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RFC 7594

A Framework for Large-Scale Measurement of Broadband Performance (LMAP)

Pages: 55
Informational
Part 1 of 3 – Pages 1 to 13
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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                        P. Eardley
Request for Comments: 7594                                            BT
Category: Informational                                        A. Morton
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                AT&T Labs
                                                              M. Bagnulo
                                                                    UC3M
                                                            T. Burbridge
                                                                      BT
                                                               P. Aitken
                                                                 Brocade
                                                               A. Akhter
                                                              Consultant
                                                          September 2015


A Framework for Large-Scale Measurement of Broadband Performance (LMAP)

Abstract

Measuring broadband service on a large scale requires a description of the logical architecture and standardisation of the key protocols that coordinate interactions between the components. This document presents an overall framework for large-scale measurements. It also defines terminology for LMAP (Large-Scale Measurement of Broadband Performance). Status of This Memo This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes. 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). Not all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see 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/rfc7594.
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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 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.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. Outline of an LMAP-Based Measurement System . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4. Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4.1. The Measurement System Is Under the Direction of a Single Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 4.2. Each MA May Only Have a Single Controller at Any Point in Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5. Protocol Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.1. Bootstrapping Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5.2. Control Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5.2.1. Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5.2.2. Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5.2.3. Capabilities, Failure, and Logging Information . . . 20 5.3. Operation of Measurement Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 5.3.1. Starting and Stopping Measurement Tasks . . . . . . . 22 5.3.2. Overlapping Measurement Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.4. Report Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.4.1. Reporting of the Subscriber's Service Parameters . . 26 5.5. Operation of LMAP over the Underlying Packet Transfer Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5.6. Items beyond the Scope of the Initial LMAP Work . . . . . 27 5.6.1. End-User-Controlled Measurement System . . . . . . . 28 6. Deployment Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 6.1. Controller and the Measurement System . . . . . . . . . . 29 6.2. Measurement Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 6.2.1. Measurement Agent on a Networked Device . . . . . . . 30 6.2.2. Measurement Agent Embedded in a Site Gateway . . . . 31 6.2.3. Measurement Agent Embedded behind a Site NAT or Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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       6.2.4.  Multihomed Measurement Agent  . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
       6.2.5.  Measurement Agent Embedded in an ISP Network  . . . .  32
     6.3.  Measurement Peer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
     6.4.  Deployment Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
   8.  Privacy Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
     8.1.  Categories of Entities with Information of Interest . . .  38
     8.2.  Examples of Sensitive Information . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
     8.3.  Different Privacy Issues Raised by Different Sorts of
           Measurement Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40
     8.4.  Privacy Analysis of the Communication Models  . . . . . .  41
       8.4.1.  MA Bootstrapping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41
       8.4.2.  Controller <-> Measurement Agent  . . . . . . . . . .  42
       8.4.3.  Collector <-> Measurement Agent . . . . . . . . . . .  43
       8.4.4.  Measurement Peer <-> Measurement Agent  . . . . . . .  43
       8.4.5.  Measurement Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  45
       8.4.6.  Storage and Reporting of Measurement Results  . . . .  46
     8.5.  Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
       8.5.1.  Surveillance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
       8.5.2.  Stored Data Compromise  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
       8.5.3.  Correlation and Identification  . . . . . . . . . . .  47
       8.5.4.  Secondary Use and Disclosure  . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
     8.6.  Mitigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       8.6.1.  Data Minimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       8.6.2.  Anonymity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49
       8.6.3.  Pseudonymity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50
       8.6.4.  Other Mitigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  50
   9.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
   Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54

1. Introduction

There is a desire to be able to coordinate the execution of broadband measurements and the collection of measurement results across a large scale set of Measurement Agents (MAs). These MAs could be software-based agents on PCs, embedded agents in consumer devices (such as TVs or gaming consoles), embedded in service-provider- controlled devices such as set-top boxes and home gateways, or simply dedicated probes. MAs may also be embedded on a device that is part of an ISP's network, such as a DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer), router, Carrier Grade NAT (Network Address Translator), or ISP Gateway. It is expected that a measurement system could easily encompass a few hundred thousand or even millions of such MAs. Such a scale presents unique problems in coordination, execution, and measurement result collection. Several use cases have been proposed for large-scale measurements including:
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   o  Operators: to help plan their network and identify faults

   o  Regulators: to benchmark several network operators and support
      public policy development

   Further details of the use cases can be found in [RFC7536].  The LMAP
   framework should be useful for these, as well as other use cases,
   such as to help end users run diagnostic checks like a network speed
   test.

   The LMAP framework has three basic elements: Measurement Agents,
   Controllers, and Collectors.

   Measurement Agents (MAs) initiate the actual measurements, which are
   called Measurement Tasks in the LMAP terminology.  In principle,
   there are no restrictions on the type of device in which the MA
   function resides.

   The Controller instructs one or more MAs and communicates the set of
   Measurement Tasks an MA should perform and when.  For example, it may
   instruct an MA at a home gateway: "Measure the 'UDP latency' with
   www.example.org; repeat every hour at xx.05".  The Controller also
   manages an MA by instructing it on how to report the Measurement
   Results, for example: "Report results once a day in a batch at 4am".
   We refer to these as the Measurement Schedule and Report Schedule.

   The Collector accepts Reports from the MAs with the Results from
   their Measurement Tasks.  Therefore, the MA is a device that gets
   Instructions from the Controller, initiates the Measurement Tasks,
   and reports to the Collector.  The communications between these three
   LMAP functions are structured according to a Control Protocol and a
   Report Protocol.

   The design goals are the following large-scale Measurement System
   features:

   o  Standardised - in terms of the Measurement Tasks that they
      perform, the components, the data models, and the protocols for
      transferring information between the components.  Amongst other
      things, standardisation enables meaningful comparisons of
      measurements made of the same Metric at different times and
      places, and provides the operator of a Measurement System with
      criteria for evaluation of the different solutions that can be
      used for various purposes including buying decisions (such as
      buying the various components from different vendors).  Today's
      systems are proprietary in some or all of these aspects.
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   o  Large-scale - [RFC7536] envisages Measurement Agents in every home
      gateway and edge device such as set-top boxes and tablet
      computers, and located throughout the Internet as well [RFC7398].
      It is expected that a Measurement System could easily encompass a
      few hundred thousand or even millions of Measurement Agents.
      Existing systems have up to a few thousand MAs (without judging
      how much further they could scale).

   o  Diversity - a Measurement System should handle Measurement Agents
      from different vendors that are in wired and wireless networks,
      can execute different sorts of Measurement Tasks, are on devices
      with IPv4 or IPv6 addresses, and so on.

   o  Privacy Respecting - the protocols and procedures should respect
      the sensitive information of all those involved in measurements.

2. Outline of an LMAP-Based Measurement System

In this section, we provide an overview of the whole Measurement System. New LMAP-specific terms are capitalised; Section 3 provides a terminology section with a compilation of all the LMAP terms and their definitions. Section 4 onwards considers the LMAP components in more detail. Other LMAP specifications will define an Information Model, the associated Data Models, and select/extend one or more protocols for the secure communication: firstly, a Control Protocol, for a Controller to instruct Measurement Agents regarding which performance Metrics to measure, when to measure them, and how/when to report the measurement results to a Collector; secondly, a Report Protocol, for a Measurement Agent to report the results to the Collector. Figure 1 shows the main components of a Measurement System, and the interactions of those components. Some of the components are outside the scope of initial LMAP work. The MA performs Measurement Tasks. One possibility is that the MA observes existing traffic. Another possibility is for the MA to generate (or receive) traffic specially created for the purpose and measure some Metric associated with its transfer. Figure 1 includes both possibilities (in practice, it may be more usual for an MA to do one) whilst Section 6.4 shows some examples of possible arrangements of the components. The MAs are pieces of code that can be executed in specialised hardware (hardware probe) or on a general-purpose device (like a PC or mobile phone). A device with a Measurement Agent may have multiple physical interfaces (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, DSL (Digital
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   Subscriber Line); and non-physical interfaces such as PPPoE
   (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) or IPsec) and the Measurement
   Tasks may specify any one of these.

   The Controller manages an MA through use of the Control Protocol,
   which transfers the Instruction to the MA.  This describes the
   Measurement Tasks the MA should perform and when.  For example the
   Controller may instruct an MA at a home gateway: "Count the number of
   TCP SYN packets observed in a 1 minute interval; repeat every hour at
   xx.05 + Unif[0,180] seconds".  The Measurement Schedule determines
   when the Measurement Tasks are executed.  The Controller also manages
   an MA by instructing it on how to report the Measurement Results, for
   example: "Report results once a day in a batch at 4am + Unif[0,180]
   seconds; if the end user is active then delay the report 5 minutes."
   The Report Schedule determines when the Reports are uploaded to the
   Collector.  The Measurement Schedule and Report Schedule can define
   one-off (non-recurring) actions (for example, "Do measurement now",
   "Report as soon as possible"), as well as recurring ones.

   The Collector accepts a Report from an MA with the Measurement
   Results from its Measurement Tasks.  It then provides the Results to
   a repository.

   A Measurement Method defines how to measure a Metric of interest.  It
   is very useful to standardise Measurement Methods, so that it is
   meaningful to compare measurements of the same Metric made at
   different times and places.  It is also useful to define a registry
   for commonly used Metrics [IPPM-REG] so that a Metric and its
   associated Measurement Method can be referred to simply by its
   identifier in the registry.  The registry will hopefully be
   referenced by other standards organisations.  The Measurement Methods
   may be defined by the IETF, locally, or by some other standards body.

   Broadly speaking there are two types of Measurement Methods.  In both
   types, a Measurement Agent measures a particular Observed Traffic
   Flow.  It may involve a single MA simply observing existing traffic
   -- for example, the Measurement Agent could count bytes or calculate
   the average loss for a particular flow.  On the other hand, a
   Measurement Method may observe traffic created specifically for the
   purpose of measurement.  This requires multiple network entities,
   which perform different roles.  For example, to measure the round
   trip delay one possible Measurement Method would consist of an MA
   sending an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) ECHO request
   ("ping") to a responder in the Internet.  In LMAP terms, the
   responder is termed a Measurement Peer (MP), meaning that it helps
   the MA but is not managed by the Controller.  Other Measurement
   Methods involve a second MA, with the Controller instructing the MAs
   in a coordinated manner.  Traffic generated specifically as part of
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   the Measurement Method is termed Measurement Traffic; in the ping
   example, it is the ICMP ECHO Requests and Replies.  The protocols
   used for the Measurement Traffic are out of the scope of initial LMAP
   work and fall within the scope of other IETF WGs such as IPPM (IP
   Performance Metrics).

   A Measurement Task is the action performed by a particular MA at a
   particular time, as the specific instance of its role in a
   Measurement Method.  LMAP is mainly concerned with Measurement Tasks,
   for instance in terms of its Information Model and Protocols.

   For Measurement Results to be truly comparable, as might be required
   by a regulator, not only do the same Measurement Methods need to be
   used to assess Metrics, but also the set of Measurement Tasks should
   follow a similar Measurement Schedule and be of similar number.  The
   details of such a characterisation plan are beyond the scope of IETF
   work, although it is certainly facilitated by the IETF's work.

   Both control and report messages are transferred over a secure
   Channel.  A Control Channel is between the Controller and an MA; the
   Control Protocol delivers Instruction Messages to the MA and
   Capabilities, Failure, and Logging Information in the reverse
   direction.  A Report Channel is between an MA and Collector, and the
   Report Protocol delivers Reports to the Collector.

   Finally, we introduce several components that are outside the scope
   of initial LMAP work that will be provided through existing protocols
   or applications.  They affect how the Measurement System uses the
   Measurement Results and how it decides what set of Measurement Tasks
   to perform.  As shown in Figure 1, these components are: the
   bootstrapper, Subscriber parameter database, data analysis tools, and
   Results repository.

   The MA needs to be bootstrapped with initial details about its
   Controller, including authentication credentials.  The LMAP work
   considers the Bootstrap process, since it affects the Information
   Model.  However, LMAP does not define a Bootstrap protocol, since it
   is likely to be technology specific and could be defined by the
   Broadband Forum, CableLabs, or IEEE depending on the device.
   Possible protocols are SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol),
   NETCONF (Network Configuration Protocol), or (for Home Gateways) CPE
   WAN Management Protocol (CWMP) from the Auto Configuration Server
   (ACS) (as specified in TR-069 [TR-069]).

   A Subscriber parameter database contains information about the line,
   such as the customer's broadband contract (perhaps 2, 40, or 80
   Mb/s), the line technology (DSL or fibre), the time zone in which the
   MA is located, and the type of home gateway and MA.  These parameters
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   are already gathered and stored by existing operations systems.  They
   may affect the choice of what Measurement Tasks to run and how to
   interpret the Measurement Results.  For example, a download test
   suitable for a line with an 80 Mb/s contract may overwhelm a 2 Mb/s
   line.

   A Results repository records all Measurement Results in an equivalent
   form, for example an SQL (Structured Query Language) database, so
   that they can easily be accessed by the data analysis tools.

   The data analysis tools receive the results from the Collector or via
   the Results repository.  They might visualise the data or identify
   which component or link is likely to be the cause of a fault or
   degradation.  This information could help the Controller decide what
   follow-up Measurement Task to perform in order to diagnose a fault.
   The data analysis tools also need to understand the Subscriber's
   service information, for example, the broadband contract.
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     +--------+      +-----------+              +-----------+      ^
     |End user|      |           |   Observed   | End user  |      |
     |        |<-----|-----------|---Traffic--->|           |      |
     |        |      |           |   Flow       |           |      |
     |        |      |           |              |           |   Non-LMAP
     |        |      |           | Measurement  |           |    Scope
     |        |      |           |<--Traffic--->|           |      |
     +--------+      |           |              +-----------+      |
     ................|...........|.................................V
        <MP>         |Measurement|                  <MP>           ^
                     |Agent:     |                                 |
                     |LMAP       |                                 |
        +----------->|interface  |                                 |
        |            +-----------+                                 |
        |                ^    |                                   LMAP
        |    Instruction |    |  Report                          Scope
        |  (over Control |    | (over Report Channel)              |
        |     Channel)   |    +-----------------------+            |
        |                |                            |            |
        |                |                            |            |
        |                |                            v            |
        |          +------------+               +------------+     |
        |          | Controller |               |  Collector |     |
        |          +------------+               +------------+     v
        |                ^      ^                     |            ^
        |                |      |                     |            |
        |                |      +--------+            |            |
        |                |               |            v            |
     +------------+   +----------+    +--------+    +----------+   |
     |Bootstrapper|   |Subscriber|--->|  data  |<---| Results  |  Non-
     +------------+   |parameter |    |analysis|    |repository|  LMAP
                      |database  |    | tools  |    +----------+ Scope
                      +----------+    +--------+                   |
                                                                   |
                                                                   v

     MP: Measurement Peer

     Figure 1: Schematic of main elements of an LMAP-based Measurement
   System (showing the elements in and out of the scope of initial LMAP
                                   work)

3. Terminology

This section defines terminology for LMAP. Please note that defined terms are capitalised throughout.
Top   ToC   RFC7594 - Page 10
   Bootstrap: A process that integrates a Measurement Agent into a
   Measurement System.

   Capabilities: Information about the performance measurement
   capabilities of the MA, in particular the Measurement Method roles
   and measurement protocol roles that it can perform, and the device
   hosting the MA, for example its interface type and speed, but not
   dynamic information.

   Channel: A bidirectional logical connection that is defined by a
   specific Controller and MA, or Collector and MA, plus associated
   security.

   Collector: A function that receives a Report from an MA.

   Configuration: A process for informing the MA about its MA-ID,
   (optional) Group-ID, and Control Channel.

   Controller: A function that provides a Measurement Agent with its
   Instruction.

   Control Channel: A Channel between a Controller and an MA over which
   Instruction Messages and Capabilities, Failure, and Logging
   Information are sent.

   Control Protocol: The protocol delivering Instruction(s) from a
   Controller to a Measurement Agent.  It also delivers Capabilities,
   Failure, and Logging Information from the Measurement Agent to the
   Controller.  It can also be used to update the MA's Configuration.
   It runs over the Control Channel.

   Cycle-ID: A tag that is sent by the Controller in an Instruction and
   echoed by the MA in its Report.  The same Cycle-ID is used by several
   MAs that use the same Measurement Method for a Metric with the same
   Input Parameters.  Hence, the Cycle-ID allows the Collector to easily
   identify Measurement Results that should be comparable.

   Data Model: The implementation of an Information Model in a
   particular data modelling language [RFC3444].

   Environmental Constraint: A parameter that is measured as part of the
   Measurement Task, its value determining whether the rest of the
   Measurement Task proceeds.

   Failure Information: Information about the MA's failure to take
   action or execute an Instruction, whether concerning Measurement
   Tasks or Reporting.
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   Group-ID: An identifier of a group of MAs.

   Information Model: The protocol-neutral definition of the semantics
   of the Instructions, the Report, the status of the different elements
   of the Measurement System, as well of the events in the system
   [RFC3444].

   Input Parameter: A parameter whose value is left open by the Metric
   and its Measurement Method and is set to a specific value in a
   Measurement Task.  Altering the value of an Input Parameter does not
   change the fundamental nature of the Measurement Task.

   Instruction: The description of Measurement Tasks for an MA to
   perform and the details of the Report for it to send.  It is the
   collective description of the Measurement Task configurations, the
   configuration of the Measurement Schedules, the configuration of the
   Report Channel(s), the configuration of Report Schedule(s), and the
   details of any Suppression.

   Instruction Message: The message that carries an Instruction from a
   Controller to a Measurement Agent.

   Logging Information: Information about the operation of the
   Measurement Agent, which may be useful for debugging.

   Measurement Agent (MA): The function that receives Instruction
   Messages from a Controller and operates the Instruction by executing
   Measurement Tasks (using protocols outside the scope of the initial
   LMAP work and perhaps in concert with one or more other Measurement
   Agents or Measurement Peers) and (if part of the Instruction) by
   reporting Measurement Results to a Collector or Collectors.

   Measurement Agent Identifier (MA-ID): a Universally Unique IDentifier
   [RFC4122] that identifies a particular MA and is configured as part
   of the Bootstrapping process.

   Measurement Method: The process for assessing the value of a Metric;
   the process of measuring some performance or reliability Metric
   associated with the transfer of traffic.

   Measurement Peer (MP): The function that assists a Measurement Agent
   with Measurement Tasks and does not have an interface to the
   Controller or Collector.

   Measurement Result: The output of a single Measurement Task (the
   value obtained for the Metric).

   Measurement Schedule: The schedule for performing Measurement Tasks.
Top   ToC   RFC7594 - Page 12
   Measurement System: The set of LMAP-defined and related components
   that are operated by a single organisation, for the purpose of
   measuring performance aspects of the network.

   Measurement Task: The action performed by a particular Measurement
   Agent that consists of the single assessment of a Metric through
   operation of a Measurement Method role at a particular time, with all
   of the role's Input Parameters set to specific values.

   Measurement Traffic: the packet(s) generated by some types of
   Measurement Method that involve measuring some parameter associated
   with the transfer of the packet(s).

   Metric: The quantity related to the performance and reliability of
   the network that we'd like to know the value of.

   Observed Traffic Flow: In RFC 7011 [RFC7011], a Traffic Flow (or
   Flow) is defined as "a set of packets or frames passing an
   Observation Point in the network during a certain time interval.  All
   packets belonging to a particular Flow have a set of common
   properties," such as packet header fields, characteristics, and
   treatments.  A Flow measured by the LMAP system is termed an Observed
   Traffic Flow.  Its properties are summarised and tabulated in
   Measurement Results (as opposed to raw capture and export).

   Report: The set of Measurement Results and other associated
   information (as defined by the Instruction).  The Report is sent by a
   Measurement Agent to a Collector.

   Report Channel: A Channel between a Collector and an MA over which
   Report messages are sent.

   Report Protocol: The protocol delivering Report(s) from a Measurement
   Agent to a Collector.  It runs over the Report Channel.

   Report Schedule: The schedule for sending Reports to a Collector.

   Subscriber: An entity (associated with one or more users) that is
   engaged in a subscription with a service provider.

   Suppression: The temporary cessation of Measurement Tasks.

4. Constraints

The LMAP framework makes some important assumptions, which constrain the scope of the initial LMAP work.
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4.1. The Measurement System Is Under the Direction of a Single Organisation

In the LMAP framework, the Measurement System is under the direction of a single organisation that is responsible for any impact that its measurements have on a user's quality of experience and privacy. Clear responsibility is critical given that a misbehaving large-scale Measurement System could potentially harm user experience, user privacy, and network security. However, the components of an LMAP Measurement System can be deployed in administrative domains that are not owned by the measuring organisation. Thus, the system of functions deployed by a single organisation constitutes a single LMAP domain, which may span ownership or other administrative boundaries.

4.2. Each MA May Only Have a Single Controller at Any Point in Time

An MA is instructed by one Controller and is in one Measurement System. The constraint avoids different Controllers giving an MA conflicting instructions and so means that the MA does not have to manage contention between multiple Measurement (or Report) Schedules. This simplifies the design of MAs (critical for a large-scale infrastructure) and allows a Measurement Schedule to be tested on specific types of MAs before deployment to ensure that the end-user experience is not impacted (due to CPU, memory, or broadband-product constraints). However, a Measurement System may have several Controllers.


(page 13 continued on part 2)

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