RFC 3182 (rfc3182) - Page 2 of 18

Identity Representation for RSVP

RFC 3182            Identity Representation for RSVP        October 2001


1. Conventions used in this document

   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 [RFC 2119].

2. Introduction

   RSVP [RFC 2205] is a resource reservation setup protocol designed for
   an integrated services Internet [RFC 1633].  RSVP is used by a host
   to request specific quality of service (QoS) from the network for
   particular application data streams or flows.  RSVP is also used by
   routers to deliver QoS requests to all nodes along the path(s) of the
   flows and to establish and maintain state to provide the requested
   service.  RSVP requests will generally result in resources being
   reserved in each node along the data path.  RSVP allows particular
   users to obtain preferential access to network resources, under the
   control of an admission control mechanism.  Permission to make a
   reservation is based both upon the availability of the requested
   resources along the path of the data and upon satisfaction of policy
   rules.  Providing policy based admission control mechanism based on
   user identity or application is one of the prime requirements.

   In order to solve these problems and implement identity based policy
   control it is required to identify the user and/or application making
   a RSVP request.

   This document proposes a mechanism for sending identification
   information in the RSVP messages and enables authorization decisions
   based on policy and identity.

   We describe the authentication policy element (AUTH_DATA) contained
   in the POLICY_DATA object.  User process can generate an AUTH_DATA
   policy element and gives it to RSVP process (service) on the
   originating host.  RSVP service inserts AUTH_DATA into the RSVP
   message to identify the owner (user and/or application) making the
   request for network resources.  Network elements, such as routers,
   authenticate request using the credentials presented in the AUTH_DATA
   and admit the RSVP message based on admission policy.  After a
   request has been authenticated, first hop router installs the RSVP
   state and forwards the new policy element returned by the Policy
   Decision Point (PDP) [POL-FRAME].









Yadav, et al.               Standards Track