Hi,

On Jun 14, 2010, at 11:29 AM, Daniel Gavelle wrote:

> Samita,
> 
> An appendix describing typical use cases for the ABRO and context / prefix 
> distribution is a very good idea.

Yep, I will make a ticket on that. nd-10 is just about ready, so we probably 
won't get it in this version though.

> 
> I also think the text around section 8.1.3 and 8.1.4 could be clarified.  The 
> lines below imply that if two 6LBRs are sending different context information 
> then the 6LR needs to store and forward both sets of contexts.
> 
> 
> "The router keeps state for each 6LBR that it sees with an ABRO.  This
>   includes the version number, and the complete set of Prefix
>   Information options and 6LoWPAN Context options. "

Yes, this is a problem we have identified. Currently we are looking at adding a 
couple assumptions that make it clear that context must be kept consistent 
throughout a LoWPAN, etc. We also need to fix the draft in a few places that 
might break that (like the text above).

Cheers,
Zach

> 
> 
> From the discussions we have had, there should only ever be one set of 
> contexts in a correctly configured network and the 6LR only needs to store 
> (and forward) one set of context information.
> 
> Daniel.
> 
> 
> Samita Chakrabarti wrote:
>> Hi,
>>> From the discussions on this thread, it seems that there is a room for some
>> mis-configuration or mis-interpretation of the intent of usage of the
>> current low-power-nd draft in case of multiple 6LBRs. I agree that in the 
>> body of specification, we may not want to impose too
>> much restrictions based on a specific deployment, however, if it helps the
>> implementors and early adopters to provide some guideline on possible
>> problem avoidance - it makes sense to provide such examples/guidelines in
>> the Appendix section. Will that be a workable solution?
>> We know that the separation of two LoWPANs are expected to happen in L2 [
>> assuming the lowpower networks are configured with proper L2-security]. Also
>> implementation of 6LRs can have knobs to reject/ignore mismatched prefixes
>> from different 6LBRs. I have heard some discussions in a deployment where 
>> they might want to do
>> ND-09 RS in a unsecured link to get RA first to find out the default-router
>> address and use PANA authentication mechanism to get a group key for
>> L2-security. This breaks the assumption that LLN-ND operation will be done
>> on a secured l2-link. Anyway, I think discussing possible deployment issues 
>> and known solutions in
>> the Appendix would be helpful for interoperability and adoption of the
>> specification.
>> Thanks,
>> -Samita
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
>>> Of Erik Nordmark
>>> Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 5:59 AM
>>> To: Zach Shelby
>>> Cc: [email protected]
>>> Subject: Re: [6lowpan] Multiple 6LBRs
>>> 
>>> On 06/11/10 02:48 AM, Zach Shelby wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Yep, I agree with Erik here. In an enterprise environment you will be
>>>> able to manage the whole 6LBR infrastructure (and the contexts), so we
>>>> are OK there. In home environments you will probably keep LoWPANs
>>>> separate using L2 encryption.
>>> OK
>>> 
>>>> However as public/urban 6LoWPAN networks become more common (we are
>>>> deploying one right now in Oulu, Finland), there will be situations
>>>> where a 6LR will hear RAs originated from different authoritative
>>>> border routers with different points of attachment to the Internet
>>>> (and different sets of context). We have two choices what to do in
>>>> this situation:
>>> I think it is hard to discuss what technical approaches we should take
>> here
>>> without understanding something about the envisioned usage and associated
>>> business model.
>>> 
>>> The notion of having devices that pick up on any (wireless) connectivity
>> and
>>> just try to use it isn't something that we've seen anywhere else.
>>> 
>>> For instance, for a cell phone there is a business arrangement with an
>>> operator, combined with roaming agreements between operators, which ensure
>>> that the cell phone connects to a predictable set of operator networks.
>> (And
>>> in many cases the user can control the selection.) For free WiFi networks
>>> there is normally a user interface where the user can choose which network
>>> to associate with.
>>> 
>>> In both of those cases there isn't likely to be a radical change just
>>> because the radio connectivity changed.
>>> 
>>> What mechanisms will there be in this public 6LoWPAN for devices to select
>>> which 6lowpans they will participate in? What prevents the public 6LoWPAN
>>> from interfering with devices that are part of a (private) factory or
>>> building 6LoWPAN?
>>> 
>>>> a) Say nothing about it. Here we have a risk that a poor 6LR
>>>> implementation will start mixing contexts, or will even advertise two
>>>> sets of RAs - which is obviously broken. This is the case Daniel (and
>>>> myself) are concerned about.
>>>> 
>>>> b) Explicitly say what the 6LR should do in this case. If we
>>>> explicitly forbid a 6LR from attaching to two different LoWPANs at the
>>>> same time, then this fixes this potential problem (it can obviously
>>>> still attach to multiple default routers in the same LoWPAN). This way
>>>> the host ->  6LR ->  6LBR attachments are always under the same
>>>> authoritative border router (which might be a coordinated one as
>>>> pointed out above).
>>> I don't think the fact that the network is route-over and we have 6LRs
>>> introduces anything fundamentally new. A single-hop network where the
>> hosts
>>> hear RAs from multiple routers is just as problematic. For example, the
>> host
>>> might configure an IP address from the prefix of operator A, and the
>> packets
>>> get routed via operator B, and ingress filtering blocks all those packets.
>>> (That is a fundamental issue in what could be called "ad-hoc multihoming";
>>> nothing specific to wireless or 6LoWPAN here.)
>>> 
>>> You say "forbid a 6LR from attaching ..." but there isn't any notion of
>>> attaching to a network in IP. This is something that is handled below IP
>>> (802.11 associations, PPP authentication, VLANs, or early stages of IP
>>> configuration in the case of PANA.)
>>> 
>>> The issue is that at whatever level that association happens, the same
>> level
>>> needs to provide sufficient isolation with respect to routing.
>>> That is necessary to avoid the mismatch between the addresses a node
>>> configures and where its packets are routed.
>>> 
>>>    Erik
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 6lowpan mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/6lowpan
>> _______________________________________________
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>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/6lowpan
> 
> -- 
> __________________________________________________
> Daniel Gavelle, Software Engineer
> Tel: +44 114 281 2655
> Fax: +44 114 281 2951
> Jennic Ltd, Furnival Street, Sheffield, S1 4QT, UK
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> http://www.jennic.com
> __________________________________________________

-- 
Zach Shelby, Chief Nerd, Sensinode Ltd.
http://zachshelby.org  - My blog "On the Internet of Things"
http://6lowpan.net - My book "6LoWPAN: The Wireless Embedded Internet"
Mobile: +358 40 7796297

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