RFC 2729 (rfc2729) - Page 3 of 27

Taxonomy of Communication Requirements for Large-scale Multicast Applications

RFC 2729         Taxonomy of Communication Requirements    December 1999


   The taxonomy is likely to be useful in a number of ways:

   1. Most simply, it can be used as a checklist to create a
      requirements statement for a particular LSMA. Example applications
      will be classified [bagnall98] using the taxonomy in order to
      exercise (and improve) it

   2. Because strictest requirement have been defined for many
      parameters, it will be possible to identify worst case scenarios
      for the design of protocols

   3. Because the scope of each parameter has been defined (per session,
      per receiver etc.), it will be possible to highlight where
      heterogeneity is going to be most marked

   4. It is a step towards standardization of the way LSMAs define their
      communications requirements. This could lead to standard APIs
      between applications and protocol adaptation middleware

   5. Identification of limitations in current Internet technology for
      LSMAs to be added to the LSMA limitations memo [limitations]

   6. Identification of gaps in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
      working group coverage

   This approach is intended to complement that used where application
   scenarios for Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) are proposed
   in order to generate network design metrics (values of communications
   parameters). Instead of creating the communications parameters from
   the applications, we try to imagine applications that might be
   enabled by stretching communications parameters.

2. Definition of Sessions

   The following terms have no agreed definition, so they will be
   defined for this document.

   Session
      a happening or gathering consisting of flows of information
      related by a common description that persists for a non-trivial
      time (more than a few seconds) such that the participants (be they
      humans or applications) are involved and interested at
      intermediate times.  A session may be defined recursively as a
      super-set of other sessions.

   Secure session
      a session with restricted access




Bagnall, et al.              Informational