QoS path management with RSVP

This paper addresses the issue of QoS path management in IP networks. We describe a proposal aimed at allowing management through the RSVP (Braden et al. 1966) protocol of oaths selected by a QoS routing algorithm such as those of Guerin et al. (1997) and Zhang et al. (1996). The goals of the proposal are to allow efficient management of such QoS paths with a minimal impact to the RSVP protocol and the existing routing infrastructure. Basic features of the approach include leveraging of RSVP soft state mechanisms, and simple extensions to enable soft pinning (sticking) of paths selected by the QoS routing algorithm. In addition, the proposal addresses the issue of preventing the formation of data path loops, and of avoiding potential race conditions.