Question about IEEE 802.21 PAR

[Singh Ajoy-ASINGH1 <ASINGH1@motorola.com>]

Hi Ajay / All,

 

I have a procedural question about 802.21 PAR. Please clarify if I missed something

as I was not part of PAR discussion. I asked this question during L3 conference call today,

but we could not complete the discussion.  I am just wondering if current 802.21 PAR allows

us to develop a L3 protocol or influence development of L3 mobility management protocol in IETF.

Based upon my understanding of PAR, 802.21 is going to define mechanisms that would

facilitate existing higher layer protocol such as Mobile / IP etc. to optimize layer 3 handoff. Please see

below a quote from PAR (Five Criteria doc):

 

" This standard shall facilitate optimization of Mobile IP handover, however this does not preclude the standard

from being used to optimize handovers of other layer 3 protocols. "

 

I would appreciate if you point me to appropriate sections of PAR that enable us to influence the design of

higher layer protocol as part of 802.21 activity. It is likely that I missed something here as I was not involved in

original PAR discussion.  Also, see below a text from (Five Criteria Doc) that I think was used to justify the

PAR of current 802.21 work:  

 

" Handover is a common mechanism, present in many systems such as cellular systems or 802.11 ESSs. Mobile IP,

in both v4 and v6 forms, has shown that roaming across heterogeneous systems is possible. Work in the IETF SEAMOBY,

TRIGTRAN, CAPWAP/LWAPP projects has highlighted the need for greater interaction between 802 MAC and PHY

layers and a roaming layer 3 in order to coordinate smoother, faster handovers. Accordingly it is clear that roaming within

the confines of different 802 technologies is feasible and that approaches that might be adopted for roaming at higher

layers are feasible. Since the IETF has published in draft form, a role that 802 networks can play in higher layer (above the LLC)

handover it is clear that it is possible to incorporate such mechanisms into the 802 framework.

 

The proven ability to handover within 802.11 networks, within cellular networks and within IP networks has proved a minimum

set of capabilities for mobile technologies. The nature of message passing protocols is such that the timing and passage of the

messages is subject to observation and testing. Methods of testing interruptions to established sessions while being handed over are well established in telephony and data networking practices.

 

Neither security algorithms nor security protocols shall be defined in the specification. This does not preclude the propagation

of authentication or authorization information to support network detection and selection.

 

This standard will provide services both across an 802 link and to upper layers to

*           Facilitate the optimization of detection and selection of networks

*           Provide a source of extensible and semantically defined information to facilitate optimized handover decision making

*           Provide a mechanism to access this information over an 802 link.

*           Provide triggers to upper layers

 

So, should 't we be defining mechanisms that would enable the deployment

of existing IETF protocols rather than trying to influence their design?  I guess IETF is anyway working to

standardize various building blocks of Mobility Management protocols. Anyway if we really

want to influence IETF mobility management protocol design, perhaps we should modify

PAR to indicate this.

 

Regards,

Ajoy