[Softwires] introduction and endorsement for MAP

[John Berg <[e-mail]>]

This is my first time posting to the Softwires mailing list and I would like to introduce myself, John Berg, Lead Engineer supporting emerging network technologies projects for CableLabs.  I have been a long term proponent for migration to IPv6 and a long time follower of drafts coming out of this working group, even if this is my first time posting here.  A lot of good work has come out of this group over the years, and a lot of the substance of this work has helped form the standards in many CableLabs specifications.  So, I hope to continue to learn from and contribute to this working group going forward.

My purpose in writing to the mailing list today was to draw attention to some of the work being done around co-existence technologies, particularly MAP-E and MAP-T.  Over the last several years I have seen great progress made by several of our member organizations in the migration to IPv6 only networks.  It has also been clear that IPv6 network evolution has outpaced the adoption of IPv6 in home networks, particularly in the various CPE products that would be attached to them.  There is no question that this has bogged down the efforts of operators to migrate to full end to end IPv6 networks.

In the past year or so, another thing that has become clear is the need to continue to co-exist with IPv4 only devices in the home network.  IPv4 exhaustion set aside, there is a clear and imminent need to accommodate IPv4 only capable devices in IPv6 only networks.  In fact, several MSOs have come to us asking that we help define new standards that will make IPv4/IPv6 co-existence possible, particularly in customer edge devices such as home routers and eRouters.  These new standards must avoid the pitfalls of earlier co-existence technologies that introduced a potential for impacting the user experience.  Enter MAP-E and MAP-T as viable and scalable solutions to this problem.

CableLabs, with the input of our member organizations, is now aggressively adding requirements to our eRouter specification for MAP-E and MAP-T.  These technologies are viewed as being the quick and near term solution to IPv4/IPv6 co-existence, and the hope is that they can be adopted quickly and in a manner that is seamless to the subscriber.  But although the substance of the MAP IETF draft documents is solid, we find ourselves writing requirements against the current versions of the drafts and not the RFCs.

Given the urgency with which operators would like to deploy MAP as a solution for IPv4/IPv6 co-existence, CableLabs respectfully requests the Softwires working group to advance the IETF drafts for MAP to RFC status as quickly as possible.  In particular, MAP-E, MAP-T, and MAP DHCP IETF drafts are extremely relevant to defining requirements for edge devices and operator deployment strategies.  We feel that RFC versions of these standards would lead to more stable implementations of MAP in vendor products, and the potential for new or shifting requirements would be greatly reduced or eliminated.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of my observations and requests, and I will look forward to my future interaction with this working group.

Best Regards,

John Berg
CableLabs
Lead Engineer – Network Technologies
858 Coal Creek Circle
Louisville, CO  80027
303 661-3882