Technical Summary:
This document specifies an updated Overlay Routable Cryptographic
Hash Identifiers format that obsoletes the earlier format defined
in [RFC4843]. These identifiers are intended to be used as
endpoint identifiers at applications and Application Programming
Interfaces (API) and not as identifiers for network location at the
IP layer, i.e., locators. They are designed to appear as
application layer entities and at the existing IPv6 APIs, but they
should not appear in actual IPv6 headers. To make them more like
regular IPv6 addresses, they are expected to be routable at an
overlay level. Consequently, while they are considered
non-routable addresses from the IPv6 layer point-of-view, all
existing IPv6 applications are expected to be able to use them in a
manner compatible with current IPv6 addresses.
The Overlay Routable Cryptographic Hash Identifiers originally
defined in [RFC4843] lacked a mechanism for cryptographic algorithm
agility. The updated ORCHID format specified in this document
removes this limitation by encoding in the identifier itself an
index to the suite of cryptographic algorithms in use.
Working Group Summary:
There is full consensus behind this document. In September 2012, the
authors of the draft consulted with Brian Haberman, who was the HIP
WG's responsible AD at that point, to make sure the purpose of the
draft was clear.
Document Quality:
As discussed in RFC 6538, there are several implementations of the
Experimental HIP specs. At least HIP for Linux and OpenHIP will be
updated to comply with the standards-track specs.
Personnel:
Gonzalo Camarillo is the document shepherd.
Ted Lemon is the responsible AD.