Routing Area Working Group

Routing Area Working Group
Name	Routing Area Working Group
Abbreviation	RAWG
Formation	1990s
Type	Standards body
Region	Global
Parent organization	IETF

Routing Area Working Group

The Routing Area Working Group is a standards-oriented body within the Internet Engineering Task Force that coordinates development of routing-related specifications, interoperable protocols, deployment guidance, and operational practices across an ecosystem that includes Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson, and academic institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. It engages with operational communities like the Internet Society, regional registries including ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC, and AfriNIC, and standards organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and ETSI.

Overview

The Working Group produces technical specifications, informational RFCs, and clarification documents for protocols such as Border Gateway Protocol, Open Shortest Path First, IS-IS, Multiprotocol Label Switching, and extensions that affect networks run by operators like Level 3 Communications, AT&T, Verizon Communications, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Communications, and cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform. It collaborates with security-focused entities including Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Cloudflare, Akamai Technologies, and the CERT Coordination Center.

History and Development

Early work traces to routing discussions in the broader IETF community alongside groups responsible for TCP/IP, BGP-4 evolution, and operational issues raised by networks such as Sprint Corporation and Telefonica. Milestones include coordination of protocol extensions after incidents involving large-scale routing table growth affecting networks like Level3 and policy responses influenced by studies from MITRE Corporation and Internet2. The group has interacted historically with research projects at Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, IETF Routing Directorate, and academic labs at Princeton University and University of Cambridge.

Objectives and Scope

Mandates include producing stable, implementable routing specifications for technologies deployed by vendors such as Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks; providing guidance for operators at exchanges such as LINX and AMS-IX; and addressing scaling, convergence, security, and interconnection matters that affect carriers like BT Group and Vodafone. The scope extends to routing in fixed, mobile, and cloud contexts involving stakeholders such as 3GPP, GSMA, Telefónica, Sprint, and research consortia like GENI.

Standards and Protocols

The Working Group authors and revises specifications that touch on protocol implementations by vendors including Ciena, Fujitsu, ZTE Corporation, and Mellanox Technologies; examples include enhancements to BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, and MPLS signaling; interactions with tunneling protocols used by Cloudflare and Akamai Technologies; and interface work with identity and security standards from IANA and IETF SAAG. Outputs influence products from Arista Networks and Extreme Networks and interoperate with routing features on platforms like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Organizational Structure and Membership

The Working Group operates under the auspices of the IETF Routing Area, with chairs appointed through processes involving the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee and community consensus seen in meetings at venues such as the IETF Meeting series, IEEE International Conference on Communications, and regional forums including RIPE Meetings and APNIC Conferences. Membership spans equipment vendors like Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, operators such as NTT Communications and Orange S.A., research organizations including ETH Zurich and University of Oxford, and public interest organizations like the Internet Society.

Key Projects and Deliverables

Deliverables include informational and standards-track RFCs addressing convergence, path selection, and policy frameworks influencing deployments at exchanges such as DE-CIX and providers like CenturyLink; coordination with security efforts by US-CERT and academic analyses from University of California, San Diego. Projects have produced best current practice documents used by operators at LINX and cloud networks at Microsoft Azure, and interworking guidance for technologies from Nokia and Ericsson supporting mobile backhaul.

Impact and Adoption

Adoption of Working Group outputs is reflected in implementations by major vendors including Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Huawei, Nokia, and cloud operators such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure; operational practices in carrier networks run by AT&T and Verizon Communications; and research citations from institutions like MIT, Stanford University, and Carnegie Mellon University. Its influence extends to peering policies at exchanges like AMS-IX and LINX, and to regulatory and standards discussions at the International Telecommunication Union and national agencies such as National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Category:Internet Engineering Task Force Category:Internet standards