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rfc:rfc7679

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) G. Almes Request for Comments: 7679 Texas A&M STD: 81 S. Kalidindi Obsoletes: 2679 Ixia Category: Standards Track M. Zekauskas ISSN: 2070-1721 Internet2

                                                        A. Morton, Ed.
                                                             AT&T Labs
                                                          January 2016
      A One-Way Delay Metric for IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)

Abstract

 This memo defines a metric for one-way delay of packets across
 Internet paths.  It builds on notions introduced and discussed in the
 IP Performance Metrics (IPPM) Framework document, RFC 2330; the
 reader is assumed to be familiar with that document.  This memo makes
 RFC 2679 obsolete.

Status of This Memo

 This is an Internet Standards Track document.
 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
 Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7679.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
 document authors.  All rights reserved.
 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
 publication of this document.  Please review these documents
 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
 to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction ....................................................4
    1.1. Motivation .................................................4
 2. General Issues regarding Time ...................................6
 3. A Singleton Definition for One-Way Delay ........................7
    3.1. Metric Name ................................................7
    3.2. Metric Parameters ..........................................7
    3.3. Metric Units ...............................................7
    3.4. Definition .................................................7
    3.5. Discussion .................................................8
    3.6. Methodologies ..............................................9
    3.7. Errors and Uncertainties ..................................10
         3.7.1. Errors or Uncertainties Related to Clocks ..........10
         3.7.2. Errors or Uncertainties Related to Wire
                Time vs. Host Time .................................11
         3.7.3. Calibration of Errors and Uncertainties ............12
    3.8. Reporting the Metric ......................................14
         3.8.1. Type-P .............................................14
         3.8.2. Loss Threshold .....................................15
         3.8.3. Calibration Results ................................15
         3.8.4. Path ...............................................15
 4. A Definition for Samples of One-Way Delay ......................15
    4.1. Metric Name ...............................................16
    4.2. Metric Parameters .........................................16
    4.3. Metric Units ..............................................16
    4.4. Definition ................................................17
    4.5. Discussion ................................................17
    4.6. Methodologies .............................................18
    4.7. Errors and Uncertainties ..................................18
    4.8. Reporting the Metric ......................................18
 5. Some Statistics Definitions for One-Way Delay ..................18
    5.1. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Percentile ...........................19
    5.2. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Median ...............................19
    5.3. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Minimum ..............................20
    5.4. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Inverse-Percentile ...................20
 6. Security Considerations ........................................21
 7. Changes from RFC 2679 ..........................................22
 8. References .....................................................24
    8.1. Normative References ......................................24
    8.2. Informative References ....................................25
 Acknowledgements ..................................................26
 Authors' Addresses ................................................27

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

1. Introduction

 This memo defines a metric for one-way delay of packets across
 Internet paths.  It builds on notions introduced and discussed in the
 IPPM Framework document, [RFC2330]; the reader is assumed to be
 familiar with that document and its recent update [RFC7312].
 This memo is intended to be parallel in structure to a companion
 document for Packet Loss ("A One-way Packet Loss Metric for IPPM")
 [RFC7680].
 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
 document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].  Although
 [RFC2119] was written with protocols in mind, the key words are used
 in this document for similar reasons.  They are used to ensure the
 results of measurements from two different implementations are
 comparable and to note instances when an implementation could perturb
 the network.
 Whenever a technical term from the IPPM Framework document is first
 used in this memo, it will be tagged with a trailing asterisk.  For
 example, "term*" indicates that "term" is defined in the Framework
 document.
 The structure of the memo is as follows:
 o  A 'singleton*' analytic metric, called Type-P-One-way-Delay, will
    be introduced to measure a single observation of one-way delay.
 o  Using this singleton metric, a 'sample*' called Type-P-One-way-
    Delay-Poisson-Stream is introduced to measure a sequence of
    singleton delays sent at times taken from a Poisson process,
    defined in Section 11.1.1 of [RFC2330].
 o  Using this sample, several 'statistics*' of the sample will be
    defined and discussed.  This progression from singleton to sample
    to statistics, with clear separation among them, is important.

1.1. Motivation

 Understanding one-way delay of a Type-P* packet from a source host*
 to a destination host is useful for several reasons:
 o  Some applications do not perform well (or at all) if end-to-end
    delay between hosts is large relative to some threshold value.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 o  Erratic variation in delay makes it difficult (or impossible) to
    support many real-time applications.
 o  The larger the value of delay, the more difficult it is for
    transport-layer protocols to sustain high bandwidths.
 o  The minimum value of this metric provides an indication of the
    delay due only to propagation and transmission delay.
 o  The minimum value of this metric provides an indication of the
    delay that will likely be experienced when the path* traversed is
    lightly loaded.
 o  Values of this metric above the minimum provide an indication of
    the congestion present in the path.
 The measurement of one-way delay instead of round-trip delay is
 motivated by the following factors:
 o  In today's Internet, the path from a source to a destination may
    be different than the path from the destination back to the source
    ("asymmetric paths"), such that different sequences of routers are
    used for the forward and reverse paths.  Therefore, round-trip
    measurements actually measure the performance of two distinct
    paths together.  Measuring each path independently highlights the
    performance difference between the two paths that may traverse
    different Internet service providers and even radically different
    types of networks (for example, research versus commodity
    networks, or networks with asymmetric link capacities, or wireless
    versus wireline access).
 o  Even when the two paths are symmetric, they may have radically
    different performance characteristics due to asymmetric queuing.
 o  Performance of an application may depend mostly on the performance
    in one direction.  For example, a TCP-based communication will
    experience reduced throughput if congestion occurs in one
    direction of its communication.  Troubleshooting may be simplified
    if the congested direction of TCP transmission can be identified.
 o  In networks in which quality of service (QoS) is enabled,
    provisioning in one direction may be radically different than
    provisioning in the reverse direction and thus the QoS guarantees
    differ.  Measuring the paths independently allows the verification
    of both guarantees.
 It is outside the scope of this document to say precisely how delay
 metrics would be applied to specific problems.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

2. General Issues regarding Time

 {Comment: The terminology below differs from that defined by ITU-T
 documents (e.g., G.810, "Definitions and terminology for
 synchronization networks" and I.356, "B-ISDN ATM layer cell transfer
 performance") but is consistent with the IPPM Framework document.  In
 general, these differences derive from the different backgrounds; the
 ITU-T documents historically have a telephony origin, while the
 authors of this document (and the Framework document) have a computer
 systems background.  Although the terms defined below have no direct
 equivalent in the ITU-T definitions, after our definitions we will
 provide a rough mapping.  However, note one potential confusion: our
 definition of "clock" is the computer operating systems definition
 denoting a time-of-day clock, while the ITU-T definition of clock
 denotes a frequency reference.}
 Whenever a time (i.e., a moment in history) is mentioned here, it is
 understood to be measured in seconds (and fractions) relative to UTC.
 As described more fully in the Framework document, there are four
 distinct, but related notions of clock uncertainty:
 synchronization*
 measures the extent to which two clocks agree on what time it is.
 For example, the clock on one host might be 5.4 msec ahead of the
 clock on a second host. {Comment: A rough ITU-T equivalent is "time
 error".}
 accuracy*
 measures the extent to which a given clock agrees with UTC.  For
 example, the clock on a host might be 27.1 msec behind UTC. {Comment:
 A rough ITU-T equivalent is "time error from UTC".}
 resolution*
 specification of the smallest unit by which the clock's time is
 updated.  It gives a lower bound on the clock's uncertainty.  For
 example, the clock on an old Unix host might tick only once every 10
 msec, and thus have a resolution of only 10 msec. {Comment: A very
 rough ITU-T equivalent is "sampling period".}
 skew*
 measures the change of accuracy, or of synchronization, with time.
 For example, the clock on a given host might gain 1.3 msec per hour
 and thus be 27.1 msec behind UTC at one time and only 25.8 msec an

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 hour later.  In this case, we say that the clock of the given host
 has a skew of 1.3 msec per hour relative to UTC, which threatens
 accuracy.  We might also speak of the skew of one clock relative to
 another clock, which threatens synchronization. {Comment: A rough
 ITU-T equivalent is "time drift".}

3. A Singleton Definition for One-Way Delay

3.1. Metric Name

 Type-P-One-way-Delay

3.2. Metric Parameters

 o  Src, the IP address of a host
 o  Dst, the IP address of a host
 o  T, a time
 o  Tmax, a loss threshold waiting time

3.3. Metric Units

 The value of a Type-P-One-way-Delay is either a real number or an
 undefined (informally, infinite) number of seconds.

3.4. Definition

 For a real number dT, >>the *Type-P-One-way-Delay* from Src to Dst at
 T is dT<< means that Src sent the first bit of a Type-P packet to Dst
 at wire time* T and that Dst received the last bit of that packet at
 wire time T+dT.
 >>The *Type-P-One-way-Delay* from Src to Dst at T is undefined
 (informally, infinite)<< means that Src sent the first bit of a
 Type-P packet to Dst at wire time T and that Dst did not receive that
 packet (within the loss threshold waiting time, Tmax).
 Suggestions for what to report and metric values appear in
 Section 3.8 after a discussion of the metric, methodologies for
 measuring the metric, and error analysis.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

3.5. Discussion

 Type-P-One-way-Delay is a relatively simple analytic metric, and one
 that we believe will afford effective methods of measurement.
 The following issues are likely to come up in practice:
 o  Real delay values will be positive.  Therefore, it does not make
    sense to report a negative value as a real delay.  However, an
    individual zero or negative delay value might be useful as part of
    a stream when trying to discover a distribution of a stream of
    delay values.
 o  Since delay values will often be as low as the 100 usec to 10 msec
    range, it will be important for Src and Dst to synchronize very
    closely.  Global Positioning System (GPS) systems afford one way
    to achieve synchronization to within several tens of usec.
    Ordinary application of NTP may allow synchronization to within
    several msec, but this depends on the stability and symmetry of
    delay properties among those NTP agents used, and this delay is
    what we are trying to measure.  A combination of some GPS-based
    NTP servers and a conservatively designed and deployed set of
    other NTP servers should yield good results.  This was tested in
    [RFC6808], where a GPS measurement system's results compared well
    with a GPS-based NTP synchronized system for the same
    intercontinental path.
 o  A given methodology will have to include a way to determine
    whether a delay value is infinite or whether it is merely very
    large (and the packet is yet to arrive at Dst).  As noted by
    Mahdavi and Paxson [RFC2678], simple upper bounds (such as the 255
    seconds theoretical upper bound on the lifetimes of IP packets
    [RFC791]) could be used; but good engineering, including an
    understanding of packet lifetimes, will be needed in practice.
    {Comment: Note that, for many applications of these metrics, the
    harm in treating a large delay as infinite might be zero or very
    small.  A TCP data packet, for example, that arrives only after
    several multiples of the RTT may as well have been lost.  See
    Section 4.1.1 of [RFC6703] for examination of unusual packet
    delays and application performance estimation.}
 o  If the packet is duplicated along the path (or paths) so that
    multiple non-corrupt copies arrive at the destination, then the
    packet is counted as received, and the first copy to arrive
    determines the packet's one-way delay.
 o  If the packet is fragmented and if, for whatever reason,
    reassembly does not occur, then the packet will be deemed lost.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 o  A given methodology will include a way to determine whether the
    packet is standard-formed, the default criteria for all metric
    definitions defined in Section 15 of [RFC2330], otherwise the
    packet will be deemed lost.  Note: At this time, the definition of
    standard-formed packets only applies to IPv4, but also see
    [IPPM-UPDATES].

3.6. Methodologies

 As with other Type-P-* metrics, the detailed methodology will depend
 on the Type-P (e.g., protocol number, UDP/TCP port number, size,
 Differentiated Services (DS) Field [RFC2780]).
 Generally, for a given Type-P, the methodology would proceed as
 follows:
 o  Arrange that Src and Dst are synchronized; that is, that they have
    clocks that are very closely synchronized with each other and each
    fairly close to the actual time.
 o  At the Src host, select Src and Dst IP addresses, and form a test
    packet of Type-P with these addresses.  Any 'padding' portion of
    the packet needed only to make the test packet a given size should
    be filled with randomized bits to avoid a situation in which the
    measured delay is lower than it would otherwise be, due to
    compression techniques along the path.  Also, see Section 3.1.2 of
    [RFC7312].
 o  At the Dst host, arrange to receive the packet.
 o  At the Src host, place a timestamp in the prepared Type-P packet,
    and send it towards Dst (ideally minimizing time before sending).
 o  If the packet arrives within a reasonable period of time, take a
    timestamp as soon as possible upon the receipt of the packet.  By
    subtracting the two timestamps, an estimate of one-way delay can
    be computed.  Error analysis of a given implementation of the
    method must take into account the closeness of synchronization
    between Src and Dst.  If the delay between Src's timestamp and the
    actual sending of the packet is known, then the estimate could be
    adjusted by subtracting this amount; uncertainty in this value
    must be taken into account in error analysis.  Similarly, if the
    delay between the actual receipt of the packet and Dst's timestamp
    is known, then the estimate could be adjusted by subtracting this
    amount; uncertainty in this value must be taken into account in
    error analysis.  See "Errors and Uncertainties" (Section 3.7) for
    a more detailed discussion.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 o  If the packet fails to arrive within a reasonable period of time,
    Tmax, the one-way delay is taken to be undefined (informally,
    infinite).  Note that the threshold of "reasonable" is a parameter
    of the metric.  These points are examined in detail in [RFC6703],
    including analysis preferences to assign undefined delay to
    packets that fail to arrive with the difficulties emerging from
    the informal "infinite delay" assignment, and an estimation of an
    upper bound on waiting time for packets in transit.  Further,
    enforcing a specific constant waiting time on stored singletons of
    one-way delay is compliant with this specification and may allow
    the results to serve more than one reporting audience.
 Issues such as the packet format, the means by which Dst knows when
 to expect the test packet, and the means by which Src and Dst are
 synchronized are outside the scope of this document. {Comment: We
 plan to document the implementation techniques of our work in much
 more detail elsewhere; we encourage others to do so as well.}

3.7. Errors and Uncertainties

 The description of any specific measurement method should include an
 accounting and analysis of various sources of error or uncertainty.
 The Framework document provides general guidance on this point, but
 we note here the following specifics related to delay metrics:
 o  Errors or uncertainties due to uncertainties in the clocks of the
    Src and Dst hosts.
 o  Errors or uncertainties due to the difference between 'wire time'
    and 'host time'.
 In addition, the loss threshold may affect the results.  Each of
 these are discussed in more detail below, along with a section
 (Section 3.7.3) on accounting for these errors and uncertainties.

3.7.1. Errors or Uncertainties Related to Clocks

 The uncertainty in a measurement of one-way delay is related, in
 part, to uncertainties in the clocks of the Src and Dst hosts.  In
 the following, we refer to the clock used to measure when the packet
 was sent from Src as the source clock, we refer to the clock used to
 measure when the packet was received by Dst as the destination clock,
 we refer to the observed time when the packet was sent by the source
 clock as Tsource, and we refer to the observed time when the packet
 was received by the destination clock as Tdest.  Alluding to the
 notions of synchronization, accuracy, resolution, and skew mentioned
 in the Introduction, we note the following:

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 o  Any error in the synchronization between the source clock and the
    destination clock will contribute to error in the delay
    measurement.  We say that the source clock and the destination
    clock have a synchronization error of Tsynch if the source clock
    is Tsynch ahead of the destination clock.  Thus, if we know the
    value of Tsynch exactly, we could correct for clock
    synchronization by adding Tsynch to the uncorrected value of
    Tdest-Tsource.
 o  The accuracy of a clock is important only in identifying the time
    at which a given delay was measured.  Accuracy, per se, has no
    importance to the accuracy of the measurement of delay.  When
    computing delays, we are interested only in the differences
    between clock values, not the values themselves.
 o  The resolution of a clock adds to uncertainty about any time
    measured with it.  Thus, if the source clock has a resolution of
    10 msec, then this adds 10 msec of uncertainty to any time value
    measured with it.  We will denote the resolution of the source
    clock and the destination clock as Rsource and Rdest,
    respectively.
 o  The skew of a clock is not so much an additional issue as it is a
    realization of the fact that Tsynch is itself a function of time.
    Thus, if we attempt to measure or to bound Tsynch, this needs to
    be done periodically.  Over some periods of time, this function
    can be approximated as a linear function plus some higher order
    terms; in these cases, one option is to use knowledge of the
    linear component to correct the clock.  Using this correction, the
    residual Tsynch is made smaller but remains a source of
    uncertainty that must be accounted for.  We use the function
    Esynch(t) to denote an upper bound on the uncertainty in
    synchronization.  Thus, |Tsynch(t)| <= Esynch(t).
 Taking these items together, we note that naive computation Tdest-
 Tsource will be off by Tsynch(t) +/- (Rsource + Rdest).  Using the
 notion of Esynch(t), we note that these clock-related problems
 introduce a total uncertainty of Esynch(t)+ Rsource + Rdest.  This
 estimate of total clock-related uncertainty should be included in the
 error/uncertainty analysis of any measurement implementation.

3.7.2. Errors or Uncertainties Related to Wire Time vs. Host Time

 As we have defined one-way delay, we would like to measure the time
 between when the test packet leaves the network interface of Src and
 when it (completely) arrives at the network interface of Dst: we
 refer to these as "wire times."  If the timings are themselves
 performed by software on Src and Dst, however, then this software can

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 11] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 only directly measure the time between when Src grabs a timestamp
 just prior to sending the test packet and when Dst grabs a timestamp
 just after having received the test packet: we refer to these two
 points as "host times".
 We note that some systems perform host time stamping on the network-
 interface hardware, in an attempt to minimize the difference from
 wire times.
 To the extent that the difference between wire time and host time is
 accurately known, this knowledge can be used to correct for host time
 measurements, and the corrected value more accurately estimates the
 desired (wire-time) metric.
 To the extent, however, that the difference between wire time and
 host time is uncertain, this uncertainty must be accounted for in an
 analysis of a given measurement method.  We denote by Hsource an
 upper bound on the uncertainty in the difference between wire time
 and host time on the Src host, and similarly define Hdest for the Dst
 host.  We then note that these problems introduce a total uncertainty
 of Hsource+Hdest.  This estimate of total wire-vs-host uncertainty
 should be included in the error/uncertainty analysis of any
 measurement implementation.

3.7.3. Calibration of Errors and Uncertainties

 Generally, the measured values can be decomposed as follows:
 measured value = true value + systematic error + random error
 If the systematic error (the constant bias in measured values) can be
 determined, it can be compensated for in the reported results.
 reported value = measured value - systematic error
 therefore:
 reported value = true value + random error
 The goal of calibration is to determine the systematic and random
 error generated by the hosts themselves in as much detail as
 possible.  At a minimum, a bound ("e") should be found such that the
 reported value is in the range (true value - e) to (true value + e)
 at least 95% of the time.  We call "e" the calibration error for the
 measurements.  It represents the degree to which the values produced
 by the measurement host are repeatable; that is, how closely an
 actual delay of 30 ms is reported as 30 ms. {Comment: 95% was chosen
 because (1) some confidence level is desirable to be able to remove

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 12] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 outliers, which will be found in measuring any physical property; (2)
 a particular confidence level should be specified so that the results
 of independent implementations can be compared; and (3) even with a
 prototype user-level implementation, 95% was loose enough to exclude
 outliers.}
 From the discussion in the previous two sections, the error in
 measurements could be bounded by determining all the individual
 uncertainties, and adding them together to form:
 Esynch(t) + Rsource + Rdest + Hsource + Hdest.
 However, reasonable bounds on both the clock-related uncertainty
 captured by the first three terms and the host-related uncertainty
 captured by the last two terms should be possible by careful design
 techniques and calibrating the hosts using a known, isolated network
 in a lab.
 For example, the clock-related uncertainties are greatly reduced
 through the use of a GPS time source.  The sum of Esynch(t) + Rsource
 + Rdest is small and is also bounded for the duration of the
 measurement because of the global time source.
 The host-related uncertainties, Hsource + Hdest, could be bounded by
 connecting two hosts back-to-back with a high-speed serial link or
 isolated LAN segment.  In this case, repeated measurements are
 measuring the same one-way delay.
 If the test packets are small, such a network connection has a
 minimal delay that may be approximated by zero.  The measured delay
 therefore contains only systematic and random error in the
 measurement hosts.  The "average value" of repeated measurements is
 the systematic error, and the variation is the random error.
 One way to compute the systematic error, and the random error to a
 95% confidence is to repeat the experiment many times -- at least
 hundreds of tests.  The systematic error would then be the median.
 The random error could then be found by removing the systematic error
 from the measured values.  The 95% confidence interval would be the
 range from the 2.5th percentile to the 97.5th percentile of these
 deviations from the true value.  The calibration error "e" could then
 be taken to be the largest absolute value of these two numbers, plus
 the clock-related uncertainty. {Comment: as described, this bound is
 relatively loose since the uncertainties are added, and the absolute
 value of the largest deviation is used.  As long as the resulting
 value is not a significant fraction of the measured values, it is a

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 reasonable bound.  If the resulting value is a significant fraction
 of the measured values, then more exact methods will be needed to
 compute the calibration error.}
 Note that random error is a function of measurement load.  For
 example, if many paths will be measured by one host, this might
 increase interrupts, process scheduling, and disk I/O (for example,
 recording the measurements), all of which may increase the random
 error in measured singletons.  Therefore, in addition to minimal load
 measurements to find the systematic error, calibration measurements
 should be performed with the same measurement load that the hosts
 will see in the field.
 We wish to reiterate that this statistical treatment refers to the
 calibration of the host; it is used to "calibrate the meter stick"
 and say how well the meter stick reflects reality.
 In addition to calibrating the hosts for finite one-way delay, two
 checks should be made to ensure that packets reported as losses were
 really lost.  First, the threshold for loss should be verified.  In
 particular, ensure the "reasonable" threshold is reasonable: that it
 is very unlikely a packet will arrive after the threshold value, and
 therefore the number of packets lost over an interval is not
 sensitive to the error bound on measurements.  Second, consider the
 possibility that a packet arrives at the network interface, but is
 lost due to congestion on that interface or to other resource
 exhaustion (e.g. buffers) in the host.

3.8. Reporting the Metric

 The calibration and context in which the metric is measured MUST be
 carefully considered and SHOULD always be reported along with metric
 results.  We now present four items to consider: the Type-P of test
 packets, the threshold of infinite delay (if any), error calibration,
 and the path traversed by the test packets.  This list is not
 exhaustive; any additional information that could be useful in
 interpreting applications of the metrics should also be reported (see
 [RFC6703] for extensive discussion of reporting considerations for
 different audiences).

3.8.1. Type-P

 As noted in Section 13 of the Framework document [RFC2330], the value
 of the metric may depend on the type of IP packets used to make the
 measurement, or "Type-P".  The value of Type-P-One-way-Delay could
 change if the protocol (UDP or TCP), port number, size, or
 arrangement for special treatment (e.g., IP DS Field [RFC2780],
 Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) [RFC3168], or RSVP) changes.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 14] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 Additional packet distinctions identified in future extensions of the
 Type-P definition will apply.  The exact Type-P used to make the
 measurements MUST be accurately reported.

3.8.2. Loss Threshold

 In addition, the threshold (or methodology to distinguish) between a
 large finite delay and loss MUST be reported.

3.8.3. Calibration Results

 o  If the systematic error can be determined, it SHOULD be removed
    from the measured values.
 o  You SHOULD also report the calibration error, e, such that the
    true value is the reported value plus or minus e, with 95%
    confidence (see the last section.)
 o  If possible, the conditions under which a test packet with finite
    delay is reported as lost due to resource exhaustion on the
    measurement host SHOULD be reported.

3.8.4. Path

 Finally, the path traversed by the packet SHOULD be reported, if
 possible.  In general, it is impractical to know the precise path a
 given packet takes through the network.  The precise path may be
 known for certain Type-P on short or stable paths.  If Type-P
 includes the record route (or loose-source route) option in the IP
 header, and the path is short enough, and all routers* on the path
 support record (or loose-source) route, then the path will be
 precisely recorded.  This is impractical because the route must be
 short enough, many routers do not support (or are not configured for)
 record route, and use of this feature would often artificially worsen
 the performance observed by removing the packet from common-case
 processing.  However, partial information is still valuable context.
 For example, if a host can choose between two links* (and hence, two
 separate routes from Src to Dst), then the initial link used is
 valuable context. {Comment: For example, with Merit's NetNow setup, a
 Src on one Network Access Point (NAP) can reach a Dst on another NAP
 by either of several different backbone networks.}

4. A Definition for Samples of One-Way Delay

 Given the singleton metric Type-P-One-way-Delay, we now define one
 particular sample of such singletons.  The idea of the sample is to
 select a particular binding of the parameters Src, Dst, and Type-P,
 then define a sample of values of parameter T.  The means for

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 15] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 defining the values of T is to select a beginning time T0, a final
 time Tf, and an average rate lambda, then define a pseudorandom
 Poisson process of rate lambda, whose values fall between T0 and Tf.
 The time interval between successive values of T will then average 1/
 lambda.
 Note that Poisson sampling is only one way of defining a sample.
 Poisson has the advantage of limiting bias, but other methods of
 sampling will be appropriate for different situations.  For example,
 a truncated Poisson distribution may be needed to avoid reactive
 network state changes during intervals of inactivity, see Section 4.6
 of [RFC7312].  Sometimes the goal is sampling with a known bias, and
 [RFC3432] describes a method for periodic sampling with random start
 times.

4.1. Metric Name

 Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream

4.2. Metric Parameters

 o  Src, the IP address of a host
 o  Dst, the IP address of a host
 o  T0, a time
 o  Tf, a time
 o  Tmax, a loss threshold waiting time
 o  lambda, a rate in reciprocal seconds (or parameters for another
    distribution)

4.3. Metric Units

 A sequence of pairs; the elements of each pair are:
 o  T, a time, and
 o  dT, either a real number or an undefined number of seconds.
 The values of T in the sequence are monotonic increasing.  Note that
 T would be a valid parameter to Type-P-One-way-Delay and that dT
 would be a valid value of Type-P-One-way-Delay.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 16] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

4.4. Definition

 Given T0, Tf, and lambda, we compute a pseudorandom Poisson process
 beginning at or before T0, with average arrival rate lambda, and
 ending at or after Tf.  Those time values greater than or equal to T0
 and less than or equal to Tf are then selected.  At each of the
 selected times in this process, we obtain one value of Type-P-One-
 way-Delay.  The value of the sample is the sequence made up of the
 resulting <time, delay> pairs.  If there are no such pairs, the
 sequence is of length zero and the sample is said to be empty.

4.5. Discussion

 The reader should be familiar with the in-depth discussion of Poisson
 sampling in the Framework document [RFC2330], which includes methods
 to compute and verify the pseudorandom Poisson process.
 We specifically do not constrain the value of lambda except to note
 the extremes.  If the rate is too large, then the measurement traffic
 will perturb the network and itself cause congestion.  If the rate is
 too small, then you might not capture interesting network behavior.
 {Comment: We expect to document our experiences with, and suggestions
 for, lambda elsewhere, culminating in a "Best Current Practice"
 document.}
 Since a pseudorandom number sequence is employed, the sequence of
 times, and hence the value of the sample, is not fully specified.
 Pseudorandom number generators of good quality will be needed to
 achieve the desired qualities.
 The sample is defined in terms of a Poisson process both to avoid the
 effects of self-synchronization and also capture a sample that is
 statistically as unbiased as possible. {Comment: there is, of course,
 no claim that real Internet traffic arrives according to a Poisson
 arrival process.} The Poisson process is used to schedule the delay
 measurements.  The test packets will generally not arrive at Dst
 according to a Poisson distribution, since they are influenced by the
 network.
 All the singleton Type-P-One-way-Delay metrics in the sequence will
 have the same values of Src, Dst, and Type-P.
 Note also that, given one sample that runs from T0 to Tf, and given
 new time values T0' and Tf' such that T0 <= T0' <= Tf' <= Tf, the
 subsequence of the given sample whose time values fall between T0'
 and Tf' are also a valid Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream sample.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 17] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

4.6. Methodologies

 The methodologies follow directly from:
 o  The selection of specific times using the specified Poisson
    arrival process, and
 o  The methodologies discussion already given for the singleton Type-
    P-One-way-Delay metric.
 Care must be given to correctly handle out-of-order arrival of test
 packets; it is possible that the Src could send one test packet at
 TS[i], then send a second one (later) at TS[i+1] while the Dst could
 receive the second test packet at TR[i+1], and then receive the first
 one (later) at TR[i].  Metrics for reordering may be found in
 [RFC4737].

4.7. Errors and Uncertainties

 In addition to sources of errors and uncertainties associated with
 methods employed to measure the singleton values that make up the
 sample, care must be given to analyze the accuracy of the Poisson
 process with respect to the wire times of the sending of the test
 packets.  Problems with this process could be caused by several
 things, including problems with the pseudorandom number techniques
 used to generate the Poisson arrival process, or with jitter in the
 value of Hsource (mentioned above as uncertainty in the singleton
 delay metric).  The Framework document shows how to use the Anderson-
 Darling test to verify the accuracy of a Poisson process over small
 time frames. {Comment: The goal is to ensure that test packets are
 sent "close enough" to a Poisson schedule and avoid periodic
 behavior.}

4.8. Reporting the Metric

 The calibration and context for the underlying singletons MUST be
 reported along with the stream.  (See "Reporting the Metric" for
 Type-P-One-way-Delay in Section 3.8.)

5. Some Statistics Definitions for One-Way Delay

 Given the sample metric Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream, we now
 offer several statistics of that sample.  These statistics are
 offered mostly to illustrate what could be done.  See [RFC6703] for
 additional discussion of statistics that are relevant to different
 audiences.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 18] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

5.1. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Percentile

 Given a Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream and a percent X between
 0% and 100%, the Xth percentile of all the dT values in the stream.
 In computing this percentile, undefined values are treated as
 infinitely large.  Note that this means that the percentile could
 thus be undefined (informally, infinite).  In addition, the Type-P-
 One-way-Delay-Percentile is undefined if the sample is empty.
 For example: suppose we take a sample and the results are as follows:
 Stream1 = <
 <T1, 100 msec>
 <T2, 110 msec>
 <T3, undefined>
 <T4, 90 msec>
 <T5, 500 msec>
 >
 Then, the 50th percentile would be 110 msec, since 90 msec and 100
 msec are smaller and 500 msec and 'undefined' are larger.  See
 Section 11.3 of [RFC2330] for computing percentiles.
 Note that if the possibility that a packet with finite delay is
 reported as lost is significant, then a high percentile (90th or
 95th) might be reported as infinite instead of finite.

5.2. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Median

 Given a Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream, the median of all the dT
 values in the stream.  In computing the median, undefined values are
 treated as infinitely large.  As with Type-P-One-way-Delay-
 Percentile, Type-P-One-way-Delay-Median is undefined if the sample is
 empty.
 As noted in the Framework document, the median differs from the 50th
 percentile only when the sample contains an even number of values, in
 which case the mean of the two central values is used.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 19] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 For example, suppose we take a sample and the results are as follows:
 Stream2 = <
 <T1, 100 msec>
 <T2, 110 msec>
 <T3, undefined>
 <T4, 90 msec>
 >
 Then, the median would be 105 msec, the mean of 100 msec and 110
 msec, the two central values.

5.3. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Minimum

 Given a Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream, the minimum of all the
 dT values in the stream.  In computing this, undefined values are
 treated as infinitely large.  Note that this means that the minimum
 could thus be undefined (informally, infinite) if all the dT values
 are undefined.  In addition, the Type-P-One-way-Delay-Minimum is
 undefined if the sample is empty.
 In the above example, the minimum would be 90 msec.

5.4. Type-P-One-way-Delay-Inverse-Percentile

 Note: This statistic is deprecated in this document because of lack
 of use.
 Given a Type-P-One-way-Delay-Poisson-Stream and a time duration
 threshold, the fraction of all the dT values in the stream less than
 or equal to the threshold.  The result could be as low as 0% (if all
 the dT values exceed threshold) or as high as 100%.  Type-P-One-way-
 Delay-Inverse-Percentile is undefined if the sample is empty.
 In the above example, the Inverse-Percentile of 103 msec would be
 50%.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 20] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

6. Security Considerations

 Conducting Internet measurements raises both security and privacy
 concerns.  This memo does not specify an implementation of the
 metrics, so it does not directly affect the security of the Internet
 nor of applications that run on the Internet.  However,
 implementations of these metrics must be mindful of security and
 privacy concerns.
 There are two types of security concerns: potential harm caused by
 the measurements and potential harm to the measurements.  The
 measurements could cause harm because they are active and inject
 packets into the network.  The measurement parameters MUST be
 carefully selected so that the measurements inject trivial amounts of
 additional traffic into the networks they measure.  If they inject
 "too much" traffic, they can skew the results of the measurement and
 in extreme cases cause congestion and denial of service.
 The measurements themselves could be harmed by routers giving
 measurement traffic a different priority than "normal" traffic or by
 an attacker injecting artificial measurement traffic.  If routers can
 recognize measurement traffic and treat it separately, the
 measurements will not reflect actual user traffic.  Therefore, the
 measurement methodologies SHOULD include appropriate techniques to
 reduce the probability that measurement traffic can be distinguished
 from "normal" traffic.
 If an attacker injects packets emulating traffic that are accepted as
 legitimate, the loss ratio or other measured values could be
 corrupted.  Authentication techniques, such as digital signatures,
 may be used where appropriate to guard against injected traffic
 attacks.
 When considering privacy of those involved in measurement or those
 whose traffic is measured, the sensitive information available to
 potential observers is greatly reduced when using active techniques
 that are within this scope of work.  Passive observations of user
 traffic for measurement purposes raise many privacy issues.  We refer
 the reader to the privacy considerations described in the Large Scale
 Measurement of Broadband Performance (LMAP) Framework [RFC7594],
 which covers active and passive techniques.
 Collecting measurements or using measurement results for
 reconnaissance to assist in subsequent system attacks is quite
 common.  Access to measurement results, or control of the measurement
 systems to perform reconnaissance should be guarded against.  See

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 21] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 Section 7 of [RFC7594] (Security Considerations of the LMAP
 Framework) for system requirements that help to avoid measurement
 system compromise.

7. Changes from RFC 2679

 The text above constitutes a revision to RFC 2769, which is now an
 Internet Standard.  This section tracks the changes from [RFC2679].
 [RFC6808] provides the test plan and results supporting [RFC2679]
 advancement along the Standards Track, according to the process in
 [RFC6576].  The conclusions of [RFC6808] list four minor
 modifications:
 1.  Section 6.2.3 of [RFC6808] asserts that the assumption of post-
     processing to enforce a constant waiting time threshold is
     compliant and that the text of the RFC should be revised slightly
     to include this point.  The applicability of post-processing was
     added in the last list item of Section 3.6.
 2.  Section 6.5 of [RFC6808] indicates that the Type-P-One-way-Delay-
     Inverse-Percentile statistic has been ignored in both
     implementations, so it was a candidate for removal or deprecation
     in this document (this small discrepancy does not affect
     candidacy for advancement).  This statistic was deprecated in
     Section 5.4.
 3.  The IETF has reached consensus on guidance for reporting metrics
     in [RFC6703], and the memo is referenced in this document to
     incorporate recent experience where appropriate.  This reference
     was added in the last list item of Section 3.6, Section 3.8, and
     in Section 5.
 4.  There is currently one erratum with status "Held for Document
     Update" (EID 398) for [RFC2679], and this minor revision and
     additional text was incorporated in this document in Section 5.1.
 A number of updates to the [RFC2679] text have been implemented in
 the text above to reference key IPPM RFCs that were approved after
 [RFC2679] and to address comments on the IPPM mailing list describing
 current conditions and experience.
 1.   Near the end of Section 1.1, there is an update of a network
      example using ATM, a clarification of TCP's affect on queue
      occupation, and discussion of the importance of one-way delay
      measurement.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 22] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 2.   Explicit inclusion of the maximum waiting time input parameter
      in Sections 3.2 and 4.2, reflecting recognition of this
      parameter in more recent RFCs and ITU-T Recommendation Y.1540.
 3.   Addition of a reference to RFC 6703 in the discussion of packet
      lifetime and application timeouts in Section 3.5.
 4.   Addition of a reference to the default requirement (that packets
      be standard-formed) from RFC 2330 as a new list item in
      Section 3.5.
 5.   GPS-based NTP experience replaces "to be tested" in Section 3.5.
 6.   Replaced "precedence" with updated terminology (DS Field) in
      Sections 3.6 and 3.8.1(with reference).
 7.   Added parenthetical guidance on minimizing the interval between
      timestamp placement to send time in Section 3.6.
 8.   Section 3.7.2 notes that some current systems perform host time
      stamping on the network-interface hardware.
 9.   "instrument" replaced by the defined term "host" in
      Section 3.7.3 and Section 3.8.3.
 10.  Added reference to RFC 3432 regarding periodic sampling
      alongside Poisson sampling in Section 4 and also noted that a
      truncated Poisson distribution may be needed with modern
      networks as described in the IPPM Framework update [RFC7312].
 11.  Added a reference to RFC 4737 regarding reordering metrics in
      the related discussion of "Methodologies (Section 4.6).
 12.  Modified the formatting of the example in Section 5.1 to match
      the original (issue with conversion to XML in this version).
 13.  Clarified the conclusions on two related points on harm to
      measurements (recognition of measurement traffic for unexpected
      priority treatment and attacker traffic which emulates
      measurement) in "Security Considerations (Section 6).
 14.  Expanded and updated the material on Privacy and added cautions
      on the use of measurements for reconnaissance in "Security
      Considerations" (Section 6).
 Section 5.4.4 of [RFC6390] suggests a common template for performance
 metrics partially derived from previous IPPM and Benchmarking
 Methodology Working Group (BMWG) RFCs, but it also contains some new

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 23] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 items.  All of the normative parts of [RFC6390] are covered, but not
 quite in the same section names or orientation.  Several of the
 informative parts are covered.  Maintaining the familiar outline of
 IPPM literature has both value and minimizes unnecessary differences
 between this revised RFC and current/future IPPM RFCs.
 The publication of [RFC6921] suggested an area where this memo might
 need updating.  Packet transfer on Faster-Than-Light (FTL) networks
 could result in negative delays and packet reordering; however, both
 are covered as possibilities in the current text and no revisions are
 deemed necessary (we also note that [RFC6921] is an April 1st RFC).

8. References

8.1. Normative References

 [RFC791]   Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc791>.
 [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
            Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
 [RFC2330]  Paxson, V., Almes, G., Mahdavi, J., and M. Mathis,
            "Framework for IP Performance Metrics", RFC 2330,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC2330, May 1998,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2330>.
 [RFC2678]  Mahdavi, J. and V. Paxson, "IPPM Metrics for Measuring
            Connectivity", RFC 2678, DOI 10.17487/RFC2678, September
            1999, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2678>.
 [RFC2679]  Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., and M. Zekauskas, "A One-way
            Delay Metric for IPPM", RFC 2679, DOI 10.17487/RFC2679,
            September 1999, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2679>.
 [RFC2780]  Bradner, S. and V. Paxson, "IANA Allocation Guidelines For
            Values In the Internet Protocol and Related Headers",
            BCP 37, RFC 2780, DOI 10.17487/RFC2780, March 2000,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2780>.
 [RFC3432]  Raisanen, V., Grotefeld, G., and A. Morton, "Network
            performance measurement with periodic streams", RFC 3432,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC3432, November 2002,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3432>.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 24] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 [RFC6576]  Geib, R., Ed., Morton, A., Fardid, R., and A. Steinmitz,
            "IP Performance Metrics (IPPM) Standard Advancement
            Testing", BCP 176, RFC 6576, DOI 10.17487/RFC6576, March
            2012, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6576>.
 [RFC7312]  Fabini, J. and A. Morton, "Advanced Stream and Sampling
            Framework for IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)", RFC 7312,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC7312, August 2014,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7312>.
 [RFC7680]  Almes, G., Kalidini, S., Zekauskas, M., and A. Morton,
            Ed., "A One-Way Loss Metric for IP Performance Metrics
            (IPPM)", RFC 7680, DOI 10.17487/RFC7680, January 2016,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7680>.

8.2. Informative References

 [IPPM-UPDATES]
            Morton, A., Fabini, J., Elkins, N., Ackermann, M., and V.
            Hegde, "Updates for IPPM's Active Metric Framework:
            Packets of Type-P and Standard-Formed Packets", Work in
            Progress, draft-morton-ippm-2330-stdform-typep-02,
            December 2015.
 [RFC3168]  Ramakrishnan, K., Floyd, S., and D. Black, "The Addition
            of Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to IP",
            RFC 3168, DOI 10.17487/RFC3168, September 2001,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3168>.
 [RFC4737]  Morton, A., Ciavattone, L., Ramachandran, G., Shalunov,
            S., and J. Perser, "Packet Reordering Metrics", RFC 4737,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC4737, November 2006,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4737>.
 [RFC6390]  Clark, A. and B. Claise, "Guidelines for Considering New
            Performance Metric Development", BCP 170, RFC 6390,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC6390, October 2011,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6390>.
 [RFC6703]  Morton, A., Ramachandran, G., and G. Maguluri, "Reporting
            IP Network Performance Metrics: Different Points of View",
            RFC 6703, DOI 10.17487/RFC6703, August 2012,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6703>.
 [RFC6808]  Ciavattone, L., Geib, R., Morton, A., and M. Wieser, "Test
            Plan and Results Supporting Advancement of RFC 2679 on the
            Standards Track", RFC 6808, DOI 10.17487/RFC6808, December
            2012, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6808>.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 25] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

 [RFC6921]  Hinden, R., "Design Considerations for Faster-Than-Light
            (FTL) Communication", RFC 6921, DOI 10.17487/RFC6921,
            April 2013, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6921>.
 [RFC7594]  Eardley, P., Morton, A., Bagnulo, M., Burbridge, T.,
            Aitken, P., and A. Akhter, "A Framework for Large-Scale
            Measurement of Broadband Performance (LMAP)", RFC 7594,
            DOI 10.17487/RFC7594, September 2015,
            <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7594>.

Acknowledgements

 For [RFC2679], special thanks are due to Vern Paxson of Lawrence
 Berkeley Labs for his helpful comments on issues of clock uncertainty
 and statistics.  Thanks also to Garry Couch, Will Leland, Andy
 Scherrer, Sean Shapira, and Roland Wittig for several useful
 suggestions.
 For this document, thanks to Joachim Fabini, Ruediger Geib, Nalini
 Elkins, and Barry Constantine for sharing their measurement
 experience as part of their careful reviews.  Brian Carpenter and
 Scott Bradner provided useful feedback at IETF Last Call.

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 26] RFC 7679 A One-Way Delay Metric for IPPM January 2016

Authors' Addresses

 Guy Almes
 Texas A&M
 Email: almes@acm.org
 Sunil Kalidindi
 Ixia
 Email: skalidindi@ixiacom.com
 Matt Zekauskas
 Internet2
 Email: matt@internet2.edu
 Al Morton (editor)
 AT&T Labs
 200 Laurel Avenue South
 Middletown, NJ  07748
 United States
 Phone: +1 732 420 1571
 Fax:   +1 732 368 1192
 Email: acmorton@att.com
 URI:   http://home.comcast.net/~acmacm/

Almes, et al. Standards Track [Page 27]

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