Globally Unique IPv6 Addressing for Amateur Radio
draft-evan-amateur-radio-ipv6-01

Internet Engineering Task Force                               E. Pratten
Internet-Draft                                          24 November 2022
Intended status: Experimental                                           
Expires: 28 May 2023

           Globally Unique IPv6 Addressing for Amateur Radio
                    draft-evan-amateur-radio-ipv6-01

Abstract

   This document presents a process by which IPv6 addresses can be
   uniquely and automatically assigned to amateur packet radio nodes
   without the need for central coordination.

Status of This Memo

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 28 May 2023.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Node Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.1.  A Note on Prefix Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.2.  Determining the Address for a Station . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.3.  Benefits of this method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.4.  Drawbacks of this method  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     5.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

1.  Introduction

   When coordinating a global-scale packet radio network, it may not be
   practical or desireable to require all participating stations to
   request and/or register their local IP addresses with a central
   authority.  The addressing technique presented in this document aims
   to provide a standard method by which radio nodes can self-assign
   addresses by utilizing the existing guarantee that all station
   callsigns are unique.

2.  Node Addressing

   Packet radio stations (also referred to as "nodes") are generally
   identified via their station callsign followed by an informational
   number or letter, this suffix is used to describe the type or an
   arbitrary ID of the station.

   Unlike other common network protocols used by packet radio nodes,
   IPv6 [RFC8200] does not offer a mechanism for addressing another node
   by its callsign and ID.  This means that an alternate addressing
   scheme, such as the one defined in this document, is needed to allow
   nodes to communicate with each other using IPv6.

2.1.  A Note on Prefix Length

   While the addressing method defined in the following section may be
   applied to nearly any network prefix length, usage of a 64 bit long
   network portion is strongly encouraged to ensure all implementations
   are interoperable.

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2.2.  Determining the Address for a Station

   Given an IPv6 prefix with a 64 bit long network portion, the host
   address for station is calculated via the following steps:

   1.  Compute the SHA-256 hash of the station's UPPERCASE callsign.

   2.  Use the first 60 bits of the hash as the first 60 bits of the
       host portion of the IP address.

   3.  Use the final 4 bits of the address' host portion to store the
       station's ID.

   Using this method to compute the address for a station with the
   callsign "VA3ZZA" and the ID "10" as a host in the prefix
   "2001:db8::/64" [RFC4632] would result in the station address:
   "2001:db8::9846:807d:5b56:3a7a".

2.3.  Benefits of this method

   This method of IP address assignment has several benefits:

   *  Callsigns are uniquely assigned to stations by existing governing
      bodies.  Using them as the basis of address creation will ensure a
      unique base hash for each station.

   *  Hashing callsigns instead of trying to plainly hex encode them
      allows support for excessively long callsigns.

   *  Encoding the station ID in the final nibble of the address allows
      for up to 16 nodes under the same callsign to be assigned
      addresses within the same /124.  This allows address-based access
      control logic to operate on a whole callsign (first 60 bits of the
      host portion) at once, an ability not possible if the ID was also
      hashed.

2.4.  Drawbacks of this method

   While it is possible for one node to correlate another's IP address
   to its station callsign via a lookup table, ideally the raw callsign
   could be encoded directly into the IPv6 address.  Doing so would both
   allow for a node to easily determine the callsign of a sending
   station without additional metadata embedded in the received packet,
   and allow the source address on outgoing packets to be used to
   satisfy legal station identification requirements.

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   Unfortunately, this is not feasible due to many governments assigning
   temporary "special event callsigns" to stations.  These special
   callsigns often do not follow the general length restrictions on
   permanent callsigns, raising the possibility that a station will be
   assigned a callsign longer than is possible to encode directly in an
   IPv6 address, thus being un-addressable.

3.  IANA Considerations

   This memo includes no request to IANA.

4.  Security Considerations

   This document should not affect the security of the Internet.

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [RFC8200]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
              (IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [RFC4632]  Fuller, V. and T. Li, "Classless Inter-domain Routing
              (CIDR): The Internet Address Assignment and Aggregation
              Plan", BCP 122, RFC 4632, DOI 10.17487/RFC4632, August
              2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4632>.

Author's Address

   Evan Pratten
   Email: evan@ewpratten.com
   URI:   https://ewpratten.com

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