IP Meeting notes CAPWAP BOF 58th IETF Friday, November 14, 0900-1130 [Notes scribbled by Chris Hertel crh@ubiqx.mn.org] Agenda Bashing - The agenda was presented with no dissent. Update since Vienna Meeting - James Kempf - There were some critical comments on the CAPWAP workgroup charter. Issues raised included: + How would the CAPWAP WG coordinate with the IEEE? + The WG should focus on architecture. + The scope of the WG would need to be clarified. Problem Statement - Pat Calhoun - Four basic problems in current 802.11 wireless systems were identified: + Large networks contain too many devices (Access Points), all of which must be individually managed. + Variations in products and rich feature sets result in a configuration mess. + Wireless networks should be viewed as a single network, not as many. + There is no mechanism for authenticating Access Points to the wired infrastructure. - There are six start-ups with products that fit the general CAPWAP architecture. - The goal of standardizing protocols is plug-and-play interoperability between such products. - Questions: + Is this (the IETF standards process) the only way to achieve the stated goals? + Is there to be only one standard? + How is this an IETF problem? CAPWAP Architecture - Mahalingam Mani - Ease of Use + Central Management - Increased Security + Central policy decisions and enforcement - Architectures + Classic AP + Split AP + Split MAC + single AP Switch (Bridge) - Authentication + The Access Point (AP) and Access Controller (AC) should authenticate to one another. + Key exchange/management issues to be discussed. + Some discussion of the terms Access Controller (AC) vs. Access Router (AR). - Layer 2 / Layer 3 questions - Scalability + One AC or a group of ACs? > AC to AC communications * Peer to peer? * Hierarchy? * Hybrid? - Discussion of Architecture vs. descriptions of functional entities. + Define the *Functional* architecture. - Discussion about the Scope of CAPWAP and the time it might take to produce a workable protocol and specification. + What is the scope of the WG? + Will vendors cooperate via the IETF? DIRAC - Songwu Lu - Presentation describing a software-based wireless router system CAPWAP Issues - Dorothy Gellert - Question: Does this work belong in the IETF and/or the IEEE? + It does not change IEEE standards. + There is an IEEE liaison (Dorothy Stanley) + Technical Advisor (Bob O'Hara) - Dorothy Stanley provided an overview of IEEE documentation proceedures: + 802.11 is one document, the letters following the numbers indicate ammendments which will be incorporated. + Ammendments get rolled into a single document. Discussion: - Is "Secure Download" in scope. + Consensus: No. - Why re-invent discovery + WG will recommend an existing discovery mechanism - Is IP used just to justify creating an IETF WG? - Why discuss protocol work in the charter? + The charter should discuss architecture work. - Should there be more agreement on "proper" ways to split the architecture? + The focus should be on identifying and isolating functionality. - The WG will work with raw 802.11 protocols. + No vender extensions. - CAPWAP is all about interoperability. - The term Access Controller will be used instead of Access Router. - Is management not a MIB issue? IEEE 802.11 and CAPWAP/IETF interaction - Bob O'Hara will be technical advisor - 802.11 will review CAPWAP - The IEEE has study groups working on: + Mesh architectuers + Wireless performance and prediction + Public Access issues + Fast roaming |