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[Text version]
Network Working Group
Request for Comments: 3940
Category: ExperimentalB. Adamson
NRL
C. Bormann
Universitaet Bremen TZI
M. Handley
UCL
J. Macker
NRL
November 2004
- Status of this Memo
- This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright © The Internet Society (2004).
- Abstract
- This document describes the messages and procedures of the Negative- acknowledgment (NACK) Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) protocol. This protocol is designed to provide end-to-end reliable transport of bulk data objects or streams over generic IP multicast routing and forwarding services. NORM uses a selective, negative acknowledgment mechanism for transport reliability and offers additional protocol mechanisms to allow for operation with minimal "a priori" coordination among senders and receivers. A congestion control scheme is specified to allow the NORM protocol to fairly share available network bandwidth with other transport protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). It is capable of operating with both reciprocal multicast routing among senders and receivers and with asymmetric connectivity (possibly a unicast return path) between the senders and receivers. The protocol offers a number of features to allow different types of applications or possibly other higher level transport protocols to utilize its service in different ways. The protocol leverages the use of FEC-based repair and other IETF reliable multicast transport (RMT) building blocks in its design.
- Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Applicability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1. NORM Delivery Service Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.2. NORM Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.3. Environmental Requirements and Considerations. . . . . . 7 2. Architecture Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.1. Protocol Operation Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2. Protocol Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.3. Design Tradeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3. Conformance Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4. Message Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 4.1. NORM Common Message Header and Extensions. . . . . . . . 14 4.2. Sender Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4.2.1. NORM_DATA Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4.2.2. NORM_INFO Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 4.2.3. NORM_CMD Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.3. Receiver Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4.3.1. NORM_NACK Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4.3.2. NORM_ACK Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4.4. General Purpose Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.4.1. NORM_REPORT Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 5. Detailed Protocol Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 5.1. Sender Initialization and Transmission . . . . . . . . . 54 5.1.1. Object Segmentation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . 55 5.2. Receiver Initialization and Reception. . . . . . . . . . 57 5.3. Receiver NACK Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 5.4. Sender NACK Processing and Response. . . . . . . . . . . 59 5.4.1. Sender Repair State Aggregation . . . . . . . . . 60 5.4.2. Sender FEC Repair Transmission Strategy . . . . . 61 5.4.3. Sender NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) Generation . . . . . . . 62 5.4.4. Sender NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) Generation. . . . . . 62 5.5. Additional Protocol Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 5.5.1. Greatest Round-trip Time Collection . . . . . . . 63 5.5.2. NORM Congestion Control Operation . . . . . . . . 64 5.5.3. NORM Positive Acknowledgment Procedure. . . . . . 72 5.5.4. Group Size Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 8. Suggested Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 9. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 10. References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 10.1. Normative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 10.2. Informative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 11. Authors' Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Full Copyright Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80- 1. Introduction and Applicability
- The Negative-acknowledgment (NACK) Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) protocol is designed to provide reliable transport of data from one or more sender(s) to a group of receivers over an IP multicast network. The primary design goals of NORM are to provide efficient, scalable, and robust bulk data (e.g., computer files, transmission of persistent data) transfer across possibly heterogeneous IP networks and topologies. The NORM protocol design provides support for distributed multicast session participation with minimal coordination among senders and receivers. NORM allows senders and receivers to dynamically join and leave multicast sessions at will with minimal overhead for control information and timing synchronization among participants. To accommodate this capability, NORM protocol message headers contain some common information allowing receivers to easily synchronize to senders throughout the lifetime of a reliable multicast session. NORM is designed to be self-adapting to a wide range of dynamic network conditions with little or no pre- configuration. The protocol is purposely designed to be tolerant of inaccurate timing estimations or lossy conditions that may occur in many networks including mobile and wireless. The protocol is also designed to exhibit convergence and efficient operation even in situations of heavy packet loss and large queuing or transmission delays.
This document is a product of the IETF RMT WG and follows the guidelines provided in RFC 3269 [1]. The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119 [2].
- Statement of Intent
- This memo contains part of the definitions necessary to fully specify a Reliable Multicast Transport protocol in accordance with RFC 2357. As per RFC 2357, the use of any reliable multicast protocol in the Internet requires an adequate congestion control scheme.
While waiting for such a scheme to be available, or for an existing scheme to be proven adequate, the Reliable Multicast Transport working group (RMT) publishes this Request for Comments in the "Experimental" category.
It is the intent of RMT to re-submit this specification as an IETF Proposed Standard as soon as the above condition is met.
- 1.1. NORM Delivery Service Model
- A NORM protocol instance (NormSession) is defined within the context of participants communicating connectionless (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP)) packets over a network using pre-determined addresses and host port numbers. Generally, the participants exchange packets using an IP multicast group address, but unicast transport may also be established or applied as an adjunct to multicast delivery. In the case of multicast, the participating NormNodes will communicate using a common IP multicast group address and port number that has been chosen via means outside the context of the given NormSession. Other IETF data format and protocol standards exist that may be applied to describe and convey the required "a priori" information for a specific NormSession (e.g., Session Description Protocol (SDP) [7], Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) [8], etc.).
The NORM protocol design is principally driven by the assumption of a single sender transmitting bulk data content to a group of receivers. However, the protocol MAY operate with multiple senders within the context of a single NormSession. In initial implementations of this protocol, it is anticipated that multiple senders will transmit independent of one another and receivers will maintain state as necessary for each sender. However, in future versions of NORM, it is possible that some aspects of protocol operation (e.g., round-trip time collection) may provide for alternate modes allowing more efficient performance for applications requiring multiple senders.
NORM provides for three types of bulk data content objects (NormObjects) to be reliably transported. These types include:
1) static computer memory data content (NORM_OBJECT_DATA type),
3) non-finite streams of continuous data content (NORM_OBJECT_STREAM type).The distinction between NORM_OBJECT_DATA and NORM_OBJECT_FILE is simply to provide a "hint" to receivers in NormSessions serving multiple types of content as to what type of storage should be allocated for received content (i.e., memory or file storage). Other than that distinction, the two are identical, providing for reliable transport of finite (but potentially very large) units of content. These static data and file services are anticipated to be useful for multicast-based cache applications with the ability to reliably provide transmission of large quantities of static data. Other types of static data/file delivery services might make use of these transport object types, too. The use of the NORM_OBJECT_STREAM type is at the application's discretion and could be used to carry static data or file content also. The NORM reliable stream service opens up additional possibilities such as serialized reliable messaging or other unbounded, perhaps dynamically produced content. The NORM_OBJECT_STREAM provides for reliable transport analogous to that of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), although NORM receivers will be able to begin receiving stream content at any point in time. The applicability of this feature will depend upon the application.
The NORM protocol also allows for a small amount of "out-of-band" data (sent as NORM_INFO messages) to be attached to the data content objects transmitted by the sender. This readily-available "out-of- band" data allows multicast receivers to quickly and efficiently determine the nature of the corresponding data, file, or stream bulk content being transmitted. This allows application-level control of the receiver node's participation in the current transport activity. This also allows the protocol to be flexible with minimal pre- coordination among senders and receivers. The NORM_INFO content is designed to be atomic in that its size MUST fit into the payload portion of a single NORM message.
NORM does _not_ provide for global or application-level identification of data content within in its message headers. Note the NORM_INFO out-of-band data mechanism could be leveraged by the application for this purpose if desired, or identification could alternatively be embedded within the data content. NORM does identify transmitted content (NormObjects) with transport identifiers that are applicable only while the sender is transmitting and/or repairing the given object. These transport data content identifiers (NormTransportIds) are assigned in a monotonically increasing fashion by each NORM sender during the course of a NormSession. Each sender maintains its NormTransportId assignments independently so that individual NormObjects may be uniquely identified during transport with the concatenation of the sender session-unique identifier (NormNodeId) and the assigned NormTransportId. The NormTransportIds are assigned from a large, but fixed, numeric space in increasing order and may be reassigned during long-lived sessions. The NORM protocol provides mechanisms so that the sender application may terminate transmission of data content and inform the group of this in an efficient manner. Other similar protocol control mechanisms (e.g., session termination, receiver synchronization, etc.) are specified so that reliable multicast application variants may construct different, complete bulk transfer communication models to meet their goals. To summarize, the NORM protocol provides reliable transport of different types of data content (including potentially mixed types). The senders enqueue and transmit bulk content in the form of static data or files and/or non-finite, ongoing stream types. NORM senders provide for repair transmission of data and/or FEC content in response to NACK messages received from the receiver group. Mechanisms for "out-of-band" information and other transport control mechanisms are specified for use by applications to form complete reliable multicast solutions for different purposes.
- 1.2. NORM Scalability
- Group communication scalability requirements lead to adaptation of negative acknowledgment (NACK) based protocol schemes when feedback for reliability is required [9]. NORM is a protocol centered around the use of selective NACKs to request repairs of missing data. NORM provides for the use of packet-level forward error correction (FEC) techniques for efficient multicast repair and optional proactive transmission robustness [10]. FEC-based repair can be used to greatly reduce the quantity of reliable multicast repair requests and repair transmissions [11] in a NACK-oriented protocol. The principal factor in NORM scalability is the volume of feedback traffic generated by the receiver set to facilitate reliability and congestion control. NORM uses probabilistic suppression of redundant feedback based on exponentially distributed random backoff timers. The performance of this type of suppression relative to other techniques is described in [12]. NORM dynamically measures the group's roundtrip timing status to set its suppression and other protocol timers. This allows NORM to scale well while maintaining reliable data delivery transport with low latency relative to the network topology over which it is operating.
Feedback messages can be either multicast to the group at large or sent via unicast routing to the sender. In the case of unicast feedback, the sender "advertises" the feedback state to the group to facilitate feedback suppression. In typical Internet environments, it is expected that the NORM protocol will readily scale to group sizes on the order of tens of thousands of receivers. A study of the quantity of feedback for this type of protocol is described in [13]. NORM is able to operate with a smaller amount of feedback than a single TCP connection, even with relatively large numbers of receivers. Thus, depending upon the network topology, it is possible that NORM may scale to larger group sizes. With respect to computer resource usage, the NORM protocol does _not_ require that state be kept on all receivers in the group. NORM senders maintain state only for receivers providing explicit congestion control feedback. NORM receivers must maintain state for each active sender. This may constrain the number of simultaneous senders in some uses of NORM.
- 1.3. Environmental Requirements and Considerations
- All of the environmental requirements and considerations that apply to the RMT NORM Building Block [4] and the RMT FEC Building Block [5] also apply to the NORM protocol.
The NORM protocol SHALL be capable of operating in an end-to-end fashion with no assistance from intermediate systems beyond basic IP multicast group management, routing, and forwarding services. While the techniques utilized in NORM are principally applicable to "flat" end-to-end IP multicast topologies, they could also be applied in the sub-levels of hierarchical (e.g., tree-based) multicast distribution if so desired. NORM can make use of reciprocal (among senders and receivers) multicast communication under the Any-Source Multicast (ASM) model defined in RFC 1112 [3], but SHALL also be capable of scalable operation in asymmetric topologies such as Source Specific Multicast (SSM) [14] where there may only be unicast routing service from the receivers to the sender(s).
NORM is compatible with IPv4 and IPv6. Additionally, NORM may be used with networks employing Network Address Translation (NAT) providing the NAT device supports IP multicast and/or can cache UDP traffic source port numbers for remapping feedback traffic from receivers to the sender(s).
- 2. Architecture Definition
- A NormSession is comprised of participants (NormNodes) acting as senders and/or receivers. NORM senders transmit data content in the form of NormObjects to the session destination address and the NORM receivers attempt to reliably receive the transmitted content using negative acknowledgments to request repair. Each NormNode within a NormSession is assumed to have a preselected unique 32-bit identifier (NormNodeId). NormNodes MUST have uniquely assigned identifiers within a single NormSession to distinguish between possible multiple senders and to distinguish feedback information from different receivers. There are two reserved NormNodeId values. A value of 0x00000000 is considered an invalid NormNodeId value and a value of 0xffffffff is a "wildcard" NormNodeId. While the protocol does not preclude multiple sender nodes concurrently transmitting within the context of a single NORM session (i.e., many-to-many operation), any type of interactive coordination among NORM senders is assumed to be controlled by the application or higher protocol layer. There are some optional mechanisms specified in this document that can be leveraged for such application layer coordination.
As previously noted, NORM allows for reliable transmission of three different basic types of data content. The first type is NORM_OBJECT_DATA, which is used for static, persistent blocks of data content maintained in the sender's application memory storage. The second type is NORM_OBJECT_FILE, which corresponds to data stored in the sender's non-volatile file system. The NORM_OBJECT_DATA and NORM_OBJECT_FILE types both represent "NormObjects" of finite but potentially very large size. The third type of data content is NORM_OBJECT_STREAM, which corresponds to an ongoing transmission of undefined length. This is analogous to the reliable stream service provide by TCP for unicast data transport. The format of the stream content is application-defined and may be byte or message oriented. The NORM protocol provides for "flushing" of the stream to expedite delivery or possibly enforce application message boundaries. NORM protocol implementations may offer either (or both) in-order delivery of the stream data to the receive application or out-of-order (more immediate) delivery of received segments of the stream to the receiver application. In either case, NORM sender and receiver implementations provide buffering to facilitate repair of the stream as it is transported.All NormObjects are logically segmented into FEC coding blocks and symbols for transmission by the sender. In NORM, an FEC encoding symbol directly corresponds to the payload of NORM_DATA messages or "segment". Note that when systematic FEC codes are used, the payload of NORM_DATA messages sent for the first portion of a FEC encoding block are source symbols (actual segments of original user data), while the remaining symbols for the block consist of parity symbols generated by FEC encoding. These parity symbols are generally sent in response to repair requests, but some number may be sent proactively at the end each encoding block to increase the robustness of transmission. When non-systematic FEC codes are used, all symbols sent consist of FEC encoding parity content. In this case, the receiver must receive a sufficient number of symbols to reconstruct (via FEC decoding) the original user data for the given block. In this document, the terms "symbol" and "segment" are used interchangeably.
Transmitted NormObjects are temporarily yet uniquely identified within the NormSession context using the given sender's NormNodeId, NormInstanceId, and a temporary NormObjectTransportId. Depending upon the implementation, individual NORM senders may manage their NormInstanceIds independently, or a common NormInstanceId may be agreed upon for all participating nodes within a session if needed as a session identifier. NORM NormObjectTransportId data content identifiers are sender-assigned and applicable and valid only during a NormObject's actual _transport_ (i.e., for as long as the sender is transmitting and providing repair of the indicated NormObject). For a long-lived session, the NormObjectTransportId field can wrap and previously-used identifiers may be re-used. Note that globally unique identification of transported data content is not provided by NORM and, if required, must be managed by the NORM application. The individual segments or symbols of the NormObject are further identified with FEC payload identifiers which include coding block and symbol identifiers. These are discussed in detail later in this document.
- 2.1. Protocol Operation Overview
- A NORM sender primarily generates messages of type NORM_DATA. These messages carry original data segments or FEC symbols and repair segments/symbols for the bulk data/file or stream NormObjects being transferred. By default, redundant FEC symbols are sent only in response to receiver repair requests (NACKs) and thus normally little or no additional transmission overhead is imposed due to FEC encoding. However, the NORM implementation MAY be optionally configured to proactively transmit some amount of redundant FEC symbols along with the original content to potentially enhance performance (e.g., improved delay) at the cost of additional transmission overhead. This option may be sensible for certain network conditions and can allow for robust, asymmetric multicast (e.g., unidirectional routing, satellite, cable) [15] with reduced receiver feedback, or, in some cases, no feedback.
A sender message of type NORM_INFO is also defined and is used to carry OPTIONAL "out-of-band" context information for a given transport object. A single NORM_INFO message can be associated with a NormObject. Because of its atomic nature, missing NORM_INFO messages can be NACKed and repaired with a slightly lower delay process than NORM's general FEC-encoded data content. NORM_INFO may serve special purposes for some bulk transfer, reliable multicast applications where receivers join the group mid-stream and need to ascertain contextual information on the current content being transmitted. The NACK process for NORM_INFO will be described later. When the NORM_INFO message type is used, its transmission should precede transmission of any NORM_DATA message for the associated NormObject.
The sender also generates messages of type NORM_CMD to assist in certain protocol operations such as congestion control, end-of- transmission flushing, round trip time estimation, receiver synchronization, and optional positive acknowledgment requests or application defined commands. The transmission of NORM_CMD messages from the sender is accomplished by one of three different procedures. These procedures are: single, best effort unreliable transmission of the command; repeated redundant transmissions of the command; and positively-acknowledged commands. The transmission technique used for a given command depends upon the function of the command. Several core commands are defined for basic protocol operation. Additionally, implementations MAY wish to consider providing the OPTIONAL application-defined commands that can take advantage of the transmission methodologies available for commands. This allows for application-level session management mechanisms that can make use of information available to the underlying NORM protocol engine (e.g., round-trip timing, transmission rate, etc.).
NORM receivers generate messages of type NORM_NACK or NORM_ACK in response to transmissions of data and commands from a sender. The NORM_NACK messages are generated to request repair of detected data transmission losses. Receivers generally detect losses by tracking the sequence of transmission from a sender. Sequencing information is embedded in the transmitted data packets and end-of-transmission commands from the sender. NORM_ACK messages are generated in response to certain commands transmitted by the sender. In the general (and most scalable) protocol mode, NORM_ACK messages are sent only in response to congestion control commands from the sender. The feedback volume of these congestion control NORM_ACK messages is controlled using the same timer-based probabilistic suppression techniques as for NORM_NACK messages to avoid feedback implosion. In order to meet potential application requirements for positive acknowledgment from receivers, other NORM_ACK messages are defined and available for use. All sender and receiver transmissions are subject to rate control governed by a peak transmission rate set for each participant by the application. This can be used to limit the quantity of multicast data transmitted by the group. When NORM's congestion control algorithm is enabled the rate for senders is automatically adjusted. In some networks, it may be desirable to establish minimum and maximum bounds for the rate adjustment depending upon the application even when dynamic congestion control is enabled. However, in the case of the general Internet, congestion control policy SHALL be observed that is compatible with coexistent TCP flows.
- 2.2. Protocol Building Blocks
- The operation of the NORM protocol is based primarily upon the concepts presented in the Nack-Oriented Reliable Multicast (NORM) Building Block document [4]. This includes the basic NORM architecture and the data transmission, repair, and feedback strategies discussed in that document. Additional reliable multicast building blocks are applied in creating the full NORM protocol instantiation [16]. NORM also makes use of Forward Error Correction encoding techniques for repair messaging and optional transmission robustness as described in [10]. NORM uses the FEC Payload ID as
specified by the FEC Building Block Document [5]. Additionally, for congestion control, this document includes a baseline congestion control mechanism (NORM-CC) based on the TCP-Friendly Multicast Congestion Control (TFMCC) scheme described in [19].- 2.3. Design Tradeoffs
- While the various features of NORM are designed to provide some measure of general purpose utility, it is important to emphasize the understanding that "no one size fits all" in the reliable multicast transport arena. There are numerous engineering tradeoffs involved in reliable multicast transport design and this requires an increased awareness of application and network architecture considerations. Performance requirements affecting design can include: group size, heterogeneity (e.g., capacity and/or delay), asymmetric delivery, data ordering, delivery delay, group dynamics, mobility, congestion control, and transport across low capacity connections. NORM contains various parameters to accommodate many of these differing requirements. The NORM protocol and its mechanisms MAY be applied in multicast applications outside of bulk data transfer, but there is an assumed model of bulk transfer transport service that drives the trade-offs that determine the scalability and performance described in this document.
The ability of NORM to provide reliable data delivery is also governed by any buffer constraints of the sender and receiver applications. NORM protocol implementations SHOULD be designed to operate with the greatest efficiency and robustness possible within application-defined buffer constraints. Buffer requirements for reliability, as always, are a function of the delay-bandwidth product of the network topology. NORM performs best when allowed more buffering resources than typical point-to-point transport protocols. This is because NORM feedback suppression is based upon randomly- delayed transmissions from the receiver set, rather than immediately transmitted feedback. There are definitive tradeoffs between buffer utilization, group size scalability, and efficiency of performance. Large buffer sizes allow the NORM protocol to perform most efficiently in large delay-bandwidth topologies and allow for longer feedback suppression backoff timeouts. This yields improved group size scalability. NORM can operate with reduced buffering but at a cost of decreased efficiency (lower relative goodput) and reduced group size scalability.
- 3. Conformance Statement
- This Protocol Instantiation document, in conjunction with the RMT Building Block documents of [4] and [5], completely specifies a working reliable multicast transport protocol that conforms to the requirements described in RFC 2357 [17].
This document specifies the following message types and mechanisms which are REQUIRED in complying NORM protocol implementations:
This document also describes the following message types and associated mechanisms which are OPTIONAL for complying NORM protocol implementations:
- 4. Message Formats
- As mentioned in Section 2.1, there are two primary classes of NORM messages: sender messages and receiver messages. NORM_CMD, NORM_INFO, and NORM_DATA message types are generated by senders of data content, and NORM_NACK and NORM_ACK messages generated by receivers within a NormSession. An auxiliary message type of
NORM_REPORT is also provided for experimental purposes. This section describes the message formats used by the NORM protocol. These messages and their fields are referenced in the detailed functional description of the NORM protocol given in Section 5. Individual NORM messages are designed to be compatible with the MTU limitations of encapsulating Internet protocols including IPv4, IPv6, and UDP. The current NORM protocol specification assumes UDP encapsulation and leverages the transport features of UDP. The NORM messages are independent of network addresses and can be used in IPv4 and IPv6 networks.- 4.1. NORM Common Message Header and Extensions
- There are some common message fields contained in all NORM message types. Additionally, a header extension mechanism is defined to expand the functionality of the NORM protocol without revision to this document. All NORM protocol messages begin with a common header with information fields as follows:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type | hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "version" field is a 4-bit value indicating the protocol version number. NORM implementations SHOULD ignore received messages with version numbers different from their own. This number is intended to indicate and distinguish upgrades of the protocol which may be non- interoperable. The NORM version number for this specification is 1.
The message "type" field is a 4-bit value indicating the NORM protocol message type. These types are defined as follows:
- The 8-bit "hdr_len" field indicates the number of 32-bit words that comprise the given message's header portion. This is used to facilitate header extensions that may be applied. The presence of header extensions are implied when the "hdr_len" value is greater than the base value for the given message "type".
NORM_INFO 1 NORM_DATA 2 NORM_CMD 3 NORM_NACK 4 NORM_ACK 5 NORM_REPORT 6The "sequence" field is a 16-bit value that is set by the message originator as a monotonically increasing number incremented with each NORM message transmitted to a given destination address. A "sequence" field number space SHOULD be maintained for messages sent to the NormSession group address. This value can be monitored by receiving nodes to detect packet losses in the transmission from a sender and used in estimating raw packet loss for congestion control purposes. Note that this value is NOT used in the NORM protocol to detect missing reliable data content and does NOT identify the application data or FEC payload that may be attached. With message authentication, the "sequence" field may also be leveraged for protection from message "replay" attacks, particularly of NORM_NACK or other feedback messages. In this case, the receiver node should maintain a monotonically increasing "sequence" field space for each destination to which it transmits (this may be multiple destinations when unicast feedback is used). The size of this field is intended to be sufficient to allow detection of a reasonable range of packet loss within the delay-bandwidth product of expected network connections.
The "source_id" field is a 32-bit value identifying the node that sent the message. A participant's NORM node identifier (NormNodeId) can be set according to application needs but unique identifiers must be assigned within a single NormSession. In some cases, use of the host IP address or a hash of it can suffice, but alternative methodologies for assignment and potential collision resolution of node identifiers within a multicast session need to be considered. For example, the "source identifier" mechanism defined in the Real- Time Protocol (RTP) specification [18] may be applicable to use for NORM node identifiers. At this point in time, the protocol makes no assumptions about how these unique identifiers are actually assigned.
When header extensions are applied, they follow the message type's base header and precede any payload portion. There are two formats for header extensions, both of which begin with an 8-bit "het" (header extension type) field. One format is provided for variable- length extensions with "het" values in the range from 0 through 127. The other format is for fixed length (one 32-bit word) extensions with "het" values in the range from 128 through 255. These formats are given here:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | het <=127 | hel | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | Header Extension Content | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | het >=128 | reserved | Header Extension Content | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ NORM Fixed Length (32-bit) Header Extension FormatThe "Header Extension Content" portion of these header extension format is defined for each header extension type defined for NORM messages. Some header extensions are defined within this document for NORM baseline FEC and congestion control operations.
- 4.2. Sender Messages
- NORM sender messages include the NORM_DATA type, the NORM_INFO type, and the NORM_CMD type. NORM_DATA and NORM_INFO messages contain application data content while NORM_CMD messages are used for various protocol control functions.
- 4.2.1. NORM_DATA Message
- The NORM_DATA message is expected to be the predominant type transmitted by NORM senders. These messages are used to encapsulate segmented data content for objects of type NORM_OBJECT_DATA, NORM_OBJECT_FILE, and NORM_OBJECT_STREAM. NORM_DATA messages may contain original or FEC-encoded application data content.
The format of NORM_DATA messages is comprised of three logical portions: 1) a fixed-format NORM_DATA header portion, 2) a FEC Payload ID portion with a format dependent upon the FEC encoding used, and 3) a payload portion containing source or encoded application data content. Note for objects of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM, the payload portion contains additional fields used to appropriately recover stream content. NORM implementations MAY also extend the NORM_DATA header to include a FEC Object Transmission Information (EXT_FTI) header extension. This allows NORM receivers to automatically allocate resources and properly perform FEC decoding without the need for pre-configuration or out- of-band information.
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=2| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flags | fec_id | object_transport_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | fec_payload_id | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | header_extensions (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | payload_reserved* | payload_len* | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | payload_offset* | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | payload_data* | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+*NOTE: The "payload_reserved", "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields are present only for objects of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM. The "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields allow senders to arbitrarily vary the size of NORM_DATA payload segments for streams. This allows applications to flush transmitted streams as needed to meet unique streaming requirements. For objects of types NORM_OBJECT_FILE and NORM_OBJECT_DATA, these fields are unnecessary since the receiver can calculate the payload length and offset information from the "fec_payload_id" using the algorithm described in Section 5.1.1. The "payload_reserved" field is kept for anticipated future NORM stream control functions. When systematic FEC codes (e.g., "fec_id" = 129) are used, the "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields contain actual length and offset values for the encapsulated application data segment for those NORM_DATA messages containing source data symbols. In NORM_DATA messages that contain parity information, these fields are not actual length or offset values, but instead are values computed from FEC encoding the "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields of the _source_ data symbols of the corresponding applicable coding block.
The "version", "type", "hdr_len", "sequence", and "source_id" fields form the NORM Common Message Header as described in Section 4.1. The value of the NORM_DATA "type" field is 2. The NORM_DATA _base_ "hdr_len" value is 4 (32-bit words) plus the size of the "fec_payload_id" field. The "fec_payload_id" field size depends upon the FEC encoding used for the referenced NormObject. The "fec_id" field is used to indicate the FEC coding type. For example, when small block, systematic codes are used, a "fec_id" value of 129 is indicated and the size of the "fec_payload_id" is two 32-bit words. In this case the NORM_DATA base "hdr_len" value is 6. The cumulative size of any header extensions applied is added into the "hdr_len" field.
The "instance_id" field contains a value generated by the sender to uniquely identify its current instance of participation in the NormSession. This allows receivers to detect when senders have perhaps left and rejoined a session in progress. When a sender (identified by its "source_id") is detected to have a new "instance_id", the NORM receivers SHOULD drop their previous state on the sender and begin reception anew.
The "grtt" field contains a non-linear quantized representation of the sender's current estimate of group round-trip time (GRTT) (this is also referred to as R_max in [19]). This value is used to control timing of the NACK repair process and other aspects of protocol operation as described in this document. The algorithm for encoding and decoding this field is described in the RMT NORM Building Block document [4].
The "backoff" field value is used by receivers to determine the maximum backoff timer value used in the timer-based NORM NACK feedback suppression. This 4-bit field supports values from 0-15 which is multiplied by the sender GRTT to determine the maximum backoff timeout. The "backoff" field informs the receiver set of the sender's backoff factor parameter "Ksender". Recommended values and their use are described in the NORM receiver NACK procedure description in Section 5.3. The "gsize" field contains a representation of the sender's current estimate of group size. This 4-bit field can roughly represent values from ten to 500 million where the most significant bit value of 0 or 1 represents a mantissa of 1 or 5, respectively and the three least significant bits incremented by one represent a base 10 exponent (order of magnitude). For examples, a field value of "0x0" represents 1.0e+01 (10), a value of "0x8" represents 5.0e+01 (50), a value of "0x1" represents 1.0e+02 (100), and a value of "0xf" represents 5.0e+08. For NORM feedback suppression purposes, the group size does not need to be represented with a high degree of precision. The group size may even be estimated somewhat conservatively (i.e., overestimated) to maintain low levels of feedback traffic. A default group size estimate of 10,000 ("gsize" = 0x4) is recommended for general purpose reliable multicast applications using the NORM protocol.
The "flags" field contains a number of different binary flags providing information and hints regarding how the receiver should handle the identified object. Defined flags in this field include:
NORM_FLAG_REPAIR is set when the associated message is a repair transmission. This information can be used by receivers to help observe a join policy where it is desired that newly joining receivers only begin participating in the NACK process upon receipt of new (non-repair) data content. NORM_FLAG_EXPLICIT is used to mark repair messages sent when the data sender has exhausted its ability to provide "fresh" (previously untransmitted) parity segments as repair. This flag could possibly be used by intermediate systems implementing functionality to control sub-casting of repair content to different legs of a reliable multicast topology with disparate repair needs. NORM_FLAG_INFO is set only when optional NORM_INFO content is actually available for the associated object. Thus, receivers will NACK for retransmission of NORM_INFO only when it is available for a given object. NORM_FLAG_UNRELIABLE is set when the sender wishes to transmit an object with only "best effort" delivery and will not supply repair transmissions for the object. NORM receivers SHOULD NOT execute repair requests for objects marked with the NORM_FLAG_UNRELIABLE flag. Note that receivers may inadvertently request repair of such objects when all segments (or info content) for those objects are not received (i.e., a gap in the "object_transport_id" sequence is noted). In this case, the sender should invoke the NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) process as described in Section 4.2.3. NORM_FLAG_FILE can be set as a "hint" from the sender that the associated object should be stored in non-volatile storage. NORM_FLAG_STREAM is set when the identified object is of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM. When NORM_FLAG_STREAM is set, the NORM_FLAG_MSG_START can be optionally used to mark the first data segments of application-layer messages transported within the NORM stream. This allows NORM receiver applications to "synchronize" with NORM senders and to be able to properly interpret application layer data when joining a NORM session already in progress. In practice, the NORM implementation MAY set this flag for the segment transmitted following an explicit "flush" of the stream by the application.
The "fec_id" field corresponds to the FEC Encoding Identifier described in the FEC Building Block document [5]. The "fec_id" value implies the format of the "fec_payload_id" field and, coupled with FEC Object Transmission Information, the procedures to decode FEC encoded content. Small block, systematic codes ("fec_id" = 129) are expected to be used for most NORM purposes and the NORM_OBJECT_STREAM requires systematic FEC codes for most efficient performance.
The "object_transport_id" field is a monotonically and incrementally increasing value assigned by the sender to NormObjects being transmitted. Transmissions and repair requests related to that object use the same "object_transport_id" value. For sessions of very long or indefinite duration, the "object_transport_id" field may be repeated, but it is presumed that the 16-bit field size provides an adequate enough sequence space to avoid object confusion amongst receivers and sources (i.e., receivers SHOULD re-synchronize with a server when receiving object sequence identifiers sufficiently out- of-range with the current state kept for a given source). During the course of its transmission within a NORM session, an object is uniquely identified by the concatenation of the sender "source_id" and the given "object_transport_id". Note that NORM_INFO messages associated with the identified object carry the same "object_transport_id" value.
The "fec_payload_id" identifies the attached NORM_DATA "payload" content. The size and format of the "fec_payload_id" field depends upon the FEC type indicated by the "fec_id" field. These formats are given in the FEC Building Block document [5] and any subsequent extensions of that document. As an example, the format of the "fec_payload_id" format small block, systematic codes ("fec_id" = 129) given here:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_block_number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_block_len | encoding_symbol_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+Small Block, Systematic Code ("fec_id" = 129) "fec_payload_id" Format
The FEC payload identifier "source_block_number", "source_block_len", and "encoding_symbol_id" fields correspond to the "Source Block Number", "Source Block Length, and "Encoding Symbol ID" fields of the FEC Payload ID format given by the IETF FEC Building Block document [5]. The "source_block_number" identifies the coding block's relative position with a NormObject. Note that, for NormObjects of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM, the "source_block_number" may wrap for very long lived sessions. The "source_block_len" indicates the number of user data segments in the identified coding block. Given the "source_block_len" information of how many symbols of application data are contained in the block, the receiver can determine whether the attached segment is data or parity content and treat it appropriately. The "encoding_symbol_id" identifies which specific symbol (segment) within the coding block the attached payload conveys. Depending upon the value of the "encoding_symbol_id" and the associated "source_block_len" parameters for the block, the symbol (segment) referenced may be a user data or an FEC parity segment. For systematic codes, encoding symbols numbered less than the source_block_len contain original application data while segments greater than or equal to source_block_len contain parity symbols calculated for the block. The concatenation of object_transport_id::fec_payload_id can be viewed as a unique transport protocol data unit identifier for the attached segment with respect to the NORM sender's instance within a session.
Additional FEC Object Transmission Information (as described in the FEC Building Block document [5]) is required to properly receive and decode NORM transport objects. This information MAY be provided as out-of-band session information. However, in some cases, it may be useful for the sender to include this information "in band" to facilitate receiver operation with minimal preconfiguration. For this purpose, the NORM FEC Object Transmission Information Header Extension (EXT_FTI) is defined. This header extension MAY be applied to NORM_DATA and NORM_INFO messages to provide this necessary information. The exact format of the extension depends upon the FEC code in use, but in general it SHOULD contain any required details on the FEC code in use (e.g., FEC Instance ID, etc.) and the byte size of the associated NormObject (For the NORM_OBJECT_STREAM type, this size corresponds to the stream buffer size maintained by the NORM sender). As an example, the format of the EXT_FTI for small block systematic codes ("fec_id" = 129) is given here:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | het = 64 | hel = 4 | object_length (msb) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | object_length (lsb) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | fec_instance_id | segment_size | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | fec_max_block_len | fec_num_parity | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+FEC Object Transmission Information Header Extension (EXT_FTI) for Small Block Systematic Codes ("fec_id" = 129)
The header extension type "het" field value for this header extension is 64. The header extension length "hel" depends upon the format of the FTI for FEC code type identified by the "fec_id" field. In this example (for "fec_id" = 129), the "hel" field value is 4.
The 48-bit "object_length" field indicates the total size of the object (in bytes) for the static object types of NORM_OBJECT_FILE and NORM_OBJECT_DATA. This information is used by receivers to determine storage requirements and/or allocate storage for the received object. Receivers with insufficient storage capability may wish to forego reliable reception (i.e., not NACK for) of the indicated object. In the case of objects of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM, the "object_length" field is used by the sender to indicate the size of its stream buffer to the receiver group. In turn, the receivers SHOULD use this information to allocate a stream buffer for reception of corresponding size.
The "fec_instance_id" corresponds to the "FEC Instance ID" described in the FEC Building Block document [5]. In this case, the "fec_instance_id" SHALL be a value corresponding to the particular type of Small Block Systematic Code being used (e.g., Reed-Solomon GF(2^8), Reed-Solomon GF(2^16), etc). The standardized assignment of FEC Instance ID values is described in [5]. The "segment_size" field indicates the sender's current setting for maximum message payload content (in bytes). This allows receivers to allocate appropriate buffering resources and to determine other information in order to properly process received data messaging.
The "fec_max_block_len" indicates the current maximum number of user data segments per FEC coding block to be used by the sender during the session. This allows receivers to allocate appropriate buffer space for buffering blocks transmitted by the sender.
The "fec_num_parity" corresponds to the "maximum number of encoding symbols that can be generated for any source block" as described in for FEC Object Transmission Information for Small Block Systematic Codes in the FEC Building Block document [5]. For example, Reed- Solomon codes may be arbitrarily shortened to create different code variations for a given block length. In the case of Reed-Solomon (GF(2^8) and GF(2^16)) codes, this value indicates the maximum number of parity segments available from the sender for the coding blocks. This field MAY be interpreted differently for other systematic codes as they are defined.
The payload portion of NORM_DATA messages includes source data or FEC encoded application content.
The "payload_reserved", "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields are present ONLY for transport objects of type NORM_OBJECT_STREAM. These fields indicate the size and relative position (within the stream) of the application content represented by the message payload. For senders employing systematic FEC encoding, these fields contain _actual_ length and offset values (in bytes) for the payload of messages which contain original data source symbols. For NORM_DATA messages containing calculated parity content, these fields will actually contain values computed by FEC encoding of the "payload_len" and "payload_offset" values of the NORM_DATA data segments of the corresponding FEC coding block. Thus, the "payload_len" and "payload_offset" values of missing data content can be determined upon decoding a FEC coding block. Note that these fields do NOT contribute to the value of the NORM_DATA "hdr_len" field. These fields are NOT present when the "flags" portion of the NORM_DATA message indicate the transport object if of type NORM_OBJECT_FILE or NORM_OBJECT_DATA. In this case, the length and offset information can be calculated from the "fec_payload_id" using the methodology described in Section 5.1.1. Note that for long-lived streams, the "payload_offset" field can wrap.
The "payload_data" field contains the original application source or parity content for the symbol identified by the "fec_payload_id". The length of this field SHALL be limited to a maximum of the sender's NormSegmentSize bytes as given in the FTI for the object. Note the length of this field for messages containing parity content will always be of length NormSegmentSize. When encoding data segments of varying sizes, the FEC encoder SHALL assume ZERO value padding for data segments with length less than the NormSegmentSize. It is RECOMMENDED that a sender's NormSegmentSize generally be constant for the duration of a given sender's term of participation in the session, but may possibly vary on a per-object basis. The NormSegmentSize is expected to be configurable by the sender application prior to session participation as needed for network topology maximum transmission unit (MTU) considerations. For IPv6, MTU discovery may be possibly leveraged at session startup to perform this configuration. The "payload_data" content may be delivered directly to the application for source symbols (when systematic FEC encoding is used) or upon decoding of the FEC block. For NORM_OBJECT_FILE and NORM_OBJECT_STREAM objects, the data segment length and offset can be calculated using the algorithm described in Section 5.1.1. For NORM_OBJECT_STREAM objects, the length and offset is obtained from the segment's corresponding "payload_len" and "payload_offset" fields.
- 4.2.2. NORM_INFO Message
- The NORM_INFO message is used to convey OPTIONAL, application- defined, "out-of-band" context information for transmitted NormObjects. An example NORM_INFO use for bulk file transfer is to place MIME type information for the associated file, data, or stream object into the NORM_INFO payload. Receivers may use the NORM_INFO content to make a decision as whether to participate in reliable reception of the associated object. Each NormObject can have an independent unit of NORM_INFO associated with it. NORM_DATA messages contain a flag to indicate the availability of NORM_INFO for a given NormObject. NORM receivers may NACK for retransmission of NORM_INFO when they have not received it for a given NormObject. The size of the NORM_INFO content is limited to that of a single NormSegmentSize
for the given sender. This atomic nature allows the NORM_INFO to be rapidly and efficiently repaired within the NORM reliable transmission process.When NORM_INFO content is available for a NormObject, the NORM_FLAG_INFO flag SHALL be set in NORM_DATA messages for the corresponding "object_transport_id" and the NORM_INFO message shall be transmitted as the first message for the NormObject.
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=1| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flags | fec_id | object_transport_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | header_extensions (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | payload_data | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "version", "type", "hdr_len", "sequence", and "source_id" fields form the NORM Common Message Header as described in Section 4.1. The value of "hdr_len" field when no header extensions are present is 4.
The "instance_id", "grtt", "backoff", "gsize", "flags", "fec_id", and "object_transport_id" fields carry the same information and serve the same purpose as with NORM_DATA messages. These values allow the receiver to prepare appropriate buffering, etc, for further transmissions from the sender when NORM_INFO is the first message received.
As with NORM_DATA messages, the NORM FTI Header Extension (EXT_FTI) may be optionally applied to NORM_INFO messages. To conserve protocol overhead, some NORM implementations may wish to apply the EXT_FTI when used to NORM_INFO messages only and not to NORM_DATA messages. The NORM_INFO "payload_data" field contains sender application- defined content which can be used by receiver applications for various purposes as described above.
- 4.2.3. NORM_CMD Messages
- NORM_CMD messages are transmitted by senders to perform a number of different protocol functions. This includes functions such as round-trip timing collection, congestion control functions, synchronization of sender/receiver repair "windows", and notification of sender status. A core set of NORM_CMD messages is enumerated. Additionally, a range of command types remain available for potential application-specific use. Some NORM_CMD types may have dynamic content attached. Any attached content will be limited to maximum length of the sender NormSegmentSize to retain the atomic nature of commands. All NORM_CMD messages begin with a common set of fields, after the usual NORM message common header. The standard NORM_CMD fields are:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ NORM_CMD Content + | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "version", "type", "hdr_len", "sequence", and "source_id" fields form the NORM Common Message Header as described in Section 4.1. The value of the "hdr_len" field for NORM_CMD messages without header extensions present depends upon the "flavor" field.
The "instance_id", "grtt", "backoff", and "gsize" fields provide the same information and serve the same purpose as with NORM_DATA and NORM_INFO messages. The "flavor" field indicates the type of command to follow. The remainder of the NORM_CMD message is dependent upon the command type ("flavor"). NORM command flavors include:
- 4.2.3.1. NORM_CMD(FLUSH) Message
- The NORM_CMD(FLUSH) command is sent when the sender reaches the end of all data content and pending repairs it has queued for transmission. This may indicate a temporary or permanent end of data transmission, but the sender is still willing to respond to repair requests. This command is repeated once per 2*GRTT to excite the
receiver set for any outstanding repair requests up to and including the transmission point indicated within the NORM_CMD(FLUSH) message. The number of repeats is equal to NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR unless a list of receivers from which explicit positive acknowledgment is expected ("acking_node_list") is given. In that case, the "acking_node_list" is updated as acknowledgments are received and the NORM_CMD(FLUSH) is repeated according to the mechanism described in Section 5.5.3. The greater the NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR, the greater the probability that all applicable receivers will be excited for acknowledgment or repair requests (NACKs) _and_ that the corresponding NACKs are delivered to the sender. If a NORM_NACK message interrupts the flush process, the sender will re-initiate the flush process after any resulting repair transmissions are completed.Note that receivers also employ a timeout mechanism to self-initiate NACKing (if there are outstanding repair needs) when no messages of any type are received from a sender. This inactivity timeout is related to 2*GRTT*NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR and will be discussed more later. With a sufficient NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR value, data content is delivered with a high assurance of reliability. The penalty of a large NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR value is potentially excess sender NORM_CMD(FLUSH) transmissions and a longer timeout for receivers to self-initiate the terminal NACK process.
For finite-size transport objects such as NORM_OBJECT_DATA and NORM_OBJECT_FILE, the flush process (if there are no further pending objects) occurs at the end of these objects. Thus, FEC repair information is always available for repairs in response to repair requests elicited by the flush command. However, for NORM_OBJECT_STREAM, the flush may occur at any time, including in the middle of an FEC coding block if systematic FEC codes are employed. In this case, the sender will not yet be able to provide FEC parity content as repair for the concurrent coding block and will be limited to explicitly repairing stream data content for that block. Applications that anticipate frequent flushing of stream content SHOULD be judicious in the selection of the FEC coding block size (i.e., do not use a very large coding block size if frequent flushing occurs). For example, a reliable multicast application transmitting an on-going series of intermittent, relatively small messaging content will need to trade-off using the NORM_OBJECT_DATA paradigm versus the NORM_OBJECT_STREAM paradigm with an appropriate FEC coding block size. This is analogous to application trade-offs for other transport protocols such as the selection of different TCP modes of operation such as "no delay", 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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 1 | fec_id | object_transport_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | fec_payload_id | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | acking_node_list (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+In addition to the NORM common message header and standard NORM_CMD fields, the NORM_CMD(FLUSH) message contains fields to identify the current status and logical transmit position of the sender.
The "fec_id" field indicates the FEC type used for the flushing "object_transport_id" and implies the size and format of the "fec_payload_id" field. Note the "hdr_len" value for the NORM_CMD(FLUSH) message is 4 plus the size of the "fec_payload_id" field when no header extensions are present.
The "object_transport_id" and "fec_payload_id" fields indicate the sender's current logical "transmit position". These fields are interpreted in the same manner as in the NORM_DATA message type. Upon receipt of the NORM_CMD(FLUSH), receivers are expected to check their completion state _through_ (including) this transmission position. If receivers have outstanding repair needs in this range, they SHALL initiate the NORM NACK Repair Process as described in Section 5.3. If receivers have no outstanding repair needs, no response to the NORM_CMD(FLUSH) is generated.
For NORM_OBJECT_STREAM objects using systematic FEC codes, receivers MUST request "explicit-only" repair of the identified "source_block_number" if the given "encoding_symbol_id" is less than the "source_block_len". This condition indicates the sender has not yet completed encoding the corresponding FEC block and parity content is not yet available. An "explicit-only" repair request consists of NACK content for the applicable "source_block_number" which does not include any requests for parity-based repair. This allows NORM sender applications to "flush" an ongoing stream of transmission when needed, even if in the middle of an FEC block. Once the sender resumes stream transmission and passes the end of the pending coding block, subsequent NACKs from receivers SHALL request parity-based repair as usual. Note that the use of a systematic FEC code is assumed here. Normal receiver NACK initiation and construction is discussed in detail in Section 5.3. The OPTIONAL "acking_node_list" field contains a list of NormNodeIds for receivers from which the sender is requesting explicit positive acknowledgment of reception up through the transmission point identified by the "object_transport_id" and "fec_payload_id" fields. The length of the list can be inferred from the length of the received NORM_CMD(FLUSH) message. When the "acking_node_list" is present, the lightweight positive acknowledgment process described in Section 5.5.3 SHALL be observed.
- 4.2.3.2. NORM_CMD(EOT) Message
- The NORM_CMD(EOT) command is sent when the sender reaches permanent end-of-transmission with respect to the NormSession and will not respond to further repair requests. This allows receivers to gracefully reach closure of operation with this sender (without requiring any timeout) and free any resources that are no longer needed. The NORM_CMD(EOT) command SHOULD be sent with the same robust mechanism as used for NORM_CMD(FLUSH) commands to provide a high assurance of reception by the receiver set.
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 2 | reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The value of the "hdr_len" field for NORM_CMD(EOT) messages without header extensions present is 4. The "reserved" field is reserved for future use and MUST be set to an all ZERO value. Receivers MUST ignore the "reserved" field.
- 4.2.3.3. NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) Message
- The NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) command is transmitted in response to outdated or invalid NORM_NACK content received by the sender. Invalid NORM_NACK content consists of repair requests for NormObjects for which the sender is unable or unwilling to provide repair. This includes repair requests for outdated objects, aborted objects, or those objects which the sender previously transmitted marked with the NORM_FLAG_UNRELIABLE flag. This command indicates to receivers what content is available for repair, thus serving as a description of the sender's current "repair window". Receivers SHALL not generate repair requests for content identified as invalid by a NORM_CMD(SQUELCH).
The NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) command is sent once per 2*GRTT at the most. The NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) advertises the current "repair window" of the sender by identifying the earliest (lowest) transmission point for which it will provide repair, along with an encoded list of objects from that point forward that are no longer valid for repair. This mechanism allows the sender application to cancel or abort transmission and/or repair of specific previously enqueued objects. The list also contains the identifiers for any objects within the repair window that were sent with the NORM_FLAG_UNRELIABLE flag set. In normal conditions, it is expected the NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) will be needed infrequently, and generally only to provide a reference repair window for receivers who have fallen "out-of-sync" with the sender due to extremely poor network conditions.
The starting point of the invalid NormObject list begins with the lowest invalid NormTransportId greater than the current "repair window" start from the invalid NACK(s) that prompted the generation of the squelch. The length of the list is limited by the sender's NormSegmentSize. This allows the receivers to learn the status of the sender's applicable object repair window with minimal transmission of NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) commands. The format of the NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) message is:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | version | type = 3 | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 3 | fec_id | object_transport_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | fec_payload_id | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | invalid_object_list | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+In addition to the NORM common message header and standard NORM_CMD fields, the NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) message contains fields to identify the earliest logical transmit position of the sender's current repair window and an "invalid object list" beginning with the index of the logically earliest invalid repair request from the offending NACK message which initiated the squelch transmission.
The "object_transport_id" and "fec_payload_id" fields are concatenated to indicate the beginning of the sender's current repair window (i.e., the logically earliest point in its transmission history for which the sender can provide repair). The "fec_id" field implies the size and format of the "fec_payload_id" field. This serves as an advertisement of a "synchronization point" for receivers to request repair. Note, that while an "encoding_symbol_id" may be included in the "fec_payload_id" field, the sender's repair window SHOULD be aligned on FEC coding block boundaries and thus the "encoding_symbol_id" SHOULD be zero.
The "invalid_object_list" is a list of 16-bit NormTransportIds that, although they are within the range of the sender's current repair window, are no longer available for repair from the sender. For example, a sender application may dequeue an out-of-date object even though it is still within the repair window. The total size of the "invalid_object_list" content is can be determined from the packet's payload length and is limited to a maximum of the NormSegmentSize of the sender. Thus, for very large repair windows, it is possible that a single NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) message may not be capable of listing the entire set of invalid objects in the repair window. In this case, the sender SHALL ensure that the list begins with a NormObjectId that is greater than or equal to the lowest ordinal invalid NormObjectId from the NACK message(s) that prompted the NORM_CMD(SQUELCH) generation. The NormObjectIds in the "invalid_object_list" MUST be greater than the "object_transport_id" marking the beginning of the sender's repair window. This insures convergence of the squelch process, even if multiple invalid NACK/ squelch iterations are required. This explicit description of invalid content within the sender's current window allows the sender application (most notably for discrete "object" based transport) to arbitrarily invalidate (i.e., dequeue) portions of enqueued content (e.g., certain objects) for which it no longer wishes to provide reliable transport.
- 4.2.3.4. NORM_CMD(CC) Message
- The NORM_CMD(CC) messages contains fields to enable sender-to- receiver group greatest round-trip time (GRTT) measurement and to excite the group for congestion control feedback. A baseline NORM congestion control scheme (NORM-CC), based on the TCP-Friendly Multicast Congestion Control (TFMCC) scheme of [19] is described in Section 5.5.2 of this document. The NORM_CMD(CC) message is usually transmitted as part of NORM-CC congestion control operation. A NORM header extension is defined below to be used with the NORM_CMD(CC) message to support NORM-CC operation. Different header extensions may be defined for the NORM_CMD(CC) (and/or other NORM messages as needed) to support alternative congestion control schemes in the future. If NORM is operated in a private network with congestion control operation disabled, the NORM_CMD(CC) message is then used for GRTT measurement only and may optionally be sent less frequently than with congestion control operation.
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 4 | reserved | cc_sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | send_time_sec | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | send_time_usec | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | header extensions (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | cc_node_list (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The NORM common message header and standard NORM_CMD fields serve their usual purposes.
The "reserved" field is for potential future use and should be set to ZERO in this version of the NORM protocol.
The "cc_sequence" field is a sequence number applied by the sender. For NORM-CC operation, it is used to provide functionality equivalent to the "feedback round number" (fb_nr)described in [19]. The most recently received "cc_sequence" value is recorded by receivers and can be fed back to the sender in congestion control feedback generated by the receivers for that sender. The "cc_sequence" number can also be used in NORM implementations to assess how recently a receiver has received NORM_CMD(CC) probes from the sender. This can be useful instrumentation for complex or experimental multicast routing environments.
The "send_time" field is a timestamp indicating the time that the NORM_CMD(CC) message was transmitted. This consists of a 64-bit field containing 32-bits with the time in seconds ("send_time_sec") and 32-bits with the time in microseconds ("send_time_usec") since some reference time the source maintains (usually 00:00:00, 1 January 1970). The byte ordering of the fields is "Big Endian" network order. Receivers use this timestamp adjusted by the amount of delay from the time they received the NORM_CMD(CC) message to the time of their response as the "grtt_response" portion of NORM_ACK and NORM_NACK messages generated. This allows the sender to evaluate round-trip times to different receivers for congestion control and other (e.g., GRTT determination) purposes.
To facilitate the baseline NORM-CC scheme described in Section 5.5.2, a NORM-CC Rate header extension (EXT_RATE) is defined to inform the group of the sender's current transmission rate. This is used along with the loss detection "sequence" field of all NORM sender messages and the NORM_CMD(CC) GRTT collection process to support NORM-CC congestion control operation. The format of this header extension is as follows:
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | het = 128 | reserved | send_rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "send_rate" field indicates the sender's current transmission rate in bytes per second. The 16-bit "send_rate" field consists of 12 bits of mantissa in the most significant portion and 4 bits of base 10 exponent (order of magnitude) information in the least significant portion. The 12-bit mantissa portion of the field is scaled such that a floating point value of 0.0 corresponds to 0 and a floating point value of 10.0 corresponds to 4096. Thus:
For example, to represent a transmission rate of 256kbps (3.2e+04 bytes per second), the lower 4 bits of the 16-bit field contain a value of 0x04 to represent the exponent while the upper 12 bits contain a value of 0x51f as determined from the equation given above:
- To decode the "send_rate" field, the following equation can be used:
- Note the maximum transmission rate that can be represented by this scheme is approximately 9.99e+15 bytes per second.
value = (send_rate >> 4) * 10.0 / 4096.0 * power(10.0, (send_rate & x000f))When this extension is present, a "cc_node_list" may be attached as the payload of the NORM_CMD(CC) message. The presence of this header extension also implies that NORM receivers should respond according to the procedures described in Section 5.5.2. The "cc_node_list" consists of a list of NormNodeIds and their associated congestion control status. This includes the current limiting receiver (CLR) node, any potential limiting receiver (PLR) nodes that have been identified, and some number of receivers for which congestion control status is being provided, most notably including the receivers' current RTT measurement. The maximum length of the "cc_node_list" provides for at least the CLR and one other receiver, but may be configurable for more timely feedback to the group. The list length can be inferred from the length of the NORM_CMD(CC) message.
Each item in the "cc_node_list" is in 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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | cc_node_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | cc_flags | cc_rtt | cc_rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "cc_node_id" is the NormNodeId of the receiver which the item represents.
The "cc_flags" field contains flags indicating the congestion control status of the indicated receiver. The following flags are defined:
The "cc_rtt" contains a quantized representation of the RTT as measured by the sender with respect to the indicated receiver. This field is valid only if the NORM_FLAG_CC_RTT flag is set in the "cc_flags" field. This one byte field is a quantized representation of the RTT using the algorithm described in the NORM Building Block document [4]. The "cc_rate" field contains a representation of the receiver's current calculated (during steady-state congestion control operation) or twice its measured (during the "slow start" phase) congestion control rate. This field is encoded and decoded using the same technique as described for the NORM_CMD(CC) "send_rate" field.
- 4.2.3.5. NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) Message
- The NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) message is used by the sender to "advertise" its aggregated repair state from NORM_NACK messages accumulated during a repair cycle and/or congestion control feedback received. This message is sent only when the sender has received NORM_NACK and/or NORM_ACK(CC) (when congestion control is enabled) messages via unicast transmission instead of multicast. By "echoing" this information to the receiver set, suppression of feedback can be achieved even when receivers are unicasting that feedback instead of multicasting it among the group [13].
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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 5 | flags | reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | header extensions (if applicable) | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | repair_adv_payload | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The "instance_id", "grtt", "backoff", "gsize", and "flavor" fields serve the same purpose as in other NORM_CMD messages. The value of the "hdr_len" field when no extensions are present is 4.
The "flags" field provide information on the NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) content. There is currently one NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) flag defined:
This flag is set by the sender when it is unable to fit its full current repair state into a single NormSegmentSize. If this flag is set, receivers should limit their NACK response to generating NACK content only up through the maximum ordinal transmission position (objectId::fecPayloadId) included in the "repair_adv_content".
When congestion control operation is enabled, a header extension may be applied to the NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) representing the most limiting (in terms of congestion control feedback suppression) congestion control response. This allows the NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) message to suppress receiver congestion control responses as well as NACK feedback messages. The field is defined as a header extension so that alternative congestion control schemes may be used with NORM without revision to this document. A NORM-CC Feedback Header Extension (EXT_CC) is defined to encapsulate congestion control feedback within NORM_NACK, NORM_ACK, and NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages. If another congestion control technique (e.g., Pragmatic General Multicast Congestion Control (PGMCC) [20]) is used within a NORM implementation, an additional header extension MAY need to be defined to encapsulate any required feedback content. The NORM-CC Feedback Header Extension format is:
The "cc_sequence" field contains the current greatest "cc_sequence" value receivers have received in NORM_CMD(CC) messages from the sender. This information assists the sender in congestion control operation by providing an indicator of how current ("fresh") the receiver's round-trip measurement reference time is and whether the receiver has been successfully receiving recent congestion control probes. For example, if it is apparent the receiver has not been receiving recent congestion control probes (and thus possibly other messages from the sender), the sender may choose to take congestion avoidance measures. For NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages, the sender SHALL set the "cc_sequence" field value to the value set in the last NORM_CMD(CC) message sent.
The "cc_flags" field contains bits representing the receiver's state with respect to congestion control operation. The possible values for the "cc_flags" field are those specified for the NORM_CMD(CC) message node list item flags. These fields are used by receivers in controlling (suppressing as necessary) their congestion control feedback. For NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages, the NORM_FLAG_CC_RTT should be set only when all feedback messages received by the sender have the flag set. Similarly, the NORM_FLAG_CC_CLR or NORM_FLAG_CC_PLR should be set only when no feedback has been received from non-CLR or non-PLR receivers. And the NORM_FLAG_CC_LEAVE should be set only when all feedback messages the sender has received have this flag set. These heuristics for setting the flags in NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) ensure the most effective suppression of receivers providing unicast feedback messages.
The "cc_rtt" field SHALL be set to a default maximum value and the NORM_FLAG_CC_RTT flag SHALL be cleared when no receiver has yet received RTT measurement information. When a receiver has received RTT measurement information, it shall set the "cc_rtt" value accordingly and set the NORM_FLAG_CC_RTT flag in the "cc_flags" field. For NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages, the sender SHALL set the "cc_rtt" field value to the largest non-CLR/non-PLR RTT it has measured from receivers for the current feedback round.
The "cc_loss" field represents the receiver's current packet loss fraction estimate for the indicated source. The loss fraction is a value from 0.0 to 1.0 corresponding to a range of zero to 100 percent packet loss. The 16-bit "cc_loss" value is calculated by the following formula:
For NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages, the sender SHALL set the "cc_loss" field value to the largest non-CLR/non-PLR loss estimate it has received from receivers for the current feedback round.
The "cc_rate" field represents the receivers current local congestion control rate. During "slow start", when the receiver has detected no loss, this value is set to twice the actual rate it has measured from the corresponding sender and the NORM_FLAG_CC_START is set in the "cc_flags' field. Otherwise, the receiver calculates a congestion control rate based on its loss measurement and RTT measurement information (even if default) for the "cc_rate" field. For NORM_CMD(REPAIR_ADV) messages, the sender SHALL set the "cc_loss" field value to the lowest non-CLR/non-PLR "cc_rate" report it has received from receivers for the current feedback round.
The "cc_reserved" field is reserved for future NORM protocol use. Currently, senders SHALL set this field to ZERO, and receivers SHALL ignore the content of this field.
The "repair_adv_payload" is in exactly the same form as the "nack_content" of NORM_NACK messages and can be processed by receivers for suppression purposes in the same manner, with the exception of the condition when the NORM_REPAIR_ADV_FLAG_LIMIT is set.
- 4.2.3.6. NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) Message
- The NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) message is used by the sender to request acknowledgment from a specified list of receivers. This message is used in providing a lightweight positive acknowledgment mechanism that is OPTIONAL for use by the reliable multicast application. A range of acknowledgment request types is provided for use at the application's discretion. Provision for application-defined, positively-acknowledged commands allows the application to automatically take advantage of transmission and round-trip timing information available to the NORM protocol. The details of the NORM
positive acknowledgment process including transmission of the NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) messages and the receiver response (NORM_ACK) are described in Section 5.5.3. The format of the NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) message is: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 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |version| type=3| hdr_len | sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | source_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | instance_id | grtt |backoff| gsize | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | flavor = 6 | reserved | ack_type | ack_id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | acking_node_list | | ... | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+The NORM common message header and standard NORM_CMD fields serve their usual purposes. The value of the "hdr_len" field for NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) messages with no header extension present is 4.
The "ack_type" field indicates the type of acknowledgment being requested and thus implies rules for how the receiver will treat this request. The following "ack_type" values are defined and are also used in NORM_ACK messages described later:
- The NORM_ACK_CC value is provided for use only in NORM_ACKs generated in response to the NORM_CMD(CC) messages used in congestion control operation. Similarly, the NORM_ACK_FLUSH is provided for use only in NORM_ACKs generated in response to applicable NORM_CMD(FLUSH) messages. NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) messages with "ack_type" of NORM_ACK_CC or NORM_ACK_FLUSH SHALL NOT be generated by the sender.
+---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+ | ACK Type | Value | Purpose | +---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+ |NORM_ACK_CC | 1 | Used to identify NORM_ACK | | | | messages sent in response to | | | | NORM_CMD(CC) messages. | +---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+ |NORM_ACK_FLUSH | 2 | Used to identify NORM_ACK | | | | messages sent in response to | | | | NORM_CMD(FLUSH) messages. | +---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+ |NORM_ACK_RESERVED | 3-15 | Reserved for possible future | | | | NORM protocol use. | +---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+ |NORM_ACK_APPLICATION | 16-255 | Used at application's | | | | discretion. | +---------------------+--------+---------------------------------+The NORM_ACK_RESERVED range of "ack_type" values is provided for possible future NORM protocol use.
The NORM_ACK_APPLICATION range of "ack_type" values is provided so that NORM applications may implement application-defined, positively-acknowledged commands that are able to leverage internal transmission and round-trip timing information available to the NORM protocol implementation.
The "ack_id" provides a sequenced identifier for the given NORM_CMD(ACK_REQ) message. This "ack_id" is returned in NORM_ACK messages generated by the receivers so that the sender may associate the response with its corresponding request.
The "reserved" field is reserved for possible future protocol use and SHALL be set to ZERO by senders and ignored by receivers.
The "acking_node_list" field contains the NormNodeIds of the current NORM receivers that are desired to provide positive acknowledge (NORM_ACK) to this request. The packet payload length implies the length of the "acking_node_list" and its length is limited to the sender NormSegmentSize. The individual NormNodeId items are listed in network (Big Endian) byte order. If a receiver's NormNodeId is included in the "acking_node_list", it SHALL schedule transmission of a NORM_ACK message as described in Section 5.5.3.
- 4.2.3.7. NORM_CMD(APPLICATION) Message
- This command allows the NORM application to robustly transmit application-defined commands. The command message preempts any ongoing data transmission and is repeated up to NORM_ROBUST_FACTOR times at a rate of once per 2*GRTT. This rate of repetition allows the application to observe any response (if that is the applica