| Internet-Draft | iQUIC | May 2026 |
| x1co | Expires 26 November 2026 | [Page] |
This document describes iQUIC (Independent QUIC), an experimental operational profile for HTTP/3 over QUIC.¶
iQUIC aims to reduce aggressive application-level multiplexing behavior commonly associated with HTTP/3 deployments while preserving compatibility with QUIC, TLS 1.3, and HTTP/3 semantics.¶
Instead of removing mandatory HTTP/3 internal streams, iQUIC limits concurrent application requests per QUIC connection and encourages the use of multiple independent QUIC keep-alive sessions.¶
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This Internet-Draft will expire on 2 November 2026.¶
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HTTP/3 introduces multiplexed HTTP semantics over QUIC transport streams.¶
While QUIC solves transport-layer Head-of-Line blocking present in TCP-based HTTP/2 deployments, modern HTTP/3 deployments frequently utilize large numbers of concurrent streams within a single QUIC connection.¶
This behavior introduces operational complexity, including:¶
iQUIC proposes a simplified operational model inspired by HTTP/1.1 keep-alive behavior.¶
The goals of iQUIC are:¶
iQUIC does not:¶
iQUIC implementations SHOULD limit concurrent application-level requests per QUIC connection.¶
Mandatory HTTP/3 internal streams remain fully operational, including:¶
An example iQUIC deployment MAY allow only one active application request per QUIC connection.¶
Traditional HTTP/3 deployments frequently optimize for maximal multiplexing efficiency.¶
iQUIC instead prioritizes:¶
This behavior intentionally resembles HTTP/1.1 keep-alive operational patterns while retaining QUIC transport capabilities.¶
iQUIC relies entirely on existing QUIC and TLS 1.3 security properties.¶
This document introduces no new cryptographic mechanisms.¶
All QUIC encryption and authentication requirements from RFC 9001 remain mandatory.¶
iQUIC deployments may experience:¶
iQUIC is designed as an operational profile rather than a protocol replacement.¶
Standard HTTP/3 clients and servers MAY interoperate with iQUIC deployments without wire-format modifications.¶