On the Need for Transport Protocol Profiles & Investigating New Evolution Tracks
The world of Internet transport protocols is changing, after decades of TCP and UDP operation. Several proposals have been submitted for the past years (and counting) to introduce other transport protocols that aim at reducing the web latency of that of TCP or avoiding the burden of the various middle-boxes (NATs, firewalls, for one) encountered along the communication path. Such initiatives, although not new, are motivated by the complexity of some (non-transparent) networking functions. This document advocates for the definition of transport profiles and the need to document recommendations for middleboxes, including Performance Enhancement Proxies (PEPs) behaviors. A collaboration among the involved players (service providers, vendors) is required to soften the current complications encountered in the Internet at large.