Measurement and Analysis for Protocols Research Group MAPRG

Background

Our Internet has grown into something that differs from what was envisioned. Its protocols sometimes operate in an environment other than than that for which they were designed. For instance, some network elements treat some protocols differently than others and those protocols themselves are sometimes reused and abused in ways initially unforeseen. The Measurement and Analysis for Protocols Research Group (MAP) Research Group (RG) explores such phenomena by measurement with the aim to inform protocol engineering and practice.

Many protocol engineering efforts in a standards development context, as well as best practices for the operation of IETF-defined protocols, can benefit from insight provided by Internet measurements of various kinds. Likewise, Internet measurement research efforts can stand to gain from contacts with the IETF. The Measurement and Analysis for Protocols Research Group Research Group (MAPRG) aims to provide a forum for interchange between these two communities, supporting:

• exchange of measurement-derived insight;
• discussion of techniques and best practices for measurement relevant to protocol engineering and network operations;
• collaborations to share data supporting these measurements; and
• a “landing pad” for the Internet measurement community to introduce its efforts to the IETF.

Membership

Membership in the MAPRG is open to all interested parties.

Meetings

The MAPRG will meet one to three times per year, as deemed necessary by the chairs and according to demand. At least one MAPRG meeting will be co-located with an IETF meeting per year. Given the MAPRG’s charter to bridge the gap between Internet standards and measurement communities, the MAPRG may also meet collocated with relevant academic conferences or network operator forums, as appropriate.

Meetings are by default open with open attendance and published proceedings, with remote participation and recording as provided by the meeting venue, according to the IRTF’s IPR policy. This is always the case with at least one MAPRG meeting co-located with an IETF meeting noted above. However, as deemed necessary, the chairs may hold virtual or physical meetings with restricted attendance to discuss observations which cannot be shared openly, provided that some outcome of such a meeting may be openly shared with the community.

Chairs

The MAPRG is chaired by Mirja Kühlewind and Dave Plonka.

Mailing List

The MAPRG mailing list is maprg@irtf.org. To subscribe or access the list archives, visit the mailman page.

Datatracker

Documents and meeting materials for the MAPRG can be found on the IETF datatracker.

Web Page

Additional MAPRG information is available at https://wiki.ietf.org/group/maprg.

Timeline

The MAPRG was chartered on 2016-08-22.