SIMPLE Working Group                                         C. Holmberg
Internet-Draft                                                  Ericsson
Intended status: Standards Track                                 S. Blau
Expires: July 21, 2010                                       Ericsson AB
                                                        January 17, 2010


 An Alternative Connection Model for the Message Session Relay Protocol
                                 (MSRP)
                   draft-ietf-simple-msrp-acm-04.txt

Abstract

   This document defines an alternative connection model for Message
   Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) User Agents (UAs), which uses the
   connection-oriended media (COMEDIA) mechanism in order to create the
   MSRP transport connection.  The model allows MSRP UAs behind NATs to
   negotiate which UA will initiate the establishment of the TCP
   connection, in order for MSRP messages to traverse the NAT.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on July 21, 2010.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.




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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://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 Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the BSD License.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.  Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   3.  Applicability statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   4.  COMEDIA for MSRP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     4.1.  General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     4.2.  a=setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     4.3.  TLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
     4.4.  a=connection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
     4.5.  MSRP relay connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   5.  Interoperability with connection model defined in RFC 4975  . . 6
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   8.  Change Log  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
     9.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
     9.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8





















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1.  Introduction

   The Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) core specification
   [RFC4975] defines that the MSRP UA which sends the SDP offer is
   "active", and it is responsible for creating the MSRP transport
   connection towards the remote UA if a new connection is required.
   The core specifcation also allows, but does not define, alternate
   mechanisms for MSRP UAs to create MSRP transport connections.

   [RFC4145] defines a connection-oriended media mechanism, COMEDIA,
   that endpoints can use to negotiate the endpoint which initiates the
   creation of media transport connection.

   COMEDIA is especially useful when an endpoint is located behind a
   NAT.  The endpoint can use the mechanism to indicate that it will
   create the media transport connection, in order for the media to
   traverse the NAT without the usage of relays.

   An example is the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) defined "Instant Message
   using SIMPLE" [OMA-TS-SIMPLE_IM-V1_0-20090901-D], where one MSRP UA
   of every MSRP transport connection represents a media server, which
   is always located in the carrier network.  The media server has a
   global IP address and handles application specific policy control as
   well as NAT traversal.  The OMA IM (Instant Messenger) uses COMEDIA
   for NAT traversal, and all OMA IM MSRP clients support COMEDIA.

   This document defines how an MSRP UA uses COMEDIA in order to
   negotiate which UA will create the MSRP transport TCP connection
   towards the other UA.  The document also defines how an MSRP UA which
   uses COMEDIA can establish an MSRP transport connection with a remote
   UA that does not support COMEDIA.


2.  Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
   [RFC2119].


3.  Applicability statement

   Support of this specification is optional for MSRP user agents in
   general.  User Agents that are likely to be deployed in networks
   where User Agents need to establish the TCP connections in order to
   traverse NATs SHOULD support this specification in order to improve
   the odds of being able to communicate across NATs.



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4.  COMEDIA for MSRP

4.1.  General

   This section defines how an MSRP UA uses the COMEDIA SDP attributes
   defined in [RFC4145].

4.2.  a=setup

   An MSRP UA MUST support the SDP a=setup attribute [RFC4145], in order
   to negotiate which endpoint will create the MSRP transport connection
   towards the other UA.

   The a=setup attribute is particularly useful when one MSRP UA
   represents a network media server, or any other entity that is not
   located behind a NAT.  The a=setup attribute allows the media server
   to ensure that MSRP UAs create the MSRP transport connections towards
   the server, so that NATs at user's premises will not interfere with
   the connection creation.

   An MSRP UA MUST always include an explicit a=setup attribute in its
   SDP offers and answers, since it is sometimes useful for the other
   endpoint, or for entities in the network, to know whether the UA
   supports COMEDIA or not.

   An MSRP UA MUST support the a=setup "active", "actpass" and "passive"
   attribute values.

   When the a=setup attribute value is "actpass" or "passive", the IP
   address:port value in the MSRP URI of the SDP a=path attribute MUST
   contain the actual address:port on which the UA can receive a TCP
   Open request for the MSRP transport connection.

   If the a=setup attribute value is "active", the port number value
   MUST either be the actual port number that the MSRP UA will use for
   the TCP endpoint, or the port value 9.

   If an MSRP UA can provide a global IP address that the other endpoint
   can use as destination for a TCP Open request, the UA MUST use the
   a=setup "actpass" attribute value in SDP offers.  This is in order to
   allow the remote UA to send an SDP answer with an a=setup "active"
   attribute value if the UA is located behind NAT, and in order to be
   compatible with MSRP UAs that do not support COMEDIA and thus always
   will act as passive endpoints.  If an MSRP UA cannot provide the
   actual transport address, the UA MUST use the a=setup "active"
   attribute value.

   The UA MUST NOT use the a=setup "passive" attribute value in an SDP



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   offer.

   The MSRP UA can determine that it provides a global IP address in the
   following scenarios:

   - the UA can determine that it is not located behind a NAT;

   - the UA relays its MSRP transport connections via a relay (e.g.
   MSRP relay or TURN server); or

   - the UA has used Simple Traversal of UDP Through NATs (STUN)
   [RFC3489] signalling to retrieve NAT address:port through the local
   port to be used for the the eventual transport connection, while also
   having determined that the NAT is not address restricted.

   Some UAs can determinte whether the SIP [RFC3261] signaling has
   traversed a NAT by inspecting the SIP Via header field in the 200
   (OK) response to the initial SIP REGISTER request, and comparing the
   IP addresses in the Via sent-by and the received header field
   parameters.  If the IP addresses are not the same then the UA can
   determine that there is a NAT in the path.  Even though the media
   transport might not traverse the NAT, it is safe to assume that it
   will, and set the a=setup attribute accordingly.  This comparing
   mechanism does not work in all scenarios, though.  For example, if
   the NAT contains a SIP proxy, the UA will not be able to detect the
   NAT by comparing the IP addresses."

   NOTE: If the NAT contains a SIP proxy, the UA will not be able to
   detect the NAT by comparing the IP addresses.

   If an SDP offer includes an a=setup "actpass" attribute value, the
   SDP answer MAY include an a=setup "active" attribute value, but
   SHOULD include a=setup "passive" attribute value if the SDP answerer
   knows that it is not located behind a NAT.

   Once the active UA has established the MSRP transport connection, the
   UA MUST immediately send an MSRP SEND request, as defined in
   [RFC4975].

   NOTE: According to [RFC4975] the initiating UA is always active, but
   when COMEDIA is used the a=setup attribute is used to negotiate which
   UA becomes active.

4.3.  TLS

   This document does not specify the usage of COMEDIA-TLS [RFC4572] for
   MSRP.  If an MSRP UA conformant to this document uses TLS, it MUST
   use the TLS mechanisms defined in [RFC4975] and [RFC4976].



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   Note that the active UA will take the role of the TLS client, and the
   passive UA will take the roll of the TLS server.  UAs using self-
   signed TLS certificates SHOULD include certificate fingerprints, as
   described in section 14.4 of [RFC4975]."

4.4.  a=connection

   MSRP UAs MUST NOT use the SDP a=connection attribute.  [RFC4975]
   defines connection reuse procedures for MSRP, and this document does
   not modify those procedures.

   If an MSRP UA receives an a=connection attribute, the UA MUST ignore
   it.

4.5.  MSRP relay connection

   If an MSRP UA is located behind an MSRP relay [RFC4976], the UA MUST
   always initiate a transport connection towards the relay, no matter
   what value the client has provided in the a=setup attribute.

   NOTE: Even if an MSRP UA initiates the TCP connection towards its
   relay, the UA will only send a SEND request if the UA is active,
   based on the COMEDIA negotiation.


5.  Interoperability with connection model defined in RFC 4975

   An MSRP UA conformant to this document can interoperate with a UA
   that follows the connection model defined in [RFC4975].  However, if
   an MSRP UA conformant to this document is located behind NAT, and
   does not proxy its MSRP communication via an MSRP relay, and the UA
   receives an SDP offer from a remote UA that follows the connection
   model defined in [RFC4975], NAT traversal can only be achieved if the
   MSRP UA supports ICE [I.D.ietf-mmusic-ice-tcp] and the network
   provides TURN servers, or if the network supports SBC assisted NAT
   traversal for TCP.


6.  Security Considerations

   The procedures define in this document do not impact the security
   characteristics defined in [RFC4975].


7.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Ben Campbell, Remi Denis-Courmont, Nancy Greene, Hadriel
   Kaplan, Adam Roach, Robert Sparks, Salvatore Loreto and Shida



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   Schubert for their guidance and input in order to produce this
   document.


8.  Change Log

   [RFC EDITOR NOTE: Please remove this section when publishing]

   Changes from draft-ietf-simple-msrp-acm-03
   o  Changes based on WGLC comments from Adam Roach and Ben Campbell.
   o  New section added related to interoperability with connection
      model defined in RFC 4975.
   o  Text related to a=setup "holdconn" attribute value removed.
   o  NAT keepalive section removed.
   o  Usage of COMEDIA-TLS removed.

   Changes from draft-ietf-simple-mscp-acm-02
   o  Changes based on WGLC comments from Salvatore Loreto and Shida
      Schubert.

   Changes from draft-ietf-simple-msrp-acm-01
   o  Procedures for using SDP c/m for routing of MSRP messages removed.
   o  Procedures related to modification of MSRP address information by
      intermediates moved to separate document.
   o  Solution to open issue on usage of the SDP a=connection
      implemented.


9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

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

   [RFC4145]  Yon, D. and G. Camarillo, "TCP-Based Media Transport in
              the Session Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC 4145,
              September 2005.

   [RFC4572]  Lennox, J., "Connection-Oriented Media Transport over the
              Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol in the Session
              Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC 4572, July 2006.

   [RFC4975]  Campbell, B., Mahy, R., and C. Jennings, "The Message
              Session Relay Protocol (MSRP)", RFC 4975, September 2007.

   [RFC4976]  Jennings, C., Mahy, R., and A. Roach, "Relay Extensions
              for the Message Sessions Relay Protocol (MSRP)", RFC 4976,



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              September 2007.

9.2.  Informative References

   [RFC3489]  Rosenberg, J., Weinberger, J., Huitema, C., and R. Mahy,
              "STUN - Simple Traversal of User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
              Through Network Address Translators (NATs)", RFC 3489,
              March 2003.

   [RFC3261]  Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., Camarillo, G., Johnston,
              A., Peterson, J., Sparks, R., Handley, M., and E.
              Schooler, "SIP: Session Initiation Protocol", RFC 3261,
              June 2002.

   [I-D.ietf-mmusic-ice-tcp]
              Perreault, S. and J. Rosenberg, "TCP Candidates with
              Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE)",
              draft-ietf-mmusic-ice-tcp-08 (work in progress),
              October 2009.


Authors' Addresses

   Christer Holmberg
   Ericsson
   Hirsalantie 11
   Jorvas  02420
   Finland

   Email: christer.holmberg@ericsson.com


   Staffan Blau
   Ericsson AB
   P.O Box 407
   Sweden

   Email: staffan.blau@ericsson.com













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