RFC 7973

Assignment of an Ethertype for IPv6 with Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN) Encapsulation

📅 published November 2016, from ietf

Assignment of an Ethertype for IPv6 with Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN) Encapsulation 💖

okay bestie, this is RFC 7973 🎀 Written by Ralph Droms and Paul Duffy (both at Cisco) and published in November 2016. It's Informational, which means it's not a Standards Track spec, but it's published so everyone can see it 🌸 It's also part of the IETF's ISSN 2070-1721 series. The title block doesn't list anything it obsoletes or updates, so it's a standalone little announcement, no drama 🫶

Abstract ✨

ok so when IPv6 datagrams that use LoWPAN encapsulation (as defined in RFC 4944) get carried over Layer 2 tech like Ethernet, they must be identified so the receiver can correctly interpret the encoded IPv6 datagram 🧚 The IETF officially asked for an Ethertype for exactly that, and this document reports that it got one 🦋

Status of This Memo 💅

This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification. It's published for informational purposes 🍓

It's a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and 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 check Section 2 of RFC 7841 for that 🔥

For the current status, errata, and how to give feedback, go to http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7973 💜

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 date of publication. Please review these carefully, because they describe your rights and restrictions for this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions, and they're provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License 🫶

Table of Contents 🎀

1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
2.  Assignment of an Ethertype by IEEE  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
5.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

1. Introduction ✨

okay so the IETF defined "LoWPAN encapsulation," which is a format for encapsulating IPv6 [RFC2460] datagrams [RFC4944]. This doc treats any IPv6 datagram that uses the Dispatch octet from Section 5.1 of RFC 4944 as using LoWPAN encapsulation 💅 RFC 4944's version of LoWPAN encapsulation has been updated by [RFC6282], and future IETF Standards may extend and modify it too 🌸

The Layer 2 tech originally meant for IPv6 datagrams with LoWPAN encapsulation is [IEEE.802.15.4_2011], and that one doesn't provide for a protocol switch in its Layer 2 headers. That's the whole reason we need this 😭

Here are some example use cases for Ethertype-based protocol dispatch of LoWPAN-encapsulated IPv6 datagrams:

Using LoWPAN encapsulation together with IEEE 802.15.9 Multiplexed Data Service [IEEE802159] is a big one. It gives you upper layer protocol dispatch for IEEE 802.15.4 networks. The Wi-SUN Alliance plans to use the 15.9 Multiplexed Data Information Element for upper layer protocol dispatch. As IEEE 802.15.9 specifies, dispatching LoWPAN encapsulation frames will require that an Ethertype be assigned for LoWPAN encapsulation 🧚
LoWPAN encapsulation will likely be needed for the Wi-Fi Alliance's HaLoW [HALOW] standard, which does low-power operation in the 900 MHz band 🦋
Other Layer 2 techs like Ethernet, plus debugging tools like Wireshark, need a unique Protocol Type field for LoWPAN encapsulation so they can properly interpret IPv6 datagrams that use it 👑
Any existing or future Layer 2 tech that uses Ethertype-based upper layer dispatch can use the Ethertype proposed in this document to dispatch LoWPAN-encapsulated IPv6 datagrams 💜

2. Assignment of an Ethertype by IEEE 🍓

The IETF formally submitted a request to IEEE for an Ethertype for IPv6 datagrams using LoWPAN encapsulation. IEEE responded by assigning Ethertype 0xA0ED for this purpose. The assignment has been recorded by IEEE [IEEE-ETHERTYPES] 🎉

3. IANA Considerations 🌈

The following entry has been added to the "ETHER TYPES" subregistry of the "IEEE 802 Numbers" registry [IANA-IEEE802] 💅

   Ethertype (decimal): 41197
   Ethertype (hex): A0ED
   Exp. Ethernet (decimal): -
   Exp. Ethernet (octal): -
   Description: LoWPAN encapsulation
   References: RFC 7973 (this document)

4. Security Considerations 💀

⚠️ okay this is the serious part, bestie. This document only requests an Ethertype for IPv6 datagrams using LoWPAN encapsulation. It has no incremental security implications beyond those already in the relevant protocols. So go read the security sections of those protocols, because that's where the actual security story lives 🔒

Don't skip the security considerations of the underlying protocols just because this doc says it adds nothing new. This doc only holds the Ethertype; the protocols themselves carry the risk.

5. Normative References 📚

These are the references the document relies on, copied exactly:

[HALOW]    Wi-Fi Alliance, "Wi-Fi HaLow",
           <http://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-halow>.

[IANA-IEEE802]
           IANA, "IEEE 802 Numbers",
           <http://www.iana.org/assignments/ieee-802-numbers>.

[IEEE-ETHERTYPES]
           IEEE, "Ethertype",
           <http://standards-oui.ieee.org/ethertype/eth.txt>.

[IEEE.802.15.4_2011]
           IEEE, "IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area
           networks--Part 15.4: Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area
           Networks (LR-WPANs)", IEEE 802.15.4-2011,
           DOI 10.1109/ieeestd.2011.6012487, September 2011,
           <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/
           opac?punumber=6012485>.

[IEEE802159]
           IEEE, "IEEE Draft Recommended Practice for Transport of
           Key Management Protocol (KMP) Datagrams",
           IEEE P802.15.9/D04, May 2015,
           <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/
           articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7272753>.

[RFC2460]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
           (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, DOI 10.17487/RFC2460,
           December 1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2460>.

[RFC4944]  Montenegro, G., Kushalnagar, N., Hui, J., and D. Culler,
           "Transmission of IPv6 Packets over IEEE 802.15.4
           Networks", RFC 4944, DOI 10.17487/RFC4944, September 2007,
           <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4944>.

[RFC6282]  Hui, J., Ed. and P. Thubert, "Compression Format for IPv6
           Datagrams over IEEE 802.15.4-Based Networks", RFC 6282,
           DOI 10.17487/RFC6282, September 2011,
           <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6282>.

Authors' Addresses 🫶

Ralph Droms

Email: rdroms.ietf@gmail.com


Paul Duffy
Cisco
1414 Massachusetts Ave.
Boxborough, Massachusetts  01719
United States of America

Phone: +1 978 204 9993
Email: paduffy@cisco.com

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ietf: rfc7973 2016-11
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