candidate-RPs (C-RPs).
Bootstrap messages are periodic PIM messages originated by the
Bootstrap router (BSR) within a domain, and forwarded hop-by-hop to
distribute the current RP-set to all routers in that domain.
The Bootstrap messages also support a simple mechanism by which the
Candidate BSR (C-BSR) with the highest BSR-priority and IP address
(referred to as the preferred BSR) is elected as the BSR for the
domain. We recommend that each router configured as a C-RP also be
configured as a C-BSR. Sections 3.6.2 and 3.6.3 describe the combined
function of Bootstrap messages as the vehicle for BSR election and
RP-Set distribution.
A Finite State Machine description of the BSR election and RP- Set
distribution mechanisms is included in Appendix II.
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3.6.1 Sending Candidate-RP-Advertisements
C-RPs periodically unicast C-RP-Advs to the BSR for that domain. The
interval for sending these messages is subject to local configuration
at the C-RP.
Candidate-RP-Advertisements carry group address and group mask
fields. This enables the advertising router to limit the
advertisement to certain prefixes or scopes of groups. The
advertising router may enforce this scope acceptance when receiving
Registers or Join/Prune messages. C-RPs should send C-RP-Adv
messages with the Authoritative bit cleared.
3.6.2 Receiving C-RP-Advs and Originating Bootstrap
Upon receiving a C-RP-Adv, a router does the following:
1 If the router is not the elected BSR, it ignores the
message, else
2 The BSR adds the RP address to its local pool of candidate
RPs, according to the associated group prefix(es) in the
C-RP-Adv message. The Holdtime in the C-RP-Adv message is
also stored with the corresponding RP, to be included later
in the Bootstrap message. The BSR may apply a local
policy to limit the number of Candidate RPs included
in the Bootstrap message. The BSR may override the prefix
indicated in a C-RP-Adv unless the Authoritative bit in the
C-RP-Adv is set.
The BSR keeps an RP-timer per RP in its local RP-set. The RP- timer
is initialized to the Holdtime in the RP's C-RP-Adv. When the timer
expires, the corresponding RP is removed from the RP- set. The RP-
timer is restarted by the C-RP-Advs from the corresponding RP.
The BSR also uses its Bootstrap-timer to periodically send Bootstrap
messages. In particular, when the Bootstrap-timer expires, the BSR
originates an Bootstrap message on each of its PIM interfaces. The
message is sent with a TTL of 1 to the `ALL-PIM-ROUTERS' group. In
steady state, the BSR originates Bootstrap messages periodically. At
startup, the Bootstrap-timer is initialized to [Bootstrap-Timeout],
causing the first Bootstrap message to be originated only when and if
the timer expires. For timer details, see Section 3.6.3. A DR
unicasts a Bootstrap message to each new PIM neighbor, i.e., after
the DR receives the neighbor's Hello message (it does so even if the
new neighbor becomes the DR).
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The Bootstrap message is subdivided into sets of {group- prefix,RP-
Count,RP-addresses}. For each RP-address, the corresponding Holdtime
is included in the "RP-Holdtime" field. The format of the Bootstrap
message allows `semantic fragmentation', if the length of the
original Bootstrap message exceeds the packet maximum boundaries (see
Section 4). However, we recommend against configuring a large number
of routers as C-RPs, to reduce the semantic fragmentation required.
3.6.3 Receiving and Forwarding Bootstrap
Each router keeps a Bootstrap-timer, initialized to [Bootstrap-
Timeout] at startup.
When a router receives Bootstrap message sent to `ALL-PIM- ROUTERS'
group, it performs the following:
1 If the message was not sent by the RPF neighbor towards the
BSR address included, the message is dropped. Else
2 If the included BSR is not preferred over, and not equal
to, the currently active BSR:
1 If the Bootstrap-timer has not yet expired, or if the
receiving router is a C-BSR, then the Bootstrap
message is dropped. Else
2 If the Bootstrap-timer has expired and the receiving
router is not a C-BSR, the receiving router stores the
RP-Set and BSR address and priority found in the
message, and restarts the timer by setting it to
[Bootstrap-Timeout]. The Bootstrap message is then
forwarded out all PIM interfaces, excluding the one
over which the message arrived, to `ALL-PIM-ROUTERS'
group, with a TTL of 1.
3 If the Bootstrap message includes a BSR address that is
preferred over, or equal to, the currently active BSR, the
router restarts its Bootstrap-timer at [Bootstrap-Timeout]
seconds. and stores the BSR address and RP-Set information.
The Bootstrap message is then forwarded out all PIM
interfaces, excluding the one over which the message
arrived, to `ALL-PIM-ROUTERS' group, with a TTL of 1.
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4 If the receiving router has no current RP set information
and the Bootstrap was unicast to it from a directly
connected neighbor, the router stores the information as
its new RP-set. This covers the startup condition when a
newly booted router obtains the RP-Set and BSR address from
its DR.
When a router receives a new RP-Set, it checks if each of the RPs
referred to by existing state (i.e., by (*,G), (*,*,RP), or
(S,G)RPT-bit entries) is in the new RP-Set. If an RP is not in the new
RP-set, that RP is considered unreachable and the hash algorithm (see
below) is re-performed for each group with locally active state that
previously hashed to that RP. This will cause those groups to be
distributed among the remaining RPs. When the new RP-Set contains a
new RP, the value of the new RP is calculated for each group covered
by that C-RP's Group- prefix. Any group for which the new RP's value
is greater than the previously active RP's value is switched over to
the new RP.
3.7 Hash Function
The hash function is used by all routers within a domain, to map a
group to one of the C-RPs from the RP-Set. For a particular group, G,
the hash function uses only those C-RPs whose Group- prefix covers G.
The algorithm takes as input the group address, and the addresses of
the Candidate RPs, and gives as output one RP address to be used.
The protocol requires that all routers hash to the same RP within a
domain (except for transients). The following hash function must be
used in each router:
1 For each RP address C(i) in the RP-Set, whose Group-prefix
covers G, compute a value:
Value(G,M,C(i))=
(1103515245 * ((1103515245 * (G&M)+12345) XOR C(i)) + 12345) mod 2^31
where M is a hash-mask included in Bootstrap messages.
This hash-mask allows a small number of consecutive groups
(e.g., 4) to always hash to the same RP. For instance,
hierarchically-encoded data can be sent on consecutive
group addresses to get the same delay and fate-sharing
characteristics.
2 The candidate with the highest resulting value is then
chosen as the RP for that group, and its identity and hash
value are stored with the entry created.
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Ties between C-RPs having the same hash value, are broken
in advantage of the highest address.
The hash function algorithm is invoked by a DR, upon reception of a
packet, or IGMP membership indication, for a group, for which the DR
has no entry. It is invoked by any router that has (*,*,RP) state when
a packet is received for which there is no corresponding (S,G) or
(*,G) entry. Furthermore, the hash function is invoked by all routers
upon receiving a (*,G) or (*,*,RP) Join/Prune message.
3.8 Processing Timer Events
In this subsection, we enumerate all timers that have been discussed
or implied. Since some critical timer events are not associated with
the receipt or sending of messages, they are not fully covered by
earlier subsections.
Timers are implemented in an implementation-specific manner. For
example, a timer may count up or down, or may simply expire at a
specific time. Setting a timer to a value T means that it will expire
after T seconds.
3.8.1 Timers related to tree maintenance
Each (S,G), (*,G), and (*,*,RP) route entry has multiple timers
associated with it: one for each interface in the outgoing interface
list, one for the multicast routing entry itself, and one optional
Join/Prune-Suppression-Timer. Each (S,G) and (*,G) entry also has an
Assert-timer and a Random-Delay-Join-Timer for use with Asserts. In
addition, DR's have a Register- Suppression-timer for each (S,G) entry
and every router has a single Join/Prune-timer. (A router may
optionally keep separate Join/Prune-timers for different interfaces or
route entries if different Join/Prune periods are desired.)
* [Join/Prune-Timer] This timer is used for periodically
sending aggregate Join/Prune messages. To avoid
synchronization among routers booting simultaneously, it is
initially set to a random value between 1 and [Join/Prune-
Period]. When it expires, the timer is immediately
restarted to [Join/Prune-Period]. A Join/Prune message is
then sent out each interface. This timer should not be
restarted by other events.
* [Join/Prune-Suppression-Timer (kept per route entry)] A
route entry's (optional) Join/Prune-Suppression-Timer may
be used to suppress duplicate joins from multiple
downstream routers on the same LAN. When a Join message is
received from a neighbor on the entry's incoming interface
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in which the included Holdtime is higher than the router's
own [Join/Prune-Holdtime] (with ties broken by higher IP
address), the timer is set to [Join/Prune-Suppression-
Timeout], with some random jitter introduced to avoid
synchronization of triggered Join/Prune messages on
expiration. (The random timeout value must be < 1.5 *
[Join/Prune-Period] to prevent losing data after 2 dropped
Join/Prunes.) The timer is restarted every time a
subsequent Join/Prune message (with higher Holdtime/IP
address) for the entry is received on its incoming
interface. While the timer is running, Join/Prune messages
for the entry are not sent. This timer is idle (not
running) for point-to-point links.
* [Oif-Timer (kept per oif for each route entry)] A timer for
each oif of a route entry is used to time out that oif.
Because some of the outgoing interfaces in an (S,G) entry
are copied from the (*,G) outgoing interface list, they may
not have explicit (S,G) join messages from some of the
downstream routers (i.e., where members are joining to the
(*,G) tree only). Thus, when an Oif-timer is restarted in a
(*,G) entry, the Oif-timer is restarted for that interface
in each existing (S,G) entry whose oif list contains that
interface. The same rule applies to (*,G) and (S,G) entries
when restarting an Oif-timer on a (*,*,RP) entry.
The following table shows its usage when first adding the
oif to the entry's oiflist, when it should be restarted
(unless it is already higher), and when it should be
decreased (unless it is already lower).
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Set to | When | Applies to
-------------------------|------------------------------|------------
included Holdtime | adding oif off Join/Prune | (S,G) (*,G)
| | (*,*,RP)
Increased (only) to | When | Applies to
-------------------------|------------------------------|------------
included Holdtime | received Join/Prune | (S,G) (*,G)
| | (*,*,RP)
| |
Value of (*,*,RP) | (*,*,RP) oif-timer restarted | (S,G) (*,G)
oif-timer | |
| |
Value of (*,G) | (*,G) oif-timer restarted | (S,G)
oif-timer | |
Decreased (only) to | When | Applies to
-------------------------|------------------------------|------------
Oif-Deletion-Delay | prune received | (S,G) (*,G)
When the timer expires, the oif is removed from the oiflist
if there are no directly-connected members. When deleted,
the oif is also removed in any associated (S,G) or (*,G)
entries.
* [Entry-Timer (kept per route entry)] A timer for each route
entry is used to time out that entry. The following table
summarizes its usage when first adding the oif to the
entry's oiflist, and when it should be restarted (unless it
is already higher).
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Set to | When | Applies to
----------------------|--------------------------|------------
[Data- Timeout] | created off data packet | (S,G)
| |
included Holdtime | created off Join/Prune | (S,G) (*,G)
(*,*,RP)
Increased (only) to | When | Applies to
----------------------|--------------------------|------------
[Data-Timeout] | receiving data packets | (S,G)no RPT-bit
| |
Value of oif-timer | any oif-timer restarted | (S,G)RPT-bit (*,G)
| | (*,*,RP)
| |
[Assert-Timeout] | assert received | (S,G)RPT-bit
| | (*,G)w/null oif
When the timer expires, the route entry is deleted; if the
entry is a (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry, all associated
(S,G)RPT-bit entries are also deleted.
* [Register-Suppression-Timer (kept per (S,G) route entry)]
An (S,G) route entry's Register-Suppression-Timer is used
to suppress registers when the RP is receiving data packets
natively. When a Register-Stop message for the entry is
received from the RP, the timer is set to a random value in
the range 0.5 * [Register-Suppression-Timeout] to 1.5 *
[Register-Suppression-Timeout]. While the timer is running,
Registers for that entry will be suppressed. If null
registers are used, a null register is sent [Probe-Time]
seconds before the timer expires.
* [Assert-Timer (per (S,G) or (*,G) route entry)] The
Assert-Timer for an (S,G) or (*,G) route entry is used for
timing out Asserts received. When an Assert is received and
the RPF neighbor is changed to the Assert winner, the
Assert-Timer is set to [Assert-Timeout], and is restarted
to this value every time a subsequent Assert for the entry
is received on its incoming interface. When the timer
expires, the router resets its RPF neighbor according to
its unicast routing table.
* [Random-Delay-Join-Timer (per (S,G) or (*,G) route entry)]
The Random-Delay-Join-Timer for an (S,G) or (*,G) route
entry is used to prevent synchronization among downstream
routers on a LAN when their RPF neighbor changes. When the
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RPF neighbor changes, this timer is set to a random value
between 0 and [Random-Delay-Join-Timeout] seconds. When the
timer expires, a triggered Join/Prune message is sent for
the entry unless its Join/Prune-Suppression-Timer is
running.
3.8.2 Timers relating to neighbor discovery
* [Hello-Timer] This timer is used to periodically send Hello
messages. To avoid synchronization among routers booting
simultaneously, it is initially set to a random value
between 1 and [Hello-Period]. When it expires, the timer is
immediately restarted to [Hello-Period]. A Hello message is
then sent out each interface. This timer should not be
restarted by other events.
* [Neighbor-Timer (kept per neighbor)] A Neighbor-Timer for
each neighbor is used to time out the neighbor state. When
a Hello message is received from a new neighbor, the timer
is initially set to the Holdtime included in the Hello
message (which is equal to the neighbor's value of [Hello-
Holdtime]). Every time a subsequent Hello is received from
that neighbor, the timer is restarted to the Holdtime in
the Hello. When the timer expires, the neighbor state is
removed.
3.8.3 Timers relating to RP information
* [C-RP-Adv-Timer (C-RP's only)] Routers configured as
candidate RP's use this timer to periodically send C-RP-Adv
messages. To avoid synchronization among routers booting
simultaneously, the timer is initially set to a random
value between 1 and [C-RP-Adv-Period]. When it expires, the
timer is immediately restarted to [C-RP-Adv-Period]. A C-
RP-Adv message is then sent to the elected BSR. This timer
should not be restarted by other events.
* [RP-Timer (BSR only, kept per RP in RP-Set)] The BSR uses a
timer per RP in the RP-Set to monitor liveness. When a C-RP
is added to the RP-Set, its timer is set to the Holdtime
included in the C-RP-Adv message from that C-RP (which is
equal to the C-RP's value of [RP-Holdtime]). Every time a
subsequent C-RP-Adv is received from that RP, its timer is
restarted to the Holdtime in the C-RP-Adv. When the timer
expires, the RP is removed from the RP-Set included in
Bootstrap messages.
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* [Bootstrap-Timer] This timer is used by the BSR to
periodically originate Bootstrap messages, and by other
routers to time out the BSR (see 3.6.3). This timer is
initially set to [Bootstrap-Timeout]. A C-BSR restarts
this timer to [Bootstrap-Timeout] upon receiving a Bootstrap
message from a preferred router, and originates an Bootstrap
message and restarts the timer to [Bootstrap-Period] when it
expires. Routers not configured as C-BSR's restart this
timer to [Bootstrap-Timeout] upon receiving a Bootstrap
message from the elected or a more preferred BSR, and ignore
Bootstrap messages from non-preferred C-BSRs while it is
running.
3.8.4 Default timer values
Most of the default timeout values for state information are 3.5
times the refresh period. For example, Hellos refresh Neighbor state
and the default Hello-timer period is 30 seconds, so a default
Neighbor-timer duration of 105 seconds is included in the Holdtime
field of the Hellos. In order to improve convergence, however, the
default timeout value for information related to RP liveness and
Bootstrap messages is 2.5 times the refresh period.
In this version of the spec, we suggest particular numerical timer
settings. A future version of the specification will specify a
mechanism for timer values to be scaled based upon observed network
parameters.
* [Join/Prune-Period] This is the interval between
sending Join/Prune messages. {Default: 60 seconds.} This
value may be set to take into account such things as the
configured bandwidth and expected average number of
multicast route entries for the attached network or link
(e.g., the period would be longer for lower-speed links, or
for routers in the center of the network that expect to
have a larger number of entries ). In addition, a router
could modify this value (and corresponding Join/Prune-
Holdtime value) if the number of route entries changes
significantly (e.g., by an order of magnitude). For
example, given a default minimum Join/Prune-Period value,
if the number of route entries with a particular iif
increases from N to N*100, the router could increase its
Join/Prune-Period (and Join/Prune-Holdtime), for that
interface, by a factor of 10; and if/when the number of
entries decreases back to N, the Join/Prune-Period (and
Join/Prune-Holdtime) could be decreased to its previous
value. If the Join/Prune-Period is modified, these changes
should be made relatively infrequently and the router
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should continue to refresh at its previous Join/Prune-
Period for at least Join/Prune-Holdtime, in order to allow
the upstream router to adapt.
* [Join-Prune Holdtime] This is the Holdtime specified in
Join/Prune messages, and is used to time out oifs. This
should be set to 3.5 * [Join/Prune-Period]. {Default: 210
seconds.}
* [Join/Prune-Suppression-Timeout] This is the mean
interval between receiving a Join/Prune with a higher
Holdtime (with ties broken by higher IP addres) and
allowing duplicate Join/Prunes to be sent again. This
should be set to approximately 1.25 * [Join/Prune-Period].
{Default: 75 seconds. }
* [Data-Timeout] This is the time after which (S,G) state
for a silent source will be deleted. {Default: 210
seconds.}
* [Register-Suppression-Timeout] This is the mean
interval between receiving a Register-Stop and allowing
Registers to be sent again. A lower value means more
frequent register bursts at RP, while a higher value means
longer join latency for new receivers. {Default: 60
seconds.} (Note that if null Registers are sent [Probe-
Time] seconds before the timeout, register bursts are
prevents, and [Register-Suppression-Timeout] may be lowered
to decrease join latency.)
* [Probe-Time] When null Registers are used, this is the
time between sending a null Register and the Register-
Suppression-Timer expiring unless it is restarted by
receiving a Register-Stop. Thus, a null Register would be
sent when the Register-Suppression-Timer reaches this
value. {Default: 5 seconds.}
* [Assert-Timeout] This is the interval between the last
time an Assert is received, and the time at which the
assert is timed out. {Default: 180 seconds.}
* [Random-Delay-Join-Timeout] This is the maximum
interval between the time when the RPF neighbor changes,
and the time at which a triggered Join/Prune message is
sent. {Default: 4.5 seconds.}
* [Hello-Period] This is the interval between sending
Hello messages. {Default: 30 seconds.}
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RFC 2117 PIM-SM June 1997
* [Hello-Holdtime] This is the Holdtime specified in
Hello messages, after which neighbors will time out their
neighbor entries for the router. This should be set to 3.5
* [Hello-Period]. {Default: 105 seconds.}
* [C-RP-Adv-Period] For C-RPs, this is the interval
between sending C-RP-Adv messages. {Default: 60 seconds.}
* [RP-Holdtime] For C-RPs, this is the Holdtime specified
in C-RP-Adv messages, and is used by the BSR to time out
RPs. This should be set to 2.5 * [C-RP-Adv-Period].
{Default: 150 seconds.}
* [Bootstrap-Period] At the elected BSR, this is the
interval between originating Bootstrap messages, and should
be equal to 60 seconds.
* [Bootstrap-Timeout] This is the time after which the
elected BSR will be assumed unreachable when Bootstrap
messages are not received from it. This should be set to
2.5 * [Bootstrap-Period]. {Default: 150 seconds.}
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3.9 Summary of flags used
Following is a summary of all the flags used in our scheme.
Bit | Used in | Definition
Authoritative | C-RP-Adv | Group-prefix information should not be
over-ridden by BSR
Border | Register | Register for external sources is coming
from PIM multicast border router
Null | Register | Register sent as Probe of RP, the
encapsulated IP data packet should not
be forwarded
RPT | Route entry | Entry represents state on the RP-tree
RPT | Join/Prune | Join is associated with the shared tree
and therefore the Join/Prune message is
propagated along the RP-tree (source
encoded is an RP address)
RPT | Assert | The data packet was routed down the shared
tree; thus, the path indicated corresponds
to the RP tree
SPT | (S,G) entry | Packets have arrived on the iif towards S,
and the iif is different from the (*,G)
iif
WC |Join | The receiver expects to receive packets
from all sources via this (shared tree)
path. Thus, the Join/Prune applies to a
(*,G) entry
WC | Route entry | Wildcard entry; if there is no more
specific match for a particular source,
packets will be forwarded according to
this entry
3.10 Security
All PIM control messages may use IPSec [6] to address security
concerns.
4 Packet Formats
This section describes the details of the packet formats for PIM
control messages.
All PIM control messages have protocol number 103.
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Basically, PIM messages are either unicast (e.g. Registers and
Register-Stop), or multicast hop-by-hop to `ALL-PIM-ROUTERS' group
`224.0.0.13' (e.g. Join/Prune, Asserts, etc.).
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PIM Ver
PIM Version number is 2.
Type Types for specific PIM messages. PIM Types are:
0 = Hello
1 = Register
2 = Register-Stop
3 = Join/Prune
4 = Bootstrap
5 = Assert
6 = Graft (used in PIM-DM only)
7 = Graft-Ack (used in PIM-DM only)
8 = Candidate-RP-Advertisement
Addr length
Address length in bytes. Throughout this section this
would indicate the number of bytes in the Address field of
an address, including unicast and group addresses.
Checksum
The checksum is the 16-bit one's complement of the one's
complement sum of the entire PIM message, (excluding the
data portion in the Register message). For computing the
checksum, the checksum field is zeroed.
4.1 Encoded Source and Group Address formats
1 Unicast address: Only the address is included. The length
of the unicast address in bytes is specified in the `Addr
length' field in the header.
2 Encoded-Group-Address: Takes the following format:
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0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Mask Len | Group multicast Address ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ...Group multicast Address ...|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+~+~+~+~+~+~+
Reserved
Transmitted as zero. Ignored upon receipt.
Mask Length
The Mask length is 8 bits. The value is the number of
contiguous bits left justified used as a mask which
describes the address. It is less than or equal to
Addr length * 8. If the message is sent for a single
group then the Mask length must equal Addr length * 8
(i.e. 32 for IPv4 and 128 for IPv6).
Group multicast Address
contains the group address, and has number of bytes
equal to that specified in the Addr length field.
3 Encoded-Source-Address: Takes the following format:
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Rsrvd |S|W|R| Mask Len | Source Address ... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| ... Source Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+~+~+-+
Reserved
Transmitted as zero, ignored on receipt.
S,W,R See Section 4.5 for details.
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Mask Length
Mask length is 8 bits. The value is the number of
contiguous bits left justified used as a mask which
describes the address. The mask length must be less
than or equal to Addr Length * 8. If the message is
sent for a single source then the Mask length must
equal Addr length * 8. In version 2 of PIM, it is
strongly recommended that this field be set to 32 for
IPv4.
Source Address
The address length is indicated from the Addr length
field at the beginning of the header. For IPv4, the
address length is 4 octets.
4.2 Hello Message
It is sent periodically by routers on all interfaces.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OptionType | OptionLength |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OptionValue |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+~+~+
| . |
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OptionType | OptionLength |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OptionValue |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+~+~+
PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
OptionType
The type of the option given in the following OptionValue
field.
OptionLength
The length of the OptionValue field in bytes.
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OptionValue
A variable length field, carrying the value of the option.
The Option fields may contain the following values:
* OptionType = 1; OptionLength = 2; OptionValue = Holdtime;
where Holdtime is the amount of time a receiver must keep
the neighbor reachable, in seconds. If the Holdtime is set
to `0xffff', the receiver of this message never times out
the neighbor. This may be used with ISDN lines, to avoid
keeping the link up with periodic Hello messages.
Furthermore, if the Holdtime is set to `0', the information
is timed out immediately.
* OptionType 2 to 16: reserved
* The rest of the OptionTypes are defined in another
document.
In general, options may be ignored; but a router must not ignore the
'Holdtime' OptionType.
4.3 Register Message
A Register message is sent by the DR or a PMBR to the RP when a
multicast packet needs to be transmitted on the RP-tree. Source IP
address is set to the address of the DR, destination IP address is to
the RP's address.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|B|N| Reserved |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
~ Multicast data packet ~
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above. {Note that the checksum for Registers
is done only on the PIM header, excluding the data packet
portion.}
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B The Border bit. If the router is a DR for a source that it
is directly connected to, it sets the B bit to 0. If the
router is a PMBR for a source in a directly connected
cloud, it sets the B bit to 1.
N The Null-Register bit. Set to 1 by a DR that is probing
the RP before expiring its local Register-Suppression
timer. Set to 0 otherwise.
Multicast data packet
The original packet sent by the source.
For (S,G) null Registers, the Multicast data packet portion contains
only a dummy IP header with S as the source address, G as the
destination address, and a data length of zero.
4.4 Register-Stop Message
A Register-Stop is unicast from the RP to the sender of the
Register message. Source IP address is the address to which the
register was addressed. Destination IP address is the source
address of the register message.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-Source Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
Encoded-Group Address
Format described above. Note that for Register-Stops the
Mask Len field contains Addr length * 8 (32 for IPv4), if
the message is sent for a single group.
Unicast-Source Address
IP host address of source from multicast data packet in
register. The length of this field in bytes is specified in
the Addr length field. A special wild card value (0.0.0.0),
can be used to indicate any source.
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4.5 Join/Prune Message
A Join/Prune message is sent by routers towards upstream sources and
RPs. Joins are sent to build shared trees (RP trees) or source trees
(SPT). Prunes are sent to prune source trees when members leave
groups as well as sources that do not use the shared tree.
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0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-Upstream Neighbor Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Num groups | Holdtime |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Multicast Group Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Number of Joined Sources | Number of Pruned Sources |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Joined Source Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Joined Source Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Pruned Source Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Pruned Source Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Multicast Group Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Number of Joined Sources | Number of Pruned Sources |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Joined Source Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Joined Source Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Pruned Source Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Pruned Source Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
Upstream Neighbor Address
The IP address of the RPF or upstream neighbor.
Reserved
Transmitted as zero, ignored on receipt.
Holdtime
The amount of time a receiver must keep the Join/Prune
state alive, in seconds. If the Holdtime is set to
`0xffff', the receiver of this message never times out the
oif. This may be used with ISDN lines, to avoid keeping the
link up with periodical Join/Prune messages. Furthermore,
if the Holdtime is set to `0', the information is timed out
immediately.
Number of Groups
The number of multicast group sets contained in the
message.
Encoded-Multicast group address
For format description see Section
4.1. A wild card group in the (*,*,RP) join is represented
by a 224.0.0.0 in the group address field and `4' in the
mask length field. A (*,*,RP) join also has the WC-bit and
the RPT-bit set.
Number of Joined Sources
Number of join source addresses listed for a given group.
Join Source Address-1 .. n
This list contains the sources that the sending router
will forward multicast datagrams for if received on the
interface this message is sent on.
See format section 4.1. The fields explanation for the
Encoded-Source-Address format follows:
Reserved
Described above.
S The Sparse bit is a 1 bit value, set to 1 for PIM-SM.
It is used for PIM v.1 compatibility.
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W The WC bit is a 1 bit value. If 1, the join or prune
applies to the (*,G) or (*,*,RP) entry. If 0, the join
or prune applies to the (S,G) entry where S is Source
Address. Joins and prunes sent towards the RP must
have this bit set.
R The RPT-bit is a 1 bit value. If 1, the information
about (S,G) is sent towards the RP. If 0, the
information must be sent toward S, where S is the
Source Address.
Mask Length, Source Address
Described above.
Represented in the form of < WC-bit >< RPT-bit > < Mask length
>:
A source address could be a host IP address :
< 0 >< 0 >< 32 >< 192.1.1.17 >
A source address could be the RP's IP address :
< 1 >< 1 >< 32 >< 131.108.13.111 >
A source address could be a subnet address to prune from the
RP-tree :
< 0 >< 1 >< 28 >< 192.1.1.16 >
A source address could be a general aggregate :
< 0 >< 0 >< 16 >< 192.1.0.0 >
Number of Pruned Sources
Number of prune source addresses listed for a group.
Prune Source Address-1 .. n
This list contains the sources that the sending router
does not want to forward multicast datagrams for when
received on the interface this message is sent on. If the
Join/Prune message boundary exceeds the maximum packet
size, then the join and prune lists for the same group must
be included in the same packet.
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4.6 Bootstrap Message
The Bootstrap messages are multicast to `ALL-PIM-ROUTERS' group, out
all interfaces having PIM neighbors (excluding the one over which the
message was received). Bootstrap messages are sent with TTL value of
1. Bootstrap messages originate at the BSR, and are forwarded by
intermediate routers.
Bootstrap message is divided up into `semantic fragments', if the
original message exceeds the maximum packet size boundaries.
The semantics of a single `fragment' is given below:
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0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Fragment Tag | Hash Mask len | BSR-priority |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-BSR-Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RP-Count-1 | Frag RP-Cnt-1 | Reserved |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-RP-Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RP1-Holdtime | Unicast- . . . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . . . RP-Address-2 | RP2-Holdtime |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-RP-Address-m |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RPm-Holdtime | Encoded- . . . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . . . Group Address-2 . . . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RP-Count-m | Frag RP-Cnt-m | Reserved |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-RP-Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RP1-Holdtime | Unicast- . . . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . . . RP-Address-2 | RP2-Holdtime |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-RP-Address-m |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| RPm-Holdtime |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
Fragment Tag
A randomly generated number, acts to distinguish the
fragments belonging to different Bootstrap messages;
fragments belonging to same Bootstrap message carry the
same `Fragment Tag'.
Hash Mask len
The length (in bits) of the mask to use in the hash
function. For IPv4 we recommend a value of 30. For IPv6 we
recommend a value of 126.
BSR-priority
Contains the BSR priority value of the included BSR. This
field is considered as a high order byte when comparing BSR
addresses.
Unicast-BSR-Address
The IP address of the bootstrap router for the domain. The
length of this field in bytes is specified in Addr length.
Encoded-Group Address-1..n
The group prefix (address and mask) with which the
Candidate RPs are associated. Format previously described.
RP-Count-1..n
The number of Candidate RP addresses included in the whole
Bootstrap message for the corresponding group prefix. A
router does not replace its old RP-Set for a given group
prefix until/unless it receives `RP-Count' addresses for
that prefix; the addresses could be carried over several
fragments. If only part of the RP-Set for a given group
prefix was received, the router discards it, without
updating that specific group prefix's RP-Set.
Frag RP-Cnt-1..m
The number of Candidate RP addresses included in this
fragment of the Bootstrap message, for the corresponding
group prefix. The `Frag RP-Cnt' field facilitates parsing
of the RP-Set for a given group prefix, when carried over
more than one fragment.
Unicast-RP-address-1..m
The address of the Candidate RPs, for the corresponding
group prefix. The length of this field in bytes is
specified in Addr length.
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RP1..m-Holdtime
The Holdtime for the corresponding RP. This field is copied
from the `Holdtime' field of the associated RP stored at
the BSR.
4.7 Assert Message
The Assert message is sent when a multicast data packet is received
on an outgoing interface corresponding to the (S,G) or (*,G)
associated with the source.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-Source Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|R| Metric Preference |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Metric |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
Encoded-Group Address
The group address to which the data packet was addressed,
and which triggered the Assert. Format previously
described.
Unicast-Source Address
Source IP address from IP multicast datagram that
triggered the Assert packet to be sent. The length of this
field in bytes is specified in Addr length.
R RPT-bit is a 1 bit value. If the IP multicast datagram
that triggered the Assert packet is routed down the RP
tree, then the RPT-bit is 1; if the IP multicast datagram
is routed down the SPT, it is 0.
Metric Preference
Preference value assigned to the unicast routing protocol
that provided the route to Host address.
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Metric The unicast routing table metric. The metric is in units
applicable to the unicast routing protocol used.
4.8 Graft Message
Used in dense-mode. Refer to PIM dense mode specification.
4.9 Graft-Ack Message
Used in dense-mode. Refer to PIM dense mode specification.
4.10 Candidate-RP-Advertisement
Candidate-RP-Advertisements are periodically unicast from the C-RPs
to the BSR.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|PIM Ver| Type | Addr length | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Prefix-Cnt |A| Reserved | Holdtime |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Unicast-RP-Address |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address-1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| . |
| . |
| . |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Encoded-Group Address-n |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PIM Version, Type, Addr length, Checksum
Described above.
Prefix-Cnt
The number of encoded group addresses included in the
message; indicating the group prefixes for which the C-RP
is advertising. A Prefix-Cnt of `0' implies a prefix of
224.0.0.0 with mask length of 4; i.e. all multicast groups.
If the C-RP is not configured with Group-prefix
information, the C-RP puts a default value of `0' in this
field.
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RFC 2117 PIM-SM June 1997
A The Authoritative bit. This bit indicates that the BSR
should not override the group-prefix information indicated
in the C-RP Advertisement. In most cases C-RPs set this bit
to 0.
Holdtime
The amount of time the advertisement is valid. This field
allows advertisements to be aged out.
Unicast-RP-Address
The address of the interface to advertise as a Candidate
RP. The length of this field in bytes is specified in Addr
length.
Encoded-Group Address-1..n
The group prefixes for which the C-RP is advertising.
Format previously described.
5 Acknowledgments
Tony Ballardie, Scott Brim, Jon Crowcroft, Bill Fenner, Paul Francis,
Joel Halpern, Horst Hodel, Polly Huang, Stephen Ostrowski, Lixia
Zhang and Girish Chandranmenon provided detailed comments on previous
drafts. The authors of CBT [7] and membership of the IDMR WG provided
many of the motivating ideas for this work and useful feedback on
design details.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, ARPA,
cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems.
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6 Appendices
6.1 Appendix I: Major Changes and Updates to the Spec
This appendix populates the major changes in the specification
document as compared to `draft-ietf-idmr-pim-spec-01.ps,txt'.
* Major Changes
List of changes since March '96 IETF:
(*,*,RP) Joins state and data forwarding check; replaces (*,G-
Prefix) Joins state for interoperability. (*,G) negative cache
introduced for the (*,*,RP) state supporting mechanisms.
Semantic fragmentation for the Bootstrap message.
Refinement of Assert details.
Addition and refinement of Join/Prune suppression and Register
suppression (introduction of null Registers).
Editorial changes and clarifications to the timers section.
Addition of Appendix II (BSR Election and RP-Set Distribution), and
Appendix III (Glossary of Terms).
Addition of table of contents.
List of changes incurred since version 1 of the spec.:
Proposal and refinement of bootstrap router (BSR) election mechanisms
Introduction of hash functions for Group to RP mapping
New RP-liveness indication mechanisms based upon the the Bootstrap
Router (BSR) and the Bootstrap messages.
Removal of reachability messages, RP reports and multiple RPs per
group.
* Packet Format Changes
Packet Format incurred updates to accommodate different address
lengths, and address aggregation.
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1 The `Addr length' field was added to the PIM fixed header
to specify the address length in bytes of the underlying
protocol, see section 4.
2 The Encoded source and group address formats were
introduced, with the use of a `Mask length' field to allow
aggregation, section 4.1.
3 Packet formats are no longer IGMP messages; rather PIM
messages.
PIM message types and formats were also modified:
[Note: most changes were made to the May 95 version, unless otherwise
specified].
1 Obsolete messages:
Register-Ack [Feb. 96]
Poll and Poll Response [Feb. 96]
RP-Reachability [Feb. 96]
RPlist-Mapping [Feb. 96]
2 New messages:
Candidate-RP-Advertisement [change made in October 95]
RP-Set [Feb. 96]
3 Modified messages:
Join/Prune [Feb. 96]
Register [Feb. 96]
Register-Stop [Feb. 96]
Hello (addition of OptionTypes) [Aug 96]
4 Renamed messages:
Query messages are renamed as Hello messages [Aug. 96]
RP-Set messages are renamed as Bootstrap messages [Aug. 96]
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6.2 Appendix II: BSR Election and RP-Set Distribution
For simplicity, the Bootstrap message is used in both the BSR election
and the RP-Set distribution.
The above two mechanisms; the BSR election, and the RP-Set
distribution; are realized through the following state machine,
illustrated in figure 4:
[Figures are present only in the postscript version]
Fig. 4 State Diagram for the BSR election and RP-Set
distribution mechanisms
The protocol transitions for a C-BSR are given in state diagram (a).
For routers not configured as C-BSRs, the protocol transitions are
given in state diagram (b).
Each PIM router keeps a Bootstrap-timer, initialized to
[Bootstrap-Timeout], in addition to a local BSR field `LclBSR'
(initialized to a local address if C-BSR, or to 0 otherwise), and a
local RP-Set `LclRP-Set' (initially empty). The two main stimuli to
the state machine are the timer events, and receiving an Bootstrap
message:
* Initial States and Timer Events
1 If the router is a C-BSR:
1 The router operates initially in the `CandBSR' state, where
it does not originate any Bootstrap messages.
2 If the Bootstrap-timer expires, and the current state is
`CandBSR', the router originates an Bootstrap message -
carrying the local RP-Set, and its own BSR priority and
address-, restarts the Bootstrap-timer at [Bootstrap-
Period] seconds and transits into the `ElectedBSR' state.
3 If the Bootstrap-timer expires, and the current state is
`ElectedBSR', the router originates an Bootstrap message,
and restarts the RP-Set timer at [Bootstrap-Period]. No
state transition is incurred.
This way, the elected BSR originates periodic Bootstrap
messages every [Bootstrap-Period].
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2 If a router is not a C-BSR:
1 The router operates initially in the 'AxptAny' state. In
such state, a router accepts the first Bootstrap message
from the RPF neighbor toward the included BSR. The Reverse
Path Forwarding (RPF) neighbor in this case is the next hop
router en route to the included BSR.
2 If the Bootstrap-timer expires, and the current state is
`AxptPref', -where the router accepts only preferred.
Bootstrap messages from the RPF neighbor toward the
included BSR-, the router transits into the `AxptAny'
state (preferred Bootstrap messages are those that carry
BSR-priority and address higher than, or equal to,
`LclBSR').
In this case, if an elected BSR becomes unreachable, the
routers start accepting Bootstrap messages from another C-
BSR after the Bootstrap-timer expires. All PIM routers
within a domain converge on the preferred (with highest
priority and address) reachable C-BSR.
* Receiving Bootstrap Message
To avoid loops, an RPF check is performed on the included BSR address.
Upon receiving an Bootstrap message from the RPF neighbor toward the
included BSR, the following actions are taken:
1 If the router is not a C-BSR:
1 If the current state is 'AxptAny', the router accepts the
Bootstrap message, and transits into the 'AxptPref' state.
2 If the current state is 'AxptPref', and the Bootstrap
message is preferred, the message is accepted. No state
transition is incurred.
2 If the router is a C-BSR, and the Bootstrap message is
preferred, the message is accepted. Further, if this happens
when the current state is
When an Bootstrap message is accepted, the router restarts the
Bootstrap-timer at [Bootstrap-Timeout], stores the received BSR
priority and address in `LclBSR', and the received RP-Set in
`LclRP-Set', and forwards the Bootstrap message out all interfaces
except the receiving interface.
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If an Bootstrap message is rejected, no state transitions are
triggered.
6.3 Appendix III: Glossary of Terms
Following is an alphabetized list of terms and definitions used
throughout this specification.
* {Bootstrap router (BSR)}. A BSR is a dynamically elected router
within a PIM domain. It is responsible for constructing the RP-
Set and originating Bootstrap messages.
* {Candidate-BSR (C-BSR)}. A C-BSR is a router configured to
participate in the BSR election and act as BSRs if elected.
* {Candidate RP (C-RP)}. A C-RP is a router configured to send
periodic Candidate-RP-Advertisement messages to the BSR, and act
as an RP when it receives Join/Prune or Register messages for
the advertised group prefix.
* {Designated Router (DR)}. The DR sets up multicast route
entries and sends corresponding Join/Prune and Register messages
on behalf of directly-connected receivers and sources,
respectively. The DR may or may not be the same router as the
IGMP Querier. The DR may or may not be the long-term, last-hop
router for the group; a router on the LAN that has a lower
metric route to the data source, or to the group's RP, may take
over the role of sending Join/Prune messages.
* {Incoming interface (iif)}. The iif of a multicast route entry
indicates the interface from which multicast data packets are
accepted for forwarding. The iif is initialized when the entry
is created.
* {Join list}. The Join list is one of two lists of addresses that
is included in a Join/Prune message; each address refers to a
source or RP. It indicates those sources or RPs to which
downstream receiver(s) wish to join.
* {Last-hop router}. The last-hop router is the last router to
receive multicast data packets before they are delivered to
directly-connected member hosts. In general the last-hop router
is the DR for the LAN. However, under various conditions
described in this document a parallel router connected to the
same LAN may take over as the last-hop router in place of the
DR.
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* {Outgoing interface (oif) list}. Each multicast route entry has
an oif list containing the outgoing interfaces to which
multicast packets should be forwarded.
* {Prune List}. The Prune list is the second list of addresses
that is included in a Join/Prune message. It indicates those
sources or RPs from which downstream receiver(s) wish to prune.
* {PIM Multicast Border Router (PMBR)}. A PMBR connects a PIM
domain to other multicast routing domain(s).
* {Rendezvous Point (RP)}. Each multicast group has a shared-tree
via which receivers hear of new sources and new receivers hear
of all sources. The RP is the root of this per-group shared
tree, called the RP-Tree.
* {RP-Set}. The RP-Set is a set of RP addresses constructed by
the BSR based on Candidate-RP advertisements received. The RP-
Set information is distributed to all PIM routers in the BSR's
PIM domain.
* {Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF)}. RPF is used to select the
appropriate incoming interface for a multicast route entry . The
RPF neighbor for an IP address X is the the next-hop router used
to forward packets toward X. The RPF interface is the interface
to that RPF neighbor. In the common case this is the next hop
used by the unicast routing protocol for sending unicast packets
toward X. For example, in cases where unicast and multicast
routes are not congruent, it can be different.
* {Route entry.} A multicast route entry is state maintained in a
router along the distribution tree and is created, and updated
based on incoming control messages. The route entry may be
different from the forwarding entry; the latter is used to
forward data packets in real time. Typically a forwarding entry
is not created until data packets arrive, the forwarding entry's
iif and oif list are copied from the route entry, and the
forwarding entry may be flushed and recreated at will.
* {Shortest path tree (SPT)}. The SPT is the multicast
distribution tree created by the merger of all of the shortest
paths that connect receivers to the source (as determined by
unicast routing).
* {Sparse Mode (SM)}. SM is one mode of operation of a multicast
protocol. PIM SM uses explicit Join/Prune messages and
Rendezvous points in place of Dense Mode PIM's and DVMRP's
broadcast and prune mechanism.
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* {Wildcard (WC) multicast route entry}. Wildcard multicast route
entries are those entries that may be used to forward packets
for any source sending to the specified group. Wildcard bots in
the join list of a Join/Prune message represent either a (*,G)
or (*,*,RP) join; in the prune list they represent a (*,G)
prune.
* {(S,G) route entry}. (S,G) is a source-specific route entry. It
may be created in response to data packets, Join/Prune messages,
or Asserts. The (S,G) state in routers creates a source-rooted,
shortest path (or reverse shortest path) distribution tree.
(S,G)RPT bit entries are source-specific entries on the shared
RP-Tree; these entries are used to prune particular sources off
of the shared tree.
* {(*,G) route entry}. Group members join the shared RP-Tree for
a particular group. This tree is represented by (*,G) multicast
route entries along the shortest path branches between the RP
and the group members.
* {(*,*,RP) route entry}. (*,*,RP) refers to any source and any
multicast group that maps to the RP included in the entry. The
routers along the shortest path branches between a domain's
RP(s) and its PMBRs keep (*,*,RP) state and use it to determine
how to deliver packets toward the PMBRs if data packets arrive
for which there is not a longer match. The wildcard group in the
(*,*,RP) route entry is represented by a group address of
224.0.0.0 and a mask length of 4 bits.
References
1. Deering, S., D.Estrin, D.Farinacci, V.Jacobson, C.Liu, L.Wei,
P.Sharma, and A.Helmy. Protocol independent multicast (pim) :
Motivation and architecture. Work in Progress.
2. Deering, S., D.Estrin, D.Farinacci, V.Jacobson, C.Liu, and L.Wei.
The pim architecture for wide-area multicast routing.
ACM Transactions on Networks, April 1996.
3. Estrin, D., D.Farinacci, V.Jacobson, C.Liu, L.Wei, P.Sharma, and
A.Helmy. Protocol independent multicast-dense mode (pim-dm) :
Protocol specification. Work in Progress.
4. Deering, S. Host extensions for ip multicasting, Aug 1989. RFC1112.
Estrin, et. al. Experimental [Page 64]
RFC 2117 PIM-SM June 1997
5. Fenner, W. Internet group management protocol, version 2.
Work in Progress.
6. Atkinson, R. Security architecture for the internet protocol,
August 1995. RFC-1825.
7. Ballardie, A.J., P.F. Francis, and J.Crowcroft. Core based trees.
In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM, San Francisco, 1993.
Addresses of Authors:
Deborah Estrin
Computer Science Dept/ISI
University of Southern Calif.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
estrin@usc.edu
Dino Farinacci
Cisco Systems Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive,
San Jose, CA 95134
dino@cisco.com
Ahmed Helmy
Computer Science Dept.
University of Southern Calif.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
ahelmy@catarina.usc.edu
David Thaler
EECS Department
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
thalerd@eecs.umich.edu
Stephen Deering
Xerox PARC
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
deering@parc.xerox.com
Estrin, et. al. Experimental [Page 65]
RFC 2117 PIM-SM June 1997
Mark Handley
Department of Computer Science
University College London
Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
UK
m.handley@cs.ucl.ac.uk
Van Jacobson
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
van@ee.lbl.gov
Ching-gung Liu
Computer Science Dept.
University of Southern Calif.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
charley@catarina.usc.edu
Puneet Sharma
Computer Science Dept.
University of Southern Calif.
Los Angeles, CA 90089
puneet@catarina.usc.edu
Liming Wei
Cisco Systems Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive,
San Jose, CA 95134
lwei@cisco.com
Estrin, et. al. Experimental [Page 66]
