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Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Near Field Communication
RFC 9428

Document Type RFC - Proposed Standard (July 2023)
Authors Younghwan Choi , Yong-Geun Hong , Joo-Sang Youn
Last updated 2023-07-20
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
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IESG Responsible AD Erik Kline
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RFC 9428


Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                      Y. Choi, Ed.
Request for Comments: 9428                                          ETRI
Category: Standards Track                                      Y-G. Hong
ISSN: 2070-1721                                              Daejon Univ
                                                               J-S. Youn
                                                            Dongeui Univ
                                                               July 2023

       Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Near Field Communication

Abstract

   Near Field Communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones
   and portable devices to establish radio communication with each other
   by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no
   more than 10 cm apart.  NFC standards cover communication protocols
   and data exchange formats and are based on existing Radio Frequency
   Identification (RFID) standards, including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa.
   The standards include ISO/IEC 18092 and those defined by the NFC
   Forum.  The NFC technology has been widely implemented and available
   in mobile phones, laptop computers, and many other devices.  This
   document describes how IPv6 is transmitted over NFC using IPv6 over
   Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) techniques.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9428.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
   Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
   in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
   2.  Conventions and Terminology
   3.  Overview of NFC Technology
     3.1.  Peer-to-Peer Mode of NFC
     3.2.  Protocol Stack of NFC
     3.3.  NFC-Enabled Device Addressing
     3.4.  MTU of NFC Link Layer
   4.  Specification of IPv6 over NFC
     4.1.  Protocol Stack
     4.2.  Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
     4.3.  IPv6 Link-Local Address
     4.4.  Neighbor Discovery
     4.5.  Dispatch Header
     4.6.  Header Compression
     4.7.  Fragmentation and Reassembly Considerations
     4.8.  Unicast and Multicast Address Mapping
   5.  Internet Connectivity Scenarios
     5.1.  NFC-Enabled Device Network Connected to the Internet
     5.2.  Isolated NFC-Enabled Device Network
   6.  IANA Considerations
   7.  Security Considerations
   8.  References
     8.1.  Normative References
     8.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgements
   Authors' Addresses

1.  Introduction

   NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically
   requiring a distance between a sender and receiver of 10 cm or less.
   NFC operates at 13.56 MHz and at rates ranging from 106 kbps to 424
   kbps, as per the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface [ECMA-340].  NFC
   builds upon RFID systems by allowing two-way communication between
   endpoints.  NFC always involves an initiator and a target; the
   initiator actively generates a radio frequency (RF) field that can
   power a passive target.  This enables NFC targets to take very simple
   form factors, such as tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards, while
   avoiding the need for batteries.  NFC peer-to-peer communication is
   possible, provided that both devices are powered.

   NFC has a very short transmission range of 10 cm or less; thus, the
   other hidden NFC devices outside of that range cannot receive NFC
   signals.  Therefore, NFC is often regarded as a secure communications
   technology.

   In order to benefit from Internet connectivity, it is desirable for
   NFC-enabled devices to support IPv6 because of its large address
   space and the availability of tools for unattended operation, along
   with other advantages.  This document specifies how IPv6 is supported
   over NFC by using 6LoWPAN techniques [RFC4944] [RFC6282] [RFC6775].
   6LoWPAN is suitable, considering that it was designed to support IPv6
   over IEEE 802.15.4 networks [IEEE802.15.4] and some of the
   characteristics of the latter are similar to those of NFC.

2.  Conventions and Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

   This specification requires readers to be familiar with all the terms
   and concepts that are discussed in "IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless
   Personal Area Networks (6LoWPANs): Overview, Assumptions, Problem
   Statement, and Goals" [RFC4919], "Transmission of IPv6 Packets over
   IEEE 802.15.4 Networks" [RFC4944], and "Neighbor Discovery
   Optimization for IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks
   (6LoWPANs) [RFC6775].

   6LoWPAN Node (6LN):
      A 6LoWPAN node is any host or router participating in a LoWPAN.
      This term is used when referring to situations in which either a
      host or router can play the role described.

   6LoWPAN Router (6LR):
      An intermediate router in the LoWPAN that is able to send and
      receive Router Advertisements (RAs) and Router Solicitations
      (RSs), as well as forward and route IPv6 packets.  6LoWPAN routers
      are present only in route-over topologies.

   6LoWPAN Border Router (6LBR):
      A border router located at the junction of separate 6LoWPAN
      networks or between a 6LoWPAN network and another IP network.
      There may be one or more 6LBRs at the 6LoWPAN network boundary.  A
      6LBR is the responsible authority for IPv6 prefix propagation for
      the 6LoWPAN network it is serving.  An isolated LoWPAN also
      contains a 6LBR in the network that provides the prefix(es) for
      the isolated network.

3.  Overview of NFC Technology

   This section presents an overview of NFC, focusing on the
   characteristics of NFC that are most relevant for supporting IPv6.

   NFC enables a simple, two-way interaction between two devices,
   allowing users to perform contactless transactions, access digital
   content, and connect electronic devices with a single touch.  NFC
   utilizes key elements in existing standards for contactless card
   technology, such as ISO/IEC 14443 A&B and JIS-X 6319-4.  NFC allows
   devices to share information at a distance up to 10 cm with a maximum
   physical layer bit rate of 424 kbps.

3.1.  Peer-to-Peer Mode of NFC

   NFC defines three modes of operation: card emulation, peer-to-peer,
   and reader/writer.  Only the peer-to-peer mode allows two NFC-enabled
   devices to communicate with each other to exchange information
   bidirectionally.  The other two modes do not support two-way
   communication between two devices.  Therefore, the peer-to-peer mode
   MUST be used for IPv6 over NFC.

3.2.  Protocol Stack of NFC

   NFC defines a protocol stack for the peer-to-peer mode (Figure 1).
   The peer-to-peer mode is offered by the Activities Digital Protocol
   at the NFC Physical Layer.  The NFC Logical Link Layer comprises the
   Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP), and when IPv6 is used over NFC,
   it also includes an IPv6-LLCP Binding.  IPv6 and its underlying
   adaptation layer (i.e., IPv6-over-NFC Adaptation Layer) are placed
   directly on the top of the IPv6-LLCP Binding.  An IPv6 datagram is
   transmitted by the LLCP with guaranteed delivery and two-way
   transmission of information between the peer devices.

       +----------------------------------------+ - - - - - - - - -
       |      Logical Link Control Protocol     |   NFC Logical
       |                 (LLCP)                 |   Link Layer
       +----------------------------------------+ - - - - - - - - -
       |               Activities               |
       |            Digital Protocol            |   NFC Physical
       +----------------------------------------+   Layer
       |               RF Analog                |
       +----------------------------------------+ - - - - - - - - -

                      Figure 1: Protocol Stack of NFC

   The LLCP consists of Logical Link Control (LLC) and MAC Mapping.  The
   MAC Mapping integrates an existing radio frequency (RF) protocol into
   the LLCP architecture.  The LLC contains three components: Link
   Management, Connection-oriented Transmission, and Connectionless
   Transmission.  The Link Management is responsible for serializing all
   connection-oriented and connectionless LLC PDU (Protocol Data Unit)
   exchanges; it is also responsible for the aggregation and
   disaggregation of small PDUs.  The Connection-oriented Transmission
   is responsible for maintaining all connection-oriented data
   exchanges, including connection setup and termination.  However, NFC
   links do not guarantee perfect wireless link quality, so some types
   of delay or variation in delay would be expected in any case.  The
   Connectionless Transmission is responsible for handling
   unacknowledged data exchanges.

   In order to send an IPv6 packet over NFC, the packet MUST be passed
   down to the LLCP layer of NFC and carried by an Information field in
   an LLCP Protocol Data Unit (I PDU).  The LLCP does not support
   fragmentation and reassembly.  For IPv6 addressing or address
   configuration, the LLCP MUST provide related information, such as
   link-layer addresses, to its upper layer.  IPv6-LLCP Binding MUST
   transfer the Source Service Access Point (SSAP) and Destination
   Service Access Point (DSAP) values to the IPv6-over-NFC Adaptation
   Layer.  The SSAP is an LLC address of the source NFC-enabled device
   with a size of 6 bits, while the DSAP is an LLC address of the
   destination NFC-enabled device.  Thus, the SSAP is a source address
   and the DSAP is a destination address.

   In addition, NFC links and hosts do not need to consider IP header
   bits for QoS signaling or utilize these meaningfully.

3.3.  NFC-Enabled Device Addressing

   According to [LLCP-1.4], NFC-enabled devices have two types of 6-bit
   addresses (i.e., SSAP and DSAP) to identify service access points.
   Several service access points can be installed on an NFC device.
   However, the SSAP and DSAP can be used as identifiers for NFC link
   connections with the IPv6-over-NFC Adaptation Layer.  Therefore, the
   SSAP can be used to generate an IPv6 Interface Identifier (IID).
   Address values between 00h and 0Fh of SSAP and DSAP are reserved for
   identifying the well-known service access points that are defined in
   the NFC Forum Assigned Numbers Register.  Address values between 10h
   and 1Fh are assigned by the local LLC to services registered by a
   local service environment.  In addition, address values between 0x2
   and 0x3f are assigned by the local LLC as a result of an upper-layer
   service request.  Therefore, the address values between 0x2 and 0x3f
   can be used for generating IPv6 IIDs.

3.4.  MTU of NFC Link Layer

   As mentioned in Section 3.2, when an IPv6 packet is transmitted, the
   packet MUST be passed down to LLCP of NFC and transported to an I PDU
   of LLCP of the NFC-enabled peer device.

   The Information field of an I PDU contains a single service data
   unit.  The maximum number of octets in the Information field is
   determined by the Maximum Information Unit (MIU) for the data link
   connection.  The default value of the MIU for I PDUs is 128 octets.
   The local and remote LLCs each establish and maintain distinct MIU
   values for each data link connection endpoint.  Also, an LLC may
   announce a larger MIU for a data link connection by transmitting an
   optional Maximum Information Unit Extension (MIUX) parameter within
   the Information field.  If no MIUX parameter is transmitted, the MIU
   value is 128 bytes.  Otherwise, the MTU size in NFC LLCP MUST be
   calculated from the MIU value as follows:

                          MTU = MIU = 128 + MIUX

   According to [LLCP-1.4], Figure 2 shows an example of the MIUX
   parameter TLV.  The Type and Length fields of the MIUX parameter TLV
   have each a size of 1 byte.  The size of the TLV Value field is 2
   bytes.

                  0          0          1     2         3
                  0          8          6     1         1
                 +----------+----------+-----+-----------+
                 |   Type   |  Length  |      Value      |
                 +----------+----------+-----+-----------+
                 |   0x02   |   0x02   | 0x0 |   0x480   |
                 +----------+----------+-----+-----------+

                  Figure 2: Example of MIUX Parameter TLV

   When the MIUX parameter is used, the TLV Type field is 0x02 and the
   TLV Length field is 0x02.  The MIUX parameter is encoded into the
   least significant 11 bits of the TLV Value field.  The unused bits in
   the TLV Value field are set to zero by the sender and ignored by the
   receiver.  The maximum possible value of the TLV Value field is
   0x7FF, and the maximum size of the LLCP MTU is 2175 bytes.  As per
   the present specification [LLCP-1.4], the MIUX value MUST be 0x480 to
   support the IPv6 MTU requirement (1280 bytes) [RFC8200].

4.  Specification of IPv6 over NFC

   NFC technology has requirements owing to low power consumption and
   allowed protocol overhead. 6LoWPAN standards [RFC4944] [RFC6775]
   [RFC6282] provide useful functionality for reducing the overhead of
   IPv6 over NFC.  This functionality consists of link-local IPv6
   addresses and stateless IPv6 address autoconfiguration (see Sections
   4.2 and 4.3), Neighbor Discovery (see Section 4.4), and header
   compression (see Section 4.6).

4.1.  Protocol Stack

   Figure 3 illustrates the IPv6-over-NFC protocol stack.  Upper-layer
   protocols can be transport-layer protocols (e.g., TCP and UDP),
   application-layer protocols, and other protocols capable of running
   on top of IPv6.

                +----------------------------------------+
                |         Upper-Layer Protocols          |
                +----------------------------------------+
                |                 IPv6                   |
                +----------------------------------------+
                |   Adaptation Layer for IPv6 over NFC   |
                +----------------------------------------+
                |          NFC Logical Link Layer        |
                +----------------------------------------+
                |           NFC Physical Layer           |
                +----------------------------------------+

                 Figure 3: Protocol Stack for IPv6 over NFC

   The Adaptation Layer for IPv6 over NFC supports Neighbor Discovery,
   stateless address autoconfiguration, header compression, and
   fragmentation and reassembly, based on 6LoWPAN.  Note that 6LoWPAN
   header compression [RFC6282] does not define header compression for
   TCP.  The latter can still be supported by IPv6 over NFC, albeit
   without the performance optimization of header compression.

4.2.  Stateless Address Autoconfiguration

   An NFC-enabled device performs stateless address autoconfiguration
   per [RFC4862].  A 64-bit IID for an NFC interface is formed by
   utilizing the 6-bit NFC SSAP (see Section 3.3).  In the viewpoint of
   address configuration, such an IID should guarantee a stable IPv6
   address during the course of a single connection because each data
   link connection is uniquely identified by the pair of DSAP and SSAP
   included in the header of each LLC PDU in NFC.

   Following the guidance of [RFC7136], IIDs of all unicast addresses
   for NFC-enabled devices are 64 bits long and constructed by using the
   generation algorithm of random identifiers (RIDs) that are stable
   [RFC7217].

   The RID is an output created by the F() algorithm with input
   parameters.  One of the parameters is Net_Iface, and the NFC Link-
   Layer Address (i.e., the SSAP) MUST be a source of the Net_Iface
   parameter.  The 6-bit address of the SSAP of NFC is short and can
   easily be targeted by attacks from a third party (e.g., address
   scanning).  The F() algorithm with SHA-256 can provide secured and
   stable IIDs for NFC-enabled devices.  In addition, an optional
   parameter, Network_ID, is used to increase the randomness of the
   generated IID with the NFC Link-Layer Address (i.e., SSAP).  The
   secret key SHOULD be at least 128 bits.  It MUST be initialized to a
   pseudorandom number [RFC4086].

4.3.  IPv6 Link-Local Address

   The IPv6 Link-Local Address for an NFC-enabled device is formed by
   appending the IID to the prefix fe80::/64, as depicted in Figure 4.

        0          0                  0                          1
        0          1                  6                          2
        0          0                  4                          7
       +----------+------------------+----------------------------+
       |1111111010|       zeros      |    Interface Identifier    |
       +----------+------------------+----------------------------+
       .                                                          .
       . <- - - - - - - - - - - 128 bits - - - - - - - - - - - -> .
       .                                                          .

                  Figure 4: IPv6 Link-Local Address in NFC

   The "Interface Identifier" can be a random and stable IID.

4.4.  Neighbor Discovery

   Neighbor Discovery Optimization for 6LoWPANs [RFC6775] describes the
   Neighbor Discovery approach in several 6LoWPAN topologies, such as
   mesh topology.  NFC supports mesh topologies, but most applications
   would use a simple multi-hop network topology or directly connected
   peer-to-peer network because the NFC RF range is very short.

   *  When an NFC 6LN is directly connected to a 6LBR, the 6LN MUST
      register its address with the 6LBR by sending Neighbor
      Solicitation (NS) with the Extended Address Registration Option
      (EARO) [RFC8505]; then Neighbor Advertisement (NA) is started.
      When the 6LN and 6LBR are linked to each other, an address is
      assigned to the 6LN.  In this process, Duplicate Address Detection
      (DAD) is not required.

   *  When two or more NFC 6LNs are connected to the 6LBR, two cases of
      topologies can be formed.  One is a multi-hop topology, and the
      other is a star topology based on the 6LBR.  In the multi-hop
      topology, 6LNs that have two or more links with neighbor nodes may
      act as routers.  In star topology, any of 6LNs can be a router.

   *  For receiving RSs and RAs, the NFC 6LNs MUST follow Sections 5.3
      and 5.4 of [RFC6775].

   *  When an NFC device is a 6LR or 6LBR, the NFC device MUST follow
      Sections 6 and 7 of [RFC6775].

4.5.  Dispatch Header

   All IPv6-over-NFC encapsulated datagrams are prefixed by an
   encapsulation header stack consisting of a dispatch value
   [IANA-6LoWPAN].  The only sequence currently defined for IPv6 over
   NFC MUST be the LOWPAN_IPHC compressed IPv6 header (see Section 4.6)
   followed by a payload, as depicted in Figure 5 and Table 1.

             +---------------+---------------+--------------+
             | IPHC Dispatch |  IPHC Header  |    Payload   |
             +---------------+---------------+--------------+

       Figure 5: An IPv6-over-NFC Encapsulated LOWPAN_IPHC Compressed
                               IPv6 Datagram

   The dispatch value (1 octet in length) is treated as an unstructured
   namespace.  Only a single pattern is used to represent current IPv6-
   over-NFC functionality.

             +===========+=============+=====================+
             | Pattern   | Header Type | Reference           |
             +===========+=============+=====================+
             | 01 1xxxxx | LOWPAN_IPHC | [RFC6282] [RFC8025] |
             +-----------+-------------+---------------------+

                          Table 1: Dispatch Values

   Other IANA-assigned 6LoWPAN dispatch values do not apply to this
   specification.

4.6.  Header Compression

   Header compression as defined in [RFC6282], which specifies the
   compression format for IPv6 datagrams on top of IEEE 802.15.4, is
   REQUIRED in this document as the basis for IPv6 header compression on
   top of NFC.  All headers MUST be compressed according to the encoding
   formats described in [RFC6282].

   Therefore, IPv6 header compression in [RFC6282] MUST be implemented.
   Further, implementations MUST also support Generic Header Compression
   (GHC) as described in [RFC7400].

   If a 16-bit address is required as a short address, it MUST be formed
   by padding the 6-bit NFC SSAP (NFC Link-Layer Node Address) to the
   left with zeros as shown in Figure 6.

                      0                   1
                      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     | Padding(all zeros)| NFC Addr. |
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                     Figure 6: NFC Short Address Format

4.7.  Fragmentation and Reassembly Considerations

   IPv6 over NFC MUST NOT use fragmentation and reassembly (FAR) at the
   adaptation layer for the payloads as discussed in Section 3.4.  The
   NFC link connection for IPv6 over NFC MUST be configured with an
   equivalent MIU size to support the IPv6 MTU requirement (1280 bytes).
   To this end, the MIUX value is 0x480.

4.8.  Unicast and Multicast Address Mapping

   The address resolution procedure for mapping IPv6 non-multicast
   addresses into NFC Link-Layer Addresses follows the general
   description in Sections 4.6.1 and 7.2 of [RFC4861], unless otherwise
   specified.

   The Source/Target Link-Layer Address option has the following form
   when the addresses are 6-bit NFC SSAP/DSAP (NFC Link-Layer Node
   Addresses).

                      0                   1
                      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     |      Type     |   Length=1    |
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     |                               |
                     +-     Padding (all zeros)     -+
                     |                               |
                     +-                  +-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     |                   | NFC Addr. |
                     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                     Figure 7: Unicast Address Mapping

   Option fields:
      Type:
         1:  This is for the Source Link-Layer Address.

         2:  This is for the Target Link-Layer Address.

      Length:
         This is the length of this option (including the Type and
         Length fields) in units of 8 bits.  The value of this field is
         1 for 6-bit NFC node addresses.

      NFC address:
         The 6-bit address in canonical bit order.  This is the unicast
         address the interface currently responds to.

   The NFC Link Layer does not support multicast.  Therefore, packets
   are always transmitted unicast between two NFC-enabled devices.  Even
   in the case where a 6LBR is attached to multiple 6LNs, the 6LBR
   cannot multicast to all the connected 6LNs.  If the 6LBR needs to
   send a multicast packet to all its 6LNs, it has to replicate the
   packet and unicast it on each link.  However, this is not energy-
   efficient; the central node, which is battery-powered, must take
   particular care of power consumption.  To further conserve power, the
   6LBR MUST keep track of multicast listeners at NFC link-level
   granularity (not at subnet granularity), and it MUST NOT forward
   multicast packets to 6LNs that have not registered as listeners for
   multicast groups the packets belong to.  In the opposite direction, a
   6LN always has to send packets to or through the 6LBR.  Hence, when a
   6LN needs to transmit an IPv6 multicast packet, the 6LN will unicast
   the corresponding NFC packet to the 6LBR.

5.  Internet Connectivity Scenarios

5.1.  NFC-Enabled Device Network Connected to the Internet

   Figure 8 illustrates an example of an NFC-enabled device network
   connected to the Internet.  The distance between 6LN and 6LBR is
   typically 10 cm or less.  For example, a laptop computer that is
   connected to the Internet (e.g., via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.) may also
   support NFC and act as a 6LBR.  Another NFC-enabled device may run as
   a 6LN and communicate with the 6LBR, as long as both are within each
   other's range.

                NFC link
       6LN ------------------- 6LBR -------( Internet )--------- CN
        .                        .                                .
        . <- - - - Subnet - - -> . < - - - IPv6 connection - - -> .
        .                        .         to the Internet        .

       Figure 8: NFC-Enabled Device Network Connected to the Internet

   Two or more 6LNs may be connected with a 6LBR, but each connection
   uses a different IPv6 prefix.  The 6LBR is acting as a router and
   forwarding packets between 6LNs and the Internet.  Also, the 6LBR
   MUST ensure address collisions do not occur because the 6LNs are
   connected to the 6LBR like a start topology, so the 6LBR checks
   whether or not IPv6 addresses are duplicates, since 6LNs need to
   register their addresses with the 6LBR.

5.2.  Isolated NFC-Enabled Device Network

   In some scenarios, the NFC-enabled device network may permanently be
   a simple isolated network as shown in Figure 9.

                               6LN                        6LN - - - - -
                                |                          |      .
                    NFC link - >|              NFC link - >|      .
                                |                          |      .
    6LN ---------------------- 6LR ---------------------- 6LR   Subnet
     .         NFC link                    NFC link        |      .
     .                                                     |      .
     .                                         NFC link - >|      .
     .                                                    6LN - - - - -
     .                                                     .
     . < - - - - - - - - - -  Subnet - - - - - - - - - - > .

               Figure 9: Isolated NFC-Enabled Device Network

   In multihop (i.e., more complex) topologies, the 6LR can also do the
   same task.  DAD requires the extensions for multihop networks, such
   as the ones in [RFC6775].

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

7.  Security Considerations

   Neighbor Discovery in unencrypted wireless device networks may be
   susceptible to various threats as described in [RFC3756].

   Per the NFC Logical Link Control Protocol [LLCP-1.4]:

   *  LLCP of NFC provides protection of user data to ensure
      confidentiality of communications.  The confidentiality mechanism
      involves the encryption of user service data with a secret key
      that has been established during link activation.

   *  LLCP of NFC has two modes (i.e., ad hoc mode and authenticated
      mode) for secure data transfer.  Ad hoc secure data transfer can
      be established between two communication parties without any prior
      knowledge of the communication partner.  Ad hoc secure data
      transfer can be vulnerable to on-path attacks.  Authenticated
      secure data transfer provides protection against on-path attacks.
      In the initial bonding step, the two communicating parties store a
      shared secret along with a Bonding Identifier.

   *  For all subsequent interactions, the communicating parties reuse
      the shared secret and compute only the unique encryption key for
      that session.  Secure data transfer is based on the cryptographic
      algorithms defined in the NFC Authentication Protocol [NAP-1.0].

   Furthermore, NFC is considered by many to offer intrinsic security
   properties due to its short link range.  When IIDs are generated,
   devices and users are required to consider mitigating various
   threats, such as correlation of activities over time, location
   tracking, device-specific vulnerability exploitation, and address
   scanning.  However, IPv6 over NFC uses an RID [RFC7217] as an IPv6
   IID; NFC applications use short-lived connections and a different
   address is used for each connection where the latter is of extremely
   short duration.

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

   [LLCP-1.4] NFC Forum, "Logical Link Control Protocol Technical
              Specification", Version 1.4, December 2022,
              <https://nfc-forum.org/build/specifications>.

   [NAP-1.0]  NFC Forum, "NFC Authentication Protocol Technical
              Specification", Version 1.0, December 2022,
              <https://nfc-forum.org/build/specifications>.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC4086]  Eastlake 3rd, D., Schiller, J., and S. Crocker,
              "Randomness Requirements for Security", BCP 106, RFC 4086,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4086, June 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4086>.

   [RFC4861]  Narten, T., Nordmark, E., Simpson, W., and H. Soliman,
              "Neighbor Discovery for IP version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 4861,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4861, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4861>.

   [RFC4862]  Thomson, S., Narten, T., and T. Jinmei, "IPv6 Stateless
              Address Autoconfiguration", RFC 4862,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4862, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4862>.

   [RFC4919]  Kushalnagar, N., Montenegro, G., and C. Schumacher, "IPv6
              over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPANs):
              Overview, Assumptions, Problem Statement, and Goals",
              RFC 4919, DOI 10.17487/RFC4919, August 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4919>.

   [RFC4944]  Montenegro, G., Kushalnagar, N., Hui, J., and D. Culler,
              "Transmission of IPv6 Packets over IEEE 802.15.4
              Networks", RFC 4944, DOI 10.17487/RFC4944, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4944>.

   [RFC6282]  Hui, J., Ed. and P. Thubert, "Compression Format for IPv6
              Datagrams over IEEE 802.15.4-Based Networks", RFC 6282,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6282, September 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6282>.

   [RFC6775]  Shelby, Z., Ed., Chakrabarti, S., Nordmark, E., and C.
              Bormann, "Neighbor Discovery Optimization for IPv6 over
              Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPANs)",
              RFC 6775, DOI 10.17487/RFC6775, November 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6775>.

   [RFC7136]  Carpenter, B. and S. Jiang, "Significance of IPv6
              Interface Identifiers", RFC 7136, DOI 10.17487/RFC7136,
              February 2014, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7136>.

   [RFC7217]  Gont, F., "A Method for Generating Semantically Opaque
              Interface Identifiers with IPv6 Stateless Address
              Autoconfiguration (SLAAC)", RFC 7217,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7217, April 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7217>.

   [RFC7400]  Bormann, C., "6LoWPAN-GHC: Generic Header Compression for
              IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks
              (6LoWPANs)", RFC 7400, DOI 10.17487/RFC7400, November
              2014, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7400>.

   [RFC8025]  Thubert, P., Ed. and R. Cragie, "IPv6 over Low-Power
              Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) Paging Dispatch",
              RFC 8025, DOI 10.17487/RFC8025, November 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8025>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [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>.

   [RFC8505]  Thubert, P., Ed., Nordmark, E., Chakrabarti, S., and C.
              Perkins, "Registration Extensions for IPv6 over Low-Power
              Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) Neighbor
              Discovery", RFC 8505, DOI 10.17487/RFC8505, November 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8505>.

8.2.  Informative References

   [ECMA-340] ECMA International, "Near Field Communication - Interface
              and Protocol (NFCIP-1)", 3rd Edition, ECMA 340, June 2013,
              <https://www.ecma-international.org/wp-content/uploads/
              ECMA-340_3rd_edition_june_2013.pdf>.

   [IANA-6LoWPAN]
              IANA, "IPv6 Low Power Personal Area Network Parameters",
              <https://www.iana.org/assignments/_6lowpan-parameters>.

   [IEEE802.15.4]
              IEEE, "IEEE Standard for Low-Rate Wireless Networks", IEEE
              Std 802.15.4-2020, DOI 10.1109/IEEESTD.2020.9144691, July
              2020, <https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9144691>.

   [RFC3756]  Nikander, P., Ed., Kempf, J., and E. Nordmark, "IPv6
              Neighbor Discovery (ND) Trust Models and Threats",
              RFC 3756, DOI 10.17487/RFC3756, May 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3756>.

Acknowledgements

   We are grateful to the members of the IETF 6lo Working Group.

   Michael Richardson, Suresh Krishnan, Pascal Thubert, Carsten Bormann,
   Alexandru Petrescu, James Woodyatt, Dave Thaler, Samita Chakrabarti,
   Gabriel Montenegro, Erik Kline, and Carles Gomez Montenegro have
   provided valuable feedback for this document.

Authors' Addresses

   Younghwan Choi (editor)
   Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
   218 Gajeongno, Yuseung-gu
   Daejeon
   34129
   South Korea
   Phone: +82 42 860 1429
   Email: yhc@etri.re.kr

   Yong-Geun Hong
   Daejon University
   62 Daehak-ro, Dong-gu
   Daejeon
   34520
   South Korea
   Phone: +82 42 280 4841
   Email: yonggeun.hong@gmail.com

   Joo-Sang Youn
   DONG-EUI University
   176 Eomgwangno Busan_jin_gu
   Busan
   614-714
   South Korea
   Phone: +82 51 890 1993
   Email: joosang.youn@gmail.com