OWAMP

This document defines extensions to the One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP) and the Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) to implement performance measurement on every member link of a Link Aggregation Group (LAG). Knowing the measured metrics of each member link of a LAG enables operators to enforce the performance-based traffic steering policy across the member links.

This memo explains the motivation and describes the reassignment of well-known ports for the One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP) and the Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) for control and measurement. It also clarifies the meaning and composition of these Standards Track protocol names for the industry.

This memo updates RFCs 4656 and 5357, in terms of the UDP well-known port assignments, and it clarifies the complete OWAMP and TWAMP protocol composition for the industry.

The One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP) and the Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) are used for performance monitoring in IP networks. Delay measurement is performed in these protocols by using timestamped test packets. Some implementations use hardware-based timestamping engines that integrate the accurate transmission time into every outgoing OWAMP/TWAMP test packet during transmission. Since these packets are transported over UDP, the UDP Checksum field is then updated to reflect this modification. This document proposes to use the last 2 octets of every test packet as a Checksum Complement, allowing timestamping engines to reflect the checksum modification in the last 2 octets rather than in the UDP Checksum field. The behavior defined in this document is completely interoperable with existing OWAMP/TWAMP implementations.

The One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP) and Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) security mechanisms require that both the client and server endpoints possess a shared secret. This document describes the use of keys derived from an IKEv2 security association (SA) as the shared key in OWAMP or TWAMP. If the shared key can be derived from the IKEv2 SA, OWAMP or TWAMP can support certificate-based key exchange; this would allow for more operational flexibility and efficiency. The key derivation presented in this document can also facilitate automatic key management.

This memo describes the registries for OWAMP -- the One-Way Active Measurement Protocol. The registries allow assignment of Mode bit positions and OWAMP Command numbers. Per this memo, IANA has established the registries for new features, called the OWAMP-Modes registry and the OWAMP Control Command Number registry. This memo updates RFC 4656.

The One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP) measures unidirectional characteristics such as one-way delay and one-way loss. High-precision measurement of these one-way IP performance metrics became possible with wider availability of good time sources (such as GPS and CDMA). OWAMP enables the interoperability of these measurements. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

With growing availability of good time sources to network nodes, it becomes increasingly possible to measure one-way IP performance metrics with high precision. To do so in an interoperable manner, a common protocol for such measurements is required. This document specifies requirements for a one-way active measurement protocol (OWAMP) standard. The protocol can measure one-way delay, as well as other unidirectional characteristics, such as one-way loss. This memo provides information for the Internet community.