Experimental Objects and attributes for the
                          Routing Registry


                            Elise Gerich
                         Laurent Joncheray

                       Document ID: ripe-182






1.  Introduction

It should be noted that this document acts as a  placeholder  for  a
more  complete document to follow. This document is expected to be a
living document that is updated as and when new objects  and  attri-
butes  are  proposed  to be used in an experimental fashion. Two new
attributes for the AS object which are proposed and supported by the
Merit Routing Registry are as-transit and db-selector.

2.  "as-tranit"

as-transit describes the transit preferences of an AS.  It allows an
AS  to describe its path preference in order to reach certain desti-
nations.  The AS(s) specified in the path preference may or may  not
be  an  immediate  neighbor  of the AS defined in the AS object. as-
transit accommodates policy decisions involving AS path whereas  as-
in  and  as-out  do  not.  It is not unusual for ASs to have routing
policies which involve path selection based on AS.  Emerging  proto-
cols  like  SDRP  will allow an AS to choose a path independent of a
neighboring ASs path choice. as-transit permits  descriptions  based
on AS path selection.

3.  "db-selector"

The DataBase Selector (db-selector)  function  allows  one  to  take
advantage of information registered in other Registries.  It permits
the selection of networks in a database based on  their  attributes.
It  is  proposed to be used within the as-in/as-out attribute family
to make the description of policy concise.  For example,  if  an  AS
has  the policy of not accepting any routes from country XYZ, the AS
can use the db-selector to check a database which has a network  and
country  attribute and relate that information to the information in
the routing registry. The advantage of referencing another  database
is  that the routing registry will avoid duplicating the information
maintained in other information registries.




ripe-182.txt                                           October, 1994