INTERNET-DRAFT                                                  D. Jones
Dynamic Host Control Working Group                       YAS Corporation
Expires May 2001                                               R. Woundy
                                                                   Cisco
                                                           November 2000


               Addition of Device Class to Agent Options
           <draft-ietf-dhc-agentoptions-device-class-00.txt>

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
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   Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
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   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document proposes a new sub-option to the DHCP Relay Information
   Agent Option.  This new sub-option is for use with DOCSIS cable
   modems and describes a "device class" to which the cable modem
   belongs.  The cable modem signals its device class information to the
   Relay Agent using DOCSIS signalling, and the Relay Agent forwards the
   device class information to the DHCP Server which can then make a
   policy decision based on it.







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Internet Draft Addition of Device Class to Agent Options   November 2000


1.  Introduction

   DHCP Agent Options is described in [1] and includes several Relay
   Agent Information sub-options.  This I-D proposes an additional sub-
   option for use with DOCSIS cable modems.  This sub-option MAY be
   added by DHCP relay agents which terminate cable modems.  The sub-
   option encodes an identifier of the device class to which the cable
   modem belongs.  It is intended for use by DHCP servers to make policy
   decisions based on the device class of the host.

   The motivation for using a Relay Agent Information sub-option, rather
   than a new or existing DHCP option, is the introduction of CPE Con-
   trolled Cable Modems (CCCMs) [2]. In an implementation of a CCCM, the
   modem firmware controls DOCSIS signalling, but the attached computer
   (CPE) manages other protocol activities -- particularly DHCP client
   message handling. The assumption of this document is that it is
   better to trust the operation of the CCCM firmware, than to trust the
   operation of CCCM software running on the attached computer (e.g. a
   standard PC).


2.  Device Class Sub-option

   The DOCSIS RFI specification [3] specifies the Device Class encoding
   within the payload of the Device Class Identification Request (DCI-
   REQ) message.  The relay agent passes the Device Class value
   unchanged to the DHCP server.  Possible uses of this field include:

      o host endpoint information

      o host hardware capabilities

      o host software capabilities

      o host options information

   The Device Class sub-option is coded as follows:

            SubOpt   Len     Device Class
           +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+--
           |  4   |   n  |  d1  |  d2  |  d3  |  d4  |  d5  |  d6  | ...
           +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+--

   The DHCP server needs to understand the meaning of this sub-option in
   order to offer different policy options in its reply to the host.  DHCP
   servers MAY use the Device Class for IP and other parameter assignment
   policies for cable modems.




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Internet Draft Addition of Device Class to Agent Options   November 2000


3.  Security Considerations

   Operation of the DHCP Relay Agent Information Option relies on an
   implied trusted relationship between the DHCP relay agent and the
   DHCP server.

   Operation of the Device Class sub-option also relies on an implied
   trusted relationship between the DHCP client (i.e. the cable modem)
   and the DHCP relay agent, through DOCSIS signalling. According to
   DOCSIS specifications, the cable modem firmware always controls
   DOCSIS signalling, but may not control DHCP client message handling
   (e.g. CCCMs).  This document assumes that the cable modem firmware is
   trustworthy for DOCSIS signalling information.

   This document introduces a new identifier, the Device Class sub-
   option, that is provided by the relay agent device and is assumed to
   be trusted.  Cryptographic or other techniques to authenticate the
   Device Class are beyond the scope of this document.


4.  References


   [1] M. Patrick, "DHCP Relay Agent Information Option", Internet-Draft
      <draft-ietf-dhc-agent-options-12.txt>, October 2000.

   [2] "Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications: Cable Modem to
      Customer Premise Equipment Interface Specification SP-CMCI-I04-
      000714", DOCSIS, July 2000, http://www.cablemodem.com.

   [3] "Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications: Cable Modem
      Radio Frequency Interface Specification SP-RFIv1_1-I05-000714",
      DOCSIS, July 2000, http://www.cablemodem.com.



5.  Authors' Addresses


      Doug Jones
      YAS Corporation
      300 Brickstone Square
      Andover, MA 01810
      Phone: (303) 661-3823
      EMail: doug@yas.com

      Rich Woundy
      Cisco Systems



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Internet Draft Addition of Device Class to Agent Options   November 2000


      250 Apollo Drive
      Chelmsford, MA  01824
      Phone: (978) 244-8000
      EMail: rwoundy@cisco.com


6.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.

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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MER-
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