GSMP Encapsulations: General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) Packet Encapsulations for Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Ethernet and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Network Working Group                                           A. Doria
Request for Comments: 3293                Lulea University of Technology
Category: Standards Track                                     J. Buerkle
                                                         Nortel Networks
                                                              T. Worster
                                                               June 2002


               General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP)
      Packet Encapsulations for Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),
            Ethernet and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo specifies the encapsulation of GSMP (General Switch
   Management Protocol) packets in ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode),
   Ethernet and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol).

Specification of Requirements

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [7].

1. Introduction

   GSMP messages 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 specifications.

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][4] 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 bytes)                       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +             AAL-5 CPCS-PDU Trailer (8 bytes)                  +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   (The convention in the documentation of Internet Protocols [5] 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 byte on the left
   and the least significant byte on the right.  Whenever a diagram
   shows a group of bytes, the order of transmission of those bytes is
   the normal order in which they are read in English.  Whenever a byte
   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 most significant bit.  Similarly, whenever a multi-byte field
   represents a numeric quantity the left most bit of the whole field is
   the most significant bit.  When a multi-byte quantity is transmitted,
   the most significant byte is transmitted first.  This is the same
   coding convention as is used in the ATM layer [2] and AAL-5 [3][4].)

   The LLC/SNAP header contains the bytes: 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
   bytes.

   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.

   The GSMP control channel MAY be changed using the GSMP MIB.

3. Ethernet Encapsulation

   GSMP packets MAY be encapsulated on an Ethernet data link 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
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                      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 bytes.

   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
      After adjacency has been established the minimum length of the
      data field of an Ethernet packet is 46 bytes.  If necessary,
      padding should be added such that it meets the minimum Ethernet
      frame size.  This padding should be bytes of zero and is not to be
      considered part of the GSMP message.

   Frame Check Sequence
      The Frame Check Sequence (FCS) is defined in IEEE 802.3 [6] as
      follows:

         Note: This section is included for informational and historical
         purposes only.  The normative reference can be found in IEEE
         802.3 Standard [6].

          "A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is used by the transmit and
         receive algorithms to generate a CRC value for the FCS field.
         The frame check sequence (FCS) field contains a 4-byte (32-bit)
         cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value.  This value is computed as
         a function of the contents of the source address, destination
         address, length, LLC data and pad (that is, all fields except
         the preamble, SFD, FCS and extension).  The encoding is defined
         by the following generating polynomial.

         G(x)=x^32+x^26+x^23+x^22+x^16+x^12+x^11+x^10+x^8+x^
         7+x^5+x^4+x^2+x^1."

         The procedure for the CRC calculation can be found in [6].

   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 the Sender Instance and the 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

   When GSMP messages are transported over an IP network, they MUST be
   transported 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.

   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 TCP port number:
   6068.  The controller establishes a TCP connection with each switch
   it manages.  The switch under control MUST be a multi-connection
   server (PORT 6068) to allow creation of multiple control sessions
   from N GSMP controller instances.  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 MUST NOT be sent until after the adjacency protocol
   has achieved synchronisation.  The actual GSMP message flow will
   occur on other ports.

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 (0x88-0C)         |           Length              |
   |-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   ~                         GSMP Message                          ~
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Type
      This 2-byte field indicates the type code of the following
      message.  The type code for GSMP messages is 0x88-0C (i.e., the
      same as GSMP's Ethertype).

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

4.2 TCP/IP Security consideration

   When GSMPv3 is implemented for use in IP networks, provisions for
   security between the controller and client MUST be available and MUST
   be provided by IP Security [IPSEC].  In this case, the IPSEC
   Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) MUST be used to provide both
   integrity and confidentiality.

5. Security Considerations

   The security of GSMP's TCP/IP control channel has been addressed in
   Section 4.2.  For all uses of GSMP over an IP network it is REQUIRED
   that GSMP be run over TCP/IP using the security considerations
   discussed in Section 4.2.  Security using ATM and Ethernet
   encapsulations MAY be provided at the link layer.  Discussion of
   these methods is beyond the scope of this specification.  For secure
   operation over any media, the IP encapsulation with IPsec SHOULD be
   used.

References

   [1] Doria, A., Sundell, K., Hellstrand, F. and T. Worster, "General
       Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) V3", RFC 3292, June 2002.

   [2] "B-ISDN ATM Layer Specification," International Telecommunication
       Union, ITU-T Recommendation I.361, Feb. 1999.

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

   [4] "B-ISDN ATM Adaptation Layer specification: Type 5 AAL",
       International Telecommunication Union, ITU-T Recommendation
       I.363.5, Aug. 1996.

   [5] Reynolds, J., Editor, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 3232, January 2002.

   [6] IEEE Std 802.3, 1998 Edition
       "Information technology-Telecommunications and information
       exchange between systems - Local and metropolitan area networks -
       Specific requirements - Part 3: Carrier sense multiple access
       with collision detection (CSMA/CD) access method and physical
       layer specifications"

   [7] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
       Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

Authors' Addresses

   Tom Worster

   Phone: +1 617 247 2624
   EMail: fsb@thefsb.org


   Avri Doria
   Div. of Computer Communications
   Lulea University of Technology
   S-971 87 Lulea
   Sweden

   Phone: +1 401 663 5024
   EMail: avri@acm.com


   Joachim Buerkle
   Nortel Networks Germany GmbH & Co. KG
   Hahnstr. 37-39
   60528 Frankfurt am Main
   Germany

   EMail: Joachim.Buerkle@nortelnetworks.com

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