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Resource ReSerVation Protocol API (RAPI)
Copyright © 1998 The Open Group

Glossary

The reader is advised to consult the current list of Internet Official Protocol Standards (IETF Std 1) for the status of the RFCs listed below, and to review any RFCs that supersede them.

The reader may also want to check Internet Drafts in relevant IETF working groups for the latest developments.

See reference RFC 2205 for a more extensive glossary of RSVP terms.

Adspec

A data element (object) in a Path message that carries a package of OPWA advertising information. See "One Pass With Advertising ".

AH

Abbreviation for IP "Authentication Header". See reference RFC 1826.

API

Application Programming Interface

C-type

A sub-identifier within an object class. A class identifier and C-type together uniquely identify an RSVP object.

Controlled-Load service

An integrated service that provides a quality of service that closely resembles to "best effort" service under unloaded conditions. See reference RFC 2211.

Error term C

The rate-dependent error term of the flow in a network element. It represents the delay a datagram in the flow might incur in a network element that can be directly attributed to the rate parameters of the flow. The error term C is measured in units of bytes.

Error term Csum

The cumulative sum of the error terms C of the flow since the most recent reshaping point upstream from the receiver. See reference RFC 2212.

Error term Ctot

The end-to-end sum of the error terms C of the flow. See reference RFC 2212.

Error term D

The rate-independent term of the flow in a network element. It represents the worst case non-rate-based transit delay through the network element. The error term D is measured in units of microseconds.

Error term Dsum

The cumulative sum of the error terms D of the flow since the most recent reshaping point upstream from the receiver. See reference RFC 2212.

Error term Dtot

The end-to-end sum of the error terms D of the flow. See reference RFC 2212.

ESP

Abbreviation for IP "Encapsulation Security Payload". See reference RFC 1827.

Filter Spec

Together with the session information, defines the set of data packets to receive the QoS specified in a flowspec. The filter spec is used to set parameters in the packet classifier function.

Flow

The set of data packets defined by a session specification together with a Filter Spec.

Flow descriptor

The combination of a flowspec and a filter spec.

Flowspec

Defines the QoS to be provided for a flow. The flowspec is used to set parameters in the packet scheduling function to provide the requested quality of service.

Guaranteed service

An integrated service that guarantees both bandwidth and firm end-to-end delay bounds. See reference RFC 2212.

GPI

Abbreviation for "Generalized Port Identifier". When it is used in the context of IP Security, it refers to the Security Parameter Index, or SPI. See reference RFC 2207.

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force

INTSERV

Integrated Services

IP

Internet Protocol, version 4 (IPv4, see reference RFC 791) is in current use at the time of publication of this Technical Standard. Version 6 (IPv6) is the "new generation" Internet Protocol being specified by the IETF to replace IPv4.

IPSEC

Abbreviation for IP Security Protocol. See reference RFC 1825.

ISI

Information Sciences Institute of the School of Engineering at the University of Southern California

Minimum policed unit

The size in bytes of the smallest packet in the flow. The packet size includes the application data and all protocol headers at or above the IP level. This is used by network elements to compute maximum bandwidth overhead needed to carry a flow's packets over a particular link technology.

One Pass With Advertising (OPWA)

Describes a reservation setup model in which (Path) messages sent downstream gather information that the receiver(s) can use to predict the end-to-end service. The information that is gathered is called an advertisement. See also "Adspec".

OPWA

Abbreviation for "One Pass With Advertising".

Override

A flag indicating whether the general path characterization parameters are overridden by parameters specific to a given QoS service. A non-zero value will indicate at least one of the general path characterization parameters is to be overridden.

Peak data rate

Sender's peak traffic generation rate if it is known and controlled. It may be set to the sender's outgoing interface link rate if it is known, or it may be set to positive infinity if no better value is available.

QoS

Quality of Service.

RAPI

RSVP API

RAPI Session

A RAPI session is an API session created by a call to rapi_session() and terminated by a call to rapi_release().

Rspec

The component of a flowspec that defines a desired QoS.

RSVP

Resource ReSerVation Protocol

RSVP Session

An RSVP session defines one simplex unicast or multicast data flow for which reservations are required. An RSVP session is identified by the destination address, transport-layer protocol, and an optional (generalized) destination port.

Session

See "RAPI Session" and "RSVP Session".

Slack term

The delay delta between the desired delay and the delay that can be obtained by using a reservation bandwidth level R as specified in the Rspec. The slack term is measured in units of microseconds. See reference RFC 2212.

Token bucket depth

Size of an abstract linear first-in-first-out buffer for holding a sender's data before the data is transmitted. The token bucket depth is one of the several parameters used to define the traffic specification of a data flow. See reference RFC 2211, and reference RFC 2212.

Token bucket rate

The average data rate that a sender will be sending into the flow. The token bucket rate is measured in bytes of IP datagrams per second. The IP header and any other upper layer protocol header are included in this measurement.

TSpec

A traffic parameter set that describes a flow.

TTL


An abbreviation for the IP "Time to Live" field. This one-octet field in the IP protocol header controls the maximum distance the payload datagram can be forwarded. The implication of time is historical; in the current Internet, the TTL field is simply a count of hops the datagram may travel before being discarded.

vDstPort

Abbreviation for "Virtual Destination Port". It is used to de-multiplex RSVP sessions beyond the IP destination address for IPSEC flows. See reference RFC 2207.

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