Hello guys!
In this series, we are presenting the basic aspects of a new technology called BIERv6. This will be the last article of this series. If you did not read previous articles, I strongly recommend you to click on the links below and read them before jumping into this one.
Link article 1:https://forum.huawei.com/enterprise/en/bierv6-technical-background-part-1/thread/828595-861
Link Article 2: https://forum.huawei.com/enterprise/en/bierv6-emergence-of-bier-part-2/thread/828599-861
Link Article 3:https://forum.huawei.com/enterprise/en/bierv6-header-format-and-forwarding-process-part-3/thread/828609-861
In this one, we are going to talk about the extensions to support BIERv6 and its possible applications scenarios. Let’s get into it!
BIERv6 - IGP Extension
BIERv6 uses IGP extension to flood BIER information, using which each node establishes a multicast forwarding table for data forwarding. Based on the existing IGP for BIER, the IGP extension for BIERv6 uses a sub-sub-TLV to carry BIERv6 encapsulation information and another sub-sub-TLV to flood End.BIER information. Currently, IS-IS has protocol extensions defined for BIERv6.
Figure 1 – IS-IS extensions for BIERv6
BGP Extension
BIERv6 can carry MVPN services. MVPN over BIERv6 control messages are carried in the NLRI field of BGP Update messages. The Route Type field in the NLRI field indicates the BGP MVPN route type.
Figure 2 - MVPN NLRI format
BIERv6 extends BGP MVPN Inclusive-Provider Multicast Service Interface (I-PMSI) or Selective-Provider Multicast Service Interface (S-PMSI) A-D routes to use their BGP Prefix-SID attribute to carry an MVPN instance's source IPv6 address (Src.DTx), which is an IPv6 address configured on the ingress of a BIER domain for BIERv6 packet forwarding.
Figure 3 - Prefix-SID attribute format
BIERv6 Application in an IPTV Scenario
As the next-generation multicast technology, BIERv6 can be applied to multiple scenarios, such as IPTV scenarios. As shown in the following figure, MVPN over BIERv6 is deployed on the carrier's IP backbone network to carry IPTV traffic, PIM or BIERv6 inter-AS static traversal is deployed on the IP metro network, and PIM is deployed in the VPN where the IPTV video source resides. After receiving a multicast packet from the VPN where the multicast source resides, the sender PE selects a PMSI tunnel based on the information contained in the packet's C-IP header. This PE then inserts the outer BIERv6 packet header (including a set ID and BitString) into the packet based on the tunnel attribute and sets the outer source IPv6 address. After the preceding operations are complete, the sender PE forwards the multicast packet to the next-hop node according to the BIERv6 forwarding process.
If MVPN over BIERv6 is used to carry IPTV traffic, in addition to reducing the network load and improving user experience (for example, delivering faster VOD, clearer images, and smoother playback), BIERv6 multicast technology simplifies deployment, O&M, and capacity expansion. This makes BIERv6 an ideal choice for large-scale deployment.
Figure 4 - BIERv6 application in an IPTV scenario
BIERv6 Application in the Meteorological Industry
Meteorological networks are huge and involve the WAN systems of meteorological departments at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels. Most of the conventional meteorological network systems use P2P unicast transmission. BIERv6 multicast technology can effectively implement efficient P2MP transmission of meteorological data. In addition, meteorological networks are likely to contain some devices that do not support multicast communication. Using conventional multicast technologies to implement multicast data forwarding, in this case, would involve complex deployment. In contrast, because BIERv6 supports data transmission across BIERv6-incapable IPv6 devices, it allows meteorological data to be transmitted smoothly even if some devices do not support multicast communication.
On the meteorological network shown in the figure below, BIERv6 multicast technology is used to synchronously distribute the data obtained by a country's meteorological bureau to sub-bureaus located throughout the country, ensuring the timeliness of meteorological data transmission
Figure 5 - BIER application in the meteorological field
