Autoconf                                                      T. Clausen
Internet-Draft                                                U. Herberg
Intended status: Informational                  LIX, Ecole Polytechnique
Expires: August 29, 2009                               February 25, 2009


               MANET Router Configuration Recommendations
            draft-clausen-manet-autoconf-recommendations-00

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on August 29, 2009.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 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
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Abstract

   This document describes a pragmatic set of configuration
   recommendations for MANETs, as well as provides a rationale for why



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   these recommendations are sound.  While there may be other equally
   valid ways of configuring a MANET, the recommendations in this
   document have the merit of being supported by an existence proof
   (there're running networks in existence, configured according to
   these recommendations), and they require neither modifications to the
   IP stack nor to upper-layer protocols or applications.

Requirements Language

   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 RFC
   2119 [RFC2119].


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.1.  Document Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.  MANET Configuration Recommendations  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     2.1.  MANET "Node" Morphology -- Hosts and Routers . . . . . . .  5
     2.2.  MANET Interface Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     2.3.  Prefixes delegated to MANET Router . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   3.  Example MANET Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.1.  MANET Router and Single Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.2.  MANET Router and Attached Network w. Prefix Delegation . .  9
     3.3.  MANET Router and Attached Network w/o Prefix Delegation  . 10
     3.4.  MANET Router with two MANET Interfaces and Attached
           Network  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   4.  Rationale  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     4.1.  Unique MANET Interface Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     4.2.  /32 and /128 Prefix Lengths  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     4.3.  IP Hop Isolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   5.  Summary and Characteristics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   8.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   9.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
     9.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
     9.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22










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1.  Introduction

   A MANET (Mobile Ad hoc NETwork) is, in academic circles, commonly
   described as a variation over the following:

   "a collection of independent nodes, communicating over a wireless,
   capacity-restricted medium, whereby they form a multi-hop connected
   network with no assumptions of an a-priori network infrastructure and
   with a highly dynamic topology."

   While such a description may be extrapolated to interesting
   challenges for research and protocol design, such as fast-convergence
   routing algorithms and bandwidth-economic protocols, it does little
   to describe the exact morphology and IP configuration of the
   "independent nodes" from which the MANET is constructed.
   Consequently, it offers little guidance in how a "real-world" IP-
   based MANET can be configured and deployed.

   MANET routing protocol specification as developed by the IETF, such
   as [RFC3626], [RFC3561], [RFC4728] and [RFC3684], stipulate internal
   processing of such "independent nodes" as well as specify the exact
   protocol message exchange between these, in order to allow
   construction of routing tables.  As such, these specifications allow
   for operation of a MANET, and do provide indications as to under
   which assumptions such operation is assumed -- but on the other hand
   do not have as vocation to provide explicit configuration and
   deployment guidelines for MANETs.  MANET routing protocols explicitly
   assume that all MANET nodes in a MANET are already configured, i.e.
   that the network interfaces have appropriate IP addresses etc.

   The purpose of this present document is to remedy that by describing
   recommendations and considerations for configuring and deploying a
   MANET.  These considerations are characterized by adhering strictly
   to IP -- i.e. to require no modifications to neither the protocol
   stack nor to applications accessing the network -- and to be
   applicable for, to the best of the authors knowledge, any MANET using
   any choice of routing protocol from among those developed for MANETs
   within the IETF.

   Caveat lector: Other configurations and deployment approaches for
   MANETs are likely possible, and should not be disregarded or
   excluded.  This document, however, describes a set of configuration
   and deployment recommendations, which practical experience and real-
   world deployments have shown to be feasible.  Also note that this
   document describes only the end result -- but not any process
   (automatic or otherwise).  Hence, when the term "configuration" is
   employed, it is as a noun for "the end result".




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1.1.  Document Outline

   Section 2 presents, without rationale, explanation or apologies,
   recommendations for the constitution and configuration of a MANET
   router and of a MANET.  This should allow the reader to immediately
   understand how to -- safely -- configure and deploy an IP based MANET
   using any of the currently developed IETF MANET routing protocols.
   This, while maintaining compatibility with all "Internet
   applications" and with other protocols, and without requiring
   modifications to the IP stack.

   Section 3 shows a selection of MANET router configurations, each
   strictly following the recommendations given in Section 2.  These
   examples are not exhaustive, but rather illustrative for the kind of
   deployments supported by the recommendations in Section 2.

   Section 4 explains the background and rationale for the configuration
   recommendations presented in Section 2.  For each configuration
   recommendation, a selection of justifications are presented and
   detailed.  This should allow the reader to understand why the
   recommendations given in Section 2 represent a reasonable and
   operational way of configuring a MANET.

   Section 5 concludes this document by summarizing the configuration
   recommendations and the characteristics of a MANET configured
   according to the recommendations given in this document.


2.  MANET Configuration Recommendations

   This section presents a small set of MANET configuration
   recommendations.  As indicated in Section 1, these recommendations
   constitute an approach for which there is an existence proof that a
   MANET so configured is both correctly functioning and one in which
   "Internet applications" and other protocols operate unmodified
   without requiring modifications to the IP stack.

   Section 2.1 expands the notion of MANETs being constructed from
   "independent nodes" into the familiar terminology on the Internet and
   of IP networking of "Hosts" and "Routers".

   Section 2.2 describes address configuration of MANET router
   interfaces, and Section 2.3 how prefixes delegated to a MANET router
   are used.

   Caveat lector: This section explains uniquely the HOW of
   configuration of a MANET router and a MANET.  The WHY -- the
   rationale and justification -- is given in Section 4.



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2.1.  MANET "Node" Morphology -- Hosts and Routers

   Each "independent node" in a MANET can functionally be described
   according to Figure 1, with the "MANET node" being composed of a
   "MANET router" (R) with one or more "MANET interfaces" -- i.e. the
   interface which is to be used for establishing connectivity between
   MANET routers -- as well as zero or more interfaces towards other
   networks or hosts on classic IP links.

                                  \|/
                  MANET interface  |
                       +-----------|---------------------+
                       |        +--+------+              |
                       |        |    R    |  MANET router|
                       |        +---------+              |
                       |         |      |                |
                       |      +---+     | Classical IP   |
                       |      | H |     | links with     |
                       |      +---+     | hosts          |
                       |         _______|______          |
                       |        |       |      |         |
                       |      +---+   +---+  +---+       |
                       |      | H |...| H |  | H |       |
                       |      +---+   +---+  +---+       |
                       |                                 |
                       +---------------------------------+
                                   MANET node

                     Figure 1: MANET "node" morphology

   Functionally, this entails that:

   o  MANET routing protocols are run over MANET interfaces only;

   o  MANET routers enable connectivity between the MANET and hosts or
      other non-MANET networks;

   o  MANET characteristics are "isolated behind an IP hop" from hosts
      or other networks;

   o  Applications on hosts and other networks can remain "MANET
      unaware".

   A MANET, therefore, looks as depicted in Figure 2: the inner cloud
   represents where MANET routers have MANET interfaces and where only
   MANET aware protocols operate (e.g.  MANET routing protocols) -- and
   the outer cloud represents the non-MANET-aware part of the network,
   with hosts and other (non-MANET) networks.



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                        ,.----..      _.--'''--._
               ___    ,'        ``. ,'           `.   _....._
           _,''   ``,'          +---+   +---+      ,-'       `-.
          /                     | H |   | H |                   \
         |                      +---+   +---+                    \
         |                        |_______|                       |
         |                         ____|               Edge       |
         ,                      ,-'    +-.   ___                _.'
       ,'   +---+       ,,---../       |  `''   ``.              ``._
     ,'     | H |--+  ,'            +--+--+        `.                \
     /      +---+  | /  +-----+     |  R  |          \                |
    |              +----|  R  |     +-----+   Core   |                |
    `.      +---+  | '  +-----+    /       \         '                |
     |      | H |--+ /     \      /         \        `.              /
      `.    +---+   |       \  +-----+      +-----+    \           ,'
        `-.         \        \_|  R  |------|  R  |    |        -''.
          /          \         +--+--+      +-----+    '            `.
        ,'            `.          |                 _,'               \
       .'               `-.       | ,`.         ,'''                  |
       |                   `-.___.+'   `..__,,,'                      |
       |                          |                                   /
        \                   ,-----+--.                               /
         \                  |        |                            _,'
          `.              +---+    +---+                     ..,-'
            `-..____,,<   | H |    | H |  /(                /
                       \  +---+    +---+ ,' \              ,'
                        `.              /    `.          ,'
                          `._        ,-'       `-..___,,'
                             ``----''

   Figure 2: A MANET with routers (R) and hosts (H). The "core" consists
         of routers that are responsible for network formation and
   maintenance. The "edge" includes hosts and non-MANET aware networks.

   This is akin to, say, an OSPF network, which can be depicted
   similarly to Figure 2: Within the inner cloud, OSPF routers with NBMA
   interfaces would be operating using protocol mechanisms suitably
   aware of NBMA characteristics, whereas the outer cloud would contain
   non-NBMA-aware parts of the network, such as hosts.

2.2.  MANET Interface Configuration

   The following summarizes the configuration constraints for MANET
   interfaces of a MANET router:

   o  Each MANET interface on a MANET router MUST be configured with an
      IP address which is unique, at least within the MANET.




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   o  Each MANET interface MUST be configured with a prefix length of
      /32 (for IPv4) or /128 (for IPv6).

2.3.  Prefixes delegated to MANET Router

   The following summarizes the configuration constraints for a prefix,
   delegated to a MANET router:

   o  If a prefix is delegated to a MANET router, this prefix MUST NOT
      be configured on any MANET interface.

   o  If a prefix is delegated to a MANET router, other (non-MANET)
      interfaces MAY be configured with this prefix.


3.  Example MANET Configurations

   This section provides a set of illustrative examples of common MANET
   configurations, respecting the considerations given in Section 2.2.
   Notice that this section does not attempt to exhaustively enumerate
   all possible MANET deployments or configurations.

   In the examples below, IP addresses and prefixes are extracted from
   within the private address space 192.168/16.  This is for
   illustrative purposes only.  This document does not take any position
   as to which address space is to be used for when configuring MANETs
   or other networks.

3.1.  MANET Router and Single Host

   Figure 3 illustrates a MANET node consisting of a MANET router with a
   single MANET interface and a single host.  This is the typical case,
   for example, when one has a laptop, PDA or smartphone participating
   in the MANET: the "router" and the "host" are in that case logical
   components within the same device, and with a single physical
   interface.

   The MANET node is assigned a single IPv4 address, in this case
   192.168.1.1.  This IP address is to identify both the MANET interface
   of the MANET router as well as the host.  Logically, this is
   accomplished by configuring the interface of the MANET router as an
   "unnumbered interface", by assigning 192.168.1.1/32 to the MANET
   interface of the router.  Traffic to the logical component that is
   the router will typically be addressed to a well-known multicast
   address, thus the router can distinguish between traffic to itself
   and traffic to the logical host.





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                                   \|/
                                    | 192.168.1.1/32
                            +-------|--------------+
                            |    +--+--+           |
                            |    |  R  |           |
                            |    +-----+           |
                            |      /               |
                            |     / 192.168.1.1/32 |
                            |  +---+               |
                            |  | H |               |
                            |  +---+               |
                            +----------------------+

         Figure 3: MANET router (R) and a single internal host (H)

   It is important to retain that the MANET interface is configured with
   a prefix length of /32, as this is an IPv4 network -- had it been an
   IPv6 network, the required prefix length for the MANET interfaces
   would have been /128.

   For administrative reasons, e.g. for the ability to aggregate routes
   for injection into other routing domains, IP addresses assigned to
   MANET interfaces (or prefixes delegated to MANET routers) within the
   same MANET may be extracted from within a larger interval, say,
   192.168.0.0/16.  Even so, each MANET interface configured with an IP
   address MUST be configured with a prefix length of /32 (IPv4) or /128
   (IPv6) and no MANET interface may be configured with this larger
   address interval as prefix.  Notice that in this situation, the
   address interval 192.168.0.0/16 represents the ability to aggregate a
   set of addresses into a single entry, and is specifically *NOT*
   related to "subnet" or "subnet prefix".

   A complete MANET so configured might look as depicted in Figure 4.


















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                              _____       ,,-''''`-..
                          ,,-'     `-.._-'           `._
        192.168.0.0/16  ,'                              \
                       /                        \|/      \___
                      /           \|/            |           `-.
                     |             |         +---+----+         `.
                     |        +----+---+     |192.168.|           |
                      |       |192.168.|     | 1.2/32 |           |
                     _'       | 1.1/32 |     +--------+           /
                    /         +--------+                         <
                   /                                     \|/      \
                   |                     \|/              |        \
                   \                      |          +----+---+     \
                    \                +----+---+      |192.168.|      |
                     `.              |192.168.|      | 1.4/32 |      |
                       `-..__.       | 1.3/32 |      +--------+     /
                             \       +--------+                    /
                              `.                                 ,'
                                `.         _,.               ,,-'
                                  `--....-'   `..         ,,'
                                                 `'-----''


      Figure 4: A correctly configured MANET. IP addresses within the
   routers are those assigned to the MANET interface. Notice that while
       all such IP addresses are extracted from the address interval
      192.168.0.0/16, all MANET interfaces are configured with prefix
                              lengths of /32.

3.2.  MANET Router and Attached Network w. Prefix Delegation

   Figure 5 illustrates a MANET router with a single MANET interface and
   an interface towards a classic IP link such as an Ethernet.  The
   MANET router is delegated the IPv4 prefix 192.168.1.0/24.  That
   prefix is assigned to the non-MANET link, on which interfaces are
   assigned addresses such as 192.168.1.1/24, 192.168.1.2/24,
   192.168.1.3/24 etc.  Note that the interfaces on that classic IP link
   are configured with a prefix length of /24, indicating that the
   interfaces with addresses from within that IP prefix are all
   reachable within a single IP hop.

   The MANET interface is configured as an "unnumbered interface" by
   "borrowing" the address (192.168.1.1) from its interface towards the
   classic IP link - but is configured with the prefix length /32.  The
   MANET interface is, specifically, not configured with a prefix length
   of /24, even though that prefix is delegated to the MANET router, as
   the MANET interface is not able to reach all other interfaces with
   addresses from within 192.168.1.0./24 in a single IP hop.



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                 192.168.1.1/32  \|/
                     +------------|------------+
                     |            |            |
                     |          +-+-----+      |
                     |          |   R   | 192.168.1.0/24
                     |          +-------+      |
                     |192.168.1.1/24 |         |
                     |               |         |
                     +---------------+---------+
                                     |
                          ,----------+-----------.
                          |          |           |
                        +---+      +---+       +---+
         192.168.1.2/24 | H |      | H |       | H | 192.168.1.4/24
                        +---+      +---+       +---+
                              192.168.1.3/24

    Figure 5: MANET router (R) with an attached network and a delegated
    subnet prefix. Notice that the prefix 192.168.1.0/24 is assigned to
   the non-MANET link, where interfaces are configured with that prefix,
     e.g. 192.168.1.3/24. The MANET interface "borrows" the IP address
    from that link, however is configured with a prefix length of /32.

   Traffic to the MANET interface with the IP address 192.168.1.1 can be
   distinguished from traffic to the non-MANET interface with the same
   address since traffic destined to the MANET interface of the router
   typically will be addressed to a well-known multicast address.

3.3.  MANET Router and Attached Network w/o Prefix Delegation

   Figure 6 shows a situation similar to that of Section 3.2 except that
   the MANET router, for whatever reason, is not delegated any prefix.

   As no prefix has been delegated to the MANET router, the MANET router
   can not simply "borrow" an IP address from within a delegated prefix
   for its MANET interface and know this IP address to be unique -- but
   has to rely on some other mechanism for acquiring an IP address.
   Whichever mechanism is used for acquiring this IP address, is shall
   ensure that this IP address is unique, at least within the MANET.

   Assuming that the MANET router has acquired the IP address
   130.225.194.42 for use on its MANET interface, and that whatever
   mechanism gave this IP address to the MANET router ensured that this
   address is unique, at least within the MANET, then the MANET router
   can be configured as in figure Figure 6.






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                     130.225.194.42/32  \|/
                            +------------|------------+
                            |            |            |
                            |          +-+-----+      |
                            |          |   R   |      |
                            |          +-------+      |
                            |               |         |
                            |               |         |
                            +---------------+---------+
                                            |
                                 ,----------+-----------.
                                 |          |           |
                               +---+      +---+       +---+
                               | H |      | H |       | H |
                               +---+      +---+       +---+


   Figure 6: MANET router (R) with an attached network. The router has,
    through whichever mechanism, acquired the IP address 130.225.194.42
     -- with which it configures its MANET interface and with a prefix
     length of /32. At this time, no prefix is delegated to the MANET
                                  router.

   The MANET router may attempt to acquire a prefix, through whatever
   mechanism availble on the network, for use when configuring attached
   hosts and networks -- or may assign IP addresses from within a
   private address space to such hosts and networks, and deploy NAT.

3.4.  MANET Router with two MANET Interfaces and Attached Network

   Similar to Figure 5, Figure 7 illustrates the configuration of a
   MANET router with two MANET interfaces.  In this case, the attached
   network and one of the MANET interfaces is configured exactly as in
   Figure 5, whereas the second MANET interface is configured using an
   otherwise unused IP address -- in this case 192.168.1.42 -- from
   within the 192.168.1.0/24 prefix.  This interface is also configured
   with a prefix length of /32.














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                 192.168.1.1/32  \|/ \|/  192.168.1.42/32
                     +------------|---|--------+
                     |            |   |        |
                     |          +-+---+-+      |
                     |          |   R   | 192.168.1.0/24
                     |          +-------+      |
                     |192.168.1.1/24 |         |
                     |               |         |
                     +---------------+---------+
                                     |
                          ,----------+-----------.
                          |          |           |
                        +---+      +---+       +---+
         192.168.1.2/24 | H |      | H |       | H | 192.168.1.4/24
                        +---+      +---+       +---+
                              192.168.1.3/24

    Figure 7: MANET router (R) with an attached network and a delegated
      subnet prefix and two MANET interfaces. Notice that the prefix
    192.168.1.0/24 is assigned to the non-MANET link, where interfaces
      are configured with that prefix, e.g. 192.168.1.3/24. The MANET
       interface "borrows" the IP address from that link, however is
   configured with a prefix length of /32. The second MANET interface is
     configured using an unused IP address from within the same subnet
    prefix, in this case 192.168.1.42 -- also configured with a prefix
                               length of /32

   Using IP addresses from within the prefix delegated to the MANET
   router for configuring MANET interfaces on that router ensures that
   these IP addresses are unique, at least within the MANET -- assuming,
   of course, that the prefix delegation mechanism does not delegate the
   same prefix to multiple MANET routers within the same network.

   Notice that the same logic applies in this scenario as in the one in
   Figure 5: the second MANET interface could assume any IP address from
   within 192.168.1.0/24, even one already used by a host such as
   192.168.1.2, as long as it is not used on another MANET interface and
   as long as the second MANET interface is also configured with a
   prefix length of /32.  Traffic to the MANET interface with the IP
   address 192.168.1.2 can be distinguished from traffic to the non-
   MANET interface with the same address since traffic destined to the
   MANET interface of the router typically will be addressed to a well-
   known multicast address.


4.  Rationale

   Section 2 describes three recommendations when configuring MANET



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   routers and MANET interfaces on MANET routers:

   o  Each MANET interface on a MANET router MUST be configured with an
      IP address which is unique, at least within the MANET;

   o  MANET interfaces MUST be configured with prefix lengths of /32
      (IPv4) or /128 (IPv6);

   o  MANET routers MUST isolate MANET characteristics from non-MANET
      interfaces.

   This section provides a rationale for the configuration
   recommendations in Section 2 by presenting the reasoning behind each
   of these -- as well as a selection of consequences from configuring a
   MANET router without following these recommendations.

   In the descriptions in the following sections, IP addresses and
   prefixes are extracted from within the private address space
   192.168/16.  This is for illustrative purposes only.  This document
   does not take any position as to which address space is to be used
   for when configuring MANETs or other networks.

4.1.  Unique MANET Interface Addresses

   MANET interfaces are typically not attached to point-to-point links,
   but are rather of a "semi-broadcast nature" such as indicated in
   Figure 8.  Hence, a packet transmitted on a MANET interface may be
   received by any number of MANET interfaces, including the
   transmitting MANET interface itself.

                      Communication
                          Range
                   <~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~> <~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~>
                            |<~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~>|
                         +--|--+   +--|--+   +--|--+
                         |  A  |   |  B  |   |  C  |
                         +-----+   +-----+   +-----+

           Figure 8: Example of "semi-broadcast" MANET interface
   characteristics. The arrows indicate the transmission range for each
   MANET interface, i.e. the range within which a transmitted packet can
                   be successfully received and decoded.

   In order for MANET routers to be able to forward data packet not
   destined to themselves or to directly attached non-MANET hosts or
   networks, they need to be able to uniquely identify the "next hop"
   for a packet.  Symmetrically, in order for a MANET router to
   discriminate between incoming data packets for it to forward (either



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   within the MANET or to an attached host or network) or to discard, it
   needs to be able to identify if indeed it is the "next hop" for a
   received data packet.  In order to accomplish this, MANET interfaces
   which are in direct L2 communication with each other need to be
   configured with unique IP addresses.

   Some MANET routing protocols employ flooding mechanisms (also
   commonly denoted "optimized flooding") in order to reduce the
   overhead involved in topology dissemination throughout the network.
   Examples include [RFC3626] and [RFC5449].  Such flooding mechanisms
   are based on each node selecting a subset of its neighbors as
   "relays", with only these relays taking part in flooding operations.
   Such relay selection algorithm in general require the ability to
   uniquely identify each MANET interface up to two hops away from the
   source; such is the case for [RFC3626] and [RFC5449].

   Other flooding algorithms, studied for MANETs, perform relay
   selection requiring the ability to uniquely identify each MANET
   interface further away -- such is the case with various non-connected
   dominating set flooding approaches, currently a subject of research.

   By configuring MANET interfaces such that each has a MANET-wide
   unique address, it is ensured that both the flooding mechanisms from
   the current crop of MANET routing protocols, as well as potential
   future developments, are supported.

4.2.  /32 and /128 Prefix Lengths

   In early MANET deployments, a common occurrence was to configure a
   MANET as "a subnet" and configure it as indicated in Figure 9: the
   MANET would have a subnet prefix, say 192.168.1.0/24 and MANET
   interfaces would be configured with this subnet prefix, e.g.
   192.168.1.3/24.


















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                   Communication
                       Range
            <~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~> <~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
                         |<~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~>|
                     +--------+    +--------+    +--------+
                     |192.168.|    |192.168.|    |192.168.|
                     | 1.1/24 |    | 1.2/24 |    | 1.3/24 |
                     +--------+    +--------+    +--------+

        Data packet:     -------------->
         dest     192.168.1.3
         next-hop 192.168.1.2

          ICMP Redirect  <--------------


     Figure 9: Misconfigured MANET: MANET interfaces configured with a
     shared /24 prefix, causing the central router to produce an ICMP
     redirect when forwarding packets from 192.126.1.1 to 192.168.1.3.

   If, for example, a data packet was transmitted by the MANET router
   192.168.1.1 to be received by 192.168.1.3, then this would -- with
   reference to Figure 9 -- have to be forwarded by the MANET router
   192.168.1.2.  With the MANET interfaces in this MANET being
   configured with the subnet prefix 192.168.1 and the prefix length
   /24, it was observed that this produced ICMP redirects by
   192.168.1.2.

   An early, and often suggested, solution was to "treat the symptoms
   rather than cure the disease" by disabling ICMP redirects on MANET
   routers -- i.e. to require modifications to the IP stack operation in
   order that it can be supporting MANETs.

   The ICMP redirect is intended to be used to inform a source to send
   packets using an alternative, more direct, route -- e.g. if a source,
   s wishes to send a data packet to a destination node d via the path
   s-R1-R2-d, and if R1 knows that a direct path s-R2-d is available,
   then the ICMP redirect from R1 will inform s of this route.

   Two interfaces, configured with addresses from within the same subnet
   prefix, and with the same prefix length are defined to be reachable
   from each other within a single IP hop.  More precisely, it is
   assumed that all interfaces with IP addresses within that subnet
   prefix and configured with the same prefix length are directly
   reachable from each other without forwarding by an intermediate
   router.  Hence, a way for R1 to know that a direct path may exist
   between h and R2 is if h, R1 and R2 are configured with IP addresses
   from within the same subnet prefix and within the same subnet prefix.



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   Returning to the MANET scenario in Figure 9, with all MANET
   interfaces being configured with the same subnet prefix and the same
   prefix length, it follows from the discussion above that all these
   MANET interfaces are expected to be directly reachable from each
   other within a single IP hop.  When, in this configuration, the
   router 192.168.1.2 is requested to forward a data packet from
   192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.3, it is expected that it generates an ICMP
   redirect to 192.168.1.1 suggesting that a direct path exists from
   192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.3 -- as this is what the configuration
   suggests.

   Rather than "treating the symptoms" and disabling ICMP redirects,
   requiring /32 and /128 prefix lengths on MANET interfaces "cures the
   disease".  An interface so configured will not make any assumptions
   about other interfaces being within a single IP hop, and so will not
   generate ICMP redirects when forwarding traffic.

   An argument could be made, suggesting that for each set of MANET
   interfaces which are all directly reachable in one IP hop from each
   other, a shared "subnet prefix" can be assigned.  Considering the
   network from Figure 9, this could allow two "subnets" to be formed,
   as indicated in Figure 10, with the MANET interface of the center
   router being configured with two IP addresses (or, being configured
   with two virtual interfaces, each with one IP address), one in each
   of the two subnets.


























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                                      .
           Communication              .
               Range                  .
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~><~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
                    <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
                                      .

              192.168.1.1/24          .              192.168.2.2/24
                  \ | /             \ | /               \ | /
                   \|/      192.168. \|/ 192.168.        \|/
                    |        1.2/24   |   2.1/24          |
                 +--|-+             +----+             +--|-+
                 | N1 |             | N2 |             | N3 |
                 +----+             +-.--+             +----+
                                      .
                ----------------------.
                Subnet prefix         .--------------------------
                       192.168.1.0/24 .     Subnet prefix
                                      .            192.168.2.0/24

      Figure 10: MANET interfaces configured with a shared /24 subnet
   prefixes among neighbors which can all communicate directly in one IP
      hop. Notice that some MANET interfaces will be required to have
     multiple IP addresses, and as the network topology changes, also
                change their MANET interface configuration.

   While this could be a valid configuration, considering that the "M"
   in MANET is for "mobile", the network topology can be expected to
   change dynamically and frequently.  A network so configured would,
   therefore, require constant "subnet formation" and "interface
   reconfiguration", in order to maintain the configuration valid.  It
   would require (complex) mechanisms for tracking the topology dynamics
   and would entail potentially frequent changes to MANET interface
   address configurations.  Such frequent changes of interface
   configurations would likely also adversely affect e.g. relay
   selection mechanisms such as those used for flooding in [RFC3626] and
   [RFC5449]: from the point of view of a router R, even if the topology
   within a 2 hop radius from R did not physically change (and so, no
   relay set recalculations would be needed), the logical configuration
   of interface addresses on a node 2 hops away from R might change
   (e.g. due to physical topology changes to the neighborhood of that
   node, i.e. 3 hops away from R) in order to preserve the ability of
   having "shared prefixes" among neighboring MANET interfaces.  This
   would then potentially require relay set recalculations by R and
   additional signaling to this effect by a routing protocol on R --
   even though topological changes were 3 hops away from R and such
   recalculations and signaling would not be necessary in case MANET
   interface addresses were kept stable.



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   Finally, as the only application(s) to be exposed to MANET interfaces
   are MANET routing protocols and other protocols explicitly MANET
   aware and designed for management of a MANET infrastructure, it is
   highly questionable if there would be any benefits from introducing
   the complexities necessary for maintaining such dynamically changing
   "subnets" among MANET interfaces.

   Configuring MANET interfaces with a /32 or /128 prefix length is,
   therefore, a safe approach which entails no additional complicated
   mechanisms or signaling, and which requires no changes to the IP
   stack.

4.3.  IP Hop Isolation

   Upper-layer applications and protocols are designed with a set of
   (often not explicitly expressed) assumptions as to the nature and
   characteristics of the underlying network communications fabric.
   This includes, but is not limited to, assumptions on (i) the
   relationship between a "subnet" and the ability for interfaces
   configured within the same subnet to all be able to communicate with
   each other directly, i.e. in one IP hop (as evoked in Section 4.1 and
   Section 4.2), (ii) that communication between interfaces on the same
   link is symmetric (if interface A can receive packets from interface
   B, then interface B can receive packets from interface A), (iii) that
   link-local multicast (i.e. with TTL or hop-limit equal to 1) is
   supported and is well defined (e.g. that the recipients of a link
   local multicast from interface A is identical to those of interface
   B, assuming that interfaces A and B are on the same link).
   Essentially, upper-layer applications and protocols assume an
   underlying link with characteristics similar to those of an Ethernet.

   Over MANET interfaces, these assumptions may not hold true.  Consider
   for example the network in Figure 11.  If interface A makes a link
   local multicast transmission, then this is received by the interface
   B -- whereas if interface B makes a link local multicast
   transmission, then this is received by the interfaces A and C.

                      Communication
                          Range
                   <~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~> <~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~>
                            |<~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~>|
                         +--|--+   +--|--+   +--|--+
                         |  A  |   |  B  |   |  C  |
                         +-----+   +-----+   +-----+

      Figure 11: Link local multicast over MANET interfaces: without
      forwarding, a transmission from the manet interface A reaches a
      different set of interfaces than those for a transmission from



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                       interface B (or interface C).

   There are, essentially, four potential ways of addressing this
   problem: requiring all upper-layer applications and protocols to
   become "MANET aware", inventing mechanisms for presenting a MANET
   as-if it was an Ethernet, pushing the problem to layer 2, or
   encapsulating any MANET specific behavior in a way such that it is
   only exposed to explicitly MANET aware applications and protocols.

   Requiring all upper-layer applications and protocols to be reworked
   such that they be MANET aware is impossible, due to the sheer volume
   of such, is undesirable as a tenant of the Internet is to provide an
   abstraction for applications from the interconnect characteristics,
   and would likely, not be without technical problems of its own -- for
   example, Section 4.2 exposes the complexity with respect to the
   single problem of correctly ensuring the relationship between
   "subnet" and which MANET interfaces are able to directly communicate.

   Pushing the problem to layer 2, and requiring a layer 2 to present an
   "Ethernet-like" medium would for a given layer 2 solve the problem --
   but do away with the ability to deploy heterogeneous MANETs, and
   would be akin to e.g. requiring OSPF to do away with all but one
   interface type and require all layer 2's over which OSPF is expected
   to run to adhere to this single remaining interface type.

   The last way of addressing this problem is to encapsulate MANET
   specific behaviors in a way such that it only is exposed to
   explicitly MANET aware applications and protocols.  This approach has
   several merits, not the least of which is that this is exactly the
   way in which existing routing protocols are deployed: interfaces
   between routers, and their characteristics, are exposed only to
   applications and protocols which are explicitly aware of these
   interfaces and their characteristics, with all other applications and
   protocols being isolated from these by being connected via an
   "Ethernet-like" link to the router -- i.e. by virtue of being
   isolated behind an IP hop (the router).

   For example, applications on hosts are exposed to an "Ethernet-like"
   link with other hosts and potentially routers -- and are blissfully
   unaware whether these routers are connected using point-to-point
   links, NBMA links, broadcast links etc.

   For these reasons, configuring a MANET such that the MANET router is
   isolating the MANET interfaces and their characteristics from hosts
   and other (non-MANET) networks by an IP hop, and requiring that on
   MANET routers, only explicitly MANET aware applications are exposed
   to MANET interfaces, is a safe and simple approach that entails no
   additional complex mechanisms and signaling.  This also requires no



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   changes to neither the IP stack nor the upper-layer applications and
   protocols operating on these hosts and (non-MANET) networks.


5.  Summary and Characteristics

   This document proposes recommendations as to how MANETs can be
   configured and deployed, specifically, it provides the following
   three sets of recommendations:

   MANET Interface Address Configuration:

   o  Each MANET interface on a MANET router MUST be configured with an
      IP address which is unique, at least within the MANET.

   o  Each MANET interface MUST be configured with a prefix length of
      /32 (for IPv4) or /128 (for IPv6).

   Delegated Prefix Configuration:

   o  If a prefix is delegated to a MANET router, this prefix MUST NOT
      be configured on any MANET interfaces.

   o  If a prefix is delegated to a MANET router, other (non-MANET)
      interfaces MAY be configured with this prefix.

   MANET Interface Characteristics Encapsulation:

   o  MANET interface characteristics are exposed only to explicitly
      MANET-aware protocols and applications, such as MANET routing
      protocols;

   o  MANET interfaces are not exposed to applications and upper-layer
      protocols, i.e.;

   o  MANET routers provide connectivity to hosts and other (non-MANET)
      networks via links with "Ethernet-like" link characteristics, and;

   o  MANET routers provide connectivity from hosts and other (non-
      MANET) networks via IP routing, i.e.  MANET interface
      characteristics are "hidden behind an IP hop" from applications
      and upper-layer protocols.

   A MANET configured according to these recommendations has the
   following key characteristics:

   MANET Characteristics:




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   o  It requires no modifications to the IP stack on hosts and non-
      MANET aware networks;

   o  It requires no modifications to the IP stack on MANET routers;

   o  It requires no modifications to upper-layer applications and
      protocols on hosts and (non-MANET) routers;

   o  It supports all MANET routing protocols, as currently developed
      within the IETF.


6.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no actions for IANA.


7.  Security Considerations

   This document does currently not describe any security
   considerations.


8.  Acknowledgments

   The considerations presented in this document are the authors
   condensation of years of experience within and outside the IETF, from
   studying, building, testing and deploying MANETs.

   The authors would like to express his profound thanks to (in no
   specific order) Dave Thaler (Microsoft), Thomas Narten (IBM), Jari
   Arkko (Ericsson), Mark Townsley (Cisco), Chris Dearlove (BAE
   Systems), Justin Dean (NRL), Joe Macker (NRL), Ian Chakeres (CenGen),
   Charles E. Perkins (WiChorus), Emmanuel Baccelli (INRIA), Henning
   Rogge (FGAN) and Ryuji Wakikawa (Toyota) for having given their
   valuable time to participating in the (at time vivid) discussions
   with the authors, and forming the foundation for writing this present
   document.

   Emmanuel Baccelli (INRIA) provided valuable proof-reading of this
   document in its final stages.


9.  References







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9.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

9.2.  Informative References

   [RFC3561]  Perkins, C., Belding-Royer, E., and S. Das, "Ad hoc On-
              Demand Distance Vector (AODV) Routing", RFC 3561,
              July 2003.

   [RFC3626]  Clausen, T. and P. Jacquet, "Optimized Link State Routing
              Protocol (OLSR)", RFC 3626, October 2003.

   [RFC3684]  Ogier, R., Templin, F., and M. Lewis, "Topology
              Dissemination Based on Reverse-Path Forwarding (TBRPF)",
              RFC 3684, February 2004.

   [RFC4728]  Johnson, D., Hu, Y., and D. Maltz, "The Dynamic Source
              Routing Protocol (DSR) for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks for
              IPv4", RFC 4728, February 2007.

   [RFC5449]  Clausen, T., Baccelli, E., Nguyen, D., and P. Jacquet,
              "OSPF Multipoint Relay (MPR) Extension for Ad Hoc
              Networks", RFC 5449, February 2009.


Authors' Addresses

   Thomas Heide Clausen
   LIX, Ecole Polytechnique

   Phone: +33 6 6058 9349
   Email: T.Clausen@computer.org
   URI:   http://www.ThomasClausen.org/


   Ulrich Herberg
   LIX, Ecole Polytechnique

   Phone: +33 1 6933 4126
   Email: ulrich@herberg.name
   URI:   http://www.herberg.name/








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