One document matched: draft-calhoun-capwap-problem-statement-01.txt

Differences from draft-calhoun-capwap-problem-statement-00.txt

Network Working Group                                         P. Calhoun
Internet-Draft                                                 B. O'Hara
Expires: May 26, 2004                                          Airespace
                                                                J. Kempf
                                                         Docomo Labs USA
                                                       November 26, 2003


                        CAPWAP Problem Statement
               draft-calhoun-capwap-problem-statement-01

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on May 26, 2004.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document describes the Configuration and Provisioning for
   Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) problem statement.











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Table of Contents

   1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2. Problem Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   3. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
      References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
      Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
      Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . 8











































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1. Introduction

   With the approval of the 802.11 standards by the IEEE in 1997,
   wireless LANs (WLANs) began a slow entry into enterprise networks.
   The limited data rates of the original 802.11 standard, only 1- and
   2-Mbps, limited widespread adoption of the technology.  802.11 found
   wide deployment in vertical applications, such as inventory
   management, point of sale, and transportation management.  Pioneering
   enterprises began to deploy 802.11, mostly for experimentation.

   In 1999, the IEEE approved the 802.11a and 802.11b amendments to the
   base standard, increasing the available data rate to 54- and 11-Mbps,
   respectively, and expanding to a new radio band. This removed one of
   the significant factors holding back adoption of 802.11 in large,
   enterprise networks. These large deployments were bound by the
   definition and functionality of an 802.11 Access Point (AP), as
   described in the 802.11 standard. The techniques required extensive
   use of layer 2 bridging and widespread VLANs to ensure the proper
   operation of higher layer protocols. Deployments of 802.11 WLANs as
   large as several thousand APs have been described.

   Large deployments of 802.11 WLANs have introduced several problems
   that require solutions. Note that the limitations on the scalability
   of bridging should come as no suprise to the networking community,
   since similar limitations arose in the early 1980's for wired network
   bridging during the expansion and interconnection of wired local area
   networks. This document will describe the problems introduced by the
   large scale deployment of 802.11 WLANs in enterprise networks.























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2. Problem Statement

   The first problem introduced by large WLAN deployments is that each
   AP is an IP-addressable device requiring management, monitoring, and
   control. Deployment of a large WLAN will typically double the number
   of network infrastructure devices that require management, over the
   devices in the network prior to the addition of the WLAN. This
   presents a significant additional burden to the network
   administration resources and is often a hurdle to adoption of
   wireless technologies, particularly because the configuration of each
   access point is nearly identical to the next. An architecture that
   allows for the centralization of management, monitoring, and control
   of the APs in a secure manner by dealing with the entire set of
   access points as parts of an integrated system will reduce the burden
   of deploying and operating large 802.11 networks.

   A second problem introduced by large WLAN deployments is distributing
   and maintaining a consistent configuration throughout the entire set
   of access points in the WLAN.  Access point configuration comprises
   both long-term static information, such as addressing and hardware
   settings, and more dynamic provisioning information, such as
   individual WLAN settings and security parameters.  An architecture
   that provides for simple and consistent configuration and
   provisioning of static and dynamic parameters on all the APs in the
   WLAN will eliminate this problem.

   A third problem introduced by large WLAN deployments is the
   difficulty of dealing effectively with the dynamic nature of the WLAN
   medium, itself. Due to the shared nature of the wireless medium,
   shared with APs in the same WLAN, with APs in other WLANs, and with
   devices that are not APs at all, parameters controlling the wireless
   medium on each AP must be monitored frequently and modified in a
   coordinated fashion to maximize performance metrics for the WLAN and
   utilize the wireless medium efficiently. This must be coordinated
   among all the access points, to minimize the interference of one
   access point to its neighbors. An architecture that allows for the
   efficient gathering of information from the access points,
   centralization of analysis and decision making, and coordination of
   access point updates with access point configuration and provisioning
   is needed to address this problem. To date, only proprietary
   solutions are available for this purpose.

   A fourth problem introduced by large WLAN deployments is securing
   access to the network and preventing installation of unauthorized
   access points.  Access points are often difficult to physically
   secure, since their location must often be outside of a locked
   network closet or server room.  An architecture that provides for
   authorization of the access point when it is conected to the physical



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   infrastructure, while not exposing sensitive shared secrets of the
   network to theft if the physical access point is stolen, is required
   to enable the widespread deployment of WLANs in public spaces.

   Recently, multiple vendors have begun offering proprietary solutions
   that combine aspects of network switching, centralized control and
   management, and distributed wireless access in a variety of new
   architectures to solve the above mentioned problems. Since
   interoperable solutions allow enterprises and service providers a
   broader choice, a standardized, interoperable interface between
   access points and a centralized controller addressing the above
   mentioned problems seems desirable.

   The physical portions of this network system, in currently fielded
   devices, are one or more 802.11 access points (APs) and one or more
   central control devices, alternatively described as controllers (or
   access controllers, ACs). Ideally, a network designer would be able
   to choose one or more vendors for the APs and one or more vendors for
   the central control devices in sufficient numbers to design a network
   with 802.11 wireless access to meet the designer's requirements.
   Current implementations are proprietary and not interoperable.
   Defining a standardized architecture and an interface between these
   two layers of the hierarchy, identifying existing standard protocols
   that can be used to provide the necessary functions to solve the
   problems described above, and developing one or more new protocols to
   provide functions not met by existing protocols is necessary to
   enable multi-vendor interoperability in this new architecture for
   wireless access.























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3. Security Considerations

   To the extent of our knowledge, this problem statement does not
   create any security issues to the Internet.















































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References

   [1]  "Mobility Related Terminology", April 2003, <ftp://ftp.isi.edu/
        internet-drafts/draft-ietf-seamoby-terminology-04.txt>.


Authors' Addresses

   Pat R. Calhoun
   Airespace
   110 Nortech Parkway
   San Jose, CA  95134

   Phone: +1 408-635-2000
   EMail: pcalhoun@airespace.com


   Bob O'Hara
   Airespace
   110 Nortech Parkway
   San Jose, CA  95134

   Phone: +1 408-635-2025
   EMail: bob@airespace.com


   James Kempf
   Docomo Labs USA
   181 Metro Drive, Suite 300
   San Jose, CA  95110

   Phone: +1 408 451 4711
   EMail: kempf@docomolabs-usa.com


















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Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
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Full Copyright Statement

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   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION



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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
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Acknowledgment

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.











































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