The IESG has received a request from the Bit Indexed Explicit Replication WG (bier) to consider the following document: - 'Multicast using Bit Index Explicit Replication' <draft-ietf-bier-architecture-08.txt> as Experimental RFC This Last Call is on the technical changes between draft-ietf-bier-architecture-07 and draft-ietf-bier-architecture-08. Specifically, this is specifying that each encapsulation should specify its own default bitStringLength. The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits final comments on this action. Please send substantive comments to the ietf@ietf.org mailing lists by 2017-09-20. Exceptionally, comments may be sent to iesg@ietf.org instead. In either case, please retain the beginning of the Subject line to allow automated sorting. Abstract This document specifies a new architecture for the forwarding of multicast data packets. It provides optimal forwarding of multicast packets through a "multicast domain". However, it does not require a protocol for explicitly building multicast distribution trees, nor does it require intermediate nodes to maintain any per-flow state. This architecture is known as "Bit Index Explicit Replication" (BIER). When a multicast data packet enters the domain, the ingress router determines the set of egress routers to which the packet needs to be sent. The ingress router then encapsulates the packet in a BIER header. The BIER header contains a bitstring in which each bit represents exactly one egress router in the domain; to forward the packet to a given set of egress routers, the bits corresponding to those routers are set in the BIER header. The procedures for forwarding a packet based on its BIER header are specified in this document. Elimination of the per-flow state and the explicit tree- building protocols results in a considerable simplification. The file can be obtained via https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-bier-architecture/ IESG discussion can be tracked via https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-bier-architecture/ballot/ The following IPR Declarations may be related to this I-D: https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2624/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2439/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2986/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2987/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2447/ https://datatracker.ietf.org/ipr/2512/
