I was thinking base64-encoded binary.
--Richard

On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 5:28 PM, Mike Jones <[email protected]>wrote:

>  BTW, what JSON data type did you intend to be used for the “spi” value?
> A JSON string?  A string with any structure, or an unconstrained Unicode
> string?  A base64url-encoded byte sequence?****
>
> ** **
>
>                                                             -- Mike****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Mike Jones
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 06, 2013 2:27 PM
> *To:* 'Richard Barnes'; [email protected]
> *Subject:* RE: [jose] SPI proposal****
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for writing this up, Richard.  I believe that captures the intent
> fairly well.****
>
> ** **
>
> As we’d discussed off-list, I believe that it would be more consistent if,
> in the case were you are using a previously cached “spi” value, that the
> header contained “alg”:”spi” and “spi”:*spi-value*.  That would maintain
> the invariant that implementations always use the “alg” value to determine
> what the rest of the structure is – albeit in this case, via an indirection.
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Also, then we’d register “spi” like any other “alg” value.  Other
> algorithms specify the use of particular header parameters.  This one would
> be no exception.  Registering it as an algorithm would also make it clear
> that it is up to implementations whether to support it or not.****
>
> ** **
>
> I don’t feel super-strongly about this, but I always try for consistency,
> where reasonable.  I think that this is such a case.****
>
> ** **
>
> Again, thanks for the write-up to help move this forward.****
>
> ** **
>
>                                                             Cheers,****
>
>                                                             -- Mike****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* [email protected] 
> [mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]>]
> *On Behalf Of *Richard Barnes
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 06, 2013 2:12 PM
> *To:* [email protected]
> *Subject:* [jose] SPI proposal****
>
> ** **
>
> To move us toward closing Issue #9 [9], here is some proposed text for an
> SPI [1] field.  To recall, SPI stands for "security parameters index",
> borrowing a term from IPsec.  The idea is that in cases where the same
> crypto parameters are being used repeatedly, this would save the parties
> from having to re-send the same parameters.****
>
> ** **
>
> The below text is designed for the JWE spec, but could be adapted for JWS
> (just keep header, ignore part about key/iv).  Similar text is probably
> needed for the encryption/decryption/signing/verification sections.****
>
> ** **
>
> Feedback welcome,****
>
> --Richard****
>
> ** **
>
> -----BEGIN-----****
>
> Section 4.1.X. "spi" Header Parameter****
>
> ** **
>
> The "spi" (Security Parameters Index) header parameter contains an opaque
> byte string that labels a set of security parameters.  This index is
> designed to enable the use of smaller headers in cases where entities will
> be re-using the same security parameters for several messages.****
>
> ** **
>
> Entities supporting the use of the "spi" parameter MUST maintain a table
> of cached security parameters.  When an entity receives an object whose
> header contains both "spi" and "alg" values, then it MUST cache the
> following values from the JWE, indexed by the "spi" value:****
>
> -- Contents of the JWE header****
>
> -- Encrypted Key****
>
> -- Initialization Vector****
>
> ** **
>
> If an object containing an "spi" parameter but no "alg" parameter, then it
> MUST NOT contain an Encrypted Key or Initialization Vector.  That is, it
> will have the form "header.ciphertext.integrity_value".  When a recipient
> receives such an object, it uses the "spi" value to retrieve cached header,
> key, and initialization vector and reconstructs a full JWE.  This full JWE
> can then be further processed according to the normal JWE processing rules.
>  If the recipient has no cached parameters for the "spi" value, the process
> MUST fail.****
>
> -----END-----****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> [9] http://tools.ietf.org/wg/jose/trac/ticket/9****
>
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