Greg,

In Number Theory, two integers are congruent modulo n if they have the same 
remainder when divided by n. That is:
        •       Congruent modulo n → integers a and b are congruent mod n if (a 
− b) is divisible by n.
        •       Example: 17 ≡ 5 (mod 12), because both leave a remainder of 5 
when divided by 12.

While interesting, that’s equally irrelevant and useless for this conversation 
as the Geometry / Mathematics definition you include.

If the objective is to converge on useful specifications and collaborate 
effectively as a group, these distractions are counterproductive.

As Adrian mentioned, a short and precise definition of “congruent” can solve 
this...

Carlos.

> On Jun 4, 2025, at 8:41 PM, Greg Mirsky <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Matthew,
> In another email thread related to this draft, Tal and I discussed a similar 
> scenario 
> <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/opsawg/isseTIy5uTZYl-K-oVAoV_yf5iE/> 
> in which proactive defect detection for a multi-CoS flow utilizes a single 
> OAM session. As in the discussed example of ETH-CC, using VCCV-BFD at higher 
> CoS might create false positives for the lower CoS sub-flows since there is 
> no definition of what constitutes a "short bursts of congestion" and when 
> such bursts must be handled as a loss of connectivity for the particular CoS.
> Also, I'm confused by the colloquial use of "congruent", which is not 
> consistent with the definition of the term:
> Geometry
> (of figures) identical in form; coinciding exactly when superimposed.
> As I understand it, "superimposed" includes transformations such as shift, 
> flip, and rotate. For example, semi-circles are congruent, but that is not 
> what is required for an OAM packet. Would you agree? That re-definition of 
> the fundamental term in geometry is inappropriate, and I consider "in-band" a 
> clearer term for demonstrating the required topological equivalency between 
> the path traversed by an OAM packet and the data packet of the monitored flow.
> Regards,
> Greg
> 
> On Wed, Jun 4, 2025 at 8:49 PM Matthew Bocci (Nokia) <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> Hi Med
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> My interpretation and experience of this is that in-band means that the 
>> encapsulation is such that the OAM packets flow on the same tunnel and PW as 
>> the user data of that PW. This means that the paths are congruent from an 
>> MPLS / PWE3 perspective (same P and PE routers). I am not sure that it is 
>> strictly correct to conflate in-band with congruent. If VCCV packets are 
>> sent in-band then they are congruent with the PW user data, but in general 
>> the term congruent does not imply they are in-band. 
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> RFC6669 was written from an MPLS-TP perspective where bidirectional paths 
>> were intended to be congruent (see RFC5921). I believe that text quoted 
>> below from RFC6669 really meant that the OAM packets are sent in-band to 
>> achieve congruency.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> I don’t think it means the QoS treatment *must* always be the same between 
>> VCCV and user data on a given PW. For example, there are cases such as 
>> VCCV-BFD where you are doing a continuity check that should not be affected 
>> by short bursts of congestion that might affect the user packets (which 
>> would be measured by some other OAM such as PM) but must nonetheless follow 
>> the same PW.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Best regards
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Matthew
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Date: Wednesday, 4 June 2025 at 09:48
>> To: Andrew G. Malis <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>, Stewart 
>> Bryant <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>, Matthew 
>> Bocci (Nokia) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Cc: Ops Area WG <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>, Carlos Pignataro 
>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>, Greg Mirsky 
>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Subject: RFC 5085/PALS/PWE3 (RE: [OPSAWG]Re: WG LAST CALL: Guidelines for 
>> Charactering "OAM"
>> 
>> Hi Andy/Stewart/Matthew,
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> I hope you are doing well.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> I’m soliciting your feedback on this text which is included in  
>> draft-ietf-opsawg-oam-characterization:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>       An example of "Path-Congruent OAM" is the Virtual Circuit
>> 
>>      Connectivity Verification (VCCV), described is Section 6 of
>> 
>>       [RFC5085] as "The VCCV message travels in-band with the Session
>> 
>>       and follows the exact same path as the user data for the session".
>> 
>>       Thus, the term "in-band" in [RFC5085] refers to using the same
>> 
>>       path as the user data.  This term is also used in Section 2 of
>> 
>>       [RFC6669] with the same meaning, and the word "congruent" is
>> 
>>       mentioned as synonymous.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Do you see any disconnect between this text and RFC5085?
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> FWIW, draft-ietf-opsawg-oam-characterization defines “Path-Congruent OAM” as 
>> follows:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>          The OAM information follows the exact same path as the observed
>> 
>>          data traffic.  This was sometimes referred to as "in-band".
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Thank you.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>> Med
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> PS: Please see below for more context.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> De : Greg Mirsky <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> 
>> Envoyé : mercredi 4 juin 2025 07:32
>> À : Carlos Pignataro <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Cc : Ops Area WG <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Objet : [OPSAWG]Re: WG LAST CALL: Guidelines for Charactering "OAM"
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Hi Carlos,
>> 
>> please find my notes below tagged GIM2>>.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Greg
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> On Tue, Jun 3, 2025 at 1:21 AM Carlos Pignataro <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> 
>> Greg:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> While I’ll defer to Tal for a detailed response, I’ve provided three key 
>> points inline. 
>> 
>> See “CMP:” below
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> On Jun 1, 2025, at 7:49 PM, Greg Mirsky <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Hi Tal,
>> 
>> thank you for explaining updates. Please find my follow-up notes below 
>> tagged GIM>>.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Greg
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 5:59 PM Tal Mizrahi <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Greg,
>> 
>> Thanks again for reviewing the draft. Your comments for the previous
>> versions have helped in improving the draft.
>> Please see my responses to the latest comments that you have sent to
>> the authors off-list when you kindly reviewed an intermediate version
>> of the draft.
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, May 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM Greg Mirsky <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Tal,
>> >
>> > Thank you for your work on addressing my comments. I reviewed the working 
>> > version of the draft and have some comments and questions, which are below.
>> > Section 2:
>> >
>> > It is noted that "A frequently encountered case is the use of "in-band" to 
>> > mean either in-packet or on-path." If that is the case, and there are many 
>> > IETF documents that use these interpretations of "in-band," it seems like 
>> > it would be easy to provide several references in support of that 
>> > assumption.
>> 
>> [TM] Following your comment we have focused the following two paragraphs.
>> The following paragraph demonstrates the use of the term "in-band" in
>> the context of path-congruent OAM:
>> 
>>       Connectivity Verification (VCCV), described is Section 6 of
>>       [RFC5085] as "The VCCV message travels in-band with the Session
>>       and follows the exact same path as the user data for the session".
>>       Thus, the term "in-band" in [RFC5085] refers to using the same
>>       path as the user data.  This term is also used in Section 2 of
>>       [RFC6669] with the same meaning, and the word "congruent" is
>>       mentioned as synonymous.
>> 
>> GIM>> I don't think that your interpretation of "in-band" in RFC 5085 is 
>> accurate. The VCCV message not only traverses the same path as a data packet 
>> because the same labels are applied along the path, but it also receives the 
>> same forwarding treatment by the network because the same Traffic Class is 
>> used for the VCCV message as for the data packet. Thus, it is in-band with 
>> the monitored data flow, and topological equivalence is only one element, 
>> while it must be complemented by the QoS equivalence.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> CMP: As an author of RFC 5085, I can confirm that you are completely wrong 
>> on this.
>> 
>> GIM2>> That is your personal opinion, not the opinion of other authors, and 
>> even less the opinion of PWE3 (later PALS) WG. As the PALS WG is winding 
>> down, the MPLS WG may be the community to provide a more authoritative 
>> interpretation of RFC 5085.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> CMP: That said, you do not need to be an author to know this, you can 
>> actually **read** the RFC, where it says:
>> 
>> CMP: "in-band (i.e., following the same data-plane faith as PW data).”
>> 
>> CMP: “ travels in-band with the Session and follows the exact same path as 
>> the user data for the session"
>> 
>> CMP: Let’s not make up ‘interpretations’.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
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