Characterising the IETF Through the Lens of RFC Deployment

McQuistin, S. , Karan, M., Khare, P., Perkins, C. , Tyson, G., Purver, M., Healey, P., Iqbal, W., Qadir, J. and Castro, I. (2021) Characterising the IETF Through the Lens of RFC Deployment. In: ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2021, 2-4 Nov 2021, pp. 137-149. ISBN 9781450391290 (doi: 10.1145/3487552.3487821)

Abstract

Protocol standards, defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), are crucial to the successful operation of the Internet. This paper presents a large-scale empirical study of IETF activities, with a focus on understanding collaborative activities, and how these underpin the publication of standards documents (RFCs). Using a unique dataset of 2.4 million emails, 8,711 RFCs and 4,512 authors, we examine the shifts and trends within the standards development process, showing how protocol complexity and time to produce standards has increased. With these observations in mind, we develop statistical models to understand the factors that lead to successful uptake and deployment of protocols, deriving insights to improve the standardisation process.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This work is supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, under grants EP/S033564/1 and EP/S036075/1.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Perkins, Dr Colin and McQuistin, Dr Stephen
• Authors: McQuistin, S., Karan, M., Khare, P., Perkins, C., Tyson, G., Purver, M., Healey, P., Iqbal, W., Qadir, J., and Castro, I.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9781450391290
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Association for Computing Machinery
• First Published: First published in IMC '21: Proceedings of the 21st ACM Internet Measurement Conference
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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• Organisation

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
304292		Streamlining Social Decision Making for Improved Internet Standards	Colin Perkins	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/S036075/1	Computing Science