RFC 2129 (rfc2129) - Page 2 of 19

Toshiba's Flow Attribute Notification Protocol (FANP) Specification

RFC 2129                   FANP Specification                 April 1997


   processing.  With this configuration, routers can decide which node
   is the next-hop for the packets based on the VC identifier.  CSRs [1]
   can forward the incoming packets using an ATM switch engine bypassing
   the conventional IP processing.  According to the ingress VPI/VCI
   value with ingress interface information, CSR determines the egress
   interface and egress VPI/VCI value.

   In order to configure the cut-through packet forwarding state, a pair
   of neighbor nodes have to share the mapping information between the
   packet flow and the datalink VC.  FANP (Flow Attribute Notification
   Protocol) described in this memo is the protocol to configure and
   manage the cut-through packet forwarding state.

2.  Protocol Requirements and Future Enhancement

2.1 Protocol Requirements

   The followings are the protocol requirements for FANP.

   (1) Applicable to various types of CO datalink platforms

   (2) Available with various connection types (i.e., SVC, PVC, VP)

   (3) Robust operation
       The system should operate correctly even under the following
       conditions.

        (a) VC failure
            Some systems can detect VC failure as the function of
            datalink (e.g., OAM function in the ATM).  However, we can
            not assume all nodes in the system can detect VC failure.
            The system has to operate correctly, assuming that every
            node can not detect VC failure.

        (b) Message loss
            Control messages in the FANP may be lost.  The system has to
            operate correctly, even when some control messages are lost.

        (c Node failure
            A node may be down without any explicit notification to its
            neighbors.  The system has to operate correctly, even with
            node failure.

   Though FANP is not the protocol only for ATM, the following
   discussion assumes that the datalink is an ATM network.






Nagami, et. al.              Informational