July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 1

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

BMWG Presentation

Notice: This document has been prepared to assist IEEE 802.11. It is offered as a basis for discussion and is not binding on the contributing individual(s) or organization(s). The material in this document is subject to change in form and content after further study. The contributor(s) reserve(s) the right to add, amend or withdraw material contained herein.

Release: The contributor grants a free, irrevocable license to the IEEE to incorporate material contained in this contribution, and any modifications thereof, in the creation of an IEEE Standards publication; to copyright in the IEEE’s name any IEEE Standards publication even though it may include portions of this contribution; and at the IEEE’s sole discretion to permit others to reproduce in whole or in part the resulting IEEE Standards publication. The contributor also acknowledges and accepts that this contribution may be made public by IEEE 802.11.

Patent Policy and Procedures: The contributor is familiar with the IEEE 802 Patent Policy and Procedures <http:// ieee802.org/guides/bylaws/sb-bylaws.pdf>, including the statement "IEEE standards may include the known use of patent(s), including patent applications, provided the IEEE receives assurance from the patent holder or applicant with respect to patents essential for compliance with both mandatory and optional portions of the standard." Early disclosure to the Working Group of patent information that might be relevant to the standard is essential to reduce the possibility for delays in the development process and increase the likelihood that the draft publication will be approved for publication. Please notify the Chair <stuart.kerry@philips.com> as early as possible, in written or electronic form, if patented technology (or technology under patent application) might be incorporated into a draft standard being developed within the IEEE 802.11 Working Group. If you have questions, contact the IEEE Patent Committee Administrator at <patcom@ieee.org>.

Date: July, 2006

Name Company Address Phone email Tom Alexander

VeriWave, Inc. 8770 SW Nimbus Ave, Suite B, Beaverton, OR 97008

503-803-3534 tom@veriwave.com

Authors:

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 2

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

Introduction

The following material was submitted to the IETF BMWG (Benchmarking Working Group) by Jerry Perser, a longtime BMWG member, as a proposal for new work

It proposes that BMWG take up benchmarking of systems incorporating CAPWAP and MANETBoth are specific IETF-defined protocols

It was forwarded to 802.11 with a request that:(a) TGT determine if this work is in their scope or not

(b) TGT determine if they would prefer to take up the work in this area

TGT is being requested to consider and respond (to Dorothy Stanley, IETF liaison)A liaison response will then be returned to BMWG

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 3

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

66th IETF MeetingMontreal

IETF BMWG WLAN Switch & Mesh

Benchmarking

Jerry Perserjperser@veriwave.com

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 4

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

Where is Jerry?

Jerry says hello, and is sorry he couldn’t be here in personHe’s busy with a bit of applied WLAN switch benchmarking

Tom A. will serve as ”virtual Jerry”

Jerry in his usual position

DUT

LargeRack of

TestGear

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 5

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

Motivation and Background

• Enterprise WLANs highly IP-centric and switched– WLAN switches and lightweight APs– Layer 3/4 aware (sometimes even Layer-7 aware)– Incorporates many IETF-defined functions: ARP caching and proxying,

DHCP service, firewalling, IPsec, etc

• Considerable work in IETF in this area– CAPWAP – WLAN switch protocols– MANET – WLAN mesh protocols

• Equipment vendors would like to use the same benchmarking techniques as their customers, for measuring WLAN switch and mesh performance– It’s all very ad-hoc today

• Test tool vendors would like to have the same approach to testing as service providers and equipment vendors

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 6

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

Scope of Proposed Work

• Extend existing router/switch RFCs and drafts to cover WLAN switches and meshes– RFC 1242, RFC 2285, RFC 2544, RFC 2889, etc.– Hash & stuffing draft

• Random MACs + wireless security = problems

– Extend for higher-layer functions of WLAN switches and meshes• Add in wireless device specific requirements

– Include general WLAN switch data plane performance• What does “throughput with zero loss” mean for wireless, which has

error rates of 10-5 and retransmissions?

• Add WLAN-specific terminology/methodology– Roaming and scalability (support of CAPWAP)– Multi-hop mesh performance, recovery (support of MANET)

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 7

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

What About IEEE 802.11T?

• IEEE 802.11T PAR limits scope to 802.11 WLAN devices and networks; no mention of IPv4 or IPv6– WLAN switches have Ethernet interfaces, not 802.11

• WLAN switches do not contain conforming implementations of the 802.11 PHY or MAC

– WLAN switches usually transport IP-encapsulated packets

• BMWG standardizes IP-level benchmark terminology & methodology– Layer 3-7 functions outside the scope of normal 802 work

• BMWG has far more background in switching & routing benchmarking– Can draw on a large experience base (RFC 1242 and 2285)

• CAPWAP and MANET are already IETF work items– Makes sense to keep it all together

July 06

Tom Alexander, VeriWave

Slide 8

doc.: IEEE 802.11-06/1102r0

Submission

Next steps

• Start discussion on work proposals– Solicit help

• Submit drafts– Terminology– Methodology– Ensure no overlap with IEEE 802.11T

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