Technical Summary
The document specifies PANA Relay Element (PRE) functionality which
enables PANA messaging between a PaC and a PAA where the two nodes
cannot reach each other by means of regular IP routing. For example,
a joining node (PaC) may only be able to use a link-local IPv6 address
to communicate with a parent router prior to PANA authentication. The
PAA typically resides in a 6LoWPAN Border Router which is often
multiple IP hops away from the PaC. The PRE implemented on the parent
router is used for relaying PANA messages between the PaC and the PAA
in this scenario.
Working Group Summary
This is a submission from outside the working groups. It has been worked on
by a set of individuals focused on Internet of Things deployments.
Document Quality
We are told that PANA relay (and RFC 5191 of course) is being implemented by some ZigBee vendors
and demonstrating interoperability in an IP mesh networking environment.
Personnel
The Document Shepherd is Margaret Wasserman and the responsible
Area Director is Jari Arkko.
RFC Editor Note
Replace the first paragraph of Section 3 with this:
PRE/PAA security is OPTIONAL since PANA messages are designed to be
used in untrusted networks, but if cryptographic mechanism is
supported, it SHOULD be IPsec. When the device characteristics preclude
support for IPsec, an alternative mechanism such as DTLS [REF], or
link-layer cryptographic security, etc. may be used instead. This section
describes how IPsec [RFC4301] can be used for securing the PANA relay
messages.