Internet Draft
GSMP Working Group                     Tom Worster, Ennovate Networks 
INTERNET DRAFT                            Avri Doria, Nortel Networks 
Standards Track                                  Expires January 2001 
July 2000 



        GSMP Packet Encapsulations for ATM, Ethernet and TCP 

                       <draft-ietf-gsmp-encaps-02.txt> 



   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with 
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Abstract 

   This memo specifies the encapsulation of GSMP packets in ATM, 
   Ethernet and TCP.  







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1. Introduction 

  GSMP packets are defined in [1] and may be encapsulated in several 
  different protocols for transport. This memo specifies their 
  encapsulation in ATM AAL-5, in Ethernet or in TCP. Other 
  encapsulations may be defined in future version of this document 
  or in other documents. 


2. ATM Encapsulation 

  GSMP packets are variable length and for an ATM data link layer 
  they are encapsulated directly in an AAL-5 CPCS-PDU [3] with an 
  LLC/SNAP header as illustrated: 
   
    0                   1                   2                   3 
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |               LLC (0xAA-AA-03)                |               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               + 
   |                   SNAP (0x00-00-00-88-0C)                     | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                                                               | 
   ~                         GSMP Message                          ~ 
   |                                                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                     Pad (0 - 47 octets)                       | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                                                               | 
   +            AAL-5 CPCS-PDU Trailer (8 octets)                  + 
   |                                                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

  (The convention in the documentation of Internet Protocols Error! 
  Reference source not found. is to express numbers in decimal. 
  Numbers in hexadecimal format are specified by prefacing them with 
  the characters "0x". Numbers in binary format are specified by 
  prefacing them with the characters "0b". Data is pictured in "big-
  endian" order. That is, fields are described left to right, with 
  the most significant octet on the left and the least significant 
  octet on the right. Whenever a diagram shows a group of octets, 
  the order of transmission of those octets is the normal order in 
  which they are read in English. Whenever an octet represents a 
  numeric quantity the left most bit in the diagram is the high 
  order or most significant bit. That is, the bit labelled 0 is the 


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  most significant bit. Similarly, whenever a multi-octet field 
  represents a numeric quantity the left most bit of the whole field 
  is the most significant bit. When a multi-octet quantity is 
  transmitted, the most significant octet is transmitted first. This 
  is the same coding convention as is used in the ATM layer [1] and 
  AAL-5 [3].) 

  The LLC/SNAP header contains the octets: 0xAA 0xAA 0x03 0x00 0x00 
  0x00 0x88 0x0C. (0x880C is the assigned Ethertype for GSMP.) 

  The maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the GSMP Message field is 
  1492 octets. 

  The virtual channel over which a GSMP session is established 
  between a controller and the switch it is controlling is called 
  the GSMP control channel. The default VPI and VCI of the GSMP 
  control channel for LLC/SNAP encapsulated GSMP messages on an ATM 
  data link layer is: 

     VPI = 0 
     VCI = 15. 


3. Ethernet Encapsulation 

  GSMP packets may be encapsulated on an Ethernet data link as 
  illustrated: 





















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    0                   1                   2                   3 
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                      Destination Address                      | 
   |                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                               |                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               | 
   |                         Source Address                        | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |     Ethertype (0x88-0C)       |                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               | 
   |                                                               | 
   ~                         GSMP Message                          ~ 
   |                                                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                        Sender Instance                        | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                       Receiver Instance                       | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                              Pad                              | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                       Frame Check Sequence                    | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

  Destination Address  
            For the SYN message of the adjacency protocol the 
            Destination Address is the broadcast address 
            0xFFFFFFFFFFFF. (Alternatively, it is also valid to 
            configure the node with the unicast 48-bit IEEE MAC 
            address of the destination. In this case the configured 
            unicast Destination Address is used in the SYN message.) 
            For all other messages the Destination Address is the 
            unicast 48- bit IEEE MAC address of the destination. 
            This address may be discovered from the Source Address 
            field of messages received during synchronisation of the 
            adjacency protocol. 

  Source Address  
            For all messages the Source Address is the 48-bit IEEE 
            MAC address of the sender. 

  Ethertype  
            The assigned Ethertype for GSMP is 0x880C. 

  GSMP Message  
            The maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the GSMP Message 
            field is 1492 octets. 



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  Sender Instance  
            The Sender Instance number for the link obtained from 
            the adjacency protocol. This field is already present in 
            the adjacency protocol message. It is appended to all 
            non- adjacency GSMP messages in the Ethernet 
            encapsulation to offer additional protection against the 
            introduction of corrupt state. 

  Receiver Instance  
            The Receiver Instance number is what the sender believes 
            is the current instance number for the link, allocated 
            by the entity at the far end of the link. This field is 
            already present in the adjacency protocol message. It is 
            appended to all non-adjacency GSMP messages in the 
            Ethernet encapsulation to offer additional protection 
            against the introduction of corrupt state. 

  Pad  
            The minimum length of the data field of an Ethernet 
            packet is 46 octets. If necessary, padding should be 
            added such that it meets the minimum Ethernet frame 
            size. This padding should be octets of zero and it is 
            not considered to be part of the GSMP message. 

  After the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronisation, for 
  every GSMP message received with an Ethernet encapsulation, the 
  receiver must check the Source Address from the Ethernet MAC 
  header, the Sender Instance, and the Receiver Instance. The 
  incoming GSMP message must be discarded if the Sender Instance and 
  the Source Address do not match the values of Sender Instance and 
  Sender Name stored by the "Update Peer Verifier" operation of the 
  GSMP adjacency protocol. The incoming GSMP message must also be 
  discarded if it arrives over any port other than the port over 
  which the adjacency protocol has achieved synchronisation. In 
  addition, the incoming message must also be discarded if the 
  Receiver Instance field does not match the current value for the 
  Sender Instance of the GSMP adjacency protocol. 


4. TCP/IP Encapsulation 

  GSMP messages may be transported over an IP network using the TCP 
  encapsulation. TCP provides reliable transport, network flow 
  control, and end-system flow control suitable for networks that 
  may have high loss and variable or unpredictable delay. The GSMP 
  encapsulation in TCP/IP also provides sender authentication using 
  an MD5 digest. 




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  For TCP encapsulations of GSMP messages, the controller runs the 
  client code and the switch runs the server code. Upon 
  initialisation, the server is listening on GSMP's TCCP port 
  number: 6068. The controller establishes a TCP connection with 
  each switch it manages. Adjacency protocol messages, which are 
  used to synchronise the controller and switch and maintain 
  handshakes, are sent by the controller to the switch after the TCP 
  connection is established. GSMP messages other than adjacency 
  protocol messages may be sent only after the adjacency protocol 
  has achieved synchronisation. 

4.1 Message Formats 

  GSMP messages are sent over a TCP connection. A GSMP message is 
  processed only after it is entirely received. A four-byte TLV 
  header field is prepended to the GSMP message to provide 
  delineation of GSMP messages within the TCP stream. 
   
    0                   1                   2                   3 
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |        Type (0x60-68)         |           Length              | 
   |-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
   |                                                               | 
   ~                         GSMP Message                          ~ 
   |                                                               | 
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

  Type 
             This 2-octet field indicates the type code of the 
             following message. The type code for GSMP messages is 
             0x00-0C (i.e. the same as GSMP's Ethertype).  

  Length:  This 2-octet unsigned integer indicates the total length 
             of the GSMP message only. It does not including the 4-
             byte TLV header. 

4.2 TCP/IP Security consideration 

  Security between the controller and client MUST be provided by IP 
  Security [IPSEC]. In this case, the IPSEC Authentication Header(AH) 
  SHOULD be used for the validation of the connection; additionally 
  IPSEC Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) MAY be used to provide 
  both validation and secrecy. 






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5. Security Considerations 

     The security of GSMP's TCP/IP control channel has been addressed 
     in Section 4.2. Security over ATM and Ethernet must be provided at 
     the link layer. 


References 

       [1]  A. Doria, "General Switch Management Protocol," Internet-
            Draft draft-ietf-gsmp-06, July 2000. Work in Progress 

       [2]  "B-ISDN ATM Layer Specification," International 
            Telecommunication Union, ITU-T Recommendation I.361, Mar. 
            1993. 

       [3]  "B-ISDN ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Specification," 
            International Telecommunication Union, ITU-T 
            Recommendation I.363, Mar. 1993. 

       [4]  http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/port-numbers 

 


Authors' Addresses 

     Tom Worster 
     Ennovate Networks 
     60 Codman Hill Rd  
     Boxboro MA 01719 USA 
     Tel +1 978-263-2002  
     fsb@thefsb.org 

     Avri Doria 
     Nortel Network 
     600 Technology Park Drive 
     Billerica MA 01821 
     Tel: +1 401 663 5024 
     avri@nortelnetworks.com 










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