[Search] [txt|pdfized|bibtex] [Tracker] [Email] [Nits]
Versions: 00                                                            
Network Working Group                                  Lars-Erik Jonsson
INTERNET-DRAFT                                                  Ericsson
Expires: December 2002                                     June 14, 2002






         RObust Header Compression (ROHC): The ROHC Architecture
                 <draft-jonsson-rohc-architecture-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 other
   groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or cite them other than as "work in progress".

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/lid-abstracts.txt

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html

   This document is an individual submission to the IETF. Comments
   should be directed to the authors.


Abstract

   RFC 3095 defines a Proposed Standard framework with profiles for
   RObust Header Compression (ROHC). Various concepts are introduced
   within the standard, which might be difficult to understand, and
   especially how these relate to the surrounding environments where
   header compression may be used. This document aims at clarifying the
   architectural aspects of ROHC, discussing terms such as ROHC
   instances, ROHC channels, ROHC feedback, ROHC contexts, and how these
   terms relate to other terms like network elements and IP interfaces,
   commonly used when for example addressing MIB issues.





Jonsson                                                         [Page 1]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction..................................................2
   2.  ROHC External Terminology.....................................3
        2.1.  Network Elements and IP Interfaces.....................3
        2.2.  Channels...............................................3
        2.3.  A Unidirectional Point-to-Point Link Example...........4
        2.4.  A Bi-directional Point-to-Point Link Example...........5
        2.5.  A Bi-directional Multipoint Link Example...............5
        2.6.  A Multi-Channel Point-to-Point Link Example............6
   3.  ROHC Instances................................................7
        3.1.  ROHC Compressors.......................................8
        3.2.  ROHC Decompressors.....................................8
   4.  ROHC Channels.................................................9
   5.  ROHC Feedback Channels.......................................10
        5.1.  Single-Channel Dedicated ROHC FB Channel Example......11
        5.2.  Piggybacked/Interspersed ROHC FB Channel Example......11
        5.3.  Dual-Channel Dedicated ROHC FB Channel Example........12
   6.  ROHC Contexts................................................13
   7.  Implementation Implications..................................14
   8.  Security Considerations......................................15
   9.  Acknowledgements.............................................15
   10.  References..................................................15
   11.  Author's Address............................................15


1.  Introduction

   In RFC 3095, the RObust Header Compression (ROHC) standard framework
   is defined along with 4 compression profiles [RFC-3095]. Various
   concepts are introduced within the standard, which might not all be
   very extensively defined and described, and that can easily be an
   obstacle when trying to understand the standard. This can especially
   be the case when one consider how the various parts of ROHC relate to
   the surrounding environments where header compression may be used.

   The purpose of this document is to clarify the architectural aspects
   of ROHC, discussing terms such as ROHC instances, ROHC channels, ROHC
   feedback, ROHC contexts. This especially means to clarify how these
   terms relate to other terms, such as network elements and IP
   interfaces, which are commonly used when for example addressing MIB
   issues. One explicit goal with this document is to support and
   simplify the MIB development work for ROHC.

   The main part of this document, section 2 to 6, focuses on clarifying
   the conceptual aspects, entity relationships, and terminology of ROHC
   [RFC-3095]. After that, section 7 explains some implementation
   implications that arise from these conceptual aspects.






Jonsson                                                         [Page 2]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


2.  ROHC External Terminology

   When considering aspects of ROHC that relate to the surrounding
   networking environment where header compression may be applied,
   unnecessary confusion is easily created because a common, well
   understood and well defined, terminology is missing. One major goal
   with this document is to define the preferred terminology to use when
   discussing header compression network integration issues.


2.1.  Network Elements and IP Interfaces

   Header compression is applied over certain links, between two
   communicating entities in a network. Such entities may be referred to
   as "nodes", "network devices", or "network elements", all terms
   usually having the same meaning. However, practices within the area
   of network management recommends to use the term "network element",
   which is therefore consistently used throughout the rest of this
   document.

   A network element is communicating through one or several network
   interfaces, which are often subject to network management, as defined
   by MIB specifications. In all IP internetworking, each such interface
   has its own IP identity, providing a common network interface
   abstraction, independent of the link technology hidden below the
   interface. Throughout the rest of this document, such interfaces will
   be referred to as "IP interfaces".

   To visualize the above terms, the top level hierarchy at a network
   element will thus be the following, with 1 or several IP interfaces:

          +-----------------------------------------------------+
          |                   Network Element                   |
          +---------------+--+---------------+------------------+
          |      IP       |  |      IP       |
          |   Interface   |  |   Interface   |
          +---------------+  +---------------+ ...

   The next section further builds on this top level hierarchy by
   looking at what is below an IP interface.


2.2.  Channels

   As mentioned in previous section, an IP interface can be implemented
   on top of almost any link technology, although different link
   technologies have different characteristics, and provide
   communication by different means. However, all link technologies
   provide the common capability to send and/or receive data to/from the
   IP interface. A generic way of visualizing the common ability to
   communicate is to envision it as one or several communication



Jonsson                                                         [Page 3]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


   channels provided by the link, where each channel can be either bi-
   directional or unidirectional. Such logical point-to-point
   connections will throughout the rest of this document be referred to
   as "channels", either bi-directional or unidirectional. Note that
   this definition of "channels" is less restrictive than the definition
   of "ROHC channels", as given in section 4.

   Extending the above network element hierarchy with the concept of
   channels would then lead to the following:

          +-----------------------------------------------------+
          |                   Network Element                   |
          +---------------+--+---------------+------------------+
          |      IP       |  |      IP       |
          |   Interface   |  |   Interface   |
          ++ +-+ +-+ +----+  ++ +-+ +-+ +----+ ...
           |C| |C| |C|        |C| |C| |C|
           |h| |h| |h|        |h| |h| |h|
           |a| |a| |a|        |a| |a| |a|
           |n| |n| |n| ...    |n| |n| |n| ...
           |n| |n| |n|        |n| |n| |n|
           |e| |e| |e|        |e| |e| |e|
           |l| |l| |l|        |l| |l| |l|
           : : : : : :        : : : : : :

   Whether there is more than one channel, and whether the channel(s)
   is/are bi-directional or unidirectional (or a mix of both) is link
   technology dependent, as well as the way channels are logically
   created.

   The following subsection 2.3-2.6 gives a number of different link
   examples, and relate these to the general descriptions above.
   Further, each section discusses how header compression might be
   applied in that particular case. The core questions for header
   compression are:
   - Are channels bi- or unidirectional?
   - Is the link point-to-point? If not, a lower layer addressing
     scheme is needed to create logical point-to-point channels.

   Note that these subsections talk about header compression in general,
   while later sections will address the case of ROHC in more detail.
   Further, one should remember that the general channel definition is
   slightly enhanced for header compression by the definition of ROHC
   channels (see section 4) and ROHC feedback channels (see section 5).


2.3.  A Unidirectional Point-to-Point Link Example

   The simplest possible link example one can derive from the general
   overview above, is the case with one single unidirectional channel
   between two communicating network elements.



Jonsson                                                         [Page 4]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002



         +-----------------+                  +-----------------+
         | Network Element |                  | Network Element |
         +-----------------+                  +-----------------+
         |       IP        |                  |       IP        |
         |    Interface    |                  |    Interface    |
         +------+   +------+                  +------+   +------+
                |   |                                |   |
                |   +--------------------------------+   |
                |     ->  Unidirectional channel  ->     |
                +----------------------------------------+

   A typical example of a point-to-point link with one unidirectional
   channel like this is a satellite link. Since there is no return path
   present, only unidirectional header compression can here be applied.


2.4.  A Bi-directional Point-to-Point Link Example

   Starting from the example above, the natural next step example would
   be one with one single bi-directional channel between two
   communicating network elements. In this example, we still have just
   two endpoints and one single channel, it is just enhanced to allow
   bi-directional communication.

         +-----------------+                  +-----------------+
         | Network Element |                  | Network Element |
         +-----------------+                  +-----------------+
         |       IP        |                  |       IP        |
         |    Interface    |                  |    Interface    |
         +------+   +------+                  +------+   +------+
                |   |                                |   |
                |   +--------------------------------+   |
                |    <->  Bi-directional channel  <->    |
                +----------------------------------------+

   A typical example of a point-to-point link with one bi-directional
   channel like this is a PPP modem connection over a regular telephone
   line. Header compression can easily be applied here as well, as
   usually done over e.g. PPP, and the compression scheme can utilize
   the return path to improve compression performance.


2.5.  A Bi-directional Multipoint Link Example

   Leaving the simple point-to-point link examples, this section
   addresses the case of a bi-directional link between more than two
   communicating network elements. To simplify the example, the case
   with three endpoints is used.





Jonsson                                                         [Page 5]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


      +-----------------+   +-----------------+   +-----------------+
      | Network Element |   | Network Element |   | Network Element |
      +-----------------+   +-----------------+   +-----------------+
      |       IP        |   |       IP        |   |       IP        |
      |    Interface    |   |    Interface    |   |    Interface    |
      +------+   +------+   +------+   +------+   +------+   +------+
             |   |                 |   |                 |   |
             |   |                 |   |                 |   |
             |   +-----------------+   +-----------------+   |
             |   <->  Bi-directional "shared channel"  <->   |
             +-----------------------------------------------+

   A typical example of a multipoint link with a bi-directional "shared
   channel" like this is an Ethernet. Since the channel is shared,
   applying header compression would require a lower layer addressing
   scheme, to provide logical point-to-point channels, according to the
   definition of "channels".

   As a side point, it should be noted that a case of unidirectional
   multipoint links is basically the same as a number of unidirectional
   point-to-point links. For receivers, there is only one single sender,
   and the sender is not at all affected by the receivers.


2.6.  A Multi-Channel Point-to-Point Link Example

   This final example addresses a scenario which is expected to be
   typical in many environments where ROHC will applied. The key point
   with the example is the multi-channel property, which is common in
   for example cellular environments. Data through the same IP interface
   might here be transmitted on different channels, depending on
   characteristics. In this example, there are three channels present,
   one bi-directional, and one unidirectional in each direction, but the
   channel configuration could of course be arbitrary.




















Jonsson                                                         [Page 6]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


      +-----------------+                      +-----------------+
      | Network Element |                      | Network Element |
      +-----------------+                      +-----------------+
      |       IP        |                      |       IP        |
      |    Interface    |                      |    Interface    |
      +-+ +---+ +---+ +-+                      +-+ +---+ +---+ +-+
        | |   | |   | |                          | |   | |   | |
        | |   | |   | +--------------------------+ |   | |   | |
        | |   | |   | <- Unidirectional channel <- |   | |   | |
        | |   | |   +------------------------------+   | |   | |
        | |   | |                                      | |   | |
        | |   | |                                      | |   | |
        | |   | +--------------------------------------+ |   | |
        | |   |      <-> Bi-directional channel <->      |   | |
        | |   +------------------------------------------+   | |
        | |                                                  | |
        | |                                                  | |
        | +--------------------------------------------------+ |
        |             -> Unidirectional channel ->             |
        +------------------------------------------------------+

   As mentioned above, a typical example of a multi-channel link is a
   cellular wireless link. In this example, header compression would be
   applicable on a per-channel basis, for each channel operating either
   in a bi-directional or unidirectional manner, depending on the
   channel properties.


3.  ROHC Instances

   For e.g. the purpose of network management on an IP interface
   implementing ROHC, it is necessary to identify the various ROHC
   entities that might be present on an interface. Such a minimal ROHC
   entity will from now on be referred to as a "ROHC instance". A ROHC
   instance can be one of two different types, either a "ROHC
   compressor" or a "ROHC decompressor" instance, and an IP interface
   can have N ROHC compressors and M ROHC decompressors, where N and M
   are arbitrary numbers. It should be noted that although a compressor
   is often co-located with a decompressor, a ROHC instance can never
   include both a compressor and a decompressor, but they will then be
   referred to as two ROHC instances.

   The following two subsections describe the two kinds of ROHC
   instances and their external interfaces, while sections 4 and 5
   address how communication over these interfaces is realized through
   "ROHC channels" and "ROHC feedback channels". Section 6 builds on top
   of the instance, channel and feedback channel concepts and clarifies
   how ROHC contexts map to this.






Jonsson                                                         [Page 7]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


3.1.  ROHC Compressors

   A ROHC compressor instance supports header compression according to
   one or several ROHC profiles. Apart from potential configuration or
   control interfaces, a compressor instance receives and sends data
   through 3 inputs and 1 output, as illustrated by the figure below:

                              +--------------+
                     -> UI -> |              | -> CO ->
                              |     ROHC     |
                              |  Compressor  |
                     -> PI -> |              | <- FI <-
                              +--------------+

     Uncompressed Input (UI): Uncompressed packets are delivered from
                              higher layers to the compressor through
                              the UI.

     Compressed Output (CO):  Compressed packets are sent from the
                              compressor through the CO, which is always
                              connected to the input end of a ROHC
                              channel (see section 4).

     Feedback Input (FI):     Feedback from the decompressor at the
                              other end of the channel is received
                              by the compressor through the FI, which
                              (if present) is connected to the output
                              end of a ROHC feedback channel of some
                              kind (see section 5). When a ROHC feedback
                              channel is not available, bi-directional
                              compression will not be possible.

     Piggyback Input (PI):    If the compressor is associated with a
                              co-located decompressor, for which the
                              compressor delivers feedback to the
                              other end of the channel, feedback data
                              for piggybacking is delivered to the
                              compressor through the PI. If this input
                              is used, it is connected to the FO of the
                              co-located decompressor (see section 3.2).


3.2.  ROHC Decompressors

   A ROHC decompressor instance supports header decompression according
   to one or several ROHC profiles. Apart from potential configuration
   or control interfaces, a decompressor instance receives and sends
   data through 1 input and 3 outputs, as illustrated by the figure
   below:





Jonsson                                                         [Page 8]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


                              +--------------+
                     -> CI -> |              | -> DO ->
                              |     ROHC     |
                              | Decompressor |
                     <- FO <- |              | -> PO ->
                              +--------------+

     Compressed Input (CI):    Compressed packets are received by the
                               decompressor through the CI, which is
                               always connected to the output end of a
                               ROHC channel (see section 4).

     Decompressed Output (DO): Decompressed packets are delivered from
                               the decompressor to higher layers through
                               the DO.

     Feedback Output (FO):     Feedback to the compressor at the other
                               end of the channel is sent through the
                               FO, which (if present) is connected to
                               the input end of a ROHC feedback channel
                               of some kind (see section 5). When a ROHC
                               feedback channel is not available, bi-
                               directional compression will not be
                               possible.

     Piggyback Output (PO):    If the decompressor is associated with
                               a co-located compressor, to which the
                               decompressor delivers feedback it
                               receives piggybacked from the other end
                               of the channel, the received feedback
                               data is delivered from the decompressor
                               through the PO. If this output is used,
                               it is connected to the FI of the co-
                               located compressor (see section 3.1).


4.  ROHC Channels

   In section 2, a general concept of channels was introduced. According
   to that definition, a channel is basically a logical point-to-point
   connection between IP interfaces at two communicating network
   elements. By that definition, a channel represents the kind of
   logical connection needed to make header compression generally
   applicable, and then the channel properties control whether
   compression can operate in a unidirectional or bi-directional manner.

   The channel concept thus facilitates general header compression
   discussions, but since it groups unidirectional and bi-directional
   connections together it does not provide the means for describing
   details of the logical ROHC design. Therefore, for the case of ROHC,




Jonsson                                                         [Page 9]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


   the channel concept is enhanced and a more restricted concept of
   "ROHC channels" is defined.

   A ROHC channel has exactly the same properties as a channel, but with
   the difference that a ROHC channel always is unidirectional. A ROHC
   channel therefore has one single input endpoint, connected to the CO
   of one single ROHC compressor instance, and one single output
   endpoint, connected to the CI of one single ROHC decompressor
   instance. A ROHC channel must thus in this way be logically dedicated
   to one ROHC compressor/decompressor pair, hereafter referred to as
   ROHC peers, creating a one-to-one mapping between a ROHC channel and
   a pair of ROHC compressor/decompressor instances.

   +--------------+          --->-->-->-->---          +--------------+
   |              | -> CO ->   ROHC Channel   -> CI -> |              |
   |     ROHC     |          --->-->-->-->---          |     ROHC     |
   |  Compressor  |                                    | Decompressor |
   |              |                                    |              |
   +--------------+                                    +--------------+

   Of course, in many cases the channel is by nature bi-directional, but
   for ROHC communication over that channel, a ROHC channel would only
   represent one communication direction of the channel. For bi-
   directional channels, a common case would be to logically allocate
   one ROHC channel in each direction, allowing ROHC compression to be
   performed in two directions. The reason for defining ROHC channels as
   unidirectional is basically to separate and generalize the concept of
   feedback, as described and exemplified in section 5.


5.  ROHC Feedback Channels

   Since ROHC can be implemented over various kind of links,
   unidirectional or bi-directional one-channel links as well as multi-
   channel links, the logical transmission of feedback from decompressor
   to compressor has been separated out from other ROHC data transport
   through the definition of ROHC channels as always unidirectional.
   This means an additional channel concept must be defined for
   feedback, which is what further will be referred to as "ROHC feedback
   channels".

   In the same way as a ROHC channel is a logically dedicated
   unidirectional channel from a ROHC compressor to its ROHC peer
   decompressor, a ROHC feedback channel is a logically dedicated
   unidirectional channel from a ROHC decompressor to its ROHC peer
   compressor. A ROHC feedback channel thus has one single input
   endpoint, connected to the FO of one single ROHC decompressor
   instance, and one single output endpoint, connected to the FI of one
   single ROHC compressor instance.





Jonsson                                                        [Page 10]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


   +--------------+                                     +--------------+
   |              |                                     |              |
   |     ROHC     |                                     |     ROHC     |
   |  Compressor  |          --<--<--<--<--<--          | Decompressor |
   |              | <- FI <-  ROHC FB Channel  <- FO <- |              |
   +--------------+          --<--<--<--<--<--          +--------------+

   It might not be obvious why this extreme simplicity is needed, but
   the reason is generality for handling of feedback. ROHC has been
   designed with the assumption of logical separation, which creates
   flexibility for how to realize feedback transport, as discussed in
   [RFC-3095, section 5.2.1]. There are no restrictions on how to
   implement a ROHC feedback channel, more than that it must be made
   available and be logically dedicated to the ROHC peers.

   The following subchapters provides some, not at all exclusive,
   examples of how a ROHC feedback channel might possibly be
   implemented.


5.1.  Single-Channel Dedicated ROHC Feedback Channel Example

   This chapter illustrates a one-way compression example where one bi-
   directional channel has been configured to represent a ROHC channel
   in one direction and a dedicated ROHC feedback channel in the other
   direction.
                           Bi-directional channel
                             ..................
        +--------------+     : -->-->-->-->-- :     +--------------+
    --> |UI          CO| --> :  ROHC Channel  : --> |CI          DO| -->
        |     ROHC     |     : -->-->-->-->-- :     |     ROHC     |
        |  Compressor  |     :                :     | Decompressor |
        |              |     : --<--<--<--<-- :     |              |
      ñ |PI          FI| <-- :   FB Channel   : <-- |FO          PO| ñ
        +--------------+     : --<--<--<--<-- :     +--------------+
                             :................:

   In this example, feedback is sent on its own channel, as discussed in
   e.g. feedback realization example 1-3 of ROHC [RFC-3095, page 44].
   This means that the piggybacking mechanism of ROHC is not used, and
   the PI/PO connections are thus not used (marked with a "ñ"). To
   facilitate communication with ROHC compression in a two-way example
   with this approach, an identical configuration must be provided for
   the other direction.


5.2.  Piggybacked/Interspersed ROHC Feedback Channel Example

   This chapter illustrates how a bi-directional channel has been
   configured to represent one ROHC channel in each direction, while




Jonsson                                                        [Page 11]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


   still allowing feedback to be transmitted through ROHC piggybacking
   and interspersing.

                           Bi-directional channel
                             ..................
        +--------------+     : -->-->-->-->-- :     +--------------+
    --> |UI          CO| --> : ROHC Channel A : --> |CI          DO| -->
        |     ROHC     |     : -->-->-->-->-- :     |     ROHC     |
        |  Compressor  |     :                :     | Decompressor |
        |      A       |     :                :     |      A       |
    +-> |PI          FI| <-+ :                : +-- |PO          FO| --+
    |   +--------------+   | :                : |   +--------------+   |
    |                      | :                : |                      |
    |                      | :                : |                      |
    |   +--------------+   | :                : |   +--------------+   |
    +-- |FO          PO| --+ :                : +-> |FI          PI| <-+
        |     ROHC     |     :                :     |     ROHC     |
        | Decompressor |     :                :     |  Compressor  |
        |      B       |     : --<--<--<--<-- :     |      B       |
    <-- |DO          CI| <-- : ROHC Channel B : <-- |CO          UI| <--
        +--------------+     : --<--<--<--<-- :     +--------------+
                             :................:

   In this example, feedback is sent piggybacked on compressed packets
   in the ROHC channels, as discussed in e.g. feedback realization
   example 4-6 of ROHC [RFC-3095, page 44]. Feedback from decompressor A
   to compressor A is here sent through FO(A)->PI(B), piggybacked on a
   compressed packet over ROHC channel B, and delivered to compressor A
   through PO(B)->FI(A). A logical ROHC feedback channel is thus
   provided from the PI input at decompressor B to the PO output at
   compressor B. It should be noted that in this picture, PO and FO at
   the decompressors have been swapped to simplify drawing.


5.3.  Dual-Channel Dedicated ROHC Feedback Channel Example

   This chapter illustrates how two bi-directional channels have been
   configured to represent two ROHC channels and two dedicated ROHC
   feedback channels, respectively.















Jonsson                                                        [Page 12]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


                           Bi-directional channel
                             ..................
        +--------------+     : -->-->-->-->-- :     +--------------+
      ->|UI          CO| --> : ROHC Channel A : --> |CI          DO|->
        |     ROHC     |     : -->-->-->-->-- :     |     ROHC     |
        |  Compressor  |     :                :     | Decompressor |
        |      A       |     :                :     |      A       |
        |              |     :                :     |              |
    +-> |FI          PI|ñ    :                :    ñ|PO          FO| --+
    |   +--------------+     : --<--<--<--<-- :     +--------------+   |
    |                     +- : ROHC Channel B :<-+                     |
    |                     |  : --<--<--<--<-- :  |                     |
    |   +--------------+  |  :................:  |  +--------------+   |
    | <-|FO          CI|<-+                      +- |CO          UI|<- |
    |   |     ROHC     |                            |     ROHC     |   |
    |   | Decompressor |   Bi-directional channel   |  Compressor  |   |
    |   |      B       |     ..................     |      B       |   |
    |   |              |     : -->-->-->-->-- :     |              |   |
    |  ñ|PO          FO| --> :  FB Channel B  : --> |FI          PI|ñ  |
    |   +--------------+     : -->-->-->-->-- :     +--------------+   |
    |                        :                :                        |
    |                        : --<--<--<--<-- :                        |
    +----------------------- :  FB Channel A  : <----------------------+
                             : --<--<--<--<-- :
                             :................:

   In this example, feedback is in both directions sent on its own
   channel, as discussed in e.g. feedback realization example 1-3 of
   ROHC [RFC-3095, page 44]. With this configuration, the piggybacking
   mechanism of ROHC is not used, and the PI/PO connections are thus not
   used (marked with a "ñ"). It should be noted that also in this
   picture, PO and FO at the decompressors have been swapped to simplify
   drawing, as well as the B-instances have been horizontally mirrored.


6.  ROHC Contexts

   In previous sections it has been clarified that one network element
   may have multiple IP interfaces, one IP interfaces may have multiple
   ROHC instances running, not necessary both compressors and
   decompressors, and for each ROHC instance there is exactly one ROHC
   channel and optionally one ROHC feedback channel.

   Each compressor/decompressor can further compress/decompress an
   arbitrary (but normally limited on a per-channel basis) number of
   concurrent packet streams sent over the ROHC channel connected to
   that compressor/decompressor. Each packet stream relates to one
   particular context state in the compressor/decompressor. When sent
   over the ROHC channel, compressed packets are labeled with a context
   identifier (CID), indicating which context the compressed packet
   corresponds to. There is thus a one-to-one mapping between the number



Jonsson                                                        [Page 13]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


   of contexts that can be present in a compressor/decompressor and the
   context identifier (CID) space used in compressed packets over that
   ROHC channel. This is illustrated by the following figure:

    +------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |                           IP Interface                           |
    +---------------+----+---------------+----+---------------+--------+
    |    ROHC HC    |    |    ROHC HC    |    |    ROHC HD    |
    | Context 0...N |    | Context 0...M |    | Context 0...K |  ...
    +--+---------+--+    +--+---------+--+    +--+---------+--+
       ^         |          ^         |          :         ^
       :   CID   |          :   CID   |          :   CID   |
       :  0...N  |          :  0...M  |          :  0...K  |
       :         v          :         v          v         |
     ROHC      ROHC       ROHC      ROHC       ROHC      ROHC
   Feedback   Channel   Feedback   Channel   Feedback   Channel
    Channel              Channel              Channel

   It should be noted that each ROHC instance at an IP interface
   therefore has its own context and CID space, which size must be
   agreed with the corresponding ROHC instance peer at the other end of
   the ROHC channel.


7.  Implementation Implications

   This section will address some questions related to how the
   conceptual aspects discussed above affect implementations of ROHC.

   ROHC is defined with a general header compression framework on top of
   which compression profiles can be defined for each specific set of
   headers to compress. Although the framework holds a number of
   important mechanisms, the separation between framework and profiles
   is mainly a standardization wise separation, to indicate what must be
   common for all profiles, what must be defined by all profiles, and
   what is profile-specific details. To implement the framework as a
   separate module is thus not an obvious thing to do, especially if one
   wants to use profile implementations from different vendors. However,
   optimized implementations will probably separate the common parts and
   implement those separately, and add profile modules to that.

   A ROHC instance might thus consist of various pieces of
   implementation modules, profiles and potentially also a ROHC-common
   module, possibly from different vendors. If vendor and implementation
   version information is made available for network management
   purposes, this should thus be done on a per-profile basis, and in
   addition to that potentially also for the instance as a whole.







Jonsson                                                        [Page 14]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


8.  Security Considerations

   This document is of informative nature, and does not have any
   security aspects to address.


9.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Juergen Quittek and Hans Hannu for fruitful discussions,
   improvement suggestions, and review.


10.  References

   [RFC-3095]  Bormann, C., Burmeister, C., Degermark, M., Fukushima,
               H., Hannu, H., Jonsson, L-E., Hakenberg, R., Koren, T.,
               Le, K., Liu, Z., Martensson, A., Miyazaki, A., Svanbro,
               K., Wiebke, T., Yoshimura, T. and H. Zheng, "Robust
               Header Compression (ROHC)", RFC 3095, July 2001.


11.  Author's Address

   Lars-Erik Jonsson              Tel: +46 920 20 21 07
   Ericsson AB                    Fax: +46 920 20 20 99
   Box 920
   SE-971 28 Lulea
   Sweden                         EMail: lars-erik.jonsson@ericsson.com


























Jonsson                                                        [Page 15]


INTERNET-DRAFT    RObust Header Compression Architecture   June 14, 2002


Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.







This Internet-Draft expires December 14, 2002.



















Jonsson                                                        [Page 16]