MIF WG JC. Zuniga Internet-Draft InterDigital Communications, LLC Intended status: Informational P. Seite Expires: August 18, 2014 Orange February 14, 2014 IEEE 802.21 Overview draft-zuniga-mif-802-21-overview-02 Abstract Some of the messages defined by a potential MIF API may rely on functionalities provided by lower layers. The IEEE 802.21 specification defines an abstraction of lower layer functions that can be useful for a MIF API. This document provides an overview of the IEEE 802.21 specification and enumerates a subset of functions that can be used in the context of the MIF API to interact with lower layers. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 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Code Components extracted from this document must Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 1] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. IEEE 802.21 Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1. Introduction There is currently a need to present a coherent connection management behaviour for different terminal platforms (e.g. mobile smart phones, PCs, tablets, etc.), as users often experience a very different behaviour when connecting with various platforms to the same networks and for the same purposes (e.g. web browsing, email access, VPN, dedicated applications, etc.). The IEEE 802.21 specification [IEEE802.21] defines several media independent services that can be used by higher layers (e.g., L3 and above) to interact with lower layers (e.g., L2 and below). This document provides an overview of the IEEE 802.21 specification, focusing on the most relevant functions from a MIF API point of view. 2. IEEE 802.21 Framework Some of the connection management services described in [I-D.seite-mif-cm] may rely on standardized abstraction layers such as the IEEE 802.21 framework [IEEE802.21]. The IEEE 802.21-2008 Media Independent Handover (MIH) Services baseline specification defines three types of services: Information Services (IS), Event Services (ES) and Command Services (CS). Each one of these services has a different purpose. The IS provides information about existing networks and services in a potential target network. The ES provides triggers, measurements and events from lower layers (e.g. network access layers) that can be used for instance to proactively trigger actions like a handing over or establishing a new connection to a different access network. The CS allows configuring lower layer interfaces and events. Both ES and CS provide an abstraction layer to upper layers that allows configuring and interacting with different types of network link interfaces in a coherent manner. Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 2] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 In 802.21 terminology, the main functionalities are performed by the MIH Function. This MIH Function is in charge of providing services to the MIH User, which is a higher layer entity (e.g., L3 and above). Functions are applied to specific Link Layers, which are lower layer entities (e.g., L2 and below). The basics of the 802.21 ES/CS flow are depicted in Figure 1. MIH User MIH Function Link Layer | | | | | | | | | | subcribe.request | | |------------------->|----------->| | subcribe.confirm | | |<-------------------|<-----------| | | | | | | | | event occurs | event.notif | | |<-------------------|<-----------| | | | | command.request | | |------------------->|----------->| | | Link command | command.confirm | Execution |<-------------------|<-----------| | | | Figure 1: IEEE 802.21 event and command services flow An MIH user may use the following IEEE 802.21 events and commands to complete connection management operations: Link_Event_Subscribe Category: command Description: Subscribe to one or more events from a link. Link_Event_Unsubscribe Category: command Description: Unsubscribe from a set of link-layer events. Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 3] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 Link_Parameters_Report Category: Event Description: Link parameters have crossed a specified threshold and need to be reported. Link_Get_Parameters Category: command Description: Get parameters measured by the active link, such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), BER, received signal strength indication (RSSI). Link_Detected Category: Event Description: Link of a new access network has been detected. Link_Up Category: Event Description: L2 connection is established and link is available for use. Link_Down Category: Event Description: L2 connection is broken and link is not available for use. Link_Going_Down Category: Event Description: Radio link conditions are degrading and connection loss is very likely. Link_Handover_Imminent Category: Event Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 4] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 Description: L2 handover is imminent based on either the changes in the link conditions or additional information available at layer 2. Link_Handover_Complete Category: Event Description: L2 handover has been completed. Link_PDU_Transmit_Status Category: Event Description: indicate transmission status of a PDU. Link_Capability_Discover Category: command Description: Query and discover the list of supported link-layer events and link-layer commands. Link_Configuration_Thresholds Category: command Description: Configure thresholds for future Link Parameters Report events. Link_Action Category: command Description: request an action on a link-layer connection, e.g. perform a scan, shut down an interface, etc. Handover_Query Category: command Description: query and obtain handover related information about possible candidate target networks. Handover_Commit Category: command Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 5] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 Description: notify the MIH function of the decided target network. Handover_Complete Category: command Description: indicate the status of the handover completion to the MIH function. 3. Security Considerations TBD. 4. IANA Considerations This document has no actions for IANA. 5. Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their gratitude to Ralph Droms, Ted Lemon, Dave Thaler, Antonio de la Oliva and Subir Das for the fruitful discussions regarding 802.21, MIF API and connection managers. 6. References [I-D.ietf-mif-api-extension] Liu, D., Lemon, T., Ismailov, Y., and Z. Cao, "MIF API consideration", draft-ietf-mif-api-extension-04 (work in progress), October 2013. [I-D.seite-mif-cm] Seite, P. and J. Zuniga, "MIF API for Connection Management", draft-seite-mif-cm-02 (work in progress), August 2013. [IEEE802.21] IEEE, "IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Part 21: Media Independent Handover Services", IEEE LAN/MAN Std 802.21-2008, January 2009.", 2009, < http://www.ieee802.org/21/private/Published%20Spec/ 802.21-2008.pdf>. Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 6] Internet-Draft IEEE 802.21 Overview February 2014 Authors' Addresses Juan Carlos Zuniga InterDigital Communications, LLC 1000 Sherbrooke Street West, 10th floor Montreal, Quebec H3A 3G4 Canada Email: JuanCarlos.Zuniga@InterDigital.com Pierrick Seite Orange 4, rue du Clos Courtel, BP 91226 Cesson-Sevigne 35512 France Email: pierrick.seite@orange.com Zuniga & Seite Expires August 18, 2014 [Page 7]