RSVP Summary

•  Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) is a protocol used to reserve network resources along the transmission path(s) of a datastream:

•  The goal being to obtain optimal QoS for that application instance

•  RSVP communicates between sending and receiving hosts with the receivers creating the actual reservation for the session:

•  Reservations are made by receivers upstream back towards the sender(s)

•  The focus of reservations is on Network layer resources in interconnecting devices (i.e., routers, or devices acting as routers)

RSVP Summary (continued)

•  RSVP operates on top of IP, occupying the place of a Transport protocol and works as an internet control protocol similar to ICMP.

•  Supports unicast and multicast protocols:

•  Designed to accommodate large, heterogeneous groups of users with dynamic memberships and topology

•  RSVP is unidirectional, or only makes reservations in one direction for data flows.

•  Once a reservation is made, it’s maintained by using “soft state” in the routers:

•  Soft state provides graceful support for membership changes and adaptation to routing changes