A Proposal for Simple Measurement Support for Users


                             IEN 161


                            R.G.Jones



                          November 1980















                    University College London













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                            Contents







  1. Introduction...........................................1


  2. Motivation.............................................1


  3. Measurements...........................................1


  4. Current Measurement Support............................2


  5. Proposed Support.......................................3


  6. Summary................................................5




























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     1. Introduction

       The majority of this note was originally  written  to
     address a wider problem than measurements solely within
     the ARPA catenet and the orientation of the  discussion
     is  therefore  in those terms. However, it is felt that
     the proposed technique would also  be  appropriate  for
     user measurements confined to the catenet.

       The intention in distributing this note is to  gather
     initial   reactions   to  the  proposed  technique  and
     therefore no attempt has been made to fill in  all  the
     details.


     2. Motivation

       Increasingly   users   will    wish    to    evaluate
     communication  performance  across  a  concatenation of
     varied networks. The purpose of this note is to propose
     a  minimal  set  of easily implemented facilities which
     would support measurements of  network  performance  at
     the  user  level,  in  particular  at  the  network and
     transport levels.  It  is  based  on  ideas  originally
     circulated in an INDRA Group Working Paper [1].

       Given the rapid proliferation  of  networks  and  the
     corresponding increase in the variety of their type and
     interconnection, it is felt that the facilities  should
     not  be  tightly  bound  to  a  particular protocol but
     should  be  supportable  across  as  many  networks  as
     possible.  In particular, for the purposes of examples,
     the environment in  which  the  measurements  would  be
     performed  is assumed to extend beyond the ARPA catenet
     system to include, for example, VANs or  PTT  X25-based
     networks.

       The note deliberately concentrates on a subset of the
     requirements for a comprehensive measurement program in
     the hope  of  ensuring  rapid  implementation  of  this
     essential subset.


     3. Measurements

       The  performance  of  a  packet-switched  network  is
     typically  characterized  by  delay  as  a  function of
     throughput and the facilities proposed are intended  to
     support  this  type  of  measurement.  In  the  case of
     networks with a virtual call interface, the call set-up
     time  is  obviously  an additional important parameter,

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     but this can be measured without requiring co-operation
     from a remote site.

       Throughput and delay  measurements  are  most  easily
     undertaken  by  employing  timestamps.  This  technique
     requires at least the provision of an echo server at  a
     remote  site.  Useful results, such as round-trip time,
     can be obtained with even the simplest echo server.  If
     global   clock  sychronization  can  be  achieved  (for
     example, within a satellite-based net or by the use  of
     broadcast   time   standards)   then   timestamping  at
     intermediate  points  is   particularly   valuable   in
     pinpointing   the   origins  of  delay  and  throughput
     constraints. However, the insertion  of  timestamps  by
     remote  sites  requires  an  agreed format and location
     within the packet for  the  timestamps  and  an  agreed
     triggering   mechanism.  In  a  network  with  adaptive
     routing,  it  is  important   that   the   intermediate
     timestamps  should  have  some  identification of their
     origin associated with them.

       The minimum requirements for  a  measurement  program
     are therefore seen to be a widely available set of echo
     servers with  triggerable  timestamping  facilities.  A
     more  thorough  program  of  work  would  require,  for
     example, participating sites to make available  traffic
     generators which were remotely controllable.


     4. Current Measurement Support

       Within the domain of nets supporting ARPA  protocols,
     timestamping  is  an  option  in  the  internet header.
     Currently,   however,   there    is    no    associated
     identification   of   the   origin  of  the  timestamp.
     Furthermore, the number of timestamps is limited by the
     maximum  size  of  the internet header and this is even
     more restrictive if, for example, source routing is  to
     be  employed.   In measurements beyond the ARPA catenet
     the internet header may  well  be  lost  in  traversing
     other  networks  where  gateways  may,  for example, do
     protocol conversion at the transport level.

       Echo servers are available at  gateways  for  packets
     utilizing  the  Gateway-Gateway Protocol but since such
     packets are treated  differently  from  normal  traffic
     these  are  useless  for  throughput  tests and provide
     optimistic delay measurements.



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       Other available  facilities  suffer  from  comparable
     restrictions.  Current  support is therefore felt to be
     inadequate not only in a wider context, but even within
     the ARPA catenet system.

       The situation with regard to other nets, for  example
     PTT X25-based nets, is even worse and it is unrealistic
     to suppose that  PTTs  will  be  forward  in  providing
     facilities.  Users  will  therefore be forced to be co-
     operative if they wish to pursue a measurement  program
     of reasonable extent.


     5. Proposed Support

       The basic requirement is for a mechanism  which  will
     allow  measurements  to  be  made across very different
     nets.  With regard to interworking between  nets  based
     on  different  protocols,  it is unreasonable to expect
     groups  to  implement  protocols  specific  to  another
     network.   Central  to  the  proposed  mechanism  is  a
     standard format for the measurement data area which  is
     independent  of the underlying network protocol. Such a
     data area can be employed  as  the  user  data  of  the
     selected protocol. Measurement data is distinguished at
     the underlying protocol level from  normal  traffic  by
     the  use  of  a  reserved  protocol  number  or port or
     whatever is appropriate to the protocol.

       The proposed format is outlined in Figure 1.

       The type field specifies, for  example,  whether  the
     data  is to be echoed, is an echo, or whether it should
     simply be dropped by the receiving process.
     The flag field can  be  used  to  specify  whether  the
     station address should be inserted by each timestamping
     station and to specify the categories  of  sites  which
     should timestamp. For example, for measurements made at
     the ARPANET internet datagram level,  the  flags  could
     specify  that intermediate gateways should timestamp as
     well as the destination.
     The length field is used at the transport  level  as  a
     record delimiter.
     The sequence number field is simply a  field  in  which
     the originating process can insert a data area sequence
     number if so desired.
     The offset field points to the location  at  which  the
     next  timestamp  (and  possibly station identification)
     should  be  inserted.   This   is   updated   by   each
     timestamping  station  to point beyond the timestamp it
     has inserted.

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             +---------------+---------------+
             |     type      |     flags     |
             +---------------+---------------+
             |            length             |
             +---------------+---------------+
             |       sequence number         |
             +---------------+---------------+
             |            offset             |
             +-------------------------------+
             |        origin of ts#1         |
             |          (optional)           |
             +-------------------------------+
             |          timestamp            |
             |          number 1             |
             +-------------------------------+
             |                               |

             |          timestamp            |
             |          number n             |
             +-------------------------------+


            FIGURE 1: Format of Measurement Data Area

     A sequence  of  timestamps  (possibly  with  associated
     station identification) then follows the offset field.
     For experiments with user data of  varying  sizes,  the
     measurement  data  area would be followed by padding to
     the appropriate length.
     For throughput tests with minimal  size  user  data  it
     would,  of  course,  be  possible  to dispense with all
     fields except for length and type and flags,  with  the
     latter set to indicate no timestamping.

       It is  intended  that  the  traffic  generator  would
     supply   a  data  area  large  enough  to  contain  the
     anticipated number of timestamps. If it  were  possible
     for  there  to  be  a  large variation in the number of
     networks traversed for a given destination  that  might
     prove  difficult  to  initially  estimate.   However, a
     station unable to timestamp because of  lack  of  space
     would set a flag to indicate the fact.

       Station identification in  measurements  across  nets
     with an homogeneous addressing scheme (such as the ARPA
     catenet) presents no problems. However,  identification
     in  other  systems rules out a standard field size. The
     PTT networks, for  example,  specify  an  international

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     address of up to 14 digits and local nets will  have  a
     variety  of  further  schemes.  The  use  of  timestamp
     identification in the most general case is therefore  a
     matter  for  further  consideration. In many situations
     the problem will not arise since, for  example,  across
     PTT  nets  timestamps  will  be available only from the
     destination echo server. It may be desirable to add  an
     additional   field  either  for  each  origin  or  each
     origin/timestamp pair to indicate length and format.

       The suggested format allows servers to be exceedingly
     simple   with  much  common  code  between  servers  at
     different protocol levels.

       In the ARPANET environment,  echo  servers  for  such
     data  should  be  provided  above the internet datagram
     level and above TCP. Thus, an internet protocol  number
     would  be reserved for measurement packets and all such
     packets processed by an internet layer  in  a  host  or
     gateway  would  be  passed to an internet datagram echo
     server. It should be possible to  specify  timestamping
     in  a  gateway  functioning as a transit gateway rather
     than the packet destination.  A "well-known"  TCP  port
     would be reserved for a server for TCP tests.

       For X25-based networks, at the virtual circuit level,
     a  protocol  number could be reserved for the "protocol
     field" of the call user data area (bytes 1 through  4).
     In   the  absence  of  such  a  universally  recognized
     identification, substitutes can be found. For  example,
     on  PSS   "well-known"  (to  co-operating  sites)  sub-
     address digits could specify the  echo  server  in  the
     DTE.


     6. Summary

       Attention has  been  drawn  to  the  inadequacies  of
     current  measurement  support  for the network user. An
     outline has been given of the minimum requirements  for
     a  user measurement program and a method of meeting the
     requirements has been proposed. The  central  mechanism
     of  the  proposed  support is a standardized format for
     measurement  data,   which   lends   itself   to   easy
     implementation    above   various   network   protocols
     accessible by the user.  This  scheme  means  that  the
     measurement  data  is independent of the protocol level
     in  use  and  may  be  more  easily  preserved   across
     networks.


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       The note has deliberately defined a minimal subset of
     the   requirements   for  a  comprehensive  measurement
     program, not  least  because  it  is  felt  that  these
     facilities could be quickly provided.

       It  does  not  attempt  to  provide   the   necessary
     facilities   for   detailed  investigation  of  network
     behaviour,  but  does  (quickly  and  easily)   provide
     sufficient  resources  for  the  user  to  be  able  to
     identify problems for further investigation.









































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                           References






     1. Standard Timestamping - A Proposal
             R.Cole and R.G.Jones, INDRA Working Paper 860,
                                             January 1980









































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