RFC2297

From RFC-Wiki

Network Working Group P. Newman, Nokia Request for Comments: 2297 W. Edwards, Sprint Updates: 1987 R. Hinden, Nokia Category: Informational E. Hoffman, Nokia

                                                        F. Ching Liaw
                                                       T. Lyon, Nokia
                                               G. Minshall, Fiberlane
                                                           March 1998
   Ipsilon's General Switch Management Protocol Specification
                          Version 2.0

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This memo specifies enhancements to the General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) RFC1987. The major enhancement is the addition of Quality of Service (QoS) messages. Other improvements have been made to the protocol resulting from operational experience. GSMP is a general purpose protocol to control an ATM switch. It allows a controller to establish and release connections across the switch; add and delete leaves on a multicast connection; manage switch ports; request configuration information; and request statistics.

Introduction

The General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP), is a general purpose protocol to control an ATM switch. GSMP allows a controller to establish and release connections across the switch; add and delete leaves on a multicast connection; manage switch ports; request configuration information; and request statistics. It also allows the switch to inform the controller of asynchronous events such as a link going down. GSMP runs across an ATM link connecting the controller to the switch, on a control connection (virtual channel) established at initialization. GSMP operation across an Ethernet link is also specified. The GSMP protocol is asymmetric, the controller being the master and the switch being the slave. Multiple switches may be controlled by a single controller using multiple instantiations of the protocol over separate control connections.

A switch is assumed to contain multiple "ports". Each port is a combination of one "input port" and one "output port". Some GSMP requests refer to the port as a whole whereas other requests are specific to the input port or the output port. ATM cells arrive at the switch from an external communication link on incoming virtual paths or virtual channels at an input port. ATM cells depart from the switch to an external communication link on outgoing virtual paths or virtual channels from an output port. Virtual paths on a port or link are referenced by their virtual path identifier (VPI). Virtual channels on a port or link are referenced by their virtual path and virtual channel identifiers (VPI/VCI).

A virtual channel connection across a switch is formed by connecting an incoming virtual channel to one or more outgoing virtual channels. Virtual channel connections are referenced by the input port on which they arrive and the virtual path and virtual channel identifiers (VPI/VCI) of their incoming virtual channel. A virtual path connection across a switch is formed by connecting an incoming virtual path to one or more outgoing virtual paths. Virtual path connections are referenced by the input port on which they arrive and their virtual path identifier (VPI). In a virtual path connection the value of the VCI in each cell on that, connection is not used by the switch and remains unchanged by the switch.

GSMP supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. A multipoint-to-point connection is specified by establishing multiple point-to-point connections each of them specifying the same output branch. A multipoint-to-multipoint connection is specified by establishing multiple point-to-multipoint trees each of them specifying the same output branches.

In general a virtual channel is established with a certain quality of service (QoS). A rich set of QoS messages is introduced in this version of the protocol. However, implementation or operation of GSMP without any of the messages defined in Section 9, "Quality of service messages," is permitted. In this case each virtual channel connection or virtual path connection may be assigned a priority when it is established. It may be assumed that for virtual connections that share the same output port, an ATM cell on a connection with a higher priority is much more likely to exit the switch before an ATM cell on a connection with a lower priority if they are both in the switch at the same time. The number of priorities that each port of the switch supports may be obtained from the port configuration message.

GSMP contains an adjacency protocol. The adjacency protocol is used to synchronize state across the link, to negotiate which version of the GSMP protocol to use, to discover the identity of the entity at the other end of a link, and to detect when it changes.

GSMP Packet Encapsulation

ATM Encapsulation

GSMP packets are variable length and for an ATM data link layer they are encapsulated directly in an AAL-5 CPCS-PDU [I.363] with an LLC/SNAP header as illustrated:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | LLC (0xAA-AA-03) | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + | SNAP (0x00-00-00-88-0C) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ GSMP Message ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Pad (0 - 47 octets) | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + AAL-5 CPCS-PDU Trailer (8 octets) + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(The convention in the documentation of Internet Protocols RFC1700 is to express numbers in decimal. Numbers in hexadecimal format are specified by prefacing them with the characters "0x". Data is pictured in "big-endian" order. That is, fields are described left to right, with the most significant octet on the left and the least significant octet on the right. Whenever a diagram shows a group of octets, the order of transmission of those octets is the normal order in which they are read in English. Whenever an octet represents a numeric quantity the left most bit in the diagram is the high order or most significant bit. That is, the bit labeled 0 is the most significant bit. Similarly, whenever a multi-octet field represents a numeric quantity the left most bit of the whole field is the most significant bit. When a multi-octet quantity is transmitted, the most significant octet is transmitted first. This is the same coding convention as is used in the ATM layer [I.361] and AAL-5 [I.363].)

The LLC/SNAP header contains the octets: 0xAA 0xAA 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x88 0x0C. (0x880C is the assigned Ethertype for GSMP.)

The maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the GSMP Message field is 1492 octets.

The virtual channel over which a GSMP session is established between a controller and the switch it is controlling is called the GSMP control channel. The default VPI and VCI of the GSMP control channel for LLC/SNAP encapsulated GSMP messages on an ATM data link layer is:

  VPI = 0
  VCI = 15.

Ethernet Encapsulation

GSMP packets may be encapsulated on an Ethernet data link as illustrated:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Destination Address | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | Source Address | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Ethertype (0x88-0C) | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | | ~ GSMP Message ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender Instance | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Receiver Instance | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Pad | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Frame Check Sequence | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Destination Address

         For the SYN message of the adjacency protocol the
         Destination Address is the broadcast address
         0xFFFFFFFFFFFF. (Alternatively, it is also valid to
         configure the node with the unicast 48-bit IEEE MAC address
         of the destination. In this case the configured unicast
         Destination Address is used in the SYN message.) For all
         other messages the Destination Address is the unicast 48-
         bit IEEE MAC address of the destination. This address may
         be discovered from the Source Address field of messages
         received during synchronization of the adjacency protocol.

Source Address

         For all messages the Source Address is the 48-bit IEEE MAC
         address of the sender.

Ethertype

         The assigned Ethertype for GSMP is 0x880C.

GSMP Message

         The maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the GSMP Message
         field is 1492 octets.

Sender Instance

         The Sender Instance number for the link obtained from the
         adjacency protocol.  This field is already present in the
         adjacency protocol message. It is appended to all non-
         adjacency GSMP messages in the Ethernet encapsulation to
         offer additional protection against the introduction of
         corrupt state.

Receiver Instance

         The Receiver Instance number is what the sender believes is
         the current instance number for the link, allocated by the
         entity at the far end of the link.  This field is already
         present in the adjacency protocol message. It is appended
         to all non-adjacency GSMP messages in the Ethernet
         encapsulation to offer additional protection against the
         introduction of corrupt state.

Pad

         The minimum length of the data field of an Ethernet packet
         is 46 octets.  If necessary, padding should be added such
         that it meets the minimum Ethernet frame size. This padding
         should be octets of zero and it is not considered to be
         part of the GSMP message.

After the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronization, for every GSMP message received with an Ethernet encapsulation, the receiver must check the Source Address from the Ethernet MAC header, the Sender Instance, and the Receiver Instance. The incoming GSMP message must be discarded if the Sender Instance and the Source Address do not match the values of Sender Instance and Sender Name stored by the "Update Peer Verifier" operation of the GSMP adjacency protocol. The incoming GSMP message must also be discarded if it arrives over any port other than the port over which the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronization. In addition, the incoming message must also be discarded if the Receiver Instance field does not match the current value for the Sender Instance of the GSMP adjacency protocol.

Common Definitions and Procedures

GSMP is a master-slave protocol. The controller issues request messages to the switch. Each request message indicates whether a response is required from the switch and contains a transaction

identifier to enable the response to be associated with the request. The switch replies with a response message indicating either a successful result or a failure. There are five classes of GSMP request-response message: Connection Management, Port Management, State and Statistics, Configuration, and Quality of Service. The switch may also generate asynchronous Event messages to inform the controller of asynchronous events. Event messages are not acknowledged by the controller. There is also an adjacency protocol message used to establish synchronization across the link and maintain a handshake.

For the request-response messages, each message type has a format for the request message and a format for the success response. Unless otherwise specified a failure response message is identical to the request message that caused the failure, with the Code field indicating the nature of the failure. Event messages have only a single format defined as they are not acknowledged by the controller.

Switch ports are described by a 32-bit port number. The switch assigns port numbers and it may typically choose to structure the 32 bits into subfields that have meaning to the physical structure of the switch (e.g. slot, port). In general, a port in the same physical location on the switch will always have the same port number, even across power cycles. The internal structure of the port number is opaque to the GSMP protocol. However, for the purposes of network management such as logging, port naming, and graphical representation, a switch may declare the physical location (physical slot and port) of each port. Alternatively, this information may be obtained by looking up the product identity in a database.

Each switch port also maintains a port session number assigned by the switch. A message, with an incorrect port session number must be rejected. This allows the controller to detect a link failure and to keep state synchronized.

Except for the adjacency protocol message, no GSMP messages may be sent across the link until the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronization, and all GSMP messages received on a link that does not currently have state synchronization must be discarded.

GSMP Packet Format

All GSMP messages, except the adjacency protocol message, have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Message Body ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Version

         The version number of the GSMP protocol being used in this
         session. It should be set by the sender of the message to
         the GSMP protocol version negotiated by the adjacency
         protocol.

Message Type

         The GSMP message type. GSMP messages fall into six classes:
         Connection Management, Port Management, State and
         Statistics, Configuration, Quality of Service, and Events.
         Each class has a number of different message types. In
         addition, one Message Type is allocated to the adjacency
         protocol.

Result

         Field in a Connection Management request message, a Port
         Management request message, or a Quality of Service request
         message is used to indicate whether a response is required
         to the request message if the outcome is successful. A
         value of "NoSuccessAck" indicates that the request message
         does not expect a response if the outcome is successful,
         and a value of "AckAll" indicates that a response is
         expected if the outcome is successful.  In both cases a
         failure response must be generated if the request fails.
         For Sate and Statistics, and Configuration request
         messages, a value of "NoSuccessAck" in the request message
         is ignored and the request message is handled as if the
         field were set to "AckAll". (This facility was added to
         reduce the control traffic in the case where the controller
         periodically checks that the state in the switch is
         correct. If the controller does not use this capability,
         all request messages should be sent with a value of
         "AckAll.")
         In a response message the result field can have three
         values: "Success," "More," and "Failure". The "Success" and
         "More" results both indicate a success response. The "More"
         result indicates that the success response exceeds the
         maximum transmission unit of the data link and that one or
         more further messages will be sent to complete the success
         response. All messages that belong to the same success
         response will have the same Transaction Identifier. The
         "Success" result indicates a success response that may be
         contained in a single message or the final message of a
         success response spanning multiple messages.
         The encoding of the result field is:
              NoSuccessAck:  Result = 1
              AckAll:        Result = 2
              Success:       Result = 3
              Failure:       Result = 4
              More:          Result = 5.
         The Result field is not used in an adjacency protocol
         message.

Code

         Field gives further information concerning the result in a
         response message. It is mostly used to pass an error code
         in a failure response but can also be used to give further
         information in a success response message or an event
         message. In a request message the code field is not used
         and is set to zero. In an adjacency protocol message the
         Code field is used to determine the function of the
         message.

Transaction Identifier

         Used to associate a request message with its response
         message. For request messages the controller may select any
         transaction identifier. For response messages the
         transaction identifier is set to the value of the
         transaction identifier from the message to which it is a
         response.  For event messages the transaction identifier
         should be set to zero. The Transaction Identifier is not
         used, and the field is not present, in the adjacency
         protocol.

The following fields are frequently found in GSMP messages. They are defined here to avoid repetition.

Port

         Gives the port number of the switch port to which the
         message applies.

Port Session Number

         Each switch port maintains a Port Session Number assigned
         by the switch. The port session number of a port remains
         unchanged while the port is continuously in the Available
         state and the link status is continuously Up. When a port
         returns to the Available state after it has been
         Unavailable or in any of the Loopback states, or when the
         line status returns to the Up state after it has been Down
         or in Test, or after a power cycle, a new Port Session
         Number must be generated.  Port session numbers should be
         assigned using some form of random number.
         If the Port Session Number in a request message does not
         match the current Port Session Number for the specified
         port, a failure response message must be returned with the
         Code field indicating, "Invalid port session number."  The
         current port session number for a port may be obtained
         using a Port Configuration or an All Ports Configuration
         message.

Any field in a GSMP message that is unused or defined as "reserved" must be set to zero by the sender and ignored by the receiver.

It is not an error for a GSMP message to contain additional data after the end of the Message Body. This is to support development and experimental purposes. However, the maximum transmission unit of the GSMP message, as defined by the data link layer encapsulation, must not be exceeded.

A success response message must not be sent until the requested operation has been successfully completed.

Failure Response Messages

A failure response message is formed by returning the request message that caused the failure with the Result field in the header indicating failure (Result = 4) and the Code field giving the failure code. The failure code specifies the reason for the switch being unable to satisfy the request message.

If the switch issues a failure response in reply to a request message, no change should be made to the state of the switch as a result of the message causing the failure. (For request messages that contain multiple requests, such as the Delete Branches message, the

failure response message will specify which requests were successful and which failed. The successful requests may result in changed state.)

If the switch issues a failure response it must choose the most specific failure code according to the following precedence:

   Invalid Message
   Failure specific to the particular message type (failure code
       16). (The meaning of this failure is dependent upon the
       particular message type and is specified in the text defining
       the message.)
   A failure response specified in the text defining the message
       type.
   Connection Failures
   Virtual Path Connection Failures
   Multicast Failures
   QoS Failures (QoS failures are specified in Section 9.7.)
   General Failures

If multiple failures match in any of the following categories, the one that is listed first should be returned. The following failure response messages and failure codes are defined:

Invalid Message

   3:  The specified request is not implemented on this switch.
           The Message Type field specifies a message that is not
           implemented on the switch or contains a value that is not
           defined in the version of the protocol running in this
           session of GSMP.
   5:  One or more of the specified ports does not exist.
           At least one of the ports specified in the message is
           invalid. A port is invalid if it does not exist or if it
           has been removed from the switch.
   4:  Invalid Port Session Number.
           The value given in the Port Session Number field does not
           match the current Port Session Number for the specified
           port.

Connection Failures

   8:  The specified connection does not exist.
           An operation that expects a connection to be specified,
           either a virtual channel or a virtual path connection,
           cannot locate the specified connection. A virtual channel
           connection is specified by the input port, input VPI, and
           input VCI on which it arrives. A virtual path connection
           is specified by the input port and input VPI on which it
           arrives.
   9:  The specified branch does not exist.
           An operation that expects a branch of an existing
           connection to be specified, either a virtual channel or a
           virtual path connection, cannot locate the specified
           branch.  A branch of a virtual channel connection is
           specified by the virtual channel connection it belongs to
           and the output port, output VPI, and output VCI on which
           it departs. A branch of a virtual path connection is
           specified by the virtual path connection it belongs to
           and the output port and output VPI on which it departs.
   18: One or more of the specified input VPIs is invalid.
   19: One or more of the specified input VCIs is invalid.
   20: One or more of the specified output VPIs is invalid.
   21: One or more of the specified output VCIs is invalid.
   22: Invalid Class of Service field in a Connection Management
           message.
           The value of the Class of Service field is invalid.
   23: Insufficient resources for QoS Profile.
           The resources requested by the QoS Profile in the Class
           of service field are not available.

Virtual Path Connections

   24: Virtual path switching is not supported on this input port.
   25: Point-to-multipoint virtual path connections are not
           supported on either the requested input port or the
           requested output port.
           One or both of the requested input and output ports is
           unable to support point-to-multipoint virtual path
           connections.
   26: Attempt to add a virtual path connection branch to an
           existing virtual channel connection.
           It is invalid to mix branches switched as virtual channel
           connections with branches switched as virtual path
           connections on the same point-to-multipoint connection.
   27: Attempt to add a virtual channel connection branch to an
           existing virtual path connection.
           It is invalid to mix branches switched as virtual channel
           connections with branches switched as virtual path
           connections on the same point-to-multipoint connection.

Multicast Failures

   10: A branch belonging to the specified point-to-multipoint
           connection is already established on the specified output
           port and the switch cannot support more than a single
           branch of any point-to-multipoint connection on the same
           output port.
   11: The limit on the maximum number of point-to-multipoint
           connections that the switch can support has been reached.
   12: The limit on the maximum number of branches that the
           specified point-to-multipoint connection can support has
           been reached.
   17: Cannot label each output branch of a point-to-multipoint tree
           with a different label.
           Some early designs, and some low-cost ATM switch designs,
           require all output branches of a multicast connection to
           use the same value of VPI/VCI.
   28: Only point-to-point bidirectional connections may be
           established.
           It is an error to attempt to add an additional output
           branch to an existing connection with the bidirectional
           flag set.
   13: Unable to assign the requested VPI/VCI value to the requested
           branch on the specified point-to-multipoint connection.
           Although the requested VPI and VCI are valid, the switch
           is unable to support the request using the specified
           values of VPI and VCI for some reason not covered by the
           above failure responses. This message implies that a
           valid value of VPI or VCI exists that the switch could
           support. For example, some switch designs restrict the
           number of distinct VPI/VCI values available to a point-
           to-multipoint connection. (Most switch designs will not
           require this message.)
   14: General problem related to the manner in which point-to-
           multipoint is supported by the switch.
           Use this message if none of the more specific multicast
           failure messages apply.  (Most switch designs will not
           require this message.)

General Failures

   2:  Invalid request message.
           There is an error in one of the fields of the message not
           covered by a more specific failure message.
   6:  One or more of the specified ports is down.
           A port is down if its Port Status is Unavailable.
           Connection Management, Connection State, Port Management,
           and Configuration operations are permitted on a port that
           is Unavailable. Connection Activity and Statistics
           operations are not permitted on a port that is
           Unavailable and will generate this failure response. A
           Port Management message specifying a Take Down function
           on a port already in the Unavailable state will also
           generate this failure response.
   15: Out of resources.
           The switch has exhausted a resource not covered by a more
           specific failure message, for example, running out of
           memory.
   1:  Unspecified reason not covered by other failure codes.
           The failure message of last resort.

The following failure response messages are only used by the Label

           Range message.
   29: Cannot support requested VPI range.
   30: Cannot support requested VCI range on all requested VPIs.

The following failure response messages are only used by the Set

           Transmit Cell Rate function of the Port Management
           message.
   31: The transmit cell rate of this output port cannot be changed.
   32: Requested transmit cell rate out of range for this output
           port.

Connection Management Messages

Connection management messages are used by the controller to establish, delete, modify and verify virtual channel connections and virtual path connections across the switch. The Add Branch, Delete Tree, and Delete All connection management messages have the following format for both request and response messages:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |M|Q|B|C| Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |x x x x| Output VPI | Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Number of Branches | Class of Service | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Input Port

         Identifies a switch input port.

Flags

    M: Multicast
         The Multicast flag is used as a hint for point-to-
         multipoint connections in the Add Branch message. It is not
         used in any other connection management messages and in
         these messages it should be set to zero. If set, it
         indicates that the virtual channel connection or the
         virtual path connection is very likely to be a point-to-
         multipoint connection. If zero, it indicates that this
         connection is very likely to be a point-to-point connection
         or is unknown.
         The Multicast flag is only used in the Add Branch message
         when establishing the first branch of a new connection. It
         is not required to be set when establishing subsequent
         branches of a point-to-multipoint connection and on such
         connections it should be ignored by the receiver. (On
         receipt of the second and subsequent Add Branch messages
         the receiver knows that this is a point-to-multipoint
         connection.) If it is known that this is the first branch
         of a point-to-multipoint connection this flag should be
         set. If it is unknown, or if it is known that the
         connection is point-to-point this flag should be zero. The
         use of this flag is not mandatory. It may be ignored by the
         switch.  If unused the flag should be set to zero. Some
         switches use a different data structure for point-to-
         multipoint connections than for point-to-point connections.
         This flag avoids the switch setting up a point-to-point
         structure for the first branch of a point-to-multipoint
         connection which must immediately be deleted and
         reconfigured as point-to-multipoint when the second branch
         is established.
    Q: QoS Profile
         The QoS Profile flag, if set, indicates that the Class of
         Service field contains a QoS Profile Identifier.  If this
         flag is zero, it indicates that the Class of Service field
         contains a Priority or a Scheduler Identifier.
    B: Bidirectional
         The Bidirectional flag applies only to the Add Branch
         message. In all other Connection Management messages it is
         not used. It may only be used when establishing a point-
         to-point connection.  The Bidirectional flag in an Add
         Branch message, if set, requests that two unidirectional
         virtual channels or virtual paths be established, one in
         the forward direction, and one in the reverse direction. It
         is equivalent to two Add Branch messages, one specifying
         the forward direction, and one specifying the reverse
         direction. The forward direction uses the values of Input
         Port, Input VPI, Input VCI, Output Port, Output VPI, and
         Output VCI as specified in the Add Branch message. The
         reverse direction is derived by exchanging the values
         specified in the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI
         fields, with those of the Output Port, Output VPI, and
         Output VCI fields respectively. Thus, a virtual connection
         in the reverse direction arrives at the input port
         specified by the Output Port field, on the VPI/VCI
         specified by the Output VPI and Output VCI fields. It
         departs from the output port specified by the Input Port
         field, on the VPI/VCI specified by the Input VPI and Input
         VCI fields.
         The Bidirectional flag is simply a convenience to establish
         two unidirectional virtual connections in opposite
         directions between the same two ports, with identical
         VPI/VCIs, using a single Add Branch message. In all future
         messages the two unidirectional virtual connections must be
         handled separately. There is no bidirectional delete
         message. However, a single Delete Branches message with two
         Delete Branch Elements, one for the forward connection and
         one for the reverse, may be used.
    C: Congestion Indication
         The Congestion Indication flag, if set, requests that cells
         on this connection be marked if congestion is experienced.
         If this connection passes through a queue that the switch
         considers to be congested, the Congestion Experienced bit
         will be set in the Payload Type field of the cell header of
         all cells on the connection. GSMP does not specify the
         algorithm or any threshold by which the switch decides when
         a queue is congested.

Input VPI

         Identifies an ATM virtual path arriving at the switch input
         port indicated by the Input Port field.

Input VCI

         Identifies an ATM virtual channel arriving on the virtual
         path indicated by the Input VPI field at the switch input
         port indicated by the Input Port field. For virtual path
         connections the Input VCI field is not used.

Output Port

         Identifies a switch output port.

x: Unused

Output VPI

         Identifies an outgoing virtual path departing from the
         switch output port indicated in the Output Port field.

Output VCI

         Identifies an outgoing virtual channel departing on the
         virtual path indicated by the Output VPI field from the
         switch output port indicated in the Output Port field. For
         virtual path connections the Output VCI field is not used.

Number of Branches

         In a success response message and a failure response
         message, gives the number of output branches on a virtual
         channel connection or a virtual path connection after
         completion of the requested operation.  (A point-to-point
         connection will have one branch, a point-to-multipoint
         connection will have two or more branches.) If the switch
         is unable to keep track of the number of branches on a
         virtual path connection or a virtual channel connection it
         must respond with the value 0xFFFF meaning: "number of
         branches unknown".  This field is not used in the request
         message.

Class of Service

         This field can contain either a QoS Profile Identifier, a
         Priority, or a Scheduler Identifier.  If the QoS Profile
         flag in the Flags field is set, the Class of Service field
         contains a QoS Profile.  If the QoS Profile flag in the
         Flags field is zero, and the value of the Class of Service
         field is greater than or equal to 0x100, the Class of
         Service field contains a Scheduler Identifier.  If the QoS
         Profile flag in the Flags field is zero, and the value of
         the Class of Service field is less than 0x100, the Class of
         Service field contains a Priority. (Values of Scheduler
         Identifier less than 0x100 are interpreted as priorities.)
         The Class of Service field is only used in the Add Branch
         and Move Branch messages.
         A QoS Profile Identifier is an opaque 16-bit value. It is
         used to identify a QoS profile in the switch which
         specifies the Quality of Service required by the
         connection. QoS profiles are established by a mechanism
         external to GSMP.
         A Scheduler Identifier is an alternative method of
         communicating the QoS requirements of a connection. The
         Scheduler Identifier is defined in Section 9, "Quality of
         Service Messages."
         A Priority specifies the priority of the connection for Add
         Branch and Move Branch messages that choose not to use a
         QoS profile, or the QoS capabilities defined in Section 9,
         "Quality of Service Messages." The highest priority is
         numbered zero and the lowest priority is numbered "Q-1"
         where "Q" is the number of priorities that the output port
         can support. The ability to offer different qualities of
         service to different connections based upon their priority
         is assumed to be a property of the output port of the
         switch. It is assumed that for virtual path connections or
         virtual channel connections that share the same output
         port, an ATM cell on a connection with a higher priority is
         much more likely to exit the switch before an ATM cell on a
         connection with a lower priority, if they are both in the
         switch at the same time. The number of priorities that each
         output port can support is given in the Port Configuration
         message.

For all connection management messages, except the Delete Branches message, the success response message is a copy of the request message returned with the Result field indicating success and the Number of Branches field indicating the number of branches on the connection after completion of the operation. The Code field is not used in a connection management success response message.

The failure response message is a copy of the request message returned with a Result field indicating failure and the Number of Branches field indicating the number of branches on the connection.

Fundamentally, no distinction is made between point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. By default, the first Add Branch message for a particular Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI will establish a point-to-point virtual connection. The second Add Branch message with the same Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields will convert the connection to a point-to-multipoint virtual connection with two branches. (For virtual path connections the Input VCI is not required.) However, to avoid possible inefficiency with some switch designs, the Multicast Flag is provided. If the controller knows that a new connection is point-to-multipoint when establishing the first branch, it may indicate this in the Multicast Flag. Subsequent Add Branch messages with the same Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields will add further branches to the point-to- multipoint connection. Use of the Delete Branch message on a point- to-multipoint connection with two branches will result in a point- to-point connection. However, the switch may structure this connection as a point-to-multipoint connection with a single output branch if it chooses. (For some switch designs this structure may be more convenient.) Use of the Delete Branch message on a point-to- point connection will delete the point-to-point connection. There is no concept of a connection with zero output branches. All connections are unidirectional, one input virtual path or virtual channel to one or more output virtual paths or virtual channels.

GSMP supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. A multipoint-to-point connection is specified by establishing multiple point-to-point connections each of them specifying the same output branch. (An output branch is specified by an output port and output

VPI for a virtual path connection and by an output port, output VPI, and output VCI for a virtual channel connection.) A multipoint-to- multipoint connection is specified by establishing multiple point- to-multipoint trees each of them specifying the same output branches.

The connection management messages apply both to virtual channel connections and virtual path connections. The Add Branch and Move Branch connection management messages have two Message Types. One Message Type indicates that a virtual channel connection is required, and the other Message Type indicates that a virtual path connection is required. The Delete Branches, Delete Tree, and Delete All connection management messages have only a single Message Type because they do not need to distinguish between virtual channel connections and virtual path connections. For virtual path connections, neither Input VCI fields nor Output VCI fields are required. They should be set to zero by the sender and ignored by the receiver. Virtual channel branches may not be added to an existing virtual path connection. Conversely, virtual path branches may not be added to an existing virtual channel connection. In the Port Configuration message each switch input port may declare whether it is capable of supporting virtual path switching (i.e. accepting connection management messages requesting virtual path connections).

The connection management messages may be issued regardless of the Port Status of the switch port. Connections may be established or deleted when a switch port is in the Available, Unavailable, or any of the Loopback states. However, all connection state on an input port will be deleted when the port returns to the Available state from any other state, i.e. when a Port Management message is received for that port with the Function field indicating either Bring Up, or Reset Input Port.

Add Branch Message

The Add Branch message is a connection management message used to establish a virtual channel connection or a virtual path connection or to add an additional branch to an existing virtual channel connection or virtual path connection. It may also be used to check the connection state stored in the switch. The connection is specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields. The output branch is specified by the Output Port, Output VPI, and Output VCI fields. The quality of service requirements of the connection are specified by the Class of Service field. To request a virtual channel connection the Virtual Channel Connection (VCC) Add Branch message is:

  Message Type = 16

To request a virtual path connection the Virtual Path Connection (VPC) Add Branch message is:

  Message Type = 26

If a VPC Add Branch message is received and the switch input port specified by the Input Port field does not support virtual path switching, a failure response message must be returned indicating, "Virtual path switching is not supported on this input port."

If the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields; or the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields; does not already exist, it must be established with the single output branch specified in the request message. If the Bidirectional Flag in the Flags field is set, the reverse connection must also be established. The output branch should have the QoS attributes specified by the Class of Service field.

For the VCC Add Branch message, if a virtual path connection already exists on the virtual path specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields, a failure response message must be returned indicating, "Attempt to add a virtual channel connection branch to an existing virtual path connection." For the VPC Add Branch message, if a virtual channel connection already exists on any of the virtual channels within the virtual path specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields, a failure response message must be returned indicating, "Attempt to add a virtual path connection branch to an existing virtual channel connection."

If the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields; or the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields; already exists, but the specified output branch does not, the new output branch must be added. The new output branch should have the QoS attributes specified by the Class of Service field.

If the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields; or the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields; already exists and the specified output branch also already exists, the QoS attributes of the connection, specified by the Class of Service field, if different from the request message, should be changed to that in the request message. A success response message must be sent if the Result field of the request message is "AckAll". This allows the controller to periodically reassert the state of a connection or to change its priority. If the result field of the request message is "NoSuccessAck" a success response message should not be returned.

This may be used to reduce the traffic on the control link for messages that are reasserting previously established state. For messages that are reasserting previously established state, the switch must always check that this state is correctly established in the switch hardware (i.e. the actual connection tables used to forward cells).

If the output branch specified by the Output Port, Output VPI, and Output VCI fields for a virtual channel connection; or the output branch specified by the Output Port and Output VPI fields for a virtual path connection; is already in use by any connection other than that specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields, then the resulting output branch will have multiple input branches. If multiple point-to-point connections share the same output branch the result will be a multipoint-to-point connection. If multiple point-to-multipoint trees share the same output branches the result will be a multipoint-to-multipoint connection.

If the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields, or the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields, already exists, and the Bidirectional Flag in the Flags field is set, a failure response must be returned indicating: "Only point-to-point bidirectional connections may be established."

It should be noted that different switches support multicast in different ways. There will be a limit to the total number of point- to-multipoint connections any switch can support, and possibly a limit on the maximum number of branches that a point-to-multipoint connection may specify. Some switches also impose a limit on the number of different VPI/VCI values that may be assigned to the output branches of a point-to-multipoint connection. Many switches are incapable of supporting more than a single branch of any particular point-to-multipoint connection on the same output port. Specific failure codes are defined for some of these conditions.

Delete Tree Message

The Delete Tree message is a connection management message used to delete an entire virtual channel connection or an entire virtual path connection. All remaining branches of the connection are deleted. A virtual channel connection is specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields. A virtual path connection is specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields. The Output Port, Output VPI, and Output VCI fields are not used in this message. The Delete Tree message is:

  Message Type = 18

If the Result field of the request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon successful deletion of the specified connection. The success message must not be sent until the delete operation has been completed and if possible, not until all data on the connection, queued for transmission, has been transmitted. The Number of Branches field is not used in either the request or response messages of the Delete Tree message.

Verify Tree Message

The Verify Tree message has been removed from this version of GSMP. Its function has been replaced by the Number of Branches field in the success response to the Add Branch message which contains the number of branches on a virtual channel connection after successful completion of an add branch operation.

  Message Type = 19 is reserved.

If a request message is received with Message Type = 19 a failure response must be returned with the Code field indicating: "The specified request is not implemented in this version of the protocol."

Delete All Message

The Delete All message is a connection management message used to delete all connections on a switch input port. All connections that arrive at the specified input port must be deleted. On completion of the operation all dynamically assigned VPI/VCI values for the specified port must be unassigned, i.e. there must be no virtual connections established in the VPI/VCI space that GSMP controls on this port. The Input VPI, Input VCI, Output Port, Output VPI, and Output VCI fields are not used in this message. The Delete All message is:

  Message Type = 20

If the Result field of the request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon completion of the operation. The Number of Branches field is not used in either the request or response messages of the Delete All message. The success response message must not be sent until the operation has been completed.

The following failure response messages may be returned to a Delete All request.

     The specified request is not implemented on this switch.
     One or more of the specified ports does not exist.
     Invalid Port Session Number.

If any field in a Delete All message not covered by the above failure codes is invalid, a failure response must be returned indicating: "Invalid request message." Else, the delete all operation must be completed successfully and a success message returned. No other failure messages are permitted.

Delete Branches Message

The Delete Branches message is a connection management message used to request one or more delete branch operations. Each delete branch operation deletes a branch of a virtual channel connection or a virtual path connection, or in the case of the last branch of a connection, it deletes the connection. The Delete Branches message is:

  Message Type = 17

The request message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved | Number of Elements | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Delete Branch Elements ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Number of Elements

         Specifies the number of Delete Branch Elements to follow in
         the message. The number of Delete Branch Elements in a
         Delete Branches message must not cause the packet length to
         exceed the maximum transmission unit defined by the
         encapsulation.

Each Delete Branch Element specifies an output branch to be deleted and has the following structure:

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Error | Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |x x x x| Output VPI | Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Error

         Is used to return a failure code indicating the reason for
         the failure of a specific Delete Branch Element in a Delete
         Branches failure response message.  The Error field is not
         used in the request message and must be set to zero.  A
         value of zero is used to indicate that the delete operation
         specified by this Delete Branch Element was successful.
         Values for the other failure codes are specified in Section
         3.2, "Failure Response Messages."
         All other fields of the Delete Branch Element have the same
         definition as specified for the other connection management
         messages.

In each Delete Branch Element, either a virtual channel connection is specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields; or a virtual path connection is specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields. The specific branch to be deleted is indicated by the Output Port, Output VPI, and Output VCI fields for virtual channel connections and by the Output Port and Output VPI for virtual path connections.

If the Result field of the Delete Branches request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon successful deletion of the branches specified by all of the Delete Branch Elements. The success response message must not be sent until all of the delete branch operations have been completed. The success response message is only sent if all of the requested delete branch operations were successful. No Delete Branch Elements are returned in a Delete Branches success response message and the Number of Elements field must be set to zero.

If there is a failure in any of the Delete Branch Elements a Delete Branches failure response message must be returned. The Delete Branches failure response message is a copy of the request message with the Code field of the entire message set to, "Failure specific

to the particular message type," and the Error field of each Delete Branch Element indicating the result of each requested delete operation. A failure in any of the Delete Branch Elements must not interfere with the processing of any other Delete Branch Elements.

Move Branch Message

The Move Branch message is used to move a branch of an existing connection from its current output port VPI/VCI to a new output port VPI/VCI in a single atomic transaction. This operation occurs frequently in IP switching, every time a flow is switched from hop- by-hop forwarding to a dedicated virtual channel. The Move Branch connection management message has the following format for both request and response messages:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Flags | Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Old Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |x x x x| Old Output VPI | Old Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | New Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |x x x x| New Output VPI | New Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Number of Branches | Class of Service | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The VCC Move Branch message is a connection management message used to move a single output branch of a virtual channel connection from its current output port, output VPI, and output VCI, to a new output port, output VPI, and output VCI on the same virtual channel connection. None of the other output branches are modified. When the operation is complete the original output VPI/VCI on the original output port will be deleted from the connection. The VCC Move Branch message is:

  Message Type = 22

For the VCC Move Branch message, if the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields already exists, and the output branch specified by the Old Output Port, Old Output VPI, and Old Output VCI fields exists as a branch on that connection, the output branch specified by the New Output Port, New Output VPI, and New Output VCI fields is added to the connection and the branch specified by the Old Output Port, Old Output VPI, and Old Output VCI fields is deleted. If the Result field of the request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon successful completion of the operation. The success response message must not be sent until the Move Branch operation has been completed.

For the VCC Move Branch message, if the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields already exists, but the output branch specified by the Old Output Port, Old Output VPI, and Old Output VCI fields does not exist as a branch on that connection, a failure response must be returned with the Code field indicating, "The specified branch does not exist."

The VPC Move Branch message is a connection management message used to move a single output branch of a virtual path connection from its current output port and output VPI, to a new output port and output VPI on the same virtual channel connection. None of the other output branches are modified. When the operation is complete the original output VPI on the original output port will be deleted from the connection. The VPC Move Branch message is:

  Message Type = 27

For the VPC Move Branch message, if the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields already exists, and the output branch specified by the Old Output Port and Old Output VPI fields exists as a branch on that connection, the output branch specified by the New Output Port and New Output VPI fields is added to the connection and the branch specified by the Old Output Port and Old Output VPI fields is deleted. If the Result field of the request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon successful completion of the operation. The success response message must not be sent until the Move Branch operation has been completed.

For the VPC Move Branch message, if the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields already exists, but the output branch specified by the Old Output Port and Old Output VPI fields does not exist as a branch on that connection, a failure response must be returned with the Code field indicating, "The specified branch does not exist."

If the virtual channel connection specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields; or the virtual path connection specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields; does not exist, a failure response must be returned with the Code field indicating, "The specified connection does not exist."

If the output branch specified by the New Output Port, New Output VPI, and New Output VCI fields for a virtual channel connection; or the output branch specified by the New Output Port and New Output VPI fields for a virtual path connection; is already in use by any connection other than that specified by the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields then the resulting output branch will have multiple input branches. If multiple point-to-point connections share the same output branch the result will be a multipoint-to-point connection. If multiple point-to-multipoint trees share the same output branches the result will be a multipoint-to-multipoint connection.

Port Management Messages

Port Management Message

The Port Management message allows a port to be brought into service, taken out of service, looped back, reset, or the transmit cell rate changed. Only the Bring Up and the Reset Input Port functions change the connection state (established connections) on the input port. Only the Bring Up function changes the value of the Port Session Number. If the Result field of the request message is "AckAll" a success response message must be sent upon successful completion of the operation. The success response message must not be sent until the operation has been completed. The Port Management Message is:

  Message Type = 32

The Port Management message has the following format for the request and success response messages:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Event Sequence Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Event Flags | Duration | Function | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transmit Cell Rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Event Sequence Number

         In the success response message gives the current value of
         the Event Sequence Number of the switch port indicated by
         the Port field. The Event Sequence Number is set to zero
         when the port is initialized. It is incremented by one each
         time the port detects an asynchronous event that the switch
         would normally report via an Event message. If the Event
         Sequence Number in the success response differs from the
         Event Sequence Number of the most recent Event message
         received for that port, events have occurred that were not
         reported via an Event message. This is most likely to be
         due to the flow control that restricts the rate at which a
         switch can send Event messages for each port. In the
         request message this field is not used.

Event Flags

         Field in the request message is used to reset the Event
         Flags in the switch port indicated by the Port field. Each
         Event Flag in a switch port corresponds to a type of Event
         message. When a switch port sends an Event message it sets
         the corresponding Event Flag on that port. The port is not
         permitted to send another Event message of the same type
         until the Event Flag has been reset. If the Function field
         in the request message is set to "Reset Event Flags," for
         each bit that is set in the Event Flags field, the
         corresponding Event Flag in the switch port is reset.
         The Event Flags field is only used in a request message
         with the Function field set to "Reset Event Flags." For all
         other values of the Function field, the Event Flags field
         is not used.  In the success response message the Event
         Flags field must be set to the current value of the Event
         Flags for the port, after the completion of the operation
         specified by the request message, for all values of the
         Function field. Setting the Event Flags field to all zeros
         in a "Reset Event Flags" request message allows the
         controller to obtain the current state of the Event Flags
         and the current Event Sequence Number of the port without
         changing the state of the Event Flags.
         The correspondence between the types of Event message and
         the bits of the Event Flags field is as follows:
             0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
            +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
            |U|D|I|N|Z|x x x|
            +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
            U: Port Up          Bit 0, (most significant bit)
            D: Port Down        Bit 1,
            I: Invalid VPI/VCI  Bit 2,
            N: New Port         Bit 3,
            Z: Dead Port        Bit 4,
            x: Unused           Bits 5--7.

Duration

         Is the length of time, in seconds, that any of the loopback
         states remain in operation. When the duration has expired
         the port will automatically be returned to service.  If
         another Port Management message is received for the same
         port before the duration has expired, the loopback will
         continue to remain in operation for the length of time
         specified by the Duration field in the new message. The
         Duration field is only used in request messages with the
         Function field set to Internal Loopback, External Loopback,
         or Bothway Loopback.

Function

         Specifies the action to be taken. The specified action will
         be taken regardless of the current status of the port
         (Available, Unavailable, or any Loopback state).  If the
         specified function requires a new Port Session Number to be
         generated, the new Port Session Number must be returned in
         the success response message.  The defined values of the
         Function field are:
         Bring Up:
              Function = 1. Bring the port into service. All
              connections that arrive at the specified input port
              must be deleted and a new Port Session Number must be
              selected using some form of random number. On
              completion of the operation all dynamically assigned
              VPI/VCI values for the specified input port must be
              unassigned, i.e. no virtual connections will be
              established in the VPI/VCI space that GSMP controls on
              this input port. The Port Status of the port
              afterwards will be Available.
         Take Down:
              Function = 2. Take the port out of service. Any cells
              received at this port will be discarded. No cells will
              be transmitted from this port. The Port Status of the
              port afterwards will be Unavailable.
              The behavior is undefined if the port is taken down
              over which the GSMP session that controls the switch
              is running. (In this case the most probable behavior
              would be for the switch either to ignore the message
              or to terminate the current GSMP session and to
              initiate another session, possibly with the backup
              controller, if any.) The correct method to reset the
              link over which GSMP is running is to issue an RSTACK
              message in the adjacency protocol.
         Internal Loopback:
              Function = 3. Cells arriving at the output port from
              the switch fabric are looped through to the input port
              to return to the switch fabric. All of the ATM
              functions of the input port above the physical layer,
              e.g. header translation, are performed upon the looped
              back cells. The Port Status of the port afterwards
              will be Internal Loopback.
         External Loopback:
              Function = 4. Cells arriving at the input port from
              the external communications link are immediately
              looped back to the communications link at the physical
              layer without entering the input port. None of the ATM
              functions of the input port above the physical layer
              are performed upon the looped back cells. The Port
              Status of the port afterwards will be External
              Loopback.
         Bothway Loopback:
              Function = 5. Both internal and external loopback are
              performed. The Port Status of the port afterwards will
              be Bothway Loopback.
         Reset Input Port:
              Function = 6. All connections that arrive at the
              specified input port must be deleted and the input and
              output port hardware re-initialized. On completion of
              the operation all dynamically assigned VPI/VCI values
              for the specified input port must be unassigned, i.e.
              no virtual connections will be established in the
              VPI/VCI space that GSMP controls on this input port.
              The range of VPIs and VCIs that may be controlled by
              GSMP on this port will be set to the default values
              specified in the Port Configuration message.  The
              transmit cell rate of the output port must be set to
              its default value. The Port Session Number is not
              changed by the Reset Input Port function.  The Port
              Status of the port afterwards will be Unavailable.
         Reset Event Flags:
              Function = 7. For each bit that is set in the Event
              Flags field, the corresponding Event Flag in the
              switch port must be reset. The Port Status of the port
              is not changed by this function.
         Set Transmit Cell Rate:
              Function = 8. Sets the transmit cell rate of the
              output port as close as possible to the rate specified
              in the Transmit Cell Rate field. In the success
              response message the Transmit Cell Rate must indicate
              the actual transmit cell rate of the output port.  If
              the transmit cell rate of the requested output port
              cannot be changed, a failure response must be returned
              with the Code field indicating: "The transmit cell
              rate of this output port cannot be changed." If the
              transmit cell rate of the requested output port can be
              changed, but the value of the Transmit Cell Rate field
              is beyond the range of acceptable values, a failure
              response must be returned with the Code field
              indicating: "Requested transmit cell rate out of range
              for this output port." In the failure response message
              the Transmit Cell Rate must contain the same value as
              contained in the request message that caused the
              failure. The transmit cell rate of the output port is
              not changed by the Bring Up, Take Down, or any of the
              Loopback functions. It is returned to the default
              value by the Reset Input Port function.
    Transmit Cell Rate
         This field is only used in request and success response
         messages with the Function field set to "Set Transmit Cell
         Rate." It is used to set the output cell rate of the output
         port. It is specified in cells/s. If the Transmit Cell Rate
         field contains the value 0xFFFFFFFF the transmit cell rate
         of the output port should be set to the highest valid
         value.

Label Range Message

The default label range, Min VPI to Max VPI and Min VCI to Max VCI, is specified for each port by the Port Configuration or the All Ports Configuration messages. When the protocol is initialized, before the transmission of any Label Range messages, the label range of each port will be set to the default label range. (The default label range is dependent upon the switch design and configuration and is not specified by the GSMP protocol.) The Label Range message allows the range of VPIs supported by a specified port, or the range of VCIs supported by a specified VPI on a specified port, to be changed. Each switch port must declare whether it supports the Label Range message in the Port Configuration or the All Ports Configuration messages. The Label Range message is:

  Message Type = 33

The Label Range message has the following format for the request and success response messages:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Q|V|x x| Min VPI |x x x x| Max VPI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Min VCI | Max VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Remaining VPIs | Remaining VCIs | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Flags

    Q: Query
         If the Query flag is set in a request message, the switch
         must respond with the current range of valid VPIs, or the
         current range of valid VCIs on a specified VPI, according
         to the VPI/VCI flag. The current label range is not changed
         by a request message with the Query flag set. If the Query
         flag is zero, the message is requesting a label change
         operation.
    V: VPI/VCI
         If the VPI/VCI flag is set, the message refers to a range
         of VPIs only. The Min VCI and Max VCI fields are unused. If
         the VPI/VCI flag is zero the message refers to a range of
         VCIs on either one VPI or on a range of VPIs.
    x: Unused

Min VPI Max VPI

         Specify a range of VPI values, Min VPI to Max VPI
         inclusive.  A single VPI may be specified with a Min VPI
         and a Max VPI having the same value.  In a request message,
         if the value of the Max VPI field is less than or equal to
         the value of the Min VPI field, the requested range is a
         single VPI with a value equal to the Min VPI field. Zero is
         a valid value.  In a request message, if the Query flag is
         set, and the VPI/VCI flag is zero, the Max VPI field
         specifies a single VPI and the Min VPI field is not used.
         The maximum valid value of these fields for both request
         and response messages is 0xFFF.

Min VCI Max VCI

         Specify a range of VCI values, Min VCI to Max VCI
         inclusive.  A single VCI may be specified with a Min VCI
         and a Max VCI having the same value.  In a request message,
         if the value of the Max VCI field is less than or equal to
         the value of the Min VCI field, the requested range is a
         single VCI with a value equal to the Min VCI field. Zero is
         a valid value.  (However, VPI=0, VCI=0 is not available as
         a virtual channel connection as it is used as a special
         value in ATM to indicate an unassigned cell.)

Remaining VPIs Remaining VCIs

         These fields are unused in the request message. In the
         success response message and in the failure response
         message these fields give the maximum number of remaining
         VPIs and VCIs that could be requested for allocation on the
         specified port (after completion of the requested operation
         in the case of the success response). It gives the switch
         controller an idea of how many VPIs and VCIs it could
         request. The number given is the maximum possible given the
         constraints of the switch hardware. There is no implication
         that this number of VPIs and VCIs is available to every
         switch port.

If the Query flag and the VPI/VCI flag are set in the request message, the switch must reply with a success response message containing the current range of valid VPIs that are supported by the port. The Min VPI and Max VPI fields are not used in the request message.

If the Query flag is set and the VPI/VCI flag is zero in the request message, the switch must reply with a success response message containing the current range of valid VCIs that are supported by the VPI specified by the Max VPI field. If the requested VPI is invalid, a failure response must be returned indicating: "One or more of the specified input VPIs is invalid." The Min VPI field is not used in either the request or success response messages.

If the Query flag is zero and the VPI/VCI flag is set in the request message, the Min VPI and Max VPI fields specify the new range of VPIs to be allocated to the input port specified by the Port field. Whatever the range of VPIs previously allocated to this port it should be increased or decreased to the specified value.

If the Query flag and the VPI/VCI flag are zero in the request message, the Min VCI and Max VCI fields specify the range of VCIs to be allocated to each of the VPIs specified by the VPI range. Whatever the range of VCIs previously allocated to each of the VPIs within the specified VPI range on this port, it should be increased or decreased to the specified value. The allocated VCI range must be the same on each of the VPIs within the specified VPI range.

The success response to a Label Range message requesting a change of label range is a copy of the request message with the Remaining VPIs and Remaining VCIs fields updated to the new values after the Label Range operation.

If the switch is unable to satisfy a request to change the VPI range, it must return a failure response message with the Code field set to "Cannot support requested VPI range." In this failure response

message the switch must use the Min VPI and Max VPI fields to suggest a VPI range that it would be able to satisfy.

If the switch is unable to satisfy a request to change the VCI range on all VPIs within the requested VPI range, it must return a failure response message with the Code field set to "Cannot support requested VCI range on all requested VPIs." In this failure response message the switch must use the Min VPI, Max VPI, Min VCI, and Max VCI fields to suggest a VPI and VCI range that it would be able to satisfy.

In all other failure response messages for the label range operation the switch must return the values of Min VPI, Max VPI, Min VCI, and Max VCI from the request message.

While switches can typically support all 256 or 4096 VPIs the VCI range that can be supported is often more constrained. Often the Min VCI must be 0 or 32. Typically all VCIs within a particular VPI must be contiguous. The hint in the failure response message allows the switch to suggest a label range that it could satisfy in view of its particular architecture.

While the Label Range message is defined to specify both a range of VPIs and a range of VCIs within each VPI, the most likely use is to change either the VPI range or the range of VCIs within a single VPI. It is possible for a VPI to be valid but to be allocated no valid VCIs. Such a VPI could be used for a virtual path connection but to support virtual channel connections it would need to be allocated a range of VCIs.

A Label Range request message may be issued regardless of the Port Status or the Line Status of the target switch port. If the Port field of the request message contains an invalid port (a port that does not exist or a port that has been removed from the switch) a failure response message must be returned with the Code field set to, "One or more of the specified ports does not exist."

State and Statistics Messages

The state and statistics messages permit the controller to request the values of various hardware counters associated with the switch input and output ports, virtual path connections, virtual channel connections, and QoS Classes. They also permit the controller to request the connection state of a switch input port. The Connection Activity message is used to determine whether one or more specific virtual channel connections or virtual path connections have recently been carrying traffic. The Statistics message is used to query the various port, connection, and QoS class traffic and error counters.

The Report Connection State message is used to request an input port to report the connection state for a single virtual channel connection, a single virtual path connection, or for the entire input port.

Connection Activity Message

The Connection Activity message is used to determine whether one or more specific virtual channel connections or virtual path connections have recently been carrying traffic. The Connection Activity message contains one or more Activity Records. Each Activity Record is used to request and return activity information concerning a single virtual channel connection or virtual path connection. Each virtual channel connection is specified by its input port, input VPI, and input VCI. Each virtual path connection is specified by its input port and input VPI. These are specified in the Input Port, Input VPI, and Input VCI fields of each Activity Record. Two forms of activity detection are supported. If the switch supports per connection traffic accounting, the current value of the traffic counter for each specified virtual channel connection or virtual path connection must be returned. The units of traffic counted are not specified but will typically be either cells or frames. The controller must compare the traffic counts returned in the message with previous values for each of the specified connections to determine whether each connection has been active in the intervening period. If the switch does not support per connection traffic accounting, but is capable of detecting per connection activity by some other unspecified means, the result may be indicated for each connection using the Flags field. The Connection Activity message is:

  Message Type = 48

The Connection Activity request and success response messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Number of Records | Reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Activity Records ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Number of Records

         Field specifies the number of Activity Records to follow.
         The number of Connection Activity records in a single
         Connection Activity message must not cause the packet
         length to exceed the maximum transmission unit defined by
         the encapsulation.

Each Activity Record has the following format:

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |V|C|A|x| Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Traffic Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Input Port

         Identifies the port number of the input port on which the
         connection of interest arrives in order to identify the
         connection (regardless of whether the traffic count for the
         connection is maintained on the input port or the output
         port).

Input VPI Input VCI

         Fields identify the specific virtual path connection or
         virtual channel connection for which statistics are being
         requested. For a virtual path connection the Input VCI
         field is not used.

Flags

    V: Valid Record
         In the success response message the Valid Record flag is
         used to indicate an invalid Activity Record. The flag must
         be zero if any of the fields in this Activity Record are
         invalid, if the input port specified by the Input Port
         field does not exist, or if the specified connection does
         not exist. If the Valid Record flag is zero in a success
         response message, the Counter flag, the Activity flag, and
         the VC Traffic Count field are undefined. If the Valid
         Record flag is set, the Activity Record is valid, and the
         Counter and Activity flags are valid. The Valid Record flag
         is not used in the request message.
    C: Counter
         In a success response message, if the Valid Record flag is
         set, the Counter flag, if zero, indicates that the value in
         the VC Traffic Count field is valid.  If set, it indicates
         that the value in the Activity flag is valid. The Counter
         flag is not used in the request message.
    A: Activity
         In a success response message, if the Valid Record and
         Counter flags are set, the Activity flag, if set, indicates
         that there has been some activity on this connection since
         the last Connection Activity message for this connection.
         If zero, it indicates that there has been no activity on
         this connection since the last Connection Activity message
         for this connection. The Activity flag is not used in the
         request message.
    x: Unused

Traffic Count

         Field is not used in the request message.  In the success
         response message, if the switch supports per connection
         traffic counting, the Traffic Count field must be set to
         the value of a free running, connection specific, 64-bit
         traffic counter counting traffic flowing across the
         specified connection.  The value of the traffic counter is
         not modified by reading it.  If per connection traffic
         counting is supported, the switch must report the
         Connection Activity result using the traffic count rather
         than using the Activity flag.

The format of the failure response is the same as the request message with the Number of Records field set to zero and no VC Activity records returned in the message. If the switch is incapable of detecting per connection activity, a failure response must be returned indicating, "The specified request is not implemented on this switch."

Statistics Messages

The Statistics messages are used to query the various port, connection, and QoS class traffic and error counters.

The Statistics request messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | zero | VPI | VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

VPI VCI

         Fields identify the specific virtual path connection or
         virtual channel connection for which statistics are being
         requested.  For a virtual path connection the Input VCI
         field is not used.  For requests that do not require a
         virtual path connection or virtual channel connection to be
         specified, the VPI and VCI fields are not used.

QoS Class Identifier

         Field identifies the QoS class for which statistics are
         being requested. This field is only used if the QoS Class
         Establishment message defined in section 9.4 is
         implemented.

The success response for the Statistics message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | zero | VPI | VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input Cell Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input Frame Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input Cell Discard Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input Frame Discard Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input HEC Error Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Input Invalid VPI/VCI Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Output Cell Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Output Frame Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Output Cell Discard Count + | |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Output Frame Discard Count + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Port VPI/VCI QoS Class Identifier

         Fields are the same as those of the request message.

Input Cell Count Output Cell Count

         Give the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         cells arriving at the input or departing from the output
         respectively.

Input Frame Count Output Frame Count

         Give the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         frames (packets) arriving at the input or departing from
         the output respectively.

Input Cell Discard Count Output Cell Discard Count

         Give the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         cells discarded due to queue overflow on an input port or
         on an output port respectively.

Input Frame Discard Count Output Frame Discard Count

         Give the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         frames discarded due to congestion on an input port or on
         an output port respectively.

HEC Error Count

         Gives the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         cells discarded due to header checksum errors on arrival at
         an input port.

Invalid VPI/VCI Count

         Gives the value of a free running 64-bit counter counting
         cells discarded because their VPI/VCI is invalid on arrival
         at an input port. For a virtual channel connection an
         incoming VPI/VCI is invalid if no connection is currently
         established having that value of VPI/VCI. For a virtual
         path connection an incoming VPI is invalid if no connection
         is currently established having that value of VPI.

Port Statistics Message

The Port Statistics message requests the statistics for the switch port specified in the Port field. The contents of the VPI/VCI and the QoS Class Identifier fields in the Port Statistics request message are ignored. All of the count fields in the success response message refer to per-port counts regardless of the connection or QoS class to which the cells belong. Any of the count fields in the success response message not supported by the port must be set to zero. The Port Statistics message is:

  Message Type = 49

Connection Statistics Message

The Connection Statistics message requests the statistics for the virtual channel connection specified in the VPI/VCI field, or the virtual path connection specified in the VPI field, that arrives on the switch input port specified in the Port field, regardless of the QoS class to which the cells belong. All of the count fields in the success response message refer only to the specified connection. The HEC Error Count and Invalid VPI/VCI Count fields are not connection specific and must be set to zero. Any of the other count fields not supported on a per connection basis must be set to zero in the success response message. The Connection Statistics message is:

  Message Type = 50

QoS Class Statistics Message

The QoS Class Statistics message requests the statistics for the QoS class specified by the QoS Class Identifier field that arrives on the switch input port specified in the Port field, regardless of the connection to which the cells belong. The QoS Statistics message is only used if the QoS Class Establishment message defined in section 9.4 is implemented. The contents of the VPI/VCI fields in the QoS Class Statistics request message are ignored. All of the count fields in the success response message refer only to the specified QoS class. The HEC Error Count and Invalid VPI/VCI Count fields are not specific to a QoS class and must be set to zero. Any of the other count fields not supported on a per QoS class basis must be set to zero in the success response message. The QoS Class Statistics message is:

  Message Type = 51

Report Connection State Message

The Report Connection State message is used to request an input port to report the connection state for a single virtual channel connection, a single virtual path connection, or for the entire input port. The Report Connection State message is:

  Message Type = 52

The Report Connection State request message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |A|V|x x| Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Input Port

         Identifies the port number of the input port for which the
         connection state is being requested.

Flags

    A: All Connections
         If the All Connections flag is set, the message requests
         the connection state for all virtual path connections and
         virtual channel connections that arrive at the input port
         specified by the Input Port field. In this case the Input
         VPI and Input VCI fields and the VPI/VCI flag are unused.
    V: VPI/VCI
         If the All Connections flag is zero and the VPI/VCI flag is
         set, the message requests the connection state for the
         virtual path connection that arrives at the input port
         specified by the Input Port and Input VPI fields.  If the
         specified Input VPI identifies a virtual path connection
         (i.e. a single switched virtual path) the state for that
         connection is requested.  If the specified Input VPI
         identifies a virtual path containing virtual channel
         connections, the message requests the connection state for
         all virtual channel connections that belong to the
         specified virtual path. The Input VCI field is not used.
         If the All Connections flag is zero and the VPI/VCI flag is
         also zero, the message requests the connection state for
         the virtual channel connection that arrives at the input
         port specified by the Port, Input VPI and Input VCI fields.
         x: Unused.

Input VPI Input VCI

         Fields identify the specific virtual path connection, the
         specific virtual path, or the specific virtual channel
         connection for which connection state is being requested.
         For a virtual path connection (switched as a single virtual
         path connection) or a virtual path (switched as one or more
         virtual channel connections within the virtual path) the
         Input VCI field is not used.  For requests that do not
         require a virtual path connection or virtual channel
         connection to be specified, the Input VPI and Input VCI
         fields are not used.

The Report Connection State success response message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sequence Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Connection Records ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Input Port

         Is the same as the Input Port field in the request message.
         It identifies the port number of the input port for which
         the connection state is being reported.

Sequence Number

         In the case that the requested connection state cannot be
         reported in a single success response message, each
         successive success response message in reply to the same
         request message must increment the Sequence Number. The
         Sequence Number of the first success response message, in
         response to a new request message, must be zero.

Connection Records

         Each success response message must contain one or more
         Connection Records. Each Connection Record specifies a
         single point-to-point or point-to-multipoint virtual path
         connection or virtual channel connection. The number of
         Connection Records in a single Report Connection State
         success response must not cause the packet length to exceed
         the maximum transmission unit defined by the encapsulation.
         If the requested connection state cannot be reported in a
         single success response message, multiple success response
         messages must be sent. All success response messages that
         are sent in response to the same request message must have
         the same Input Port and Transaction Identifier fields as
         the request message. A single Connection Record must not be
         split across multiple success response messages. The More
         flag of the last Connection Record in a success response
         message indicates whether the response to the request has
         been completed or whether one or more further success
         response messages should be expected in response to the
         same request message.

Each Connection Record has the following format:

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |A|V|P|M| Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Output Branch Records ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Flags

    A: All Connections
    V: VPI/VCI
         For the first Connection Record in each success response
         message the All Connections and the VPI/VCI flags must be
         the same as those of the request message. For successive
         Connection Records in the same success response message
         these flags are not used.
    P: VPC
         The VPC flag, if set, indicates that the Connection Record
         refers to a virtual path connection.  If zero, it indicates
         that the Connection Record refers to a virtual channel
         connection.
    M: More
         If the More flag is set, it indicates that another
         Connection Record, in response to the same request message,
         will follow either in the same success response message or
         in a successive success response message. If the More flag
         is zero it indicates that this is the last Connection
         record in this success response message and that no further
         success response messages will be sent in response to the
         current request message. It indicates that the response to
         the request message is now complete.

Input VPI Input VCI

         The input VPI and VCI of the connection specified in this
         Connection Record. If this Connection Record specifies a
         virtual path connection (the VPC flag is set) the Input VCI
         field is unused.

Output Branch Records

         Each Connection Record must contain one or more Output
         Branch Records. Each Output Branch Record specifies a
         single output branch belonging to the connection identified
         by the Input VPI and Input VCI fields of the Connection
         Record. A point-to-point connection will require only a
         single Output Branch Record. A point-to-multipoint
         connection will require multiple Output Branch Records. The
         last Output Branch Record of each Connection Record is
         indicated by the Last Branch flag of the Output Branch
         Record. If a point-to-multipoint connection has more output
         branches than can fit in a single Connection Record
         contained within a single success response message, that
         connection may be reported using multiple Connection
         Records in multiple success response messages.

Each Output Branch Record has the following format:

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |L|x x x| Output VPI | Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Output Port

         The output port of the switch to which this output branch
         is routed.

Flags

    L: Last Branch
         The Last Branch flag, if set, indicates that this is the
         last Output Branch Record of this Connection Record. If
         zero, it indicates that one or more further Output Branch
         Records are to follow. If this is the last Output Branch
         Record in the message and the Last Branch flag is zero,
         further output branches belonging to the same connection
         will be given in another Connection Record. This Connection
         Record will be the first Connection Record in the next
         success response message. This Connection Record must have
         the same Input VPI and Input VCI values as the current
         Connection Record.
         x: Unused.

Output VPI Output VCI

         The output VPI and VCI of the output branch specified in
         this Output Branch Record.  If this Output Branch Record is
         part of a Connection Record that specifies a virtual path
         connection (the VPC flag is set) the Output VCI field is
         unused.

A Report Connection State request message may be issued regardless of the Port Status or the Line Status of the target switch port.

If the Input Port of the request message is valid, and the All Connections flag is set, but there are no connections established on that port, a failure response message must be returned with the code field set to, "Failure specific to the particular message type." For the Report Connection State message, this failure code indicates that no connections matching the request message were found. This failure message should also be returned if the Input Port of the request message is valid, the All Connections flag is zero, and no connections are found on that port matching the specified virtual path connection, virtual path, or virtual channel connection.

Configuration Messages

The configuration messages permit the controller to discover the capabilities of the switch. Three configuration request messages have been defined: Switch, Port, and All Ports.

All configuration request messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Switch Configuration Message

The Switch Configuration message requests the global (non port- specific) configuration for the switch. The Switch Configuration message is:

  Message Type = 64

The Port field is not used in the request message.

The Switch Configuration success response message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Firmware Version Number | Window Size | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Switch Type | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + | Switch Name | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Firmware Version Number

         The version number of the switch control firmware
         installed.

Window Size

         The maximum number of unacknowledged request messages that
         may be transmitted by the controller without the
         possibility of loss.  This field is used to prevent request
         messages being lost in the switch because of overflow in
         the receive buffer. The field is a hint to the controller.
         If desired, the controller may experiment with higher and
         lower window sizes to determine heuristically the best
         window size.

Switch Type

         A 16-bit field allocated by the manufacturer of the switch.
         (For these purposes the manufacturer of the switch is
         assumed to be the organization identified by the OUI in the
         Switch Name field.) The Switch Type identifies the product.
         When the Switch Type is combined with the OUI from the
         Switch Name the product is uniquely identified. Network
         Management may use this identification to obtain product
         related information from a database.

Switch Name

         A 48-bit quantity that is unique within the operational
         context of the device. A 48-bit IEEE 802 MAC address, if
         available, may be used as the Switch Name. The most
         significant 24 bits of the Switch Name must be an
         Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) that identifies
         the manufacturer of the switch.

Port Configuration Message

The Port Configuration message requests the switch for the configuration information of a single switch port. The Port field in the request message specifies the port for which the configuration is requested. The Port Configuration message is:

  Message Type = 65.

The Port Configuration success response message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |V|M|L|R| Min VPI |Q|x x x| Max VPI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Min VCI | Max VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Receive Cell Rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transmit Cell Rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Status | Port Type | Line Status | Priorities | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Physical Slot Number | Physical Port Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Port

         The switch port to which the configuration information
         refers. Configuration information relating to both the
         input and the output sides of the switch port is given.
         Port numbers are 32 bits wide and allocated by the switch.
         The switch may choose to structure the 32 bits into
         subfields that have meaning to the physical structure of
         the switch hardware (e.g.  physical slot and port). This
         structure may be indicated in the Physical Slot Number and
         Physical Port Number fields.

Flags

    V: VP Switching
         The VP Switching flag, if set, indicates that this input
         port is capable of supporting virtual path switching. Else,
         if zero, it indicates that this input port is only capable
         of virtual channel switching.
    M: Multicast Labels
         The Multicast Labels flag, if set, indicates that this
         output port is capable of labelling each output branch of a
         point-to-multipoint tree with a different label. If zero,
         it indicates that this output port is not able to label
         each output branch of a point-to-multipoint tree with a
         different label.
    L: Logical Multicast
         The Logical Multicast flag, if set, indicates that this
         output port is capable of supporting more than a single
         branch from any point-to-multipoint connection.  This
         capability is often referred to as logical multicast.  If
         zero, it indicates that this output port can only support a
         single output branch from each point-to-multipoint
         connection.
    R: Label Range
         The Label Range flag, if set, indicates that this switch
         port is capable of reallocating its VPI label range or its
         VCI label range and therefore accepts the Label Range
         message. Else, if zero, it indicates that this port does
         not accept Label Range messages.
    Q: QoS
         The QoS flag, if set, indicates that this switch port is
         capable of handling the Quality of Service messages defined
         in section 9 of this specification.  Else, if zero, it
         indicates that this port does not accept the Quality of
         Service messages.
    x: Unused

Min VPI

         The default minimum value of dynamically assigned incoming
         VPI that the connection table on the input port supports
         and that may be controlled by GSMP. This value is not
         changed as a result of the Label Range message.

Max VPI

         The default maximum value of dynamically assigned incoming
         VPI that the connection table on the input port supports
         and that may be controlled by GSMP.  This value is not
         changed as a result of the Label Range message.
         At power-on, after a hardware reset, and after the Reset
         Input Port function of the Port Management message, the
         input port must handle all values of VPI within the range
         Min VPI to Max VPI inclusive and GSMP must be able to
         control all values within this range.  It should be noted
         that the range Min VPI to Max VPI refers only to the
         incoming VPI range that can be supported by the associated
         port. No restriction is placed on the values of outgoing
         VPIs that may be written into the cell header. If the
         switch does not support virtual paths it is acceptable for
         both Min VPI and Max VPI to specify the same value, most
         likely zero.
         Use of the Label Range message allows the range of VPIs
         supported by the port to be changed. However, the Min VPI
         and Max VPI fields in the Port Configuration and All Ports
         Configuration messages always report the same default
         values regardless of the operation of the Label Range
         message.

Min VCI

         The default minimum value of dynamically assigned incoming
         VCI that the connection table on the input port can support
         and may be controlled by GSMP. This value is not changed as
         a result of the Label Range message.

Max VCI

         The default maximum value of dynamically assigned incoming
         VCI that the connection table on the input port can support
         and may be controlled by GSMP. This value is not changed as
         a result of the Label Range message.
         At power-on, after a hardware reset, and after the Reset
         Input Port function of the Port Management message, the
         input port must handle all values of VCI within the range
         Min VCI to Max VCI inclusive, for each of the virtual paths
         in the range Min VPI to Max VPI inclusive, and GSMP must be
         able to control all values within this range.  It should be
         noted that the range Min VCI to Max VCI refers only to the
         incoming VCI range that can be supported by the associated
         port on each of the virtual paths in the range Min VPI to
         Max VPI. No restriction is placed on the values of outgoing
         VCIs that may be written into the cell header.
         Use of the Label Range message allows the range of VCIs to
         be changed on each VPI supported by the port.  However, the
         Min VCI and Max VCI fields in the Port Configuration and
         All Ports Configuration messages always report the same
         default values regardless of the operation of the Label
         Range message.
         For a port over which the GSMP protocol is operating, the
         VCI of the GSMP control channel may or may not be reported
         as lying within the range Min VCI to Max VCI.  A switch
         should honor a connection request message that specifies
         the VCI value of the GSMP control channel even if it lies
         outside the range Min VCI to Max VCI.

Receive Cell Rate

         The maximum rate of cells that may arrive at the input port
         in cells/s.

Transmit Cell Rate

         The maximum rate of cells that may depart from the output
         port in cells/s. (The transmit cell rate of the output port
         may be changed by the Set Transmit Cell Rate function of
         the Port Management message.)

Port Status

         Gives the administrative state of the port. The defined
         values of the Port Status field are:
         Available:
              Port Status = 1. The port is available to both send
              and receive cells. When a port changes to the
              Available state from any other administrative state,
              all dynamically assigned virtual connections must be
              cleared and a new Port Session Number must be
              generated.
         Unavailable:
              Port Status = 2. The port has intentionally been taken
              out of service. No cells will be transmitted from this
              port.  No cells will be received by this port.
         Internal Loopback:
              Port Status = 3. The port has intentionally been taken
              out of service and is in internal loopback: cells
              arriving at the output port from the switch fabric are
              looped through to the input port to return to the
              switch fabric. All of the ATM functions of the input
              port above the physical layer, e.g. header
              translation, are performed upon the looped back cells.
         External Loopback:
              Port Status = 4. The port has intentionally been taken
              out of service and is in external loopback: cells
              arriving at the input port from the external
              communications link are immediately looped back to the
              communications link at the physical layer without
              entering the input port. None of the ATM functions of
              the input port above the physical layer are performed
              upon the looped back cells.
         Bothway Loopback:
              Port Status = 5. The port has intentionally been taken
              out of service and is in both internal and external
              loopback.
         The Port Status of the port over which the GSMP session
         controlling the switch is running, must be declared
         Available. The controller will ignore any other Port status
         for this port. The Port Status of switch ports after
         power-on initialization is not defined by GSMP.

Port Type

         The type of physical transmission interface for this port.
         The values for this field are defined by the atmIfType
         object specified in the Ipsilon IP Switch MIB [IpsilonMIB].

Line Status

         The status of the physical transmission medium connected to
         the port. The defined values of the Line Status field are:
         Up:
              Line Status = 1. The line is able to both send and
              receive cells.  When the Line Status changes to Up
              from either the Down or Test states, a new Port
              Session Number must be generated.
         Down:
              Line Status = 2. The line is unable either to send or
              receive cells or both.
         Test:
              Line Status = 3. The port or line is in a test mode,
              for example, power-on test.

Priorities

         The number of different priority levels that this output
         port can assign to virtual connections.  Zero is invalid in
         this field. If an output port is able to support "Q"
         priorities, the highest priority is numbered zero and the
         lowest priority is numbered "Q-1". The ability to offer
         different qualities of service to different connections
         based upon their priority is assumed to be a property of
         the output port of the switch. It may be assumed that for
         connections that share the same output port, an ATM cell on
         a connection with a higher priority is much more likely to
         exit the switch before an ATM cell on a connection with a
         lower priority if they are both in the switch at the same
         time.

Physical Slot Number

         The physical location of the slot in which the port is
         located. It is an unsigned 16-bit integer that can take any
         value except 0xFFFF. The value 0xFFFF is used to indicate
         "unknown." The Physical Slot Number is not used by the GSMP
         protocol. It is provided to assist network management in
         functions such as logging, port naming, and graphical
         representation.

Physical Port Number

         The physical location of the port within the slot in which
         the port is located. It is an unsigned 16-bit integer that
         can take any value except 0xFFFF. The value 0xFFFF is used
         to indicate "unknown." The Physical Port Number is not used
         by the GSMP protocol. It is provided to assist network
         management in functions such as logging, port naming, and
         graphical representation.
         There must be a one to one mapping between Port Number and
         the Physical Slot Number and Physical Port Number
         combination. Two different Port Numbers must not yield the
         same Physical Slot Number and Physical Port Number
         combination. The same Port Number must yield the same
         Physical Slot Number and Physical Port Number within a
         single GSMP session.  If both Physical Slot Number and
         Physical Port Number indicate "unknown" the physical
         location of switch ports may be discovered by looking up
         the product identity in a database to reveal the physical
         interpretation of the 32-bit Port Number.

All Ports Configuration Message

The All Ports Configuration message requests the switch for the configuration information of all of its ports. The All Ports Configuration message is:

  Message Type = 66

The Port field is not used in the request message.

The All Ports Configuration success response message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Number of Records | Port Record Length | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Port Records ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Number of Records

         Field gives the total number of Port Records to be returned
         in response to the All Ports Configuration request message.
         The number of port records in a single All Ports
         Configuration success response must not cause the packet
         length to exceed the maximum transmission unit defined by
         the encapsulation. If a switch has more ports than can be
         sent in a single success response message it must send
         multiple success response messages. All success response
         messages that are sent in response to the same request
         message must have the same Transaction Identifier as the
         request message and the same value in the Number of Records
         field.  All success response messages that are sent in
         response to the same request message, except for the last
         message, must have the result field set to "More." The last
         message, or a single success response message, must have
         the result field set to "Success." All Port records within
         a success response message must be complete, i.e. a single
         Port record must not be split across multiple success
         response messages.

Port Record Length

         Field gives the length of each port record in bytes. This
         is currently 32 but the Port Record Length field allows for
         the future definition of further fields at the end of the
         port record while preserving compatibility with earlier
         versions of the protocol.

Port Records

         Follow in the remainder of the message. Each port record
         has the following format:
0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |V|M|L|R| Min VPI |Q|x x x| Max VPI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Min VCI | Max VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Receive Cell Rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transmit Cell Rate | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Status | Port Type | Line Status | Priorities | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Physical Slot Number | Physical Port Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The definition of the fields in the Port Record is exactly the same as that of the Port Configuration message.

Event Messages

Event messages allow the switch to inform the controller of certain asynchronous events. Event messages are not acknowledged. The Result field and the Code field in the message header are not used and should be set to zero. Event messages are not sent during initialization. Event messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Event Sequence Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | zero | VPI | VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Event Sequence Number

         The current value of the Event Sequence Number for the
         specified port. The Event Sequence Number is set to zero
         when the port is initialized. It is incremented by one each
         time the port detects an asynchronous event that the switch
         would normally report via an Event message. The Event
         Sequence Number must be incremented each time an event
         occurs even if the switch is prevented from sending an
         Event message due to the action of the flow control.

VPI/VCI

         Field gives the VPI/VCI to which the event message refers.
         If this field is not required by the event message it is
         set to zero.

Each switch port must maintain an Event Sequence Number and a set of Event Flags, one Event Flag for each type of Event message. When a switch port sends an Event message it must set the Event Flag on that port corresponding to the type of the event. The port is not permitted to send another Event message of the same type until the Event Flag has been reset. Event Flags are reset by the "Reset Event Flags" function of the Port Management message. This is a simple flow control preventing the switch from flooding the controller with event messages. The Event Sequence Number of the port must be incremented every time an event is detected on that port even if the port is prevented from reporting the event due to the action of the flow control. This allows the controller to detect that it has not been informed of some events that have occurred on the port due to the action of the flow control.

Port Up Message

The Port Up message informs the controller that the Line Status of a port has changed from either the Down or Test state to the Up state. When the Line Status of a switch port changes to the Up state from either the Down or Test state a new Port Session Number must be generated, preferably using some form of random number. The new Port Session Number is given in the Port Session Number field. The VPI/VCI field is not used and is set to zero. The Port Up message is:

  Message Type = 80

Port Down Message

The Port Down message informs the controller that the Line Status of a port has changed from the Up state to the Down state. This message will be sent to report link failure if the switch is capable of detecting link failure. The port session number that was valid before

the port went down is reported in the Port Session Number field. The VPI/VCI field is not used and is set to zero. The Port Down message is:

  Message Type = 81

Invalid VPI/VCI Message

The Invalid VPI/VCI message is sent to inform the controller that one or more cells have arrived at an input port with a VPI/VCI that is currently not allocated to an assigned connection. The input port is indicated in the Port field, and the VPI/VCI in the VPI/VCI field. The Invalid VPI/VCI message is:

  Message Type = 82

New Port Message

The New Port message informs the controller that a new port has been added to the switch. The port number of the new port is given in the Port field. A new Port Session Number must be assigned, preferably using some form of random number. The new Port Session Number is given in the Port Session Number field. The state of the new port is undefined so the VPI/VCI field is not used and is set to zero. The New Port message is:

  Message Type = 83

Dead Port Message

The Dead Port message informs the controller that a port has been removed from the switch. The port number of the port is given in the Port field. The Port Session Number that was valid before the port was removed is reported in the Port Session Number field. The VPI/VCI fields are not used and are set to zero. The Dead Port message is:

  Message Type = 84

Quality of Service Messages

The GSMP Quality of Service (QoS) messages allow a controller to group virtual path connections and virtual channel connections into QoS classes, and to allocate QoS resources to both QoS classes and to individual connections. At initialization, the switch describes its QoS capabilities to the controller, in terms of the abstract switch model, using the QoS Configuration message. The controller issues

Scheduler Establishment messages to configure the scheduler on each switch output port. It also issues QoS Class Establishment messages to configure QoS classes. Connections may be added to, or deleted from, a QoS class using the QoS Connection Management message. QoS resources may also be assigned to individual connections using the QoS Connection Management message. Connections that only require the scheduler may use the simple connection management messages defined in Section 3, "Connection Management Messages."

Abstract Switch Model

The abstract switch model, fig. 1, is the means by which a switch can describe its fundamental QoS capabilities to a controller. It consists of four main functions: a policer, a classifier, a regulator, and a scheduler. The classifier groups multiple connections (VPCs or VCCs) together into a QoS class such that QoS resources may be shared by the QoS class as a whole. Within a QoS class there is no differentiation between members of the class in terms of QoS resources received. However, the ordering of cells within each constituent VPC or VCC must be preserved on exit from the switch. Connections are not required to be aggregated into a QoS class with other connections; they may be allocated individual QoS resources.

VPC/VCCs Policer Classifier Regulator Scheduler

         +--+     +----+                       +--------+
-------->|  |---->|    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |                       |        |
                  |    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |       +----+          |        |
-------->|  |---->|    |       |    |--------->|        |
         +--+     |    |       |    |conforming|        |
                  |    |------>|    |          |        |
         +--+     |    |  QoS  |    |          |        |
-------->|  |---->|    | Class |    |--------->|        |
         +--+     |    |       +----+  excess  |        |
                  |    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |                       |        |
-------->|  |---->|    |                       |        |
         +--+     +----+                       |        |
                                               |        |
                                               |        |   Output
                                               |        |    Port
                                               |        |---------->
                                               |        |
                                               |        |
         +--+     +----+                       |        |
-------->|  |---->|    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |                       |        |
                  |    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |       +----+          |        |
-------->|  |---->|    |       |    |--------->|        |
         +--+     |    |       |    |conforming|        |
                  |    |------>|    |          |        |
         +--+     |    |  QoS  |    |          |        |
-------->|  |---->|    | Class |    |--------->|        |
         +--+     |    |       +----+  excess  |        |
                  |    |                       |        |
         +--+     |    |                       |        |
-------->|  |---->|    |                       |        |
         +--+     +----+                       |        |
                                               +--------+
                   Fig. 1: Abstract Switch Model

The policer is a single input, single output device that can discard or tag cells. A policer may be applied to police each individual connection. A policer may also be applied to police the aggregate traffic of a QoS class. The policer is used to enforce an upper bound on the traffic on a connection or on a QoS class.

The regulator follows the policer and classifier. It offers either a policing function or a shaping function. The policing function evaluates cells as conforming to the rate specified by the regulator parameters or as being in excess of that rate. One of three actions can be specified to be taken for each cell as a result of this evaluation: tagging, discard or differentiated scheduling. Tagging sets the CLP bit of cells deemed to be in excess of the rate defined by the regulator parameters. The discard function discards excess cells. The differentiated scheduling function allows conforming cells and excess cells to be scheduled for service at different points in the scheduler. This would allow conforming cells, for example, to receive service with a QoS guarantee, whereas excess cells receive best-effort service. The implementation of differentiated scheduling, however, is complicated by the requirement not to reorder cells within each connection.

The shaping function of the regulator paces cells out, on each QoS class or individual connection, at the rate specified by the regulator parameters. No jitter requirement may be specified, nor is any specific guarantee of jitter given. If traffic arrives on any QoS class or individual connection at a greater rate than the output rate specified, that traffic will be delayed. If the delayed traffic for any QoS class or individual connection exceeds a bound, discard will occur. Differentiated scheduling is supported by the shaper but its application to shaping is somewhat different than its application to policing. Conforming traffic is that traffic which leaves the shaper as a result of the shaping process. The conforming pointer specifies the point in the scheduler structure where such traffic is scheduled for output. (This is typically the highest priority of the scheduler but the GSMP specification permits other priorities to be specified.) If an excess pointer is also enabled for a particular QoS class or individual connection, traffic in excess of the rate specified by the shaper may also be transmitted. The position of the excess pointer in the scheduler structure determines the undefined amount of additional traffic that will be supported. The excess traffic may be tagged if required, if tagging is supported. The excess pointer will receive the same share of bandwidth that a best-effort class or connection would receive at the same location in the scheduler structure.

The location of the classifier and regulator functions in the switch is important. If the classifier is located on an input port, only virtual connections that arrive at that input port may be aggregated into a QoS class. If the classifier is centralized, or located on an output port, virtual connections that arrive at any input port may be aggregated into the same QoS class. If the regulator is located on an output port all virtual connections within a QoS class passing through that regulator must exit the switch at that output port.

However, if the regulator is centralized, or located on an input port, virtual connections that are part of the same QoS class may be switched to different output ports. Each switch port must specify the location of its classifier and regulator functions.

The scheduler is located on the output port, fig. 2. It distributes the bandwidth of the output link between the QoS classes and individual connections. It is a two-level scheduler: a priority scheduler at one level and a FIFO or a weighted scheduler at the other. Up to 255 strict priority levels may be supported. Traffic in any specific priority level may only be transmitted if no traffic is queued for transmission in any higher priority level. Within each priority level a weighted scheduler may be defined. Each leaf of the scheduler tree is connected to a waiting room. The waiting room has two functions. When it receives service from the scheduler, it must select a QoS class or individual connection for transmission. When it is notified of traffic arrival on a QoS class or connection, it must decide whether there is enough room left in the waiting room to accept the traffic, else that traffic must be discarded. The waiting room has a size parameter indicating how much traffic may be accepted. Other queueing parameters may be attached to the waiting room. Multiple conforming and excess pointers from the regulators may point to each waiting room. Within a waiting room, the scheduling of multiple connections sharing that waiting room may support weighted sharing between the connections.

    From      Waiting        FIFO/Weighted        Priority
  Regulator     Room           Scheduler          Scheduler
                       Net       +---+
              +------+ Weight    |   |
   ---------->|      |-%-------->| 0 |------\
              +------+           |   |       \
                                 +---+        \
   ---------->+------+                        |
              |      |-%--\      +---+        |
   ---------->+------+     \---->|   |        |
                                 | 1 |---\    |
              +------+     /---->|   |    \   \
   ---------->|      |-%--/      +---+     \   \    +---+
              +------+                      \   \-->|   |
                                             \----->|   |--------->
   ---------->+------+                          /-->|   |  Output
   ---------->|      |-%-\                     /    +---+   Port
   ---------->+------+    \                   /
                           \     +---+       /
              +------+      \--->|   |      /
   ---------->|      |-%-------->| 2 |-----/
              +------+      /--->|   |
                           /     +---+
              +------+    /
   ---------->|      |-%-/
              +------+
                       Fig. 2: The Scheduler

QoS Configuration Message

The QoS Configuration message permits the controller to discover the QoS capabilities of each switch port in terms of the abstract switch model. The QoS Configuration message is:

  Message Type = 96

The QoS Configuration request message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The QoS Configuration success response message has the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Scheduler Flags | Regulator Flags | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Excess Capabilities | Reserved | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Hi Sharing | Lo Sharing | Max Classes | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Default Size | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Default Discard Threshold | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Max Buffer | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Max Shaper Buffer | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Scaling Factor | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Port

         The switch port to which the QoS configuration information
         refers. QoS configuration information relating to both the
         input and the output sides of the switch port is given.

Scheduler Flags

     0                   1
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |W|Q|S|G|D|F|M|B|I|x x x x x x x|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    W: Weighted Connections
         Bit 0 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         a weighted service algorithm (such as weighted round-robin)
         is available for allocation of service to individual
         connections within at least some waiting rooms. It means
         that a Connection Weight parameter can be attached to a QoS
         Connection Management message. Not all waiting rooms at all
         priority levels may be able to support this function.
         Whether a particular waiting room can support this function
         will be discovered when a QoS Connection Management message
         is issued.
    Q: Weighted QoS Classes
         Bit 1 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         a weighted service algorithm (such as weighted round-robin)
         is available for allocation of service to QoS classes
         within at least some waiting rooms.  It means that a QoS
         Class Weight parameter can be attached to a QoS Class
         Establishment message.  Not all waiting rooms at all
         priority levels may be able to support this function.
         Whether a particular waiting room can support this function
         will be discovered when a QoS Class Establishment message
         is issued.
    S: Shared Waiting Room
         Bit 2 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         multiple QoS classes and multiple connections may be
         scheduled within a single waiting room. This is expected to
         be the normal case. If Bit 2 of the Scheduler Flags field
         is zero, it indicates that only a single QoS class or a
         single connection may be directed to any single waiting
         room.
    G: Global Max Classes
         Bit 3 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         the Max Classes field gives the maximum number of QoS
         classes that may be supported by the entire switch. If
         zero, it indicates that the Max Classes field gives the
         maximum number of QoS classes that may be supported by this
         switch port.
    D: Packet Discard
         Bit 4 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         the scheduler on this output port is capable of packet
         discard. Packet discard indicates a discard algorithm that
         is aware of AAL-5 packet boundaries and attempts to discard
         whole packets. No specific algorithm is indicated though
         Early Packet Discard (EPD) is likely to be the most common.
         Other algorithms such as "push from front" schemes, dynamic
         threshold, or Random Early Detection (RED) are also
         examples of possible packet discard algorithms. The only
         parameters available to the packet discard algorithm, via
         GSMP, are the Size and Discard Threshold of the waiting
         room.
    F: Frame-Based Scheduling
         Bit 5 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         the scheduler on this output port is capable of frame-based
         scheduling. In frame-based scheduling, a connection is only
         scheduled for transmission when a complete AAL-5 packet is
         available.  When a connection is scheduled for
         transmission, all cells belonging to one or more complete
         packets from that connection will be transmitted without
         being interleaved with any other cells on that output port
         (regardless of their priority).  Frame-based scheduling is
         a property of the waiting room and is requested in the
         Scheduler Establishment message.  A QoS class may be routed
         through a waiting room configured with frame-based
         scheduling.  In this case each component connection of the
         QoS class will receive frame based scheduling. For correct
         distribution of bandwidth, each QoS class that requires
         frame-based scheduling should have its own waiting room.
    M: VC Merging
         Bit 6 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         the scheduler on this output port is capable of VC merging
         by a mechanism other than frame-based scheduling. VC
         merging indicates that the switch is capable of the
         multipoint-to-point merging of two or more incoming virtual
         connections onto a single outgoing virtual connection
         without interleaving cells from different AAL-5 packets
         that bear the same VPI/VCI. VC merging differs from frame-
         based scheduling in that cells with a different VPI/VCI may
         be interleaved with those of a multipoint-to-point VC
         merging connection. Thus, higher priority cells may be
         interleaved during the transmission of a packet on a lower
         priority VC merging connection.  Most switches achieve VC
         merging by using frame-based scheduling.  VC merging is a
         property of the waiting room and is requested in the
         Scheduler Establishment message.  A QoS class may be routed
         through a waiting room configured with VC merging.  In this
         case each component connection of the QoS class will
         receive VC merging.
    B: Shared Buffer
         Bit 7 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         at least some of the buffer space specified by the Max
         Buffer field is shared with other ports.  If zero, it
         indicates that the buffer space specified by the Max Buffer
         field is not shared with other ports.
    I: Identical Ports
         Bit 8 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         all ports of the switch have identical QoS capabilities. If
         this bit is set the controller does not have to request the
         QoS configuration of each port individually as all ports
         have the same capability.
    x: Bits 9--15 of the Scheduler Flags field are not used.

Regulator Flags

     0                   1
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |C|Q|I O|P|S|H|M|x x x x x x x x|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    C: Connection Policing
         Bit 0 of the Regulator Flags field indicates that this
         input port supports the policing of individual incoming
         connections. The parameters for the policer are specified
         in the QoS Connection Management message when the
         connection is established.
    Q: QoS Class Policing
         If bit 1 of the Regulator Flags field is set, a policer
         function is available to police each QoS class on output
         from the classifier. The parameters for this policer are
         specified in the QoS Class Establishment message. If this
         bit is zero, no policer function is available to police a
         QoS class.
    IO: QoS Class Location
         Bits 2 and 3 of the Regulator Flags field specify the
         location of the classifier and regulator functions. If both
         bits 2 and 3 of the Regulator Flags field are zero, no
         classifier or regulator function is available to this port.
         If bit 2 of the Regulator Flags field is set and bit 3 is
         zero, the classifier and regulator functions are available
         on the input port. This implies that only virtual
         connections arriving at this input port may be grouped into
         QoS classes by this classifier. However, connections in a
         QoS class output from this regulator may be switched to any
         output port.
         If bit 2 of the Regulator Flags field is zero and bit 3 is
         set, the classifier and regulator functions are available
         on the output port. This implies that virtual connections
         arriving at any input port may be grouped into QoS classes
         by this classifier. However, all connections in any QoS
         class output from this regulator may only be switched to
         this output port.
         If both bits 2 and 3 of the Regulator Flags field are set,
         this switch port has access to centralized classifier and
         regulator functions. This implies that virtual connections
         arriving at any input port may be grouped into a QoS class
         by this classifier. Also, connections in a QoS class output
         from this regulator may be switched to any output port.
    Regulator Function
    P: If bit 4 of the Regulator Flags field is set, the regulator
         is able to support the policing function.
    S: If bit 5 of the Regulator Flags field is set, the regulator
         is able to support the shaping function on all priority
         levels of the scheduler.
    H: If bit 5 of the Regulator Flags field is zero and bit 6 is
         set, the regulator is able to support the shaping function
         but only on the highest priority level of the scheduler.
         All connections and QoS classes using this regulator must
         be routed to a waiting room at the highest priority level
         of the scheduler.
    M: QoS Multicast
         If bit 7 of the Regulator Flags field is set, any point-
         to-multipoint connection arriving on this input port, with
         QoS parameters established by the GSMP Quality of Service
         messages, must use the same QoS parameters for all output
         branches.
    x: Bits 8--15 of the Regulator Flags field are not used.

Excess Capabilities

     0                   1
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |D|T|S|A|B|x x x x x x x x x x x|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    Policer:
    D: If bit 0 of the Excess Capabilities field is set, the policer
         function of the regulator is able to support discard.
    T: If bit 1 of the Excess Capabilities field is set, the policer
         function of the regulator is able to support tagging.
    S: If bit 2 of the Excess Capabilities field is set, the policer
         function of the regulator is able to support differentiated
         scheduling.
    Shaper:
    A: If bit 3 of the Excess Capabilities field is set, the shaper
         function of the regulator is able to support tagging.
    B: If bit 4 of the Excess Capabilities field is set, the shaper
         function of the regulator is able to support differentiated
         scheduling.
    x: Bits 5--15 of the Excess Capabilities field are not used.

Hi Sharing Lo Sharing

         Defines a range of priority levels that support weighted
         sharing. Each priority level in the range Lo Sharing to Hi
         Sharing inclusive, supports weighted sharing. A priority
         level that supports weighted sharing offers a weighted
         sharing algorithm (for example, weighted round-robin)
         between waiting rooms within that priority level. This
         permits the output link bandwidth available at that
         priority level, to be shared between the waiting rooms
         allocated to that priority level, according to the Net
         Weight parameter of each waiting room.  The value 0xFF for
         both parameters indicates that this output port does not
         support weighted sharing in any priority level.

Max Classes

         If bit 3 of the Scheduler Flags field is zero, Max Classes
         gives the maximum number of QoS classes that may be
         supported by this switch port. In this case the maximum
         number of QoS classes that may be supported by this switch
         port is not affected by the number of QoS classes in use by
         other switch ports.  If bit 3 of the Scheduler Flags field
         is set, Max Classes gives the maximum number of QoS classes
         that may be supported by the entire switch. In this case it
         is assumed that use of these QoS classes may be distributed
         among the various switch ports.

Default Size

         The size of waiting room that this output port allocates by
         default. The actual size of waiting room may be specified
         in the Scheduler Establishment message. The size of a
         waiting room specifies the maximum number of cells
         permitted to wait for transmission via that waiting room.
         Any further cells arriving at that waiting room beyond this
         number will be discarded.

Default Discard Threshold

         The value of discard threshold that this output port
         allocates by default. The actual value of discard threshold
         may be specified in the Scheduler Establishment message.
         The discard threshold specifies the number of cells waiting
         for transmission via a waiting room after which further
         arriving cells will be subject to a discard mechanism.

Max Buffer

         The maximum amount of buffer space, measured in cells,
         available to this port. If bit 7 of the Scheduler Flags
         field is zero this, buffer space is not shared with other
         ports. If bit 7 of the Scheduler Flags field is set, at
         least some of this buffer space is shared with other ports.

Max Shaper Buffer

         The maximum amount of buffer space, measured in cells,
         available to a QoS connection or a QoS class within the
         shaper function of the regulator. This shaper buffer space
         is likely to be shared among all QoS classes and QoS
         connections using the shaper, so there is no guarantee that
         the amount of buffer space defined by the Max Shaper Buffer
         field will be available to any particular QoS class or QoS
         connection.

Scaling Factor

         The QoS Class Establishment and QoS Connection Management
         messages require parameters that describe cell rates in
         cells per second or their reciprocal, cell interarrival
         periods, in seconds per cell. In order that these
         parameters may be specified with a 32-bit unsigned integer,
         the switch defines a Scaling Factor to be used in defining
         such parameters. By appropriate choice of the Scaling
         Factor the switch can select the range and granularity of
         rate or time that can be specified with the 32-bit unsigned
         integer.  Further details are given in the discussion of
         the UPC Parameters field of the QoS Connection Management
         message.

Scheduler Establishment Message

The Scheduler Establishment message is used to configure the scheduler on a specified output port. It is used to configure a waiting room, attach it to a leaf of the scheduler tree, and return a Scheduler Identifier to reference the waiting room. The Scheduler Establishment message may also be used to modify the parameters of an already established waiting room.

Scheduler Identifiers in the range 0--255 represent default values. They are used for the priority levels that may be specified in the Class of Service field of Connection Management messages without requiring explicit establishment via a Scheduler Establishment message. Each of these default values specifies a single waiting room with default parameters, configured as a FIFO queue, on each of the valid scheduler priority levels. (This permits Connection Management messages to continue to specify QoS requirements as a priority without requiring the use of any of the QoS messages.) The number of priority levels available to the scheduler is specified in the Priorities field of the Port Configuration and All Ports Configuration messages.

The Scheduler Establishment Message is:

  Message Type = 97

The Scheduler Establishment request and success response messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Scheduler Identifier | Net Weight | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved |D|F|M|W|x x x x| Priority | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Waiting Room Size | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Discard Threshold | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Scheduler Identifier

         The Scheduler Identifier is selected by the controller. It
         is used to identify the waiting room being established or
         modified in future messages. The Scheduler Identifier is
         taken from a namespace that is local to the switch port. A
         Scheduler Identifier in the Scheduler Establishment message
         must be greater than 0x00FF but less than 0xFFFF. The
         values 0 -- 0x00FF are reserved for use as default values.
         The default values of the Scheduler Identifier are used to
         specify the default settings for the scheduler. Each of the
         default values maps directly to one of the scheduler
         priority levels.  The value 0xFFFF is reserved for use in
         the QoS Connection Management message.

Net Weight

         The Net Weight specifies the share of the bandwidth
         available to the priority level, specified by the Priority
         field, that should be given to this waiting room.  The Net
         Weight parameter is only valid if the priority level
         specified by the Priority field supports weighted sharing.
         The Net Weight is an unsigned 16-bit field specifying a
         binary fraction.  I.e. the bandwidth share, as a fraction
         of the bandwidth available to the priority level, is given
         by:
            Bandwidth share = Net Weight * 2**(-16)
         A Net Weight of zero indicates equal sharing between all
         waiting rooms sharing this priority level that request a
         Net Weight of zero.  While a 16-bit field is used to
         specify the Net Weight it is understood that the accuracy
         of the bandwidth sharing is hardware dependent and is not
         specified.
         If weighted sharing is not required at a particular
         priority level, a waiting room with a Net Weight value of
         0xFFFF must be specified for that priority level. A
         priority level that does not support weighted sharing can
         only support a single waiting room.

Flags

    D: Packet Discard
         Bit 0 of the Flags field, if set, indicates that packet
         discard is required on all connections and QoS classes
         routed through this waiting room.
    F: Frame-Based Scheduling
         Bit 1 of the Flags field, if set, indicates that frame-
         based scheduling is required on all connections and QoS
         classes routed through this waiting room.  In frame-based
         scheduling, a connection is only scheduled for transmission
         when a complete AAL-5 packet is available.  When a
         connection is scheduled for transmission, all cells
         belonging to one or more complete packets from that
         connection will be transmitted without being interleaved
         with any other cells on that output port. A QoS class may
         be routed through a waiting room configured with frame-
         based scheduling.  In this case each component connection
         of the QoS class will receive frame based scheduling. For
         correct distribution of bandwidth, each QoS class that
         requires frame-based scheduling should have its own waiting
         room.
    M: VC Merging
         Bit 2 of the Scheduler Flags field, if set, indicates that
         VC merging is required on all connections and QoS classes
         routed through this waiting room.  VC merging enables the
         multipoint-to-point merging of two or more incoming virtual
         connections onto a single outgoing virtual connection,
         without interleaving cells from different AAL-5 packets
         that bear the same VPI/VCI. VC merging differs from frame-
         based scheduling in that cells with a different VPI/VCI may
         be interleaved with those of a multipoint-to-point VC
         merging connection.  Most switches achieve VC merging by
         using frame-based scheduling.  A QoS class may be routed
         through a waiting room configured with VC merging.  In this
         case each component connection of the QoS class will
         receive VC merging.
    W: Weighted Scheduling
         Bit 3 of the Flags field, if set, indicates that weighted
         scheduling is required on all connections and QoS classes
         routed through this waiting room.  All connections and QoS
         classes routed through this waiting room will require a
         Connection Weight or a QoS Class Weight respectively. The
         Connection Weight is specified in the QoS Connection
         Management message. The QoS Class Weight is specified in
         the QoS Class Establishment message. If weighted scheduling
         within this waiting room is unavailable, a failure response
         message must be returned indicating, "Weighted scheduling
         within this waiting room is unavailable."
         Bit 3 of the Flags field, if zero, indicates that this
         waiting room should be configured as a single FIFO queue.
         All cells arriving at this waiting room will receive
         first-in-first-out service. If Frame-Based Scheduling or VC
         Merging are also selected, the strict first-in-first-out
         service discipline will be modified by the requirement to
         support Frame-Based Scheduling or VC Merging.
    x: Bits 4--7 of the Flags field are not used.

Priority

         Specifies the priority level in the scheduler to which the
         waiting room should be attached. Priorities are numbered
         from zero, with priority level zero being the highest
         priority.

Waiting Room Size

         The required size of the waiting room.  The size of a
         waiting room specifies the maximum number of cells
         permitted to wait for transmission via that waiting room.
         Any further cells arriving at that waiting room beyond this
         number will be discarded. If the switch is unable to grant
         the size requested in the Scheduler Establishment request
         message it may reply with the actual size allocated to the
         waiting room in the Waiting Room Size field of the success
         response message.  A value of zero for the Waiting Room
         Size indicates that the default value should be used.

Discard Threshold

         The required value of the discard threshold.  The discard
         threshold specifies the number of cells waiting for
         transmission via a waiting room after which further
         arriving cells will be subject to a discard mechanism. The
         value of the Discard Threshold must be less than or equal
         to the value of the Waiting Room Size parameter for any
         given waiting room. If the switch is unable to grant the
         value of discard threshold requested in the Scheduler
         Establishment request message it may reply with the actual
         value of discard threshold allocated to the waiting room in
         the Discard Threshold field of the success response
         message.  A value of zero for the Discard Threshold
         indicates that the default value should be used.

QoS Class Establishment Message

The QoS Class Establishment message is used to configure a QoS class on a specified port or to modify the parameters of an already established QoS class. It configures the classifier and the regulator functions for the QoS class. It also configures the QoS class policer if a policing function is available for QoS classes.

Two styles of QoS class are available. In one style each component connection of the QoS class may be routed independently to an output port and waiting room specified in its connection management message. In this case the Scheduler Identifier, and if required, the Excess Scheduler Id, are specified in the QoS Connection Management message that references this style of QoS class. In the alternative style of QoS class, all component connections in the QoS class are routed to the same waiting room on the same output port. In this case the Output Port, the Scheduler Identifier, and if required, the Excess Scheduler Id, are specified in the QoS Class Establishment message.

The classifier and regulator functions must be located together, either on an input port, on an output port, or centralized. Each port declares the location of its classifier and regulator functions at initialization using the QoS Configuration message. If the classifier and regulator functions are located on an input port, only connections that arrive at that input port may join a QoS class established on that port. However, each connection that is part of a QoS class established on that port may be switched to a different output port. If the classifier and regulator functions are located on an output port, connections that arrive at any input port may join a QoS class established on that port. However, all connections within a QoS class established on that port must be switched to that output port. For a centralized classifier and regulator function, there is

no restriction on the input ports on which connections in a QoS class must arrive, or on the output ports to which connections in a QoS class must be switched. (For the case of a centralized classifier and regulator the actual port specified in the QoS Class Establishment message is used only for administrative purposes. Any valid value of Port and Port Session Number, that specifies a centralized classifier and regulator function, may be used.)

The QoS Class Establishment message is:

  Message Type = 98

The QoS Class Establishment request and success response messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Regulator | Excess Action | QoS Class Weight | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Scheduler Identifier | Excess Scheduler Id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ QoS Class Policer Parameters ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ QoS Class Regulator Parameters ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

QoS Class Identifier

         The QoS Class Identifier is selected by the controller. It
         is used to identify the QoS class being established or
         modified, in future QoS Connection Management and QoS Class
         Establishment messages.  It is taken from a namespace that
         is global across the entire switch. No two QoS classes may
         have the same QoS Class Identifier regardless of the switch
         ports on which they are defined. A QoS Class Identifier in
         a QoS Class Establishment message must be greater than 0
         and less than 0xFFFFFFFF.

Regulator

         The Regulator field specifies which function is required of
         the regulator.  Three possible functions are currently
         defined: none, policing, and shaping.
            None:      Regulator = 1
            Policing:  Regulator = 2
            Shaping:   Regulator = 3
         If the Regulator function is specified as none, no
         operations are performed by the regulator on the cells
         output from the classifier. Cells output from the
         classifier are transferred directly to the waiting room
         specified by the Scheduler Identifier.
         If policing is specified, a token bucket policer will be
         applied to the QoS class. The policer determines which
         cells conform to the specified policer traffic parameters
         and which do not. Conforming cells are transferred directly
         to the waiting room specified by the Scheduler Identifier.
         The action to be taken by the policer on the excess traffic
         is specified by the Excess Action field. The policer
         traffic parameters are specified in the QoS Class Regulator
         Parameters fields.
         If shaping is specified, traffic shaping will be applied to
         the QoS class.  Cells in a QoS class should leave the
         regulator spaced evenly apart at a rate defined by the QoS
         Class Regulator Parameters fields.  These cells are
         transferred directly to the waiting room specified by the
         Scheduler Identifier.  The jitter on the conforming cell
         stream on exit from the shaping function of the regulator
         is not specified.

Excess Action

     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |T|D|S|x x x x x|
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    T: Tagging
         If bit 0 of the Excess Action field is set, all cells
         transferred to the waiting room specified by the Excess
         Scheduler Id will have their CLP bit set. If bit 0 of the
         Excess Action field is zero, the CLP bit of cells
         transferred to the waiting room specified by the Excess
         Scheduler Id will remain unchanged.
    D: Discard
         This function is only available if policing is selected as
         the regulator function.  If the Regulator field specifies
         Policing, and bit 1 of the Excess Action field is set, all
         cells determined by the policer to be in excess of the
         traffic parameters must be discarded. In this case the
         Excess Scheduler Id is not used and bit 0 of the Excess
         Action field should be ignored.
    S: Differentiated Scheduling
         This function operates differently according to whether
         policing or shaping is selected as the regulator function.
         If the Regulator field specifies Policing, and bit 1 of the
         Excess Action field is zero, and bit 2 of the Excess Action
         field is set, all cells determined by the policer to be in
         excess of the traffic parameters must be transferred to the
         waiting room specified by the Excess Scheduler Id.  In this
         case care must be taken in the implementation to ensure
         that within each virtual path connection or virtual channel
         connection, cells depart in the same order that they
         arrived.  If the Regulator field specifies Policing, and
         bit 1 of the Excess Action field is zero, and bit 2 of the
         Excess Action field is zero, all cells determined by the
         policer to be in excess of the traffic parameters must be
         transferred to the waiting room specified by the Scheduler
         Identifier.  In this case the Excess Scheduler Id is not
         used.
         If the Regulator field specifies Shaping, and bit 2 of the
         Excess Action field is zero, cells will be transferred from
         the QoS class to the waiting room pointed to by the
         Scheduler Identifier at a rate defined by the QoS Class
         Regulator Parameters. In this case the Excess Scheduler Id
         is not used.  If the Regulator field specifies Shaping, and
         bit 2 of the Excess Action field is set, additional cells
         will be scheduled for transmission by the waiting room
         pointed to by the Excess Scheduler Id. This permits a
         minimum cell rate to be allocated to the QoS class using
         the QoS Class Regulator Parameters and additional bandwidth
         to be shared by the QoS class. The additional share of
         bandwidth is determined according to the parameters of the
         waiting room pointed to by the Excess Scheduler Id. If the
         Excess Scheduler Id is specified in the QoS Class
         Establishment message, the additional bandwidth will be
         shared by the entire QoS class. If the Excess Scheduler Id
         is specified in each individual QoS Connection Management
         message, the additional bandwidth is specific to that
         connection and not shared by the entire QoS class. Care
         must be taken in the implementation to ensure that within
         each virtual path connection or virtual channel connection,
         cells depart in the same order that they arrived.
    x: Bits 3--7 of the Excess Action field are not used.

QoS Class Weight

         If bit 1 of the Scheduler Flags field of the QoS
         Configuration message indicates that weighted service may
         be applied to a QoS class, the QoS Class Weight parameter
         specifies the share of the bandwidth available to the
         waiting room that should be given to this QoS class.
         The QoS Class Weight is an unsigned 16-bit field specifying
         a binary fraction.  I.e. the bandwidth share, as a fraction
         of the bandwidth available to the waiting room, is given
         by:
            Bandwidth share = QoS Class Weight * 2**(-16)
         A QoS Class Weight of zero indicates equal sharing between
         all QoS classes sharing this waiting room that request a
         QoS Class Weight of zero.  While a 16-bit field is used to
         specify the QoS Class Weight it is understood that the
         accuracy of the bandwidth sharing is hardware dependent and
         is not specified.
         If the Regulator field of the QoS Class Establishment
         message indicates None, or Policer, the QoS Class Weight
         should be applied to the waiting room pointed to by the
         Scheduler Identifier. If the Regulator field of the QoS
         Class Establishment message indicates Shaper, the QoS Class
         Weight should be applied to the waiting room pointed to by
         the Excess Scheduler Id.
         If the specified waiting room is unable to offer weighted
         sharing for a QoS class, a failure response message should
         be returned with the failure code indicating: "This waiting
         room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a QoS class."

Scheduler Identifier

         If all conforming traffic from this QoS class is directed
         to the same waiting room, on the same output port, this
         field specifies the Scheduler Identifier for the entire QoS
         class. The Scheduler Identifier points to the waiting room,
         on the output port specified by the Output Port field, to
         which all conforming traffic should be sent.  If this field
         is not used it should be set to 0xFFFF. If each component
         connection of the QoS class specifies its own output port
         and waiting room, the Scheduler Identifier must be
         specified in the QoS Connection Management message and this
         field must be set to 0xFFFF.

Excess Scheduler Id

         If all conforming traffic from this QoS class is directed
         to the same waiting room, on the same output port, this
         field specifies the Excess Scheduler Id for the entire QoS
         class. The Excess Scheduler Id points to the waiting room,
         on the output port specified by the Output Port field, to
         which all excess traffic should be sent.  If this field is
         not used it should be set to 0xFFFF. If each component
         connection of the QoS class specifies its own output port
         and waiting room, the Excess Scheduler Id must be specified
         in the QoS Connection Management message and this field
         must be set to 0xFFFF. If the Scheduler Id is specified in
         the QoS Class Establishment message, the Excess Scheduler
         Id must also be specified in the QoS Class Establishment
         message (or not used). If the Scheduler Id is specified in
         the QoS Connection Management message, the Excess Scheduler
         Id must also be specified in the QoS Connection Management
         message (or not used). The Excess Scheduler Id must not
         point to the same waiting room on the same output port as
         the Scheduler Identifier.

Output Port

         If the Scheduler Identifier field in the QoS Establishment
         message is not 0xFFFF the Output Port field specifies the
         Output Port to which traffic from this QoS class should be
         routed. If the Scheduler Identifier field in the QoS
         Establishment message is 0xFFFF, this field is not used.

QoS Class Policer Parameters

         A policer function may be applied to a QoS class on output
         from the classifier independently of the regulator
         function.  The QoS class policer function is identical to
         the connection policer function defined in the QoS
         Connection Management message with the exception that it
         applies to all cells that belong to the QoS class rather
         than just cells that belong to a single connection.
         The QoS Class Policer Parameters have the following format:
0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Increment-1 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Limit-1 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Increment-2 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Limit-2 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved |C|A|x x x x x x| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         The definition of these fields is given in the UPC
         Parameters section of the QoS Connection Management
         message.

QoS Class Regulator Parameters

         The QoS class regulator function is identical to the
         regulator function defined in the QoS Connection Management
         message with the exception that it applies to all cells
         that belong to the QoS class rather than just cells that
         belong to a single connection.
         The QoS Class Regulator Parameters have the following
         format:
0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Regulator Increment | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Regulator Limit | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         The definition of these fields is given in the Regulator
         Parameters section of the QoS Connection Management
         message.

QoS Release Message

The QoS Release message is used to delete a Scheduler Identifier or a QoS Class Identifier and to release all resources associated with it.

The QoS Release message is:

  Message Type = 99

The QoS Release request and success response messages have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved | Scheduler Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Port

         If the QoS Release message contains a Scheduler Identifier,
         the Port field must contain the Port Number of the switch
         output port to which the Scheduler Identifier applies. If
         the QoS Release message contains a QoS Class Identifier,
         any valid Port number may be used. (The QoS Class
         Identifier has a global namespace.)

Port Session Number

         The current Port Session Number for the port specified in
         the Port field.

Scheduler Identifier

         If the Scheduler Identifier contains the value 0xFFFF the
         QoS Class Identifier specified in the QoS Class Identifier
         field should be released.  Else, if the value of the
         Scheduler Identifier lies in the range 0x0100 -- 0xFFFE
         inclusive, the Scheduler Identifier specified by the
         Scheduler Identifier field should be released.  A Scheduler
         Identifier with a value less than 0x0100 is invalid in a
         QoS Release message.  (It specifies a default value which
         may not be released.)

QoS Class Identifier

         If the Scheduler Identifier contains the value 0xFFFF the
         QoS Class Identifier field specifies the QoS Class
         Identifier to be released.

If the QoS Release message requests that a Scheduler Identifier be released, and the Scheduler Identifier is still in use by one or more established connections, a failure response must be returned with the failure code indicating: "Scheduler Identifier still in use." If the QoS Release message requests that a QoS Class Identifier be released, and the QoS Class Identifier is still in use by one or more established connections, a failure response must be returned with the failure code indicating: "QoS Class Identifier still in use."

QoS Connection Management Message

The QoS Connection Management message is used by the controller to establish and modify virtual channel connections and virtual path connections across the switch which require QoS parameters to be specified. The functionality of the QoS Connection Management message is identical to that of the Add Branch connection management message with the additional specification of QoS parameters. No specific QoS connection release messages are defined. QoS connections may be released with the Delete Tree, Delete All, and Delete Branches messages defined in Section 4, "Connection Management Messages." When a QoS connection is released, all associated QoS resources are released.

There are three styles of connection with specified QoS parameters:

QoS Connection:

  This connection style specifies its own individual QoS parameters
  and is routed independently to the waiting room and output port
  specified in the QoS Connection Management message. It is not a
  member of a QoS class. Each output branch of a point-to-multipoint
  QoS connection may specify its own QoS parameters which may be
  different from all other output branches of that point-to-
  multipoint QoS connection, if the switch supports this capability.
  However, all output branches must specify identical connection
  policer parameters. A QoS Connection Management message requesting
  this style of connection is identified by a QoS Class Identifier
  with the value 0xFFFFFFFF.

QoS Class Connection:

  This connection style does not specify its own individual QoS
  parameters. It is a member of a QoS class, and the QoS parameters
  are specified by the QoS class.  It is, however, routed
  independently to the waiting room and output port specified in the
  QoS Connection Management message.  Each output branch of a
  point-to-multipoint QoS Class Connection must use the same QoS
  parameters. A QoS Connection Management message requesting this
  style of connection will have a valid QoS Class Identifier and a
  valid Scheduler Identifier.

QoS Class Member:

  This connection style does not specify its own individual QoS
  parameters. It is a member of a QoS class, and the QoS parameters
  are specified by the QoS class.  The QoS class also specifies the
  waiting room and output port to which all members of the class are
  routed. This style of connection does not support point-to-
  multipoint connections. A QoS Connection Management message
  requesting this style of connection will have a valid QoS Class
  Identifier and a Scheduler Identifier with the value 0xFFFF.

To request a virtual channel connection with specified QoS parameters, the Virtual Channel Connection (VCC) QoS Connection Management message is:

  Message Type = 100.

To request a virtual path connection with specified QoS parameters, the Virtual Path Connection (VPC) QoS Connection Management message is:

  Message Type = 101.

The QoS Connection Management message has the following format for both request and response messages:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Result | Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Transaction Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Port Session Number | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Input Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |M|Q|B|C| Input VPI | Input VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Output Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |x x x x| Output VPI | Output VCI | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Number of Branches | Scheduler Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | QoS Class Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Regulator | Excess Action | Connection Weight | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |S|A|x x x x x x| Reserved | Excess Scheduler Id | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ UPC Parameters ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | ~ Regulator Parameters ~ | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Port Session Number Input Port Input VPI Input VCI Output Port Output VPI Output VCI Number of Branches

         The definition of these fields is exactly the same as
         defined for the Add Branch message in Section 4.1,
         "Connection Management Messages."

M B C Flags

         The definition of the M, B, and C flags is exactly the same
         as defined in Section 4, "Connection Management Messages."
         They apply to the QoS Connection Management message exactly
         as defined for the Add Branch message.

Q: QoS Profile Flag The QoS Profile flag is not used in the QoS

         Connection Management message.

Scheduler Identifier

         For QoS Connection and QoS Class Connection styles, the
         Scheduler Identifier points to the waiting room, on the
         output port specified by the Output Port field, to which
         all conforming traffic on the connection should be routed.
         The values 0 -- 255 specify the default settings for the
         scheduler. Each of the default values maps directly to one
         of the scheduler priority levels. A Scheduler Identifier in
         the range 0 -- 255 may be used without first being
         established by a Scheduler Establishment message. All
         Scheduler Identifiers in the range 0x0100 to 0xFFFE must
         first be established by a Scheduler Establishment message.
         A Scheduler Identifier with a value of 0xFFFF indicates
         that a QoS Class Member connection style is being
         requested. In this connection style, the waiting room and
         output port are specified by reference to the QoS class
         specified by the QoS Class Identifier field. In this case
         the QoS Class Identifier field must contain a valid QoS
         Class Identifier.

QoS Class Identifier

         For QoS Class Connection and QoS Class Member connection
         styles, the QoS Class Identifier specifies the QoS Class to
         which the connection belongs. It must first be established
         by a QoS Class Establishment message and must have a value
         greater than 0 and less than 0xFFFFFFFF.
         A QoS Class Identifier with a value of 0xFFFFFFFF indicates
         that a connection of style "QoS Connection" is being
         requested. In this connection style, the connection does
         not belong to a QoS class. All QoS parameters are specified
         by the QoS Connection Management message and apply only to
         the specified connection.

Regulator Excess Action

         The Regulator and Excess Action parameters are only used in
         connection requests of style "QoS Connection." The
         definition of these fields in the QoS Connection Management
         message is exactly the same as defined for the QoS Class
         Establishment message with the exception that they apply to
         an individual connection rather than to an entire QoS
         class.

Connection Weight

         This field is only used in connections of style "QoS
         Connection" and "QoS Class Connection." For QoS Class
         Member style connections, the QoS Class Weight parameter of
         the QoS Class Establishment message should be used to
         assign a weight to the QoS Class.
         If bit 0 of the Scheduler Flags field of the QoS
         Configuration message indicates that weighted service may
         be applied to a connection, the Connection Weight parameter
         specifies the share of the bandwidth available to the
         waiting room that should be given to this connection.
         The Connection Weight is an unsigned 16-bit field
         specifying a binary fraction.  I.e. the bandwidth share, as
         a fraction of the bandwidth available to the waiting room,
         is given by:
            Bandwidth share = Connection Weight * 2**(-16)
         A Connection Weight of zero indicates equal sharing between
         all connections in this waiting room that request a
         Connection Weight of zero.  While a 16-bit field is used to
         specify the Connection Weight it is understood that the
         accuracy of the bandwidth sharing is hardware dependent and
         is not specified.
         For connections of style "QoS Class Connection," if the
         Regulator function of the QoS Class is specified as None,
         or Policer, the Connection Weight should be applied to the
         waiting room pointed to by the Scheduler Identifier field
         in the QoS Connection Management message. If the Regulator
         function of the QoS Class is specified as Shaper, the
         Connection Weight should be applied to the waiting room
         pointed to by the Excess Scheduler Id field in the QoS
         Connection Management message.
         For connections of style "QoS Connection," if the Regulator
         field of the QoS Connection Management message specifies
         None, or Policer, the Connection Weight should be applied
         to the waiting room pointed to by the Scheduler Identifier
         field. If the Regulator field of the QoS Connection
         Management message specifies Shaper, the Connection Weight
         should be applied to the waiting room pointed to by the
         Excess Scheduler Id field.
         If the specified waiting room is unable to offer weighted
         sharing for a connection, a failure response message should
         be returned with the failure code indicating: "this waiting
         room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a connection."

QoS Flags

    S: Selective Discard
         If the Selective Discard flag is set, only cells with the
         Cell Loss Priority (CLP) bit set will be subject to the
         discard mechanism when the number of cells in the waiting
         room exceeds the Discard Threshold.  If the Selective
         Discard flag is zero, all cells (CLP=0 and CLP=1) will be
         subject to the discard mechanism when the number of cells
         in the waiting room exceeds the Discard Threshold.
         Selective discard can be combined with packet discard. In
         this case only packets in which at least one cell has the
         CLP bit set will be subject to the discard mechanism.
    A: All Branches
         For a QoS Connection Management message that specifies a
         point-to-multipoint connection, if the All Branches flag is
         set, all branches of the point-to-multipoint connection
         must be set to the QoS parameters specified in the message.
         If the All Branches flag is zero, only the single output
         branch specified in the message should be set to the QoS
         parameters specified in the message. For a QoS Connection
         Management message that specifies a point-to-point
         connection, the All Branches flag is not used.
    x: Unused

Excess Scheduler Id

         For connections of style "QoS Connection" and "QoS Class
         Connection," the Excess Scheduler Id points to the waiting
         room, on the output port specified by the Output Port
         field, to which all excess traffic should be routed. The
         values 0 -- 255 specify the default settings for the
         scheduler. Each of the default values maps directly to one
         of the scheduler priority levels. An Excess Scheduler Id in
         the range 0 -- 255 may be used without first being
         established by a Scheduler Establishment message. All
         values of Excess Scheduler Id in the range 0x0100 to 0xFFFE
         must first be established by a Scheduler Establishment
         message.
         If this field is not used it should be set to 0xFFFF.  The
         Excess Scheduler Id must not point to the same waiting room
         on the same output port as the Scheduler Identifier.

UPC Parameters

         All connection styles may be subject to a Usage Parameter
         Control (UPC) function, also known as a connection policer.
         The policing function is applied to each individual
         connection before it is combined with other connections
         into a QoS class by the classifier function. A policing
         function applied to an entire QoS class is defined in the
         QoS Class Establishment message.
         The connection policer is defined by reference to the
         Generic Cell Rate Algorithm (GCRA) defined by the ATM Forum
         [af-tm-0056], although any equivalent policing algorithm
         may be used. The GCRA takes two parameters, the increment
         (I) and the limit (L). The reciprocal of the increment
         (1/I) specifies the rate being policed. The limit specifies
         the burst tolerance. (For comparison with the token bucket
         policer discussed in [Partridge], the size of the token
         bucket is given by L/I.)
         Two policers in series may be specified to permit the
         policing of both peak rate and average rate (also called
         sustainable rate). The parameters for the first policer are
         Increment-1 and Limit-1. For comparison with the ATM Forum
         specification these would be used to police the Peak Cell
         Rate (PCR) and Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVT)
         respectively. The parameters for the second policer are
         Increment-2 and Limit-2. For comparison with the ATM Forum
         specification these would be used to police the Sustainable
         Cell Rate (SCR), and Burst Tolerance.  (The Burst Tolerance
         may be computed from the Maximum Burst Size [af-tm-0056].)
         There are two configurations in which the two policers may
         be connected in series.  In the All Cells configuration,
         all cells (cells with the Cell Loss Priority (CLP) bit set
         to zero and cells with the CLP bit set to one) are subject
         to the policing action of both policers in series. In the
         CLP Selective configuration, all cells, both CLP=0 and
         CLP=1, are policed by the first policer; but only cells
         with CLP=0 are subject to policing by the second policer.
         Either tagging or discard may be specified for each of the
         policer configurations.
         The values of the parameters Increment and Limit in the UPC
         Parameters fields are given in terms of a time unit
         specified by the switch in the QoS Configuration Parameters
         message. The time unit is specified by the switch as a
         rate, the Scaling Factor, which gives the rate in cells per
         second that would result from an Increment parameter value
         of one. Thus to determine the value of the Increment
         parameter from the desired policed rate given in cells per
         second:
            Increment parameter = (Scaling_Factor)/(policed_rate)
         To determine the value of the Limit parameter from the
         desired Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVT) given in
         seconds:
            Limit parameter = CDVT * Scaling_Factor
         To determine the value of the Limit parameter from the
         desired Burst Tolerance (BT) given in seconds:
            Limit parameter = BT * Scaling_Factor
         The Increment and Limit parameters are specified as 32-bit
         unsigned integers; so the choice of the Scaling Factor
         allows the switch to select the range and granularity of
         the policer parameters with respect to the line rate of the
         switch port.  For example, a SONET STS-3c (155.52 Mbps)
         switch port has a line rate of approximately 353 kcells/s.
         With a Scaling Factor value of 353,000,000 we can specify a
         policed rate slightly less than the line rate with a
         granularity of 0.1%. For a policed rate of 1 kbps we can
         still support a bucket size of 31 cells.
         The UPC Parameters have the following format:
0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Increment-1 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Limit-1 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Increment-2 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Limit-2 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reserved |C|A|x x x x x x| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Increment-1

         The increment parameter for the first policer, specified as
         a 32-bit unsigned integer.  A value of zero for the
         Increment-1 parameter is used to disable the first policer.
         In this case all cells will be considered to conform to the
         traffic parameters of the first policer.

Limit-1

         The limit parameter for the first policer, specified as a
         32-bit unsigned integer.

Increment-2

         The increment parameter for the second policer, specified
         as a 32-bit unsigned integer.  A value of zero for the
         Increment-2 parameter is used to disable the second
         policer.  In this case all cells will be considered to
         conform to the traffic parameters of the second policer.

Limit-2

         The limit parameter for the second policer, specified as a
         32-bit unsigned integer.

Flags

    C: Configuration
         If the Configuration flag is set, the policer should be set
         to the All Cells configuration. If the Configuration flag
         is zero, the policer should be set to the CLP Selective
         configuration.
         In the All Cells configuration, all cells (both CLP=0 and
         CLP=1) are subject to the policing action of both policers
         in series. In the CLP Selective configuration, all cells,
         both CLP=0 and CLP=1, are policed by the first policer; but
         only cells with CLP=0 are subject to policing by the second
         policer. Either tagging or discard may be specified for
         each of the policer configurations.
    A: Action
         If the Action flag is zero, discard is required as the
         policing action. If the Action flag is set, tagging is
         required as the policing action.
         If tagging is selected in the All Cells configuration, any
         cell with CLP=0 in either policer, that the policer
         determines to be in excess of the specified policer
         parameters, will be changed to CLP=1. If discard is
         selected in the All Cells configuration, any cell (CLP=0 or
         CLP=1) in either policer, that the policer determines to be
         in excess of the specified policer parameters, will be
         discarded.
         In the CLP Selective configuration, the first policer is
         always set to discard any cell (CLP=0 or CLP=1) that it
         determines to be in excess of its specified policer
         parameters. If tagging is selected in the CLP Selective
         configuration, the second policer will change the CLP bit
         to CLP=1 of any cell that it determines to be in excess of
         its specified parameters. If discard is selected in the CLP
         Selective configuration, the second policer will discard
         any cell that it determines to be in excess of its
         specified parameters.
         To configure the policer for the conformance definitions
         specified by the ATM Forum [af-tm-0056] the following
         configurations are suggested:
            CBR.1:   One policer,     All Cells,        Discard
            VBR.1:   Two policers,    All Cells,        Discard
            VBR.2:   Two policers,    CLP Selective,    Discard
            VBR.3:   Two policers,    CLP Selective,    Tagging
            UBR.1:   One policer,     All Cells,        Discard
            UBR.2:   One policer,     All Cells,        Tagging.
    x: Unused

Regulator Parameters

         Only connections of style "QoS Connection" require the
         Regulator Parameters to be specified in the QoS Connection
         Management message. For connections of style "QoS Class
         Connection" and "QoS Class Member" the Regulator Parameters
         are specified in the QoS Class Establishment message.
         The Regulator Parameters are specified in a similar manner
         to the UPC parameters. If the regulator function is
         specified as Policing, a single GCRA policer is applied to
         all cells (both CLP=0 and CLP=1) on the connection. The
         policer takes two parameters: an increment, the Regulator
         Increment, and a limit, the Regulator Limit. The reciprocal
         of the increment (1/I) specifies the rate being policed.
         The limit (L) specifies the burst tolerance. (For
         comparison with the token bucket policer discussed in
         [Partridge], the size of the token bucket is given by L/I.)
         The Regulator Increment and Regulator Limit parameters are
         32-bit unsigned integers. Their values are determined in
         terms of the Scaling Factor specified by the switch in the
         QoS Configuration Parameters message. To determine the
         value of the Regulator Increment parameter from the desired
         policed rate given in cells per second:
            Regulator Increment = (Scaling_Factor)/(policed_rate)
         For a policed rate (r) the GCRA policer guarantees that
         over any time period T the amount of traffic determined by
         the policer to be conforming to the traffic parameters does
         not exceed:
            rT + L/I
         The value of the Regulator Limit may be determined from
         this relation.
         If the regulator function is specified as Shaping, only the
         Regulator Increment parameter is used. The Regulator Limit
         parameter is not used. The value of the Regulator Increment
         parameter is determined in terms of the Scaling Factor
         specified by the switch in the QoS Configuration Parameters
         message. To determine the value of the Regulator Increment
         parameter from the desired shaper rate, given in cells per
         second, on output from the shaper:
            Regulator Increment = (Scaling_Factor)/(shaper_rate)
         An Increment value of zero is used to disable the policer.
         In this case all cells on that connection will be
         considered to conform to the policer traffic parameters. A
         shaper given a Regulator Increment parameter of zero will
         perform no shaping function on that connection.

The Regulator Parameters have the following format:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Regulator Increment | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Regulator Limit | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

QoS Failure Response Codes

A failure response message is formed by returning the request message that caused the failure with the Result field in the header indicating failure (Result = 4) and the Code field giving the failure code. The failure code specifies the reason for the switch being unable to satisfy the request message. The following additional failure codes are defined for use in response to QoS messages. General failure codes are specified in Section 3.2, Failure Response Messages.

   128: Weighted scheduling within this waiting room is unavailable.
   129: This waiting room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a
          QoS class.
   130: This waiting room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a
          connection.
   131: Scheduler Identifier still in use.
   132: QoS Class Identifier still in use.
   133: Invalid QoS parameter.
   134: Insufficient QoS resources.
   135: Any point-to-multipoint connection arriving on this input
          port must use the same QoS parameters for all output
          branches.

10. Adjacency Protocol

The adjacency protocol is used to synchronize state across the link, to agree on which version of the protocol to use, to discover the identity of the entity at the other end of a link, and to detect when it changes. GSMP is a hard state protocol. It is therefore important to detect loss of contact between switch and controller, and to detect any change of identity of switch or controller. No GSMP messages other than those of the adjacency protocol may be sent across the link until the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronization.

10.1 Packet Format

All GSMP messages belonging to the adjacency protocol have the following structure:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Version | Message Type | Timer |M| Code | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender Name | + +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + | Receiver Name | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Receiver Port | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Sender Instance | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Receiver Instance | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Version

         In the adjacency protocol the Version field is used for
         version negotiation.  In a SYN message the Version field
         always contains the highest version understood by the
         sender.  A receiver receiving a SYN message with a version
         higher than understood will ignore that message.  A
         receiver receiving a SYN message with a version lower than
         its own highest version, but a version that it understands,
         will reply with a SYNACK with the version from the received
         SYN in its GSMP Version field. This defines the version of
         the GSMP protocol to be used while the adjacency protocol
         remains synchronized. All other messages will use the
         agreed version in the Version field.
         The version number for the version of the GSMP protocol
         defined by this specification is Version = 2.

Message Type

         The adjacency protocol is:
            Message Type = 10

Timer

         The Timer field is used to inform the receiver of the timer
         value used in the adjacency protocol of the sender. The
         timer specifies the nominal time between periodic adjacency
         protocol messages. It is a constant for the duration of a
         GSMP session. The timer field is specified in units of
         100ms.

M-Flag

         The M-Flag is used in the SYN message to indicate whether
         the sender is a master or a slave. If the M-Flag is set in
         the SYN message, the sender is a master.  If zero, the
         sender is a slave. The GSMP protocol is asymmetric, the
         controller being the master and the switch being the slave.
         The M-Flag prevents a master from synchronizing with
         another master, or a slave with another slave. If a slave
         receives a SYN message with a zero M-Flag, it must ignore
         that SYN message. If a master receives a SYN message with
         the M-Flag set, it must ignore that SYN message. In all
         other messages the M-Flag is not used.

Code

         Field specifies the function of the message. Four Codes are
         defined for the adjacency protocol:
            SYN:     Code = 1
            SYNACK:  Code = 2
            ACK:     Code = 3
            RSTACK:  Code = 4.

Sender Name

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is the name of the
         entity sending the message. The Sender Name is a 48-bit
         quantity that is unique within the operational context of
         the device. A 48-bit IEEE 802 MAC address, if available,
         may be used for the Sender Name. If the Ethernet
         encapsulation is used the Sender Name must be the Source
         Address from the MAC header.  For the RSTACK message, the
         Sender Name field is set to the value of the Receiver Name
         field from the incoming message that caused the RSTACK
         message to be generated.

Receiver Name

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is the name of the
         entity that the sender of the message believes is at the
         far end of the link. If the sender of the message does not
         know the name of the entity at the far end of the link,
         this field should be set to zero. For the RSTACK message,
         the Receiver Name field is set to the value of the Sender
         Name field from the incoming message that caused the RSTACK
         message to be generated.

Sender Port

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is the local port
         number of the link across which the message is being sent.
         For the RSTACK message, the Sender Port field is set to the
         value of the Receiver Port field from the incoming message
         that caused the RSTACK message to be generated.

Receiver Port

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is what the sender
         believes is the local port number for the link, allocated
         by the entity at the far end of the link.  If the sender of
         the message does not know the port number at the far end of
         the link, this field should be set to zero. For the RSTACK
         message, the Receiver Port field is set to the value of the
         Sender Port field from the incoming message that caused the
         RSTACK message to be generated.

Sender Instance

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is the sender's
         instance number for the link. It is used to detect when the
         link comes back up after going down or when the identity of
         the entity at the other end of the link changes. The
         instance number is a 32-bit number that is guaranteed to be
         unique within the recent past and to change when the link
         or node comes back up after going down. Zero is not a valid
         instance number. For the RSTACK message, the Sender
         Instance field is set to the value of the Receiver Instance
         field from the incoming message that caused the RSTACK
         message to be generated.

Receiver Instance

         For the SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages, is what the sender
         believes is the current instance number for the link,
         allocated by the entity at the far end of the link. If the
         sender of the message does not know the current instance
         number at the far end of the link, this field should be set
         to zero. For the RSTACK message, the Receiver Instance
         field is set to the value of the Sender Instance field from
         the incoming message that caused the RSTACK message to be
         generated.

10.2 Procedure

The adjacency protocol is described by the following rules and state tables.

The rules and state tables use the following operations:

o The "Update Peer Verifier" operation is defined as storing the
  values of the Sender Instance, Sender Port, and Sender Name fields
  from a SYN or SYNACK message received from the entity at the far
  end of the link.
o The procedure "Reset the link" is defined as:
      1. Generate a new instance number for the link
      2. Delete the peer verifier (set to zero the values of Sender
         Instance, Sender Port, and Sender Name previously stored by
         the Update Peer Verifier operation)
      3. Send a SYN message
      4. Enter the SYNSENT state.
o The state tables use the following Boolean terms and operators:
    A    The Sender Instance in the incoming message matches the
         value stored from a previous message by the "Update Peer
         Verifier" operation.
    B    The Sender Instance, Sender Port, and Sender Name fields in
         the incoming message match the values stored from a
         previous message by the "Update Peer Verifier" operation.
    C    The Receiver Instance, Receiver Port, and Receiver Name
         fields in the incoming message match the values of the
         Sender Instance, Sender Port, and Sender Name currently
         sent in outgoing SYN, SYNACK, and ACK messages.
    "&&" Represents the logical AND operation
    "||" Represents the logical OR operation
    "!" Represents the logical negation (NOT) operation.
o A timer is required for the periodic generation of SYN, SYNACK,
  and ACK messages. The value of the timer is announced in the Timer
  field.  The period of the timer is unspecified but a value of one
  second is suggested.
  There are two independent events: the timer expires, and a packet
  arrives. The processing rules for these events are:
     Timer Expires:   Reset Timer
                      If state = SYNSENT Send SYN
                      If state = SYNRCVD Send SYNACK
                      If state = ESTAB   Send ACK
      Packet Arrives:
          If incoming message is an RSTACK:
              If (A && C && !SYNSENT) Reset the link
              Else Discard the message.
          If incoming message is a SYN, SYNACK, or ACK:
              Response defined by the following State Tables.
          If incoming message is any other GSMP message and state !=
              ESTAB:
              Discard incoming message.
              If state = SYNSENT Send SYN (Note 1)
              If state = SYNRCVD Send SYNACK (Note 1)
          Note 1: No more than two SYN or SYNACK messages should be
          sent within any time period of length defined by the
          timer.
o State synchronization across a link is considered to be achieved
  when the protocol reaches the ESTAB state. All GSMP messages,
  other than adjacency protocol messages, that are received before
  synchronization is achieved will be discarded.

State Tables

State: SYNSENT

+======================================================================+ | Condition | Action | New State | +====================+=====================================+===========+ | SYNACK && C | Update Peer Verifier; Send ACK | ESTAB | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | SYNACK && !C | Send RSTACK | SYNSENT | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | SYN | Update Peer Verifier; Send SYNACK | SYNRCVD | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | ACK | Send RSTACK | SYNSENT | +======================================================================+

State: SYNRCVD

+======================================================================+ | Condition | Action | New State | +====================+=====================================+===========+ | SYNACK && C | Update Peer Verifier; Send ACK | ESTAB | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | SYNACK && !C | Send RSTACK | SYNRCVD | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | SYN | Update Peer Verifier; Send SYNACK | SYNRCVD | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | ACK && B && C | Send ACK | ESTAB | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | ACK && !(B && C) | Send RSTACK | SYNRCVD | +======================================================================+

State: ESTAB

+======================================================================+ | Condition | Action | New State | +====================+=====================================+===========+ | SYN || SYNACK | Send ACK (note 2) | ESTAB | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | ACK && B && C | Send ACK (note 3) | ESTAB | +--------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------+ | ACK && !(B && C) | Send RSTACK | ESTAB | +======================================================================+

Note 2: No more than two ACKs should be sent within any time period of length defined by the timer. Thus, one ACK must be sent every time the timer expires. In addition, one further ACK may be sent between timer expirations if the incoming message is a SYN or SYNACK. This additional ACK allows the adjacency protocol to reach synchronization more quickly.

Note 3: No more than one ACK should be sent within any time period of length defined by the timer.

10.3 Loss of Synchronization

If after synchronization is achieved, no valid GSMP messages are received in any period of time in excess of three times the value of the Timer field announced in the incoming adjacency protocol messages, loss of synchronization may be declared.

The preferred procedure for a switch to use when it looses synchronization with its active controller is to attempt to establish

synchronization with (one of) its backup controller(s). However, in this preferred approach, it must not reset its state until it achieves synchronization with a backup controller. This means that if, before achieving synchronization with a backup controller, it regains synchronization with its original controller, it may continue the original session (and cease attempting to establish synchronization with a backup controller). If synchronization with the original session is regained it is the responsibility of the controller to ensure consistent state between the switch and controller.

While the above is the preferred procedure, it is also the case that the simplest procedure when declaring loss of synchronization with the active controller is to reset the switch state, and start searching for a controller. This simple procedure is legitimate.

11. Summary of Failure Response Codes

The following list gives a summary of the failure codes defined for failure response messages:

    1: Unspecified reason not covered by other failure codes.
    2: Invalid request message.
    3: The specified request is not implemented on this switch.
    4: Invalid Port Session Number.
    5: One or more of the specified ports does not exist.
    6: One or more of the specified ports is down.
    7: Unused. (This failure code has been replaced by failure codes
         18--21.)
    8: The specified connection does not exist.
    9: The specified branch does not exist.
   10: A branch belonging to the specified point-to-multipoint
         connection is already established on the specified output
         port and the switch cannot support more than a single
         branch of any point-to-multipoint connection on the same
         output port.
   11: The limit on the maximum number of point-to-multipoint
         connections that the switch can support has been reached.
   12: The limit on the maximum number of branches that the
         specified point-to-multipoint connection can support has
         been reached.
   13: Unable to assign the requested VPI/VCI value to the requested
         branch on the specified point-to-multipoint connection.
   14: General problem related to the manner in which point-to-
         multipoint is supported by the switch.
   15: Out of resources (e.g. memory exhausted, etc.).
   16: Failure specific to the particular message type. (The meaning
         of this failure code depends upon the Message Type. It is
         defined within the description of any message that uses
         it.)
   17: Cannot label each output branch of a point-to-multipoint tree
         with a different label.
   18: One or more of the specified input VPIs is invalid.
   19: One or more of the specified input VCIs is invalid.
   20: One or more of the specified output VPIs is invalid.
   21: One or more of the specified output VCIs is invalid.
   22: Invalid Class of Service field in a Connection Management
         message.
   23: Insufficient resources for QoS Profile.
   24: Virtual path switching is not supported on this input port.
   25: Point-to-multipoint virtual path connections are not
         supported on either the requested input port or the
         requested output port.
   26: Attempt to add a virtual path connection branch to an
         existing virtual channel connection.
   27: Attempt to add a virtual channel connection branch to an
         existing virtual path connection.
   28: Only point-to-point bidirectional connections may be
         established.
   29: Cannot support requested VPI range.
   30: Cannot support requested VCI range on all requested VPIs.
   31: The transmit cell rate of this output port cannot be changed.
   32: Requested transmit cell rate out of range for this output
         port.
  128: Weighted scheduling within this waiting room is unavailable.
  129: This waiting room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a
         QoS class.
  130: This waiting room is unable to offer weighted sharing for a
         connection.
  131: Scheduler Identifier still in use.
  132: QoS Class Identifier still in use.
  133: Invalid QoS parameter.
  134: Insufficient QoS resources.
  135: Any point-to-multipoint connection arriving on this input
         port must use the same QoS parameters for all output
         branches.

12. Summary of Message Set

The following table gives a summary of the messages defined in this version of the specification. It also indicates which messages must be supported in a minimal implementation of the protocol. Those messages marked as "Required" must be supported by the switch for an implementation to be considered to conform to this specification. (While the controller should also implement those messages marked

"Required," conformance cannot be tested for the controller due to the Master-Slave nature of the protocol.)

   Message Name                Message Type    Status

Connection Management Messages

Port Management Messages

State and Statistics Messages

Configuration Messages

Event Messages

Quality of Service Messages

REFERENCES

[af-tm-0056] ATM Forum Traffic Management Specification 4.0, af-tm-

            0056.000, April 1996.

[I.361] "B-ISDN ATM Layer Specification," International

            Telecommunication Union, ITU-T Recommendation I.361,
            Mar. 1993.

[I.363] "B-ISDN ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Specification,"

            International Telecommunication Union, ITU-T
            Recommendation I.363, Mar. 1993.

[IpsilonMIB] Ipsilon IP Switch MIB,

            http://www.ipsilon.com/products/ips.mib

[Partridge] C. Partridge, "Gigabit Networking," Addison-Wesley,

            1994.

RFC1700 Reynolds, J., and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers," STD 2,

            RFC 1700, October 1994.

RFC1987 Newman, P, Edwards, W., hinden, R., Hoffman, E. Ching

            Liaw, F., Lyon, T. and G. Minshall, "Ipsilon's General
            Switch Management Protocol Specification," Version 1.1,
            RFC 1987, August 1996.

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

Physical security on the control link connecting the controller to the switch is assumed. Security issues are not discussed in this document.

AUTHORS' ADDRESSES

Peter Newman Phone: +1 (408) 990 2003 Nokia EMail: [email protected]

W. L. Edwards, Chief Scientist Phone: +1 (913) 534 5334 Sprint EMail: [email protected]

Robert M. Hinden Phone: +1 (408) 990 2004 Nokia EMail: [email protected]

Eric Hoffman Phone: +1 (408) 990 2010 Nokia EMail: [email protected]

Fong Ching Liaw Phone: +1 (408) 873 2688 Coppercom EMail: [email protected]

Tom Lyon Phone: +1 (408) 990 2001 Nokia EMail: [email protected]

Greg Minshall Phone: +1 (650) 237 3164 Fiberlane Communications EMail: [email protected]

Nokia (Sunnyvale) is located at:

232 Java Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA

Sprint is located at:

Sprint Sprint Technology Services - Long Distance Division 9300 Metcalf Avenue Mailstop KSOPKB0802 Overland Park, KS 66212-6333 USA

Fiberlane Communications is located at:

1399 Charleston Road Mountain View, CA 94043 USA

Full Copyright Statement

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.