2.3.5 Ad-Hoc Network Autoconfiguration (autoconf)

NOTE: This charter is a snapshot of the 70th IETF Meeting in Vancouver, BC Canada. It may now be out-of-date.

Last Modified: 2007-06-19

Chair(s):

Thomas Clausen <thomas.clausen@polytechnique.fr>
Shubhranshu Singh <shubhranshu@samsung.com>

Internet Area Director(s):

Jari Arkko <jari.arkko@piuha.net>
Mark Townsley <townsley@cisco.com>

Internet Area Advisor:

Jari Arkko <jari.arkko@piuha.net>

Mailing Lists:

General Discussion: autoconf@ietf.org
To Subscribe: https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/autoconf
Archive: http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/autoconf/current/index.html

Description of Working Group:

In order to communicate among themselves, ad hoc nodes (refer to RFC
2501) need to configure their network interface(s) with local
addresses that are valid within an ad hoc network. Ad hoc nodes may
also need to configure globally routable addresses, in order to
communicate with devices on the Internet.

From the IP layer perspective, a MANET presents itself as a L3
multi-hop network formed over a collection of links. Thus, each ad hoc
node in the MANET is, potentially, acting as a L3 router in order to
provide connectivity to other nodes within the MANET. Each ad hoc node
maintains host routes to other ad hoc nodes
within the MANET - in addition to network routes to destinations
outside the MANET. If connected to the Internet, MANETs are edge
networks, i.e. their boundary is defined by their edge routers. Due to
the nature of the links over which a MANET is formed, ad hoc nodes
within a MANET do not share access to a single multicast-capable link
for signaling. This implies that the usual delivery semantics of
link-local multicast and broadcast are not preserved within a MANET.

The address autoconfiguration related protocol specifications such as
RFCs 2462, 2461, as used in traditional IP networks, assume that
subnet-local signals (e.g. link-local multicast signals) are received
by each of the hosts on the particular subnet without being forwarded
by the routers defining the subnet boundary. Hence, ad hoc networks
(as defined and understood by the IETF MANET WG) cannot use these
protocol specifications as-is.

The main purpose of the AUTOCONF WG is to standardize mechanisms to be
used by ad hoc nodes for configuring unique local and/or globally
routable IPv6 addresses. The ad hoc nodes under consideration are,
once configured, expected to be able to support multi-hop
communication by running MANET routing protocols as developed by the
IETF MANET WG. An AUTOCONF mechanism should not be dependent on any
specific MANET routing protocol, however the routing protocol may
provide for optimizations. With this in mind, the goals of AUTOCONF WG
are to:

- Produce a "MANET architecture" document defining the MANET
architecture as is related to IP networks and the Internet.

- Produce a "terminology and problem statement" document, defining the
problem statement and goals for AUTOCONF.

- Develop an IPv6 address autoconfiguration mechanism to be used by ad
hoc nodes for configuring unique local addresses as well as, in cases
where Internet connectivity exists, globally routable unique
addresses.

- Develop a mechanism to promote configured address uniqueness in the
situation where different ad hoc networks merge.

Issues and requirements related to prefix and/or address providing
entities, such as an Internet gateway, will be addressed within the
group to the extent that they are directly related to the AUTOCONF
mechanisms. Security concerns related to AUTOCONF mechanisms will also
be discussed within the group.

The working group will reuse existing specifications whenever
reasonable and possible.

Goals and Milestones:

Done  Submit an initial 'MANET architecture' WG document
Done  Submit an initial 'terminology and problem statement' WG document
Aug 2007  Submit 'MANET architecture' document to IESG for publication as an informational RFC
Sep 2007  Submit 'terminology and problem statement' document to IESG for publication as an informational RFC
Dec 2007  Submit initial I-D of 'MANET router IPv6 prefix autoconfiguration mechanism' for WG review
Mar 2008  Revise documents based upon implementation experience Proposed Standard
Sep 2008  Submit 'MANET router IPv6 prefix autoconfiguration mechanism' to IESG for publication as Proposed Standard RFC
Nov 2008  Close or recharter the WG

Internet-Drafts:

  • draft-ietf-autoconf-manetarch-04.txt
  • draft-ietf-autoconf-statement-00.txt

    No Request For Comments

    Meeting Minutes


    Slides

    Agenda
    MANET Architecture
    Problem Statement
    Solution Space Analysis
    Evaluation Considerations
    Requirements
    Nemo4MANET