One document matched: draft-templin-aerolink-32.xml
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<rfc category="std" docName="draft-templin-aerolink-32.txt" ipr="trust200902"
obsoletes="rfc6706">
<front>
<title abbrev="AERO">Transmission of IP Packets over AERO Links</title>
<author fullname="Fred L. Templin" initials="F. L." role="editor"
surname="Templin">
<organization>Boeing Research & Technology</organization>
<address>
<postal>
<street>P.O. Box 3707</street>
<city>Seattle</city>
<region>WA</region>
<code>98124</code>
<country>USA</country>
</postal>
<email>fltemplin@acm.org</email>
</address>
</author>
<date day="26" month="August" year="2014"/>
<keyword>I-D</keyword>
<keyword>Internet-Draft</keyword>
<abstract>
<t>This document specifies the operation of IP over tunnel virtual links
using Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO). Nodes attached to
AERO links can exchange packets via trusted intermediate routers that
provide forwarding services to reach off-link destinations and
redirection services for route optimization. AERO provides an IPv6
link-local address format known as the AERO address that supports
operation of the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND) protocol and links IPv6 ND
to IP forwarding. Admission control and provisioning are supported by
the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6), and node
mobility is naturally supported through dynamic neighbor cache updates.
Although DHCPv6 and IPv6 ND messaging is used in the control plane, both
IPv4 and IPv6 are supported in the data plane.</t>
</abstract>
</front>
<middle>
<section anchor="intro" title="Introduction">
<t>This document specifies the operation of IP over tunnel virtual links
using Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO). The AERO link can
be used for tunneling to neighboring nodes over either IPv6 or IPv4
networks, i.e., AERO views the IPv6 and IPv4 networks as equivalent
links for tunneling. Nodes attached to AERO links can exchange packets
via trusted intermediate routers that provide forwarding services to
reach off-link destinations and redirection services for route
optimization that addresses the requirements outlined in <xref
target="RFC5522"/>.</t>
<t>AERO provides an IPv6 link-local address format known as the AERO
address that supports operation of the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND)
<xref target="RFC4861"/> protocol and links IPv6 ND to IP forwarding.
Admission control and provisioning are supported by the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) <xref target="RFC3315"/>, and
node mobility is naturally supported through dynamic neighbor cache
updates. Although DHCPv6 and IPv6 ND message signalling is used in the
control plane, either of IPv4 and IPv6 can be used in the data plane.
The remainder of this document presents the AERO specification.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="terminology" title="Terminology">
<t>The terminology in the normative references applies; the following
terms are defined within the scope of this document:</t>
<t><list style="hanging">
<t hangText="AERO link"><vspace/>a Non-Broadcast, Multiple Access
(NBMA) tunnel virtual overlay configured over a node's attached IPv6
and/or IPv4 networks. All nodes on the AERO link appear as
single-hop neighbors from the perspective of the virtual
overlay.</t>
<t hangText="AERO interface"><vspace/>a node's attachment to an AERO
link.</t>
<t hangText="AERO address"><vspace/>an IPv6 link-local address
constructed as specified in Section 3.2 and applied to a Client's
AERO interface.</t>
<t hangText="AERO node"><vspace/>a node that is connected to an AERO
link and that participates in IPv6 ND over the link.</t>
<t hangText="AERO Client ("Client")"><vspace/>a node that
applies an AERO address to an AERO interface and receives an IP
prefix delegation.</t>
<t hangText="AERO Server ("Server")"><vspace/>a node that
configures an AERO interface to provide default forwarding and
DHCPv6 services for AERO Clients. The Server applies the IPv6
link-local subnet router anycast address (fe80::) to the AERO
interface and also applies an administratively assigned IPv6
link-local unicast address used for operation of the IPv6 ND
protocol.</t>
<t hangText="AERO Relay ("Relay")"><vspace/>a node that
configures an AERO interface to relay IP packets between nodes on
the same AERO link and/or forward IP packets between the AERO link
and the native Internetwork. The Relay applies an administratively
assigned IPv6 link-local unicast address to the AERO interface the
same as for a Server.</t>
<t hangText="ingress tunnel endpoint (ITE)"><vspace/>an AERO
interface endpoint that injects tunneled packets into an AERO
link.</t>
<t hangText="egress tunnel endpoint (ETE)"><vspace/>an AERO
interface endpoint that receives tunneled packets from an AERO
link.</t>
<t hangText="underlying network"><vspace/>a connected IPv6 or IPv4
network routing region over which the tunnel virtual overlay is
configured. A typical example is an enterprise network.</t>
<t hangText="underlying interface"><vspace/>an AERO node's interface
point of attachment to an underlying network.</t>
<t hangText="link-layer address"><vspace/>an IP address assigned to
an AERO node's underlying interface. When UDP encapsulation is used,
the UDP port number is also considered as part of the link-layer
address. Link-layer addresses are used as the encapsulation header
source and destination addresses.</t>
<t hangText="network layer address"><vspace/>the source or
destination address of the encapsulated IP packet.</t>
<t hangText="end user network (EUN)"><vspace/>an internal virtual or
external edge IP network that an AERO Client connects to the rest of
the network via the AERO interface.</t>
<t hangText="AERO Service Prefix (ASP)"><vspace/>an IP prefix
associated with the AERO link and from which AERO Client Prefixes
(ACPs) are derived (for example, the IPv6 ACP 2001:db8:1:2::/64 is
derived from the IPv6 ASP 2001:db8::/32).</t>
<t hangText="AERO Client Prefix (ACP)"><vspace/>a more-specific IP
prefix taken from an ASP and delegated to a Client.</t>
</list>Throughout the document, the simple terms "Client", "Server"
and "Relay" refer to "AERO Client", "AERO Server" and "AERO Relay",
respectively. Capitalization is used to distinguish these terms from
DHCPv6 client/server/relay.</t>
<t>Throughout the document, it is said that an address is "applied" to
an AERO interface since the address need not always be "assigned" to the
interface in the traditional sense. However, the address must at least
be bound to the interface in some fashion to support the operation of
DHCPv6 and the IPv6 ND protocol.</t>
<t>The terminology of <xref target="RFC4861"/> (including the names of
node variables and protocol constants) applies to this document. Also
throughout the document, the term "IP" is used to generically refer to
either Internet Protocol version (i.e., IPv4 or IPv6).</t>
<t>The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in <xref
target="RFC2119"/>.</t>
</section>
<section title="Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO)">
<t>The following sections specify the operation of IP over Asymmetric
Extended Route Optimization (AERO) links:</t>
<section title="AERO Link Reference Model">
<t><figure anchor="chaining-fig" title="AERO Link Reference Model">
<artwork><![CDATA[ .-(::::::::)
.-(:::: IP ::::)-.
(:: Internetwork ::)
`-(::::::::::::)-'
`-(::::::)-'
|
+--------------+ +-------+------+ +--------------+
|AERO Server S1| | AERO Relay R | |AERO Server S2|
| (default->R) | |(C->S1; D->S2)| | (default->R) |
| Nbr: A | +-------+------+ | Nbr: B |
+-------+------+ | +------+-------+
| | |
X---+---+-------------------+------------------+---+---X
| AERO Link |
+-----+--------+ +--------+-----+
|AERO Client A | |AERO Client B |
| default->S1 | | default->S2 |
+--------------+ +--------------+
.-. .-.
,-( _)-. ,-( _)-.
.-(_ IP )-. .-(_ IP )-.
(__ EUN ) (__ EUN )
`-(______)-' `-(______)-'
| |
+--------+ +--------+
| Host C | | Host D |
+--------+ +--------+
]]></artwork>
</figure><xref target="chaining-fig"/> above presents the AERO link
reference model. In this model:</t>
<t><list style="symbols">
<t>Relay R act as a default router for its associated Servers S1
and S2, and connects the AERO link to the rest of the IP
Internetwork</t>
<t>Servers S1 and S2 associate with Relay R and also act as
default routers for their associated Clients A and B.</t>
<t>Clients A and B associate with Servers S1 and S2, respectively
and also act as default routers for their associated EUNs</t>
<t>Hosts C and D attach to the EUNs served by Clients A and B,
respectively</t>
</list>In operational practice, there may be many additional Relays,
Servers and Clients.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="node-types" title="AERO Node Types">
<t>AERO Relays provide default forwarding services to AERO Servers.
Relays forward packets between Servers connected to the same AERO link
and also forward packets between the AERO link and the native
Internetwork. Relays present the AERO link to the native Internetwork
as a set of one or more ASPs. Each Relay advertises the ASPs for the
AERO link into the native IP Internetwork and serves as a gateway
between the AERO link and the Internetwork. AERO Relays maintain an
AERO interface neighbor cache entry for each AERO Server, and maintain
an IP forwarding table entry for each AERO Client.</t>
<t>AERO Servers provide default forwarding services to AERO Clients.
Each Server also peers with each Relay in a dynamic routing protocol
session to advertise its list of associated Clients. Servers configure
a DHCPv6 server function to facilitate Prefix Delegation (PD)
exchanges with Clients. Each delegated prefix becomes an AERO Client
Prefix (ACP) taken from an ASP. Servers forward packets between
Clients and Relays, as well as between Clients and other Clients
associated with the same Server. AERO Servers maintain an AERO
interface neighbor cache entry for each AERO Relay. They also maintain
both a neighbor cache entry and an IP forwarding table entry for each
of their associated Clients.</t>
<t>AERO Clients act as requesting routers to receive ACPs through
DHCPv6 PD exchanges with AERO Servers over the AERO link. (Each Client
MAY associate with a single Server or with multiple Servers, e.g., for
fault tolerance and/or load balancing.) Each IPv6 Client receives at
least a /64 IPv6 ACP, and may receive even shorter prefixes.
Similarly, each IPv4 Client receives at least a /32 IPv4 ACP (i.e., a
singleton IPv4 address), and may receive even shorter prefixes. AERO
Clients maintain an AERO interface neighbor cache entry for each of
their associated Servers as well as for each of their correspondent
Clients.</t>
<t>AERO Clients that act as routers sub-delegate portions of their
ACPs to links on EUNs. End system applications on Clients that act as
routers bind to EUN interfaces (i.e., and not the AERO interface).</t>
<t>AERO Clients that act as ordinary hosts assign one or more IP
addresses from their ACPs to the AERO interface but DO NOT assign the
ACP itself to the AERO interface. Instead, the Client assigns the ACP
to a "black hole" route so that unused portions of the prefix are
nullified. End system applications on Clients that act as hosts bind
directly to the AERO interface.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="aero-address" title="AERO Addresses">
<t>An AERO address is an IPv6 link-local address with an embedded ACP
and applied to a Client's AERO interface. The AERO address is formed
as follows:</t>
<t><list style="empty">
<t>fe80::[ACP]</t>
</list>For IPv6, the AERO address begins with the prefix fe80::/64
and includes in its interface identifier the base prefix taken from
the Client's IPv6 ACP. The base prefix is determined by masking the
ACP with the prefix length. For example, if the AERO Client receives
the IPv6 ACP:</t>
<t><list style="empty">
<t>2001:db8:1000:2000::/56</t>
</list>it constructs its AERO address as:</t>
<t><list style="empty">
<t>fe80::2001:db8:1000:2000</t>
</list>For IPv4, the AERO address is formed from the lower 64 bits
of an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address <xref target="RFC4291"/> that includes
the base prefix taken from the Client's IPv4 ACP. For example, if the
AERO Client receives the IPv4 ACP:</t>
<t><list style="empty">
<t>192.0.2.32/28</t>
</list>it constructs its AERO address as:</t>
<t><list style="empty">
<t>fe80::FFFF:192.0.2.32</t>
</list>The AERO address remains stable as the Client moves between
topological locations, i.e., even if its link-layer addresses
change.</t>
<t>NOTE: In some cases, prospective neighbors may not have a priori
knowledge of the Client's ACP length and may therefore send initial
IPv6 ND messages with an AERO destination address that matches the ACP
but does not correspond to the base prefix. In that case, the Client
MUST accept the address as equivalent to the base address, but then
use the base address as the source address of any IPv6 ND message
replies. For example, if the Client receives the IPv6 ACP
2001:db8:1000:2000::/56 then subsequently receives an IPv6 ND message
with destination address fe80::2001:db8:1000:2001, it accepts the
message but uses fe80::2001:db8:1000:2000 as the source address of any
IPv6 ND replies.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="interface" title="AERO Interface Characteristics">
<t>AERO interfaces use IP-in-IPv6 encapsulation <xref
target="RFC2473"/> to exchange tunneled packets with AERO neighbors
attached to an underlying IPv6 network, and use IP-in-IPv4
encapsulation <xref target="RFC2003"/><xref target="RFC4213"/> to
exchange tunneled packets with AERO neighbors attached to an
underlying IPv4 network. AERO interfaces can also coordinate secured
tunnel types such as IPsec <xref target="RFC4301"/> or TLS <xref
target="RFC5246"/>. When Network Address Translator (NAT) traversal
and/or filtering middlebox traversal may be necessary, a UDP header is
further inserted immediately above the IP encapsulation header.</t>
<t>AERO interfaces maintain a neighbor cache, and AERO Clients and
Servers use an adaptation of standard unicast IPv6 ND messaging. AERO
interfaces use unicast Neighbor Solicitation (NS), Neighbor
Advertisement (NA), Router Solicitation (RS) and Router Advertisement
(RA) messages the same as for any IPv6 link. AERO interfaces use two
redirection message types -- the first known as a Predirect message
and the second being the standard Redirect message (see Section 3.9).
AERO links further use link-local-only addressing; hence, AERO nodes
ignore any Prefix Information Options (PIOs) they may receive in RA
messages.</t>
<t>AERO interface ND messages include one or more Target Link-Layer
Address Options (TLLAOs) formatted as shown in <xref
target="tllaov6"/>:</t>
<t><figure anchor="tllaov6"
title="AERO Target Link-Layer Address Option (TLLAO) Format">
<artwork><![CDATA[ 0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type = 2 | Length = 3 | Reserved |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Link ID | Preference | UDP Port Number (or 0) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+-- --+
| |
+-- IP Address --+
| |
+-- --+
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
]]></artwork>
</figure></t>
<t>In this format, Link ID is an integer value between 0 and 255
corresponding to an underlying interface of the target node, and
Preference is an integer value between 0 and 255 indicating the node's
preference for this underlying interface (with 255 being the highest
preference, 1 being the lowest and 0 meaning "link disabled"). UDP
Port Number and IP Address are set to the addresses used by the target
node when it sends encapsulated packets over the underlying interface.
When no UDP encapsulation is used, UDP Port Number is set to 0. When
the encapsulation IP address family is IPv4, IP Address is formed as
an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address <xref target="RFC4291"/>.</t>
<t>When a Relay enables an AERO interface, it applies an
administratively assigned link-local address fe80::ID to the interface
for communicating with Servers on the link. Each fe80::ID address MUST
be unique among all Relays and Servers on the link, and MUST NOT
collide with any potential AERO addresses, e.g., the addresses could
be assigned as fe80::1, fe80::2, fe80::3, etc. The Relay also
maintains an IP forwarding table entry for each Client-Server
association and maintains a neighbor cache entry for each Server on
the link. Relays do not require the use of IPv6 ND messaging for
reachability determination since Relays and Servers engage in a
dynamic routing protocol over the AERO interface. At a minimum,
however, Relays respond to NS messages by returning an NA.</t>
<t>When a Server enables an AERO interface, it applies the address
fe80:: to the interface as a link-local Subnet Router Anycast address,
and also applies an administratively assigned link-local address
fe80::ID to support the operation of DHCPv6 and the IPv6 ND protocol
as well as to communicate with Relays on the link. The Server
configures a DHCPv6 server function to facilitate DHCPv6 PD exchanges
with AERO Clients. The Server also maintains a neighbor cache entry
for each Relay on the link, and manages per-Client neighbor cache
entries and IP forwarding table entries based on DHCPv6 exchanges.
When the Server receives an NS/RS message on the AERO interface it
returns an NA/RA message but does not update the neighbor cache.
Servers also engage in a dynamic routing protocol with all Relays on
the link. Finally, the Server provides a simple conduit between
Clients and Relays, or between Clients and other Clients. Therefore,
packets enter the Server's AERO interface from the link layer and are
forwarded back out the link layer without ever leaving the AERO
interface and therefore without ever disturbing the network layer.</t>
<t>When a Client enables an AERO interface, it invokes DHCPv6 PD to
receive an ACP from an AERO Server. Next, it applies the corresponding
AERO address to the AERO interface and creates a neighbor cache entry
for the Server, i.e., the PD exchange bootstraps the provisioning of a
unique link-local address. The Client maintains a neighbor cache entry
for each of its Servers and each of its active peer Clients. When the
Client receives Redirect/Predirect messages on the AERO interface it
updates or creates neighbor cache entries, including link-layer
address information. Unsolicited NA messages update the cached
link-layer addresses for the neighbor Client (e.g., following a
link-layer address change due to node mobility) but do not create new
neighbor cache entries. NS/NA messages used for Neighbor
Unreachability Detection (NUD) update timers in existing neighbor
cache entires but do not update link-layer addresses nor create new
neighbor cache entries. Finally, the Client need not maintain any IP
forwarding table entries for neighboring Clients. Instead, it can set
a single "route-to-interface" default route in the IP forwarding table
pointing to the AERO interface, and all forwarding decisions can be
made within the AERO interface based on neighbor cache entries.</t>
<section anchor="multi"
title="Coordination of Multiple Underlying Interfaces">
<t>AERO interfaces may be configured over multiple underlying
interfaces. For example, common mobile handheld devices have both
wireless local area network ("WLAN") and cellular wireless links.
These links are typically used "one at a time" with low-cost WLAN
preferred and highly-available cellular wireless as a standby. In a
more complex example, aircraft frequently have many wireless data
link types (e.g. satellite-based, terrestrial, air-to-air
directional, etc.) with diverse performance and cost properties.</t>
<t>If a Client's multiple underlying interfaces are used "one at a
time" (i.e., all other interfaces are in standby mode while one
interface is active), then Redirect, Predirect and unsolicited NA
messages include only a single TLLAO with Link ID set to a constant
value.</t>
<t>If the Client has multiple active underlying interfaces, then
from the perspective of IPv6 ND it would appear to have a single
link-local address with multiple link-layer addresses. In that case,
Redirect, Predirect and unsolicited NA messages MAY include multiple
TLLAOs -- each with a different Link ID that corresponds to a
specific underlying interface of the Client.</t>
</section>
</section>
<section title="AERO Interface Neighbor Cache Maintenace">
<t>Each AERO interface maintains a conceptual neighbor cache that
includes an entry for each neighbor it communicates with on the AERO
link, the same as for any IPv6 interface <xref target="RFC4861"/>.
AERO interface neighbor cache entires are said to be one of
"permanent", "static" or "dynamic".</t>
<t>Permanent neighbor cache entries are created through explicit
administrative action; they have no timeout values and remain in place
until explicitly deleted. AERO Relays maintain a permanent neighbor
cache entry for each Server on the link, and AERO Servers maintain a
permanent neighbor cache entry for each Relay on the link.</t>
<t>Static neighbor cache entries are created though DHCPv6 PD
exchanges and remain in place for durations bounded by prefix
lifetimes. AERO Servers maintain a static neighbor cache entry for
each of their associated Clients, and AERO Clients maintain a static
neighbor cache for each of their associated Servers. When an AERO
Server sends a DHCPv6 Reply message response to a Client's DHCPv6
Solicit or Renew message, it creates or updates a static neighbor
cache entry based on the Client's AERO address as the network-layer
address, the prefix lifetime as the neighbor cache entry lifetime, the
Client's encapsulation IP address and UDP port number as the
link-layer address and the prefix length as the length to apply to the
AERO address. When an AERO Client receives a DHCPv6 Reply message from
a Server, it creates or updates a static neighbor cache entry based on
the Reply message link-local source address as the network-layer
address, the prefix lifetime as the neighbor cache entry lifetime, and
the encapsulation IP source address and UDP source port number as the
link-layer address.</t>
<t>Dynamic neighbor cache entries are created based on receipt of an
IPv6 ND message, and are garbage-collected if not used within a short
timescale. AERO Clients maintain dynamic neighbor cache entries for
each of their active correspondent Clients with lifetimes based on
IPv6 ND messaging constants. When an AERO Client receives a valid
Predirect message it creates or updates a dynamic neighbor cache entry
for the Predirect target network-layer and link-layer addresses plus
prefix length. The node then sets an "AcceptTime" variable for the
neighbor and uses this value to determine whether packets received
from the predirected neighbor can be accepted. When an AERO Client
receives a valid Redirect message it creates or updates a dynamic
neighbor cache entry for the Redirect target network-layer and
link-layer addresses plus prefix length. The Client then sets a
"ForwardTime" variable for the neighbor and uses this value to
determine whether packets can be sent directly to the redirected
neighbor. The Client also maintains a "MaxRetry" variable to limit the
number of keepalives sent when a neighbor may have gone
unreachable.</t>
<t>For dynamic neighbor cache entries, when an AERO Client receives a
valid NS message it (re)sets AcceptTime for the neighbor to
ACCEPT_TIME. When an AERO Client receives a valid solicited NA
message, it (re)sets ForwardTime for the neighbor to FORWARD_TIME and
sets MaxRetry to MAX_RETRY. When an AERO Client receives a valid
unsolicited NA message, it updates the neighbor's link-layer addresses
but DOES NOT reset AcceptTime, ForwardTime or MaxRetry.</t>
<t>It is RECOMMENDED that FORWARD_TIME be set to the default constant
value 30 seconds to match the default REACHABLE_TIME value specified
for IPv6 ND <xref target="RFC4861"/>.</t>
<t>It is RECOMMENDED that ACCEPT_TIME be set to the default constant
value 40 seconds to allow a 10 second window so that the AERO
redirection procedure can converge before AcceptTime decrements below
FORWARD_TIME.</t>
<t>It is RECOMMENDED that MAX_RETRY be set to 3 the same as described
for IPv6 ND address resolution in Section 7.3.3 of <xref
target="RFC4861"/>.</t>
<t>Different values for FORWARD_TIME, ACCEPT_TIME, and MAX_RETRY MAY
be administratively set, if necessary, to better match the AERO link's
performance characteristics; however, if different values are chosen,
all nodes on the link MUST consistently configure the same values.
Most importantly, ACCEPT_TIME SHOULD be set to a value that is
sufficiently longer than FORWARD_TIME to allow the AERO redirection
procedure to converge.</t>
</section>
<section title="AERO Interface Sending Algorithm">
<t>IP packets enter a node's AERO interface either from the network
layer (i.e., from a local application or the IP forwarding system), or
from the link-layer (i.e., from the AERO tunnel virtual link). Packets
that enter the AERO interface from the network layer are encapsulated
and admitted into the AERO link (i.e., they are tunnelled to an AERO
interface neighbor). Packets that enter the AERO interface from the
link layer are either re-admitted into the AERO link or delivered to
the network layer where they are subject to either local delivery or
IP forwarding. Since each AERO node has only partial information about
neighbors on the link, AERO interfaces may forward packets with
link-local destination addresses at a layer below the network layer.
This means that AERO nodes act as both IP routers and link-layer
"bridges". AERO interface sending considerations for Clients, Servers
and Relays are given below.</t>
<t>When an IP packet enters a Client's AERO interface from the network
layer, if the destination is covered by an ASP the Client searches for
a dynamic neighbor cache entry with a non-zero ForwardTime and an AERO
address that matches the packet's destination address. (The
destination address may be either an address covered by the neighbor's
ACP or the (link-local) AERO address itself.) If there is a match, the
Client uses a link-layer address in the entry as the link-layer
address for encapsulation then admits the packet into the AERO link.
If there is no match, the Client instead uses the link-layer address
of a neighboring Server as the link-layer address for
encapsulation.</t>
<t>When an IP packet enters a Server's AERO interface from the link
layer, if the destination is covered by an ASP the Server searches for
a static neighbor cache entry with an AERO address that matches the
packet's destination address. (The destination address may be either
an address covered by the neighbor's ACP or the AERO address itself.)
If there is a match, the Server uses a link-layer address in the entry
as the link-layer address for encapsulation and re-admits the packet
into the AERO link. If there is no match, the Server instead uses the
link-layer address in any permanent neighbor cache entry as the
link-layer address for encapsulation. When a Server receives a packet
from a Relay, the Server MUST NOT loop the packet back to the same or
a different Relay.</t>
<t>When an IP packet enters a Relay's AERO interface from the network
layer, the Relay searches its IP forwarding table for an entry that is
covered by an ASP and also matches the destination. If there is a
match, the Relay uses the link-layer address in the neighbor cache
entry for the next-hop Server as the link-layer address for
encapsulation and admits the packet into the AERO link. When an IP
packet enters a Relay's AERO interface from the link-layer, if the
destination is not a link-local address and is not covered by an ASP
the Relay removes the packet from the AERO interface and uses IP
forwarding to forward the packet to the Internetwork. If the
destination address is covered by an ASP, and there is a more-specific
IP forwarding table entry that matches the destination, the Relay uses
the link-layer address in the neighbor cache entry for the next-hop
Server as the link-layer address for encapsulation and re-admits the
packet into the AERO link. If there is no more-specific entry, the
Relay instead drops the packet. When an Relay receives a packet from a
Server, the Relay MUST NOT forward the packet back to the same
Server.</t>
<t>Note that in the above that the link-layer address for
encapsulation may be through consulting either the neighbor cache or
the IP forwarding table. IP forwarding is therefore linked to IPv6 ND
via the AERO address.</t>
<t>When an AERO node re-admits a packet into the AERO link, the node
MUST NOT decrement the network layer TTL/Hop-count.</t>
</section>
<section title="AERO Interface Encapsulation, Re-encapsulation and Decapsulation">
<t>AERO interfaces encapsulate IP packets according to whether they
are entering the AERO interface from the network layer or if they are
being re-admitted into the same AERO link they arrived on. This latter
form of encapsulation is known as "re-encapsulation".</t>
<t>AERO interfaces encapsulate packets per the specifications in <xref
target="RFC2003"/><xref target="RFC2473"/><xref
target="RFC4213"/><xref target="RFC4301"/><xref target="RFC5246"/>
(etc.) except that the interface copies the "TTL/Hop Limit", "Type of
Service/Traffic Class" and "Congestion Experienced" values in the
packet's IP header into the corresponding fields in the encapsulation
header. For packets undergoing re-encapsulation, the AERO interface
instead copies the "TTL/Hop Limit", "Type of Service/Traffic Class"
and "Congestion Experienced" values in the original encapsulation
header into the corresponding fields in the new encapsulation header
(i.e., the values are transferred between encapsulation headers and
*not* copied from the encapsulated packet's network-layer header).</t>
<t>When AERO UDP encapsulation is used, the AERO interface
encapsulates the packet per the above tunneling specifications except
that it inserts a UDP header between the encapsulation header and the
packet's IP header. The AERO interface sets the UDP source port to a
constant value that it will use in each successive packet it sends,
sets the UDP checksum field to zero (see: <xref
target="RFC6935"/><xref target="RFC6936"/>) and sets the UDP length
field to the length of the IP packet plus 8 bytes for the UDP header
itself. For packets sent via a Server, the AERO interface sets the UDP
destination port to 8060 (i.e., the IANA-registered port number for
AERO) when AERO-only encapsulation is used. For packets sent to a
neighboring Client, the AERO interface sets the UDP destination port
to the port value stored in the neighbor cache entry for this
neighbor.</t>
<t>The AERO interface next sets the IP protocol number in the
encapsulation header to the appropriate value for the first protocol
layer within the encapsulation (e.g., IPv4, IPv6, UDP, IPsec, etc.).
When IPv6 is used as the encapsulation protocol, the interface then
sets the flow label value in the encapsulation header the same as
described in <xref target="RFC6438"/>. When IPv4 is used as the
encapsulation protocol, the AERO interface sets the DF bit as
discussed in Section 3.8.</t>
<t>AERO interfaces decapsulate packets destined either to the node
itself or to a destination reached via an interface other than the
AERO interface the packet was received on. When AERO UDP encapsulation
is used (i.e., when a UDP header with destination port 8060 is
present) the interface examines the first octet of the encapsulated
packet. The packet is accepted if the most significant four bits of
the first octet encode the value '0110' (i.e., the version number
value for IPv6) or the value '0100' (i.e., the version number value
for IPv4). Otherwise, the packet is accepted if the first octet
encodes a valid IP protocol number per the IANA "protocol-numbers"
registry that matches a supported encapsulation type. Otherwise, the
packet is discarded.</t>
<t>Further decapsulation then proceeds according to the appropriate
tunnel type per the above specifications.</t>
</section>
<section title="AERO Interface Data Origin Authentication">
<t>AERO nodes employ simple data origin authentication procedures for
encapsulated packets they receive from other nodes on the AERO link.
In particular, AERO Clients accept encapsulated packets with a
link-layer source address belonging to one of their current AERO
Servers, and AERO Servers accept encapsulated packets with a
link-layer source address belonging to one of their current
Clients.</t>
<t>AERO Clients and Servers also accept encapsulated packets if there
is a dynamic neighbor cache entry with an AERO address that matches
the packet's network-layer source address prefix, with a link-layer
address that matches the packet's link-layer source address, and
AcceptTime is non-zero.</t>
<t>An AERO Server also accepts packets with a link-layer source
address that matches one of its associated Relays, and an AERO Relay
accepts packets with a source address that matches one of its
associated Servers.</t>
<t>Finally, AERO Servers accept DHCPv6 messages even if the link-layer
source address does not belong to one of their current Clients. The
DHCPv6 server will authenticate the message and (assuming
authentication succeeds) create or update a static neighbor cache
entry for the source Client.</t>
<t>Note that this simple data origin authentication only applies to
environments in which link-layer addresses cannot be spoofed.
Additional security mitigations may be necessary in other
environments.</t>
</section>
<section title="AERO Interface MTU Considerations">
<t>The AERO link Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is 64KB minus the
encapsulation overhead for IPv4 as the link-layer <xref
target="RFC0791"/> and 4GB minus the encapsulation overhead for IPv6
as the link layer <xref target="RFC2675"/>. This is the most that IPv4
and IPv6 (respectively) can convey within the constraints of protocol
constants, but actual sizes available for tunneling will frequently be
much smaller.</t>
<t>The base tunneling specifications for IPv4 and IPv6 typically set a
static MTU on the tunnel interface to 1500 bytes minus the
encapsulation overhead or smaller still if the tunnel is likely to
incur additional encapsulations on the path. This can result in path
MTU related black holes when packets that are too large to be
accommodated over the AERO link are dropped, but the resulting ICMP
Packet Too Big (PTB) messages are lost on the return path. As a
result, AERO nodes use the following MTU mitigations to accommodate
larger packets.</t>
<t>AERO nodes set their AERO interface MTU to the larger of the
underlying interface MTU minus the encapsulation overhead, and 1500
bytes. (If there are multiple underlying interfaces, the node sets the
AERO interface MTU according to the largest underlying interface MTU,
or 64KB /4G minus the encapsulation overhead if the largest MTU cannot
be determined.) AERO nodes optionally cache other per-neighbor MTU
values in the underlying IP path MTU discovery cache initialized to
the underlying interface MTU.</t>
<t>AERO nodes admit packets that are no larger than 1280 bytes minus
the encapsulation overhead (*) as well as packets that are larger than
1500 bytes into the tunnel without fragmentation, i.e., as long as
they are no larger than the AERO interface MTU before encapsulation
and also no larger than the cached per-neighbor MTU following
encapsulation. For IPv4, the node sets the "Don't Fragment" (DF) bit
to 0 for packets no larger than 1280 bytes minus the encapsulation
overhead (*) and sets the DF bit to 1 for packets larger than 1500
bytes. If a large packet is lost in the path, the node may optionally
cache the MTU reported in the resulting PTB message or may ignore the
message, e.g., if there is a possibility that the message is
spurious.</t>
<t>For packets destined to an AERO node that are larger than 1280
bytes minus the encapsulation overhead (*) but no larger than 1500
bytes, the node uses IP fragmentation to fragment the encapsulated
packet into two pieces (where the first fragment contains 1024 bytes
of the original IP packet) then admits the fragments into the tunnel.
If the link-layer protocol is IPv4, the node admits each fragment into
the tunnel with DF set to 0 and subject to rate limiting to avoid
reassembly errors <xref target="RFC4963"/><xref target="RFC6864"/>.
For both IPv4 and IPv6, the node also sends a 1500 byte probe message
(**) to the neighbor, subject to rate limiting.</t>
<t>To construct a probe, the node prepares an NS message with a Nonce
option plus trailing padding octets added to a length of 1500 bytes
without including the length of the padding in the IPv6 Payload Length
field. The node then encapsulates the NS in the encapsulation headers
(while including the length of the padding in the encapsulation header
length fields), sets DF to 1 (for IPv4) and sends the padded NS
message to the neighbor. If the neighbor returns an NA message with a
correct Nonce value, the node may then send whole packets within this
size range and (for IPv4) relax the rate limiting requirement. (Note
that the trailing padding SHOULD NOT be included within the Nonce
option itself but rather as padding beyond the last option in the NS
message; otherwise, the (large) Nonce option would be echoed back in
the solicited NA message and may be lost at a link with a small MTU
along the reverse path.)</t>
<t>AERO nodes MUST be capable of reassembling packets up to 1500 bytes
plus the encapsulation overhead length. It is therefore RECOMMENDED
that AERO nodes be capable of reassembling at least 2KB.</t>
<t>(*) Note that if it is known without probing that the minimum Path
MTU to an AERO node is MINMTU bytes (where 1280 < MINMTU < 1500)
then MINMTU can be used instead of 1280 in the fragmentation threshold
considerations listed above.</t>
<t>(**) It is RECOMMENDED that no probes smaller than 1500 bytes be
used for MTU probing purposes, since smaller probes may be fragmented
if there is a nested tunnel somewhere on the path to the neighbor.
Probe sizes larger than 1500 bytes MAY be used, but may be unnecessary
since original sources are expected to implement <xref
target="RFC4821"/> when sending large packets.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="aeropd"
title="AERO Router Discovery, Prefix Delegation and Address Configuration">
<section anchor="aeropd-dhcp" title="AERO DHCPv6 Service Model">
<t>Each AERO Server configures a DHCPv6 server function to
facilitate PD requests from Clients. Each Server is pre-configured
with an identical list of ACP-to-Client ID mappings for all Clients
enrolled in the AERO system, as well as any information necessary to
authenticate Clients. The configuration information is maintained by
a central administrative authority for the AERO link and securely
propagated to all Servers whenever a new Client is enrolled or an
existing Client is withdrawn.</t>
<t>With these identical configurations, each Server can function
independently of all other Servers, including the maintenance of
active leases. Therefore, no Server-to-Server DHCPv6 state
synchronization is necessary, and Clients can optionally hold
separate leases for the same ACP from multiple Servers.</t>
<t>In this way, Clients can easily associate with multiple Servers,
and can receive new leases from new Servers before deprecating
leases held through old Servers. This enables a graceful
"make-before-break" capability.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="aeropd-client" title="AERO Client Behavior">
<t>AERO Clients discover the link-layer addresses of AERO Servers
via static configuration, or through an automated means such as DNS
name resolution. In the absence of other information, the Client
resolves the Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)
"linkupnetworks.[domainname]" where "linkupnetworks" is a constant
text string and "[domainname]" is the connection-specific DNS suffix
for the Client's underlying network connection (e.g.,
"example.com"). After discovering the link-layer addresses, the
Client associates with one or more of the corresponding Servers.</t>
<t>To associate with a Server, the Client acts as a requesting
router to request an ACP through a DHCPv6 PD two-message
exchange<xref target="RFC3315"/><xref target="RFC3633"/> in which
the Solicit message uses the IPv6 "unspecified" address (i.e., "::")
as the IPv6 source address, 'All_DHCP_Relay_Agents_and_Servers' as
the IPv6 destination address and the link-layer address of the
Server as the link-layer destination address. The Client includes a
Rapid Commit option as well as a Client Identifier option with a
DHCP Unique Identifier (DUID), plus any necessary authentication
options to identify itself to the DHCPv6 server. The Client also
includes a Client Link Layer Address Option (CLLAO) <xref
target="RFC6939"/> with the format shown in <xref
target="cllao"/></t>
<t><figure anchor="cllao"
title="AERO Client Link-Layer Address Option (CLLAO) Format">
<artwork><![CDATA[ 0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OPTION_CLIENT_LINKLAYER_ADDR | option-length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| link-layer type (16 bits) | Link ID | Preference |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
]]></artwork>
</figure>The Client sets the CLLAO 'option-length' field to 4 and
sets the 'link-layer type' field to TBD1 (see: IANA Considerations),
then includes appropriate Link ID and Preference values for the
underlying interface over which the Solicit will be issued (note
that these are the same values that would be included in a TLLAO as
shown in <xref target="tllaov6"/>). If the Client is pre-provisioned
with an ACP associated with the AERO service, it MAY also include
the ACP in the Solicit message Identity Association (IA) option to
indicate its preferred ACP to the DHCPv6 server. The Client then
sends the encapsulated DHCPv6 request via the underlying
interface.</t>
<t>When the Client receives its ACP and the set of ASPs via a DHCPv6
Reply from the AERO Server, it creates a static neighbor cache entry
with the Server's link-local address (i.e., fe80::ID) as the
network-layer address and the Server's encapsulation address as the
link-layer address. The Client then records the lifetime for the ACP
in the neighbor cache entry and marks the neighbor cache entry as
"default", i.e., the Client considers the Server as a default
router. If the Reply message contains a Vendor-Specific Information
Option (see: Section 3.10.3) the Client also caches each ASP in the
option.</t>
<t>The Client then applies the AERO address to the AERO interface
and sub-delegates the ACP to nodes and links within its attached
EUNs (the AERO address thereafter remains stable as the Client
moves). The Client also assigns a default IP route to the AERO
interface as a route-to-interface, i.e., with no explicit next-hop.
The next hop will then be determined after a packet has been
submitted to the AERO interface by inspecting the neighbor cache
(see above).</t>
<t>The Client subsequently renews its ACP delegation through each of
its Servers by performing DHCPv6 Renew/Reply exchanges with its AERO
address as the IPv6 source address,
'All_DHCP_Relay_Agents_and_Servers' as the IPv6 destination address,
the link-layer address of a Server as the link-layer destination
address and the same Client identifier, authentication options and
CLLAO option as was used in the initial PD request.</t>
<t>Since the Client's AERO address is configured from the unique ACP
delegation it receives, there is no need for Duplicate Address
Detection (DAD) on AERO links. Other nodes maliciously attempting to
hijack an authorized Client's AERO address will be denied access to
the network by the DHCPv6 server due to an unacceptable link-layer
address and/or security parameters (see: Security
Considerations).</t>
<t>AERO Clients ignore the IP address and UDP port number in any
S/TLLAO options in ND messages they receive directly from another
AERO Client, but examine the Link ID and Preference values to match
the message with the correct link-layer address information.</t>
<t>When a source Client forwards a packet to a prospective
destination Client (i.e., one for which the packet's destination
address is covered by an ASP), the source Client initiates an AERO
route optimization procedure as specified in <xref
target="predirect"/>.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="aeropd-server" title="AERO Server Behavior">
<t>AERO Servers configure a DHCPv6 server function on their AERO
links. AERO Servers arrange to add their encapsulation layer IP
addresses (i.e., their link-layer addresses) to the DNS resource
records for the FQDN "linkupnetworks.[domainname]" before entering
service.</t>
<t>When an AERO Server receives a prospective Client's DHCPv6 PD
Solicit message, it first authenticates the message. If
authentication succeeds, the Server determines the correct ACP to
delegate to the Client by matching the Client's DUID within an
online directory service (e.g., LDAP). The Server then delegates the
ACP and creates a static neighbor cache entry for the Client's AERO
address with lifetime set to no more than the lease lifetime and the
Client's link-layer address as the link-layer address for the Link
ID specified in the CLLAO option. The Server then creates an IP
forwarding table entry so that the inter-Server/Relay routing system
will propagate the ACP to all Relays (see: <xref
target="scaling"/>). Finally, the Server sends a DHCPv6 Reply
message to the Client while using fe80::ID as the IPv6 source
address, the Client's AERO address as the IPv6 destination address,
and the Client's link-layer address as the destination link-layer
address. The Server also includes a Server Unicast option with
server-address set to fe80::ID so that all future Client/Server
transactions will be link-local-only unicast over the AERO link.</t>
<t>When the Server sends the DHCPv6 Reply message, it also includes
a DHCPv6 Vendor-Specific Information Option with 'enterprise-number'
set to "TBD2" (see: IANA Considerations). The option is formatted as
shown in<xref target="RFC3315"/> and with the AERO
enterprise-specific format shown in <xref target="vendor-specific">
</xref>:</t>
<t><figure anchor="vendor-specific"
title="AERO Vendor-Specific Information Option">
<artwork><![CDATA[ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| OPTION_VENDOR_OPTS | option-len |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| enterprise-number ("TBD2") |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Prefix Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ ASP (1) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Prefix Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ ASP (2) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Prefix Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ ASP (3) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
. (etc.) .
. .
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
]]></artwork>
</figure>Per <xref target="vendor-specific"/>, the option includes
one or more ASP. The ASP field contains the IP prefix as it would
appear in the interface identifier portion of the corresponding AERO
address (see: Section 3.3). For IPv6, valid values for the Prefix
Length field are 0 through 64; for IPv4, valid values are 0 through
32.</t>
<t>After the initial Solicit/Reply exchange, the AERO Server
maintains the neighbor cache entry for the Client as long as the
lease lifetime remains current. If the Client issues a Renew/Reply
exchange, the Server extends the lifetime. If the Client issues a
Release/Reply exchange, or if the Client does not issue a
Renew/Reply within the lease lifetime, the Server deletes the
neighbor cache entry for the Client and withdraws the IP route from
the routing system.</t>
</section>
</section>
<section anchor="scaling" title="AERO Relay/Server Routing System">
<t>Relays require full topology information of all Client/Server
associations, while individual Servers only require partial topology
information, i.e., they only need to know the ACPs associated with
their current set of associated Clients. This is accomplished through
the use of an internal instance of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
<xref target="RFC4271"/> coordinated between Servers and Relays. This
internal BGP instance does not interact with the public Internet BGP
instance; therefore, the AERO link is presented to the IP Internetwork
as a small set of ASPs as opposed to the full set of individual
ACPs.</t>
<t>In a reference BGP arrangement, each AERO Server is configured as
an Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR) for a stub Autonomous System
(AS) (possibly using a private AS Number (ASN) <xref
target="RFC1930"/>), and each Server further peers with each Relay but
does not peer with other Servers. Similarly, Relays need not peer with
each other, since they will receive all updates from all Servers and
will therefore have a consistent view of the AERO link ACP
delegations.</t>
<t>Each Server maintains a working set of associated Clients, and
dynamically announces new ACPs and withdraws departed ACPs in its BGP
updates to Relays. Relays do not send BGP updates to Servers, however,
such that the BGP route reporting is unidirectional from the Servers
to the Relays.</t>
<t>The Relays therefore discover the full topology of the AERO link in
terms of the working set of ACPs associated with each Server, while
the Servers only discover the ACPs of their associated Clients. Since
Clients are expected to remain associated with their current set of
Servers for extended timeframes, the amount of BGP control messaging
between Servers and Relays should be minimal. However, BGP peers
SHOULD dampen any route oscillations caused by impatient Clients that
repeatedly associate and disassociate with Servers.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="predirect" title="AERO Redirection">
<section anchor="avoidance-fig" title="Reference Operational Scenario">
<t><xref target="no-onlink-prefix-fig"/> depicts the AERO
redirection reference operational scenario, using IPv6 addressing as
the example (while not shown, a corresponding example for IPv4
addressing can be easily constructed). The figure shows an AERO
Relay ('R'), two AERO Servers ('S1', 'S2'), two AERO Clients ('A',
'B') and two ordinary IPv6 hosts ('C', 'D'):</t>
<figure anchor="no-onlink-prefix-fig"
title="AERO Reference Operational Scenario">
<artwork><![CDATA[ +--------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+
| Server S1 | | Relay R | | Server S2 |
| Nbr: A | |(C->S1; D->S2)| | Nbr: B |
+--------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+
fe80::2 fe80::1 fe80::3
L2(S1) L2(R) L2(S2)
| | |
X-----+-----+------------------+-----------------+----+----X
| AERO Link |
L2(A) L2(B)
fe80::2001:db8:0:0 fe80::2001:db8:1:0
+--------------+ +--------------+
| AERO Client A| | AERO Client B|
| (default->S1)| | (default->S2)|
+--------------+ +--------------+
2001:DB8:0::/48 2001:DB8:1::/48
| |
.-. .-.
,-( _)-. 2001:db8:0::1 2001:db8:1::1 ,-( _)-.
.-(_ IP )-. +---------+ +---------+ .-(_ IP )-.
(__ EUN )--| Host C | | Host D |--(__ EUN )
`-(______)-' +---------+ +---------+ `-(______)-'
]]></artwork>
</figure>
<t>In <xref target="no-onlink-prefix-fig"/>, Relay ('R') applies the
address fe80::1 to its AERO interface with link-layer address L2(R),
Server ('S1') applies the address fe80::2 with link-layer address
L2(S1),and Server ('S2') applies the address fe80::3 with link-layer
address L2(S2). Servers ('S1') and ('S2') next arrange to add their
link-layer addresses to a published list of valid Servers for the
AERO link.</t>
<t>AERO Client ('A') receives the ACP 2001:db8:0::/48 in a DHCPv6 PD
exchange via AERO Server ('S1') then applies the address
fe80::2001:db8:0:0 to its AERO interface with link-layer address
L2(A). Client ('A') configures a default route and neighbor cache
entry via the AERO interface with next-hop address fe80::2 and
link-layer address L2(S1), then sub-delegates the ACP to its
attached EUNs. IPv6 host ('C') connects to the EUN, and configures
the address 2001:db8:0::1.</t>
<t>AERO Client ('B') receives the ACP 2001:db8:1::/48 in a DHCPv6 PD
exchange via AERO Server ('S2') then applies the address
fe80::2001:db8:1:0 to its AERO interface with link-layer address
L2(B). Client ('B') configures a default route and neighbor cache
entry via the AERO interface with next-hop address fe80::3 and
link-layer address L2(S2), then sub-delegates the ACP to its
attached EUNs. IPv6 host ('D') connects to the EUN, and configures
the address 2001:db8:1::1.</t>
</section>
<section title="Concept of Operations">
<t>Again, with reference to <xref target="no-onlink-prefix-fig"/>,
when source host ('C') sends a packet to destination host ('D'), the
packet is first forwarded over the source host's attached EUN to
Client ('A'). Client ('A') then forwards the packet via its AERO
interface to Server ('S1') and also sends a Predirect message toward
Client ('B') via Server ('S1'). Server ('S1') then re-encapsulates
and forwards both the packet and the Predirect message out the same
AERO interface toward Client ('B') via Relay ('R').</t>
<t>When Relay ('R') receives the packet and Predirect message, it
consults its forwarding table to discover Server ('S2') as the next
hop toward Client ('B'). Relay ('R') then forwards both the packet
and the Predirect message to Server ('S2'), which then forwards them
to Client ('B').</t>
<t>After Client ('B') receives the Predirect message, it process the
message and returns a Redirect message toward Client ('A') via
Server ('S2'). During the process, Client ('B') also creates or
updates a dynamic neighbor cache entry for Client ('A').</t>
<t>When Server ('S2') receives the Redirect message, it
re-encapsulates the message and forwards it on to Relay ('R'), which
forwards the message on to Server ('S1') which forwards the message
on to Client ('A'). After Client ('A') receives the Redirect
message, it processes the message and creates or updates a dynamic
neighbor cache entry for Client ('C').</t>
<t>Following the above Predirect/Redirect message exchange,
forwarding of packets from Client ('A') to Client ('B') without
involving any intermediate nodes is enabled. The mechanisms that
support this exchange are specified in the following sections.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="rmsg" title="Message Format">
<t>AERO Redirect/Predirect messages use the same format as for
ICMPv6 Redirect messages depicted in Section 4.5 of <xref
target="RFC4861"/>, but also include a new "Prefix Length" field
taken from the low-order 8 bits of the Redirect message Reserved
field. For IPv6, valid values for the Prefix Length field are 0
through 64; for IPv4, valid values are 0 through 32. The
Redirect/Predirect messages are formatted as shown in <xref
target="aero-redirect"/>:</t>
<figure anchor="aero-redirect"
title="AERO Redirect/Predirect Message Format">
<artwork><![CDATA[ 0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type (=137) | Code (=0/1) | Checksum |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reserved | Prefix Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ +
| |
+ Target Address +
| |
+ +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ +
| |
+ Destination Address +
| |
+ +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Options ...
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
]]></artwork>
</figure>
<t/>
</section>
<section anchor="sending_pre" title="Sending Predirects">
<t>When a Client forwards a packet with a source address from one of
its ACPs toward a destination address covered by an ASP (i.e.,
toward another AERO Client connected to the same AERO link), the
source Client MAY send a Predirect message forward toward the
destination Client via the Server.</t>
<t>In the reference operational scenario, when Client ('A') forwards
a packet toward Client ('B'), it MAY also send a Predirect message
forward toward Client ('B'), subject to rate limiting (see Section
8.2 of <xref target="RFC4861"/>). Client ('A') prepares the
Predirect message as follows:</t>
<t><list style="symbols">
<t>the link-layer source address is set to 'L2(A)' (i.e., the
link-layer address of Client ('A')).</t>
<t>the link-layer destination address is set to 'L2(S1)' (i.e.,
the link-layer address of Server ('S1')).</t>
<t>the network-layer source address is set to fe80::2001:db8:0:0
(i.e., the AERO address of Client ('A')).</t>
<t>the network-layer destination address is set to
fe80::2001:db8:1:0 (i.e., the AERO address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the Type is set to 137.</t>
<t>the Code is set to 1 to indicate "Predirect".</t>
<t>the Prefix Length is set to the length of the prefix to be
applied to the Target Address.</t>
<t>the Target Address is set to fe80::2001:db8:0:0 (i.e., the
AERO address of Client ('A')).</t>
<t>the Destination Address is set to the source address of the
originating packet that triggered the Predirection event. (If
the originating packet is an IPv4 packet, the address is
constructed in IPv4-compatible IPv6 address format).</t>
<t>the message includes one or more TLLAOs with Link ID and
Preference set to appropriate values for Client ('A')'s
underlying interfaces, and with UDP Port Number and IP Address
set to 0'.</t>
<t>the message SHOULD include a Timestamp option and a Nonce
option.</t>
<t>the message includes a Redirected Header Option (RHO) that
contains the originating packet truncated to ensure that at
least the network-layer header is included but the size of the
message does not exceed 1280 bytes.</t>
</list></t>
<t>Note that the act of sending Predirect messages is cited as
"MAY", since Client ('A') may have advanced knowledge that the
direct path to Client ('B') would be unusable or otherwise
undesirable. If the direct path later becomes unusable after the
initial route optimization, Client ('A') simply allows packets to
again flow through Server ('S1').</t>
</section>
<section anchor="relaying_pre"
title="Re-encapsulating and Relaying Predirects">
<t>When Server ('S1') receives a Predirect message from Client
('A'), it first verifies that the TLLAOs in the Predirect are a
proper subset of the Link IDs in Client ('A')'s neighbor cache
entry. If the Client's TLLAOs are not acceptable, Server ('S1')
discards the message. Otherwise, Server ('S1') validates the message
according to the ICMPv6 Redirect message validation rules in Section
8.1 of <xref target="RFC4861"/>, except that the Predirect has
Code=1. Server ('S1') also verifies that Client ('A') is authorized
to use the Prefix Length in the Predirect when applied to the AERO
address in the network-layer source address by searching for the
AERO address in the neighbor cache. If validation fails, Server
('S1') discards the Predirect; otherwise, it copies the correct UDP
Port numbers and IP Addresses for Client ('A')'s links into the
(previously empty) TLLAOs.</t>
<t>Server ('S1') then examines the network-layer destination address
of the Predirect to determine the next hop toward Client ('B') by
searching for the AERO address in the neighbor cache. Since Client
('B') is not one of its neighbors, Server ('S1') re-encapsulates the
Predirect and relays it via Relay ('R') by changing the link-layer
source address of the message to 'L2(S1)' and changing the
link-layer destination address to 'L2(R)'. Server ('S1') finally
forwards the re-encapsulated message to Relay ('R') without
decrementing the network-layer TTL/Hop Limit field.</t>
<t>When Relay ('R') receives the Predirect message from Server
('S1') it determines that Server ('S2') is the next hop toward
Client ('B') by consulting its forwarding table. Relay ('R') then
re-encapsulates the Predirect while changing the link-layer source
address to 'L2(R)' and changing the link-layer destination address
to 'L2(S2)'. Relay ('R') then relays the Predirect via Server
('S2').</t>
<t>When Server ('S2') receives the Predirect message from Relay
('R') it determines that Client ('B') is a neighbor by consulting
its neighbor cache. Server ('S2') then re-encapsulates the Predirect
while changing the link-layer source address to 'L2(S2)' and
changing the link-layer destination address to 'L2(B)'. Server
('S2') then forwards the message to Client ('B').</t>
</section>
<section anchor="processing_pre"
title="Processing Predirects and Sending Redirects">
<t>When Client ('B') receives the Predirect message, it accepts the
Predirect only if the message has a link-layer source address of one
of its Servers (e.g., L2(S2)). Client ('B') further accepts the
message only if it is willing to serve as a redirection target.
Next, Client ('B') validates the message according to the ICMPv6
Redirect message validation rules in Section 8.1 of <xref
target="RFC4861"/>, except that it accepts the message even though
Code=1 and even though the network-layer source address is not that
of it's current first-hop router.</t>
<t>In the reference operational scenario, when Client ('B') receives
a valid Predirect message, it either creates or updates a dynamic
neighbor cache entry that stores the Target Address of the message
as the network-layer address of Client ('A') , stores the link-layer
addresses found in the TLLAOs as the link-layer addresses of Client
('A') and stores the Prefix Length as the length to be applied to
the network-layer address for forwarding purposes. Client ('B') then
sets AcceptTime for the neighbor cache entry to ACCEPT_TIME.</t>
<t>After processing the message, Client ('B') prepares a Redirect
message response as follows:</t>
<t><list style="symbols">
<t>the link-layer source address is set to 'L2(B)' (i.e., the
link-layer address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the link-layer destination address is set to 'L2(S2)' (i.e.,
the link-layer address of Server ('S2')).</t>
<t>the network-layer source address is set to fe80::2001:db8:1:0
(i.e., the AERO address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the network-layer destination address is set to
fe80::2001:db8:0:0 (i.e., the AERO address of Client ('A')).</t>
<t>the Type is set to 137.</t>
<t>the Code is set to 0 to indicate "Redirect".</t>
<t>the Prefix Length is set to the length of the prefix to be
applied to the Target Address.</t>
<t>the Target Address is set to fe80::2001:db8:1:0 (i.e., the
AERO address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the Destination Address is set to the destination address of
the originating packet that triggered the Redirection event. (If
the originating packet is an IPv4 packet, the address is
constructed in IPv4-compatible IPv6 address format).</t>
<t>the message includes one or more TLLAOs with Link ID and
Preference set to appropriate values for Client ('B')'s
underlying interfaces, and with UDP Port Number and IP Address
set to '0'.</t>
<t>the message SHOULD include a Timestamp option and MUST echo
the Nonce option received in the Predirect (i.e., if a Nonce
option is included).</t>
<t>the message includes as much of the RHO copied from the
corresponding AERO Predirect message as possible such that at
least the network-layer header is included but the size of the
message does not exceed 1280 bytes.</t>
</list></t>
<t>After Client ('B') prepares the Redirect message, it sends the
message to Server ('S2').</t>
</section>
<section anchor="relaying_re"
title="Re-encapsulating and Relaying Redirects">
<t>When Server ('S2') receives a Redirect message from Client ('B'),
it first verifies that the TLLAOs in the Redirect are a proper
subset of the Link IDs in Client ('B')'s neighbor cache entry. If
the Client's TLLAOs are not acceptable, Server ('S2') discards the
message. Otherwise, Server ('S2') validates the message according to
the ICMPv6 Redirect message validation rules in Section 8.1 of <xref
target="RFC4861"/>. Server ('S2') also verifies that Client ('B') is
authorized to use the Prefix Length in the Redirect when applied to
the AERO address in the network-layer source address by searching
for the AERO address in the neighbor cache. If validation fails,
Server ('S2') discards the Predirect; otherwise, it copies the
correct UDP Port numbers and IP Addresses for Client ('B')'s links
into the (previously empty) TLLAOs.</t>
<t>Server ('S2') then examines the network-layer destination address
of the Predirect to determine the next hop toward Client ('A') by
searching for the AERO address in the neighbor cache. Since Client
('A') is not one of its neighbors, Server ('S2') re-encapsulates the
Predirect and relays it via Relay ('R') by changing the link-layer
source address of the message to 'L2(S2)' and changing the
link-layer destination address to 'L2(R)'. Server ('S2') finally
forwards the re-encapsulated message to Relay ('R') without
decrementing the network-layer TTL/Hop Limit field.</t>
<t>When Relay ('R') receives the Predirect message from Server
('S2') it determines that Server ('S1') is the next hop toward
Client ('A') by consulting its forwarding table. Relay ('R') then
re-encapsulates the Predirect while changing the link-layer source
address to 'L2(R)' and changing the link-layer destination address
to 'L2(S1)'. Relay ('R') then relays the Predirect via Server
('S1').</t>
<t>When Server ('S1') receives the Predirect message from Relay
('R') it determines that Client ('A') is a neighbor by consulting
its neighbor cache. Server ('S1') then re-encapsulates the Predirect
while changing the link-layer source address to 'L2(S1)' and
changing the link-layer destination address to 'L2(A)'. Server
('S1') then forwards the message to Client ('A').</t>
</section>
<section anchor="processing_re" title="Processing Redirects">
<t>When Client ('A') receives the Redirect message, it accepts the
message only if it has a link-layer source address of one of its
Servers (e.g., ''L2(S1)'). Next, Client ('A') validates the message
according to the ICMPv6 Redirect message validation rules in Section
8.1 of <xref target="RFC4861"/>, except that it accepts the message
even though the network-layer source address is not that of it's
current first-hop router. Following validation, Client ('A') then
processes the message as follows.</t>
<t>In the reference operational scenario, when Client ('A') receives
the Redirect message, it either creates or updates a dynamic
neighbor cache entry that stores the Target Address of the message
as the network-layer address of Client ('B'), stores the link-layer
addresses found in the TLLAOs as the link-layer addresses of Client
('B') and stores the Prefix Length as the length to be applied to
the network-layer address for forwarding purposes. Client ('A') then
sets ForwardTime for the neighbor cache entry to FORWARD_TIME.</t>
<t>Now, Client ('A') has a neighbor cache entry with a valid
ForwardTime value, while Client ('B') has a neighbor cache entry
with a valid AcceptTime value. Thereafter, Client ('A') may forward
ordinary network-layer data packets directly to Client ("B") without
involving any intermediate nodes, and Client ('B') can verify that
the packets came from an acceptable source. (In order for Client
('B') to forward packets to Client ('A'), a corresponding
Predirect/Redirect message exchange is required in the reverse
direction; hence, the mechanism is asymmetric.)</t>
</section>
<section anchor="server_re" title="Server-Oriented Redirection">
<t>In some environments, the Server nearest the target Client may
need to serve as the redirection target, e.g., if direct
Client-to-Client communications are not possible. In that case, the
Server prepares the Redirect message the same as if it were the
destination Client (see: Section 3.9.6), except that it writes its
own link-layer address in the TLLAO option. The Server must then
maintain a neighbor cache entry for the redirected source
Client.</t>
</section>
</section>
<section anchor="nud" title="Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD)">
<t>AERO nodes perform NUD by sending unicast NS messages to elicit
solicited NA messages from neighbors the same as described in <xref
target="RFC4861"/>. When an AERO node sends an NS/NA message, it MUST
use its link-local address as the IPv6 source address and the
link-local address of the neighbor as the IPv6 destination address.
When an AERO node receives an NS message or a solicited NA message, it
accepts the message if it has a neighbor cache entry for the neighbor;
otherwise, it ignores the message.</t>
<t>When a source Client is redirected to a target Client it SHOULD
test the direct path by sending an initial NS message to elicit a
solicited NA response. While testing the path, the source Client can
optionally continue sending packets via the Server, maintain a small
queue of packets until target reachability is confirmed, or
(optimistically) allow packets to flow directly to the target. The
source Client SHOULD thereafter continue to test the direct path to
the target Client (see Section 7.3 of <xref target="RFC4861"/>)
periodically in order to keep dynamic neighbor cache entries
alive.</t>
<t>In particular, while the source Client is actively sending packets
to the target Client it SHOULD also send NS messages separated by
RETRANS_TIMER milliseconds in order to receive solicited NA messages.
If the source Client is unable to elicit a solicited NA response from
the target Client after MAX_RETRY attempts, it SHOULD set ForwardTime
to 0 and resume sending packets via one of its Servers. Otherwise, the
source Client considers the path usable and SHOULD thereafter process
any link-layer errors as a hint that the direct path to the target
Client has either failed or has become intermittent.</t>
<t>When a target Client receives an NS message from a source Client,
it resets AcceptTime to ACCEPT_TIME if a neighbor cache entry exists;
otherwise, it discards the NS message. If ForwardTime is non-zero, the
target Client then sends a solicited NA message to the link-layer
address of the source Client; otherwise, it sends the solicited NA
message to the link-layer address of one of its Servers.</t>
<t>When a source Client receives a solicited NA message from a target
Client, it resets ForwardTime to FORWARD_TIME if a neighbor cache
entry exists; otherwise, it discards the NA message.</t>
<t>When ForwardTime for a dynamic neighbor cache entry expires, the
source Client resumes sending any subsequent packets via a Server and
may (eventually) attempt to re-initiate the AERO redirection process.
When AcceptTime for a dynamic neighbor cache entry expires, the target
Client discards any subsequent packets received directly from the
source Client. When both ForwardTime and AcceptTime for a dynamic
neighbor cache entry expire, the Client deletes the neighbor cache
entry.</t>
</section>
<section title="Mobility Management">
<section title="Announcing Link-Layer Address Changes">
<t>When a Client needs to change its link-layer address, e.g., due
to a mobility event, it performs an immediate DHCPv6 Rebind/Reply
exchange via each of its Servers using the new link-layer address as
the source and with a CLLAO that includes the correct Link ID and
Preference values. If authentication succeeds, the Server then
update its neighbor cache and sends a DHCPv6 Reply.</t>
<t>Next, the Client sends unsolicited NA messages to each of its
correspondent Client neighbors using the same procedures as
specified in Section 7.2.6 of <xref target="RFC4861"/>, except that
it sends the messages as unicast to each neighbor via a Server
instead of multicast. In this process, the Client should send no
more than MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTISEMENT messages separated by no less
than RETRANS_TIMER seconds to each neighbor.</t>
<t>With reference to <xref target="no-onlink-prefix-fig"/>, Client
('B') sends unicast unsolicited NA messages to Client ('A') via
Server ('S2') as follows:</t>
<t><list style="symbols">
<t>the link-layer source address is set to 'L2(B)' (i.e., the
link-layer address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the link-layer destination address is set to 'L2(S2)' (i.e.,
the link-layer address of Server ('S2')).</t>
<t>the network-layer source address is set to fe80::2001:db8:1:0
(i.e., the AERO address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the network-layer destination address is set to
fe80::2001:db8:0:0 (i.e., the AERO address of Client ('A')).</t>
<t>the Type is set to 136.</t>
<t>the Code is set to 0.</t>
<t>the Solicited flag is set to 0.</t>
<t>the Override flag is set to 1.</t>
<t>the Target Address is set to fe80::2001:db8:1:0 (i.e., the
AERO address of Client ('B')).</t>
<t>the message includes one or more TLLAOs with Link ID and
Preference set to appropriate values for Client ('B')'s
underlying interfaces, and with UDP Port Number and IP Address
set to '0'.</t>
<t>the message SHOULD include a Timestamp option.</t>
</list>When Server ('S1') receives the NA message, it relays the
message in the same way as described for relaying Redirect messages
in Section 3.12.7. In particular, Server ('S1') copies the correct
UDP port numbers and IP addresses into the TLLAOs, changes the
link-layer source address to its own address, changes the link-layer
destination address to the address of Relay ('R'), then forwards the
NA message via the relaying chain the same as for a Redirect.</t>
<t>When Client ('A') receives the NA message, it accepts the message
only if it already has a neighbor cache entry for Client ('B') then
updates the link-layer addresses for Client ('B') based on the
addresses in the TLLAOs. However, Client ('A') MUST NOT update
ForwardTime since Client ('B') will not have updated AcceptTime.</t>
<t>Note that these unsolicited NA messages are unacknowledged;
hence, Client ('B') has no way of knowing whether Client ('A') has
received them. If the messages are somehow lost, however, Client
('A') will soon learn of the mobility event via the NUD procedures
specified in Section 3.13.</t>
</section>
<section title="Bringing New Links Into Service">
<t>When a Client needs to bring a new underlying interface into
service (e.g., when it activates a new data link), it performs an
immediate Rebind/Reply exchange via each of its Servers using the
new link-layer address as the source address and with a CLLAO that
includes the new Link ID and Preference values. If authentication
succeeds, the Server then updates its neighbor cache and sends a
DHCPv6 Reply. The Client MAY then send unsolicited NA messages to
each of its correspondent Clients to inform them of the new
link-layer address as described in Section 3.14.1.</t>
</section>
<section title="Removing Existing Links from Service">
<t>When a Client needs to remove an existing underlying interface
from service (e.g., when it de-activates an existing data link), it
performs an immediate Rebind/Reply exchange via each of its Servers
over any available link with a CLLAO that includes the deprecated
Link ID and a Preference value of 0. If authentication succeeds, the
Server then updates its neighbor cache and sends a DHCPv6 Reply. The
Client SHOULD then send unsolicited NA messages to each of its
correspondent Clients to inform them of the deprecated link-layer
address as described in Section 3.14.1.</t>
</section>
<section title="Moving to a New Server">
<t>When a Client associates with a new Server, it performs the
Client procedures specified in Section 3.10.</t>
<t>When a Client disassociates with an existing Server, it sends a
DHCPv6 Release message to the unicast network layer address of the
old Server. The Client SHOULD send the message via a new Server
(i.e., by setting the link-layer destination address to the address
of the new Server) in case the old Server is unreachable at the link
layer, e.g., if the old Server is in a different network partition.
The new Server will forward the message to a Relay, which will in
turn forward the message to the old Server.</t>
<t>When the old Server receives the DHCPv6 Release, it first
authenticates the message. If authentication succeeds, the old
Server withdraws the IP route from the routing system and deletes
the neighbor cache entry for the Client. (The old Server MAY impose
a small delay before deleting the neighbor cache entry so that any
packets already in the system can still be delivered to the Client.)
The old Server then returns a DHCPv6 Reply message via a Relay. The
Client can then use the Reply message to verify that the termination
signal has been processed, and can delete both the default route and
the neighbor cache entry for the old Server.</t>
<t>Clients SHOULD NOT move rapidly between Servers in order to avoid
causing unpredictable oscillations in the Server/Relay routing
system. Such oscillations could result in intermittent reachability
for the Client itself, while causing little harm to the network due
to routing protocol dampening. Examples of when a Client might wish
to change to a different Server include a Server that has gone
unreachable, topological movements of significant distance, etc.</t>
</section>
</section>
<section anchor="version"
title="Encapsulation Protocol Version Considerations">
<t>A source Client may connect only to an IPvX underlying network,
while the target Client connects only to an IPvY underlying network.
In that case, the target and source Clients have no means for reaching
each other directly (since they connect to underlying networks of
different IP protocol versions) and so must ignore any redirection
messages and continue to send packets via the Server.</t>
</section>
<section title="Multicast Considerations">
<t>When the underlying network does not support multicast, AERO nodes
map IPv6 link-scoped multicast addresses (including
'All_DHCP_Relay_Agents_and_Servers') to the link-layer address of a
Server.</t>
<t>When the underlying network supports multicast, AERO nodes use the
multicast address mapping specification found in <xref
target="RFC2529"/> for IPv4 underlying networks and use a direct
multicast mapping for IPv6 underlying networks. (In the latter case,
"direct multicast mapping" means that if the IPv6 multicast
destination address of the encapsulated packet is "M", then the IPv6
multicast destination address of the encapsulating header is also
"M".)</t>
</section>
<section title="Operation on AERO Links Without DHCPv6 Services">
<t>When Servers on the AERO link do not provide DHCPv6 services,
operation can still be accommodated through administrative
configuration of ACPs on AERO Clients. In that case, administrative
configurations of AERO interface neighbor cache entries on both the
Server and Client are also necessary. However, this may interfere with
the ability for Clients to dynamically change to new Servers, and can
expose the AERO link to misconfigurations unless the administrative
configurations are carefully coordinated.</t>
</section>
<section title="Operation on Server-less AERO Links">
<t>In some AERO link scenarios, there may be no Servers on the link
and/or no need for Clients to use a Server as an intermediary trust
anchor. In that case, each Client acts as a Server unto itself to
establish neighbor cache entries by performing direct Client-to-Client
IPv6 ND message exchanges, and some other form of trust basis must be
applied so that each Client can verify that the prospective neighbor
is authorized to use its claimed ACP.</t>
<t>When there is no Server on the link, Clients must arrange to
receive ACPs and publish them via a secure alternate prefix delegation
authority through some means outside the scope of this document.</t>
</section>
</section>
<section anchor="implement" title="Implementation Status">
<t>An application-layer implementation is in progress.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="iana" title="IANA Considerations">
<t>IANA is instructed to assign a new 2-octet Hardware Type number
"TBD1" for AERO in the "arp-parameters" registry per Section 2 of <xref
target="RFC5494"/>. The number is assigned from the 2-octet Unassigned
range with Hardware Type "AERO" and with this document as the
reference.</t>
<t>IANA is instructed to assign a 4-octet Enterprise Number "TBD2" for
AERO in the "enterprise-numbers" registry per <xref
target="RFC3315"/>.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="secure" title="Security Considerations">
<t>AERO link security considerations are the same as for standard IPv6
Neighbor Discovery <xref target="RFC4861"/> except that AERO improves on
some aspects. In particular, AERO uses a trust basis between Clients and
Servers, where the Clients only engage in the AERO mechanism when it is
facilitated by a trust anchor. AERO nodes SHOULD also use DHCPv6
securing services (e.g., DHCPv6 authentication, <xref
target="I-D.ietf-dhc-sedhcpv6"/>, etc.) for Client authentication and
network admission control.</t>
<t>AERO Redirect, Predirect and unsolicited NA messages SHOULD include a
Timestamp option (see Section 5.3 of <xref target="RFC3971"/>) that
other AERO nodes can use to verify the message time of origin. AERO
Predirect, NS and RS messages SHOULD include a Nonce option (see Section
5.3 of <xref target="RFC3971"/>) that recipients echo back in
corresponding responses.</t>
<t>AERO links must be protected against link-layer address spoofing
attacks in which an attacker on the link pretends to be a trusted
neighbor. Links that provide link-layer securing mechanisms (e.g., IEEE
802.1X WLANs) and links that provide physical security (e.g., enterprise
network wired LANs) provide a first line of defense that is often
sufficient. In other instances, additional securing mechanisms such as
Secure Neighbor Discovery (SeND) <xref target="RFC3971"/>, IPsec <xref
target="RFC4301"/> or TLS <xref target="RFC5246"/> may be necessary.</t>
<t>AERO Clients MUST ensure that their connectivity is not used by
unauthorized nodes on their EUNs to gain access to a protected network,
i.e., AERO Clients that act as routers MUST NOT provide routing services
for unauthorized nodes. (This concern is no different than for ordinary
hosts that receive an IP address delegation but then "share" the address
with unauthorized nodes via a NAT function.)</t>
<t>On some AERO links, establishment and maintenance of a direct path
between neighbors requires secured coordination such as through the
Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2) protocol <xref target="RFC5996"/> to
establish a security association.</t>
</section>
<section anchor="ack" title="Acknowledgements">
<t>Discussions both on IETF lists and in private exchanges helped shape
some of the concepts in this work. Individuals who contributed insights
include Mikael Abrahamsson, Fred Baker, Stewart Bryant, Brian Carpenter,
Wojciech Dec, Ralph Droms, Brian Haberman, Joel Halpern, Sascha Hlusiak,
Lee Howard, Andre Kostur, Ted Lemon, Joe Touch and Bernie Volz. Members
of the IESG also provided valuable input during their review process
that greatly improved the document. Special thanks go to Stewart Bryant,
Joel Halpern and Brian Haberman for their shepherding guidance.</t>
<t>This work has further been encouraged and supported by Boeing
colleagues including Keith Bartley, Dave Bernhardt, Cam Brodie,
Balaguruna Chidambaram, Claudiu Danilov, Wen Fang, Anthony Gregory, Jeff
Holland, Ed King, Gen MacLean, Kent Shuey, Brian Skeen, Mike Slane,
Julie Wulff, Yueli Yang, and other members of the BR&T and BIT
mobile networking teams.</t>
<t>Earlier works on NBMA tunneling approaches are found in <xref
target="RFC2529"/><xref target="RFC5214"/><xref target="RFC5569"/>.</t>
</section>
</middle>
<back>
<references title="Normative References">
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.0768"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.0791"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.0792"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2119"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2003"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2460"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2473"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4213"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4861"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4862"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6434"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.3633"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.3315"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.3971"?>
</references>
<references title="Informative References">
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2675"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.1930"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4271"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.2529"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5214"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4301"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5569"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6204"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6980"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.0879"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4821"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6691"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6935"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6936"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6438"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6706"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4963"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6864"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6146"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.7078"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5996"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6939"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5522"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4291"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.4994"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5494"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.5246"?>
<?rfc include="reference.RFC.6355"?>
<?rfc include="reference.I-D.ietf-dhc-sedhcpv6"?>
</references>
</back>
</rfc>
| PAFTECH AB 2003-2026 | 2026-04-24 02:40:43 |