Additional data fields for IOAM Trace Option Types

This draft extends with additional data fields. The additional suggested data fields are: Transmitted Bytes from an interface Speed of an interface Interface errors The addition of these new data fields is intended to help network operators to better manage their networks, where more data is requried with regards to the activity and quality of the network ports. For example, one framework that may take advantage of these new data fileds is HPCC, which is proposed at . This section discusses the needed ammendments to the IOAM Trace header and the format of the added data fields themselves.

IOAM Trace Option-Types and their headers are defined in section 4.4 of . As shown in section 4.4.1, the trace option header includes an IOAM-Trace-Type which is a "A 24-bit identifier which specifies which data types are used in this node data list". In order to extend it is required to allocate respective bits specifying the additional data fields to be added to the packet. This draft is asking for the allocation of additional 2 bits: When set indicates presence of Transmitted Bytes from an interface. When set indicates presence of Speed of an interface and Interface errors. describes the new suggested data types and their formats.

The Data fields and associated data types for each of the additional IOAM Data Fields are shown below: 4-octet field defined as follows:

4-octet unsigned integer field. This field indicates how many bytes have been transmitted from the egress interface the packet is going out from. Note that this field may wrap around. As an example, for a 100Gbps port this field may wrap around within less than 3 seconds. This field is usable to determine the amount of data going through the path a flow is going through. Following multiple packets traversing the same interface, together with a timestamp, allows a network operator to gauge the amount of traffic going through the interface in total and relative to the flow it tracks. This data in turn may help to better control the traffic and take decisions related to the performance of the flow and the network. 4-octet field defined as follows:

6 bits unsigned integer field. This field indicates the current operational speed of the interface. The procedure to allocate, manage and map the interface_speed values into the actual speed is beyond the scope of this document. This field is usable to detect whether a packet or a flow is going through a path which has enough capacity compared to the expectation of the operator. Changes in the speed of the connectivty may require changing routing decisions or troubleshooting the links under consideration. When an operator intends to take a decision about the amount of data to transmit per flow, this data is helpful as well to track. 26 bits unsigned integer field. This field inciates how many errors, such as packet drops due to CRC errors, have been detected on the interface used to deliver the packet. This data is helpful in order to understand the risk associated with the packet, or the flow it belongs to, as it shows the quality of the interfaces it uses as part of its path in the network. It can also point out potential issues that other packets from the same flow might have experienced.