RFC 2208 (rfc2208) - Page 2 of 6

Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) -- Version 1 Applicability Statement Some Guidelines on Deployment

RFC 2208           RSVP Applicability and Deployment      September 1997


1.  Introduction

   RSVP [RFC 2205] is a unicast and multicast signalling protocol,
   designed to install and maintain reservation state information at
   each router along the path of a stream of data.  The state handled by
   RSVP is defined by services [RFC 2211] and [RFC 2212] specified by
   the Integrated Services WG.  These services and RSVP are being
   introduced to the IETF's standards track jointly.  From henceforth,
   the acronym RSVP on its own is used as a shorthand for the signalling
   protocol combined with the integrated service specifications.

   RSVP must be used in conjunction with several additional components,
   described in Table 1.

          Table 1  Additional Components of Resource Reservation

   1. Message formats in which parameters for desired services can be
      expressed. A proposed standard set of these formats is specified
      in [RFC 2210].

   2. Router and host mechanisms (e.g. packet classification and
      scheduling, admission control algorithms) to implement one or
      both of the models [RFC 2211] and [RFC 2212], which are also
      in the standards track.

   3. Message formats in which parameters for desired policies for
      admission control and resource use can be expressed.  A small
      common subset of these formats for standards track is in the
      RSVP WG's charter.  The Policy objects in the RSVP Protocol
      Specification are optional only at this time.

   4. Diversely located mechanisms implementing desired admission
      control policy functions, including authorization and other
      security mechanisms.

   In the presence of some form of each component in Table 1, RSVP-
   enabled applications can achieve differentiated qualities of service
   across IP networks.  Networked multimedia applications, many of which
   require (or will benefit from) a predictable end-user experience, are
   likely to be initial users of RSVP-signalled services.

   Because RSVP and the integrated services and other components listed
   in Table 1 mark a significant change to the service model of IP
   networks, RSVP has received considerable interest and press in
   advance of its release as a standards track RFC.  At present, many
   vendors of operating systems and routers are incorporating RSVP and
   integrated services into their products for near-future availability.
   The goal of this applicability statement is to describe those uses of



Mankin, Ed., et. al.         Informational