Mark Allman. Requirements for Time-Based Loss Detection. November 2020. RFC 8961, BCP 233. Status: Best Current Practice.
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Abstract:

Many protocols must detect packet loss for various reasons (e.g., to ensure reliability using retransmissions or to understand the level of congestion along a network path). While many mechanisms have been designed to detect loss, ultimately, protocols can only count on the passage of time without delivery confirmation to declare a packet "lost". Each implementation of a time-based loss detection mechanism represents a balance between correctness and timeliness; therefore, no implementation suits all situations. This document provides high- level requirements for time-based loss detectors appropriate for general use in unicast communication across the Internet. Within the requirements, implementations have latitude to define particulars that best address each situation.

BibTeX:

@misc{All20a,
    author  = "Mark Allman",
    title   = "{Requirements for Time-Based Loss Detection}",
    year    = 2020,
    month   = nov,
    note    = "RFC 8961, BCP 233",
}

Below is a bunch of material from the process of developing this document.

• Presentation slides from TCPM interim meeting in April, 2020 are here.
• Presentation slides from IETF-98 meeting (March 2017) are here.
• Previous individual I-D versions are available: -03 (November 2015), -02 (November 2015), -01 (May 2012), -00 (March 2011).
• Previous versions of the TCPM WG draft are available: -17 (July 2020), -16 (June 2020), -15 (June 2020), -14 (May 2020), -13 (May 2020), -12 (May 2020), -11 (April 2020), -10 (February 2020), -09 (December 2019), -08 (February 2019), -07 (February 2019), -06 (October 2018), -05 (March 2017), -04 (June 2016), -03 (April 2016), -02 (April 2016), -01 (February 2016), -00 (February 2016).