RFC 6061

Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

📅 published January 2011, from ietf

RFC 6061: the "nena" URN namespace 🎀

Okay bestie, this one is RFC 6061, and it's giving namespace registration paperwork, but make it iconic ✨. It's an Informational document (not a Standards Track spec, so it's published just to share info 💅). It was written by B. Rosen from NeuStar and dates from January 2011, with ISSN 2070-1721. The title block doesn't list any RFCs it obsoletes or updates, so it isn't replacing or changing anything else 🫶.

The title is Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Basically, it's the paperwork that gets the nena namespace ID registered for the National Emergency Number Association's resources 🚨.

Abstract ✨

Okay so the abstract says this document describes the Namespace Identifier (NID) "nena" for Uniform Resource Name (URN) resources published by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). NENA defines and manages resources that use this URN model 💖. The management stuff for these and other resource types is handled by the NENA Registry System (NRS) 🧚.

Status of This Memo 🌸

Not an Internet Standards Track spec, just published for info, so no pressure 🦋.

This is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and it represents the consensus of the IETF community. It got public review and was approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) 👑. Not every IESG-approved doc is a candidate for any level of Internet Standard, so see Section 2 of RFC 5741 for the details 🤓.

For current status, errata, and how to send feedback, check http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6061 💜.

Copyright Notice 💅

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the publication date. Please read those carefully, since they spell out your rights and restrictions for this doc 📜. Code Components pulled from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions, and they come without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License 🫶.

Table of Contents 🍓

1. Introduction ....................................................2
2. URN Specification for "nena" NID ................................2
3. Examples ........................................................4
4. Namespace Considerations ........................................5
5. Community Considerations ........................................5
6. Security Considerations .........................................6
7. IANA Considerations .............................................6
8. Acknowledgements ................................................6
9. References ......................................................7
   9.1. Normative References .......................................7
   9.2. Informative References .....................................7

1. Introduction ✨

Okay so the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is in the middle of setting standards, processes, and procedures for an IP-based Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) for all public safety entities in North America 🚨. Some of the stuff NENA is building needs XML namespaces that are managed so they stay unique and persistent 💖. To make the uniqueness absolute, NENA needs to register a specific Uniform Resource Name (URN) [RFC2141] Namespace ID (NID) 🔥. This document defines and registers that namespace, following [RFC3406] 🦋.

2. URN Specification for "nena" NID 👑

Namespace ID

Namespace ID: nena 🎀

Registration information

registration version number: 1
registration date: 2010-10-13

Declared registrant of the namespace

Registering organization
   Name:       National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
   Address:    4350 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 750
               Arlington, VA  22203-1695

Designated contact

Role:    NENA Registry Services Administrator
Email:   nrs-admin@nena.org

Declaration of syntactic structure

The Namespace Specific String (NSS) of every URN that uses the "nena" NID will have this structure 💅:

{NENAclass}:{ClassSpecificString}

The "NENAclass" follows the URN syntax requirements in [RFC2141] and defines a specific class of resource type 🧚. Each class has its own labeling scheme, covered by "ClassSpecificString", which also follows the naming requirements of [RFC2141] 🌈.

NENA keeps a naming authority, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Registry System (NRS). The NRS manages the assignment of "NENAclass" values and the specific registration values for each class ✨. Other NENA standards docs will define the "ClassSpecificStrings" for a given "NENAclass" 💜.

Relevant ancillary documentation

The National Emergency Number Association Registry System (NRS) gives info on the registered resources and the registrations for each one. More about the NRS and the registration activities and procedures can be found in "NENA Registry System Standard", NENA 70-001 [NENA70-001], available at http://www.nena.org/ 📚.

Identifier uniqueness considerations

The NRS manages resources using the "nena" NID and is the authority for managing those resources and their associated strings 🔥. The NRS shall ensure the uniqueness of all nena URNs by checking them against the list of existing namespace names, as documented in NENA 70-001 [NENA70-001] 🫶.

Identifier persistence considerations

The NRS will provide clear documentation of the registered uses of the "nena" NID 🎀. It will set up a registry for "NENAclass", as defined in NENA08-003 [NENA08-003] 💖. Each "NENAclass" will have its own description in the registry and may have its own sub-registry 🌸. Specifically, new "NENAclass" registry entries will require a full NENA Technical Standard document 👑.

The NRS will keep a website at a stable address that provides XML and text renderings of the urn:nena registry 💅.

Process of identifier assignment

The NRS processes and procedures for identifier assignment are documented in NENA 07-001 [NENA70-001] 🧚. The registry that controls the urn:nena namespace is defined in NENA 08-003 [NENA08-003] ✨. Specifically, assignments to the "NENAclass" registry will require a NENA Technical Standard document 🦋. Subregistries for particular "NENAclasses" may be set up by those technical standards 🍓. Subregistries may be given more liberal management policies as defined in NENA 70-001 [NENA70-001], but they must be NRS managed and will not be permitted to be delegated to any other organization or registry 🔥. So the NRS manages the entire urn:nena tree, full stop 💅.

Process for identifier resolution

The namespace isn't currently listed with a Resolution Discovery System (RDS), but nothing about the namespace prohibits defining appropriate resolution methods in the future or listing with an RDS later 🌈.

Rules for lexical equivalence

No special considerations; the rules for lexical equivalence of [RFC2141] apply 🎀.

Conformance with URN syntax

No special considerations 💖.

Validation mechanism

None specified. URN assignment is handled by procedures set up to support NENA activities 🌸.

Scope

Global 🌍✨

3. Examples 🧚

Okay these are representative URNs that the NRS could assign. They might not be the actual strings that end up getting assigned 🙈.

NENAresource "psaproute"
Syntax: "urn:nena:emergencyresponders:<responder name>"
ResourceSpecificString: simple string with name of responder,
                        defined in a subregistry
Use: Defines the URN to be used for queries to an NG9-1-1 Emergency
Call Routing Function that provides URIs for responding agencies.

Examples:

   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:ambulance
   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:fire
   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:police
   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:poison
   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:coastguard
   urn:nena:emergencyresponders:marine

4. Namespace Considerations 💜

NENA has been setting standards for emergency calling in North America for several decades 👑. It's building a bunch of apps and services on Internet protocols that are built on IETF standards 💅. Some of these services need their supporting info (data descriptions, attributes, and so on) to be fully specified 🔥. For things to work properly, descriptions of that supporting info have to exist and be available in a unique, reliable, and persistent way 🫶. Those dependencies are why namespaces, in one form or another, are needed. They let NENA define URNs that give cleaner, more general, more permanent, more reliable, and more controllable namespace names for NENA standards, while keeping NENA's URNs properly separate from the IETF-defined URNs 🎀.

NENA's work is ongoing and covers lots of technical areas, so binding to various other namespace repositories has been judged impractical 🙈. Each object or description defined in NENA could be related to multiple different namespaces, which could cause more conflicts of association 🌸. So the plan is to use the National Emergency Number Association Registry System, operated by NENA, as the naming authority for NENA-defined objects and descriptions 🧚.

5. Community Considerations 🌈

North American public safety orgs get a win from this namespace because they get permanent, reliable URNs to use with NENA-defined protocols 💖. The objects and descriptions needed for NENA-defined services are generally available for other orgs to use 🦋. NENA will provide access and support for name requests from these orgs, within the limits of the defined NRS processes and the specific urn:nena registry and subregistries ✨. That support can be provided in a timely and responsive way as new objects and descriptions come out 🔥. It'll work in a way similar to current IANA processes, as documented in NENA70-001 [NENA70-001] 💅.

The NRS sets up registries when a NENA Technical Standard calls for them. Those standards must give the NRS clear, concise instructions for creating and maintaining the registries 📜. The defined management policies are "NENA Technical Standard Required", "NENA Document Required", "Expert Review", and "First Come First Served", which match similar IANA management policies 🎀. NENA is also setting up a website for controlled entry of new registries and entries, and it automatically produces HTML and XML descriptions of registry contents that vendors and other consumers use 🫶.

6. Security Considerations 🔒

🚨 Okay bestie, the big security moment: there are no additional security considerations beyond the ones that normally come with using and resolving URNs in general 💀.

7. IANA Considerations 🦋

This document adds a new entry to the URN Namespaces registry 🎀. The namespace is "nena", and the defining document is this RFC 💖. You can find the entry in the Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespaces registry at http://www.iana.org, and any associated mirrors 🌸.

Part 1 done 🫶 part 2 is coming with Sections 8 and 9 and the references 👀

8. Acknowledgements 🎀

Huge thank-you to Alfred Hoenes (TR-Sys) 🫶 for reading everything so carefully and leaving such detailed comments and suggestions ✨. The author also wants everyone to know that the text from [RFC4358] 💜 formed the basis of this document, so that one gets credit too 🌸.

9. References 📚

9.1. Normative References

[RFC2141]      Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.

9.2. Informative References

[NENA08-003]   NENA, "Detailed Functional and Interface Specification
               for the NENA i3 Solution - Stage 3", NENA Standard
               08-003, September 2010.

[NENA70-001]   NENA, "NENA Registry System Standard", NENA
               Standard 70-001, September 2009.

[RFC3406]      Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P.
               Faltstrom, "Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace
               Definition Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406,
               October 2002.

[RFC4358]      Smith, D., "A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace
               for the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)", RFC 4358,
               January 2006.

Author's Address 🦋

Brian Rosen
NeuStar, Inc.
470 Conrad Dr.
Mars, PA  16046
US

EMail: br@brianrosen.net

📦 where this page comes from

ietf: rfc6061 2011-01
💖 girlified by claude-haiku-5-5 on 2026-10-17: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms