RFC 1717 (rfc1717) - Page 1 of 21

The PPP Multilink Protocol (MP)

Network Working Group                                         K. Sklower
Request for Comments: 1717            University of California, Berkeley
Category: Standards Track                                       B. Lloyd
                                                             G. McGregor
                                                   Lloyd Internetworking
                                                                 D. Carr
                                          Newbridge Networks Corporation
                                                           November 1994


                    The PPP Multilink Protocol (MP)

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This document proposes a method for splitting, recombining and
   sequencing datagrams across multiple logical data links.  This work
   was originally motivated by the desire to exploit multiple bearer
   channels in ISDN, but is equally applicable to any situation in which
   multiple PPP links connect two systems, including async links.  This
   is accomplished by means of new PPP [2] options and protocols.

Acknowledgements

   The authors specifically wish to thank Fred Baker of ACC, Craig Fox
   of Network Systems, Gerry Meyer of Spider Systems, Tom Coradetti of
   Digiboard (for the Endpoint Discriminator option), Dan Brennan of
   Penril Datability Networks, Vernon Schryver of SGI (for the
   comprehensive discussion of padding), and the members of the IP over
   Large Public Data Networks and PPP Extensions working groups, for
   much useful discussion on the subject.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ................................................    2
   1.1. Motivation ................................................    2
   1.2. Functional Description ....................................    3
   1.3. Conventions ...............................................    3
   2. General Overview ............................................    4
   3. Packet Formats ..............................................    6
   3.1. Padding Considerations ....................................    9



Sklower, Lloyd, McGregor & Carr