Problem Statement for bootstrapping Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6)
RFC 4640

Network Working Group                                      A. Patel, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4640                                         Cisco
Category: Informational                                 G. Giaretta, Ed.
                                                          Telecom Italia
                                                          September 2006

        Problem Statement for Bootstrapping Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6)

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   A mobile node needs at least the following information: a home
   address, a home agent address, and a security association with home
   agent to register with the home agent.  The process of obtaining this
   information is called bootstrapping.  This document discusses issues
   involved with how the mobile node can be bootstrapped for Mobile IPv6
   (MIPv6) and various potential deployment scenarios for mobile node
   bootstrapping.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
      1.1. Overview of the Problem ....................................3
      1.2. Bootstrapping ..............................................3
      1.3. Terminology ................................................4
   2. Assumptions .....................................................5
   3. Design Goals ....................................................6
   4. Non-goals .......................................................7
   5. Motivation for bootstrapping ....................................7
      5.1. Addressing .................................................7
           5.1.1. Dynamic Home Address Assignment .....................7
           5.1.2. Dynamic Home Agent Assignment .......................9
           5.1.3. "Opportunistic" or "Local" Discovery ................9
           5.1.4. Management Requirements .............................9
      5.2. Security Infrastructure ...................................10
           5.2.1. Integration with AAA Infrastructure ................10
      5.3. Topology Change ...........................................10

Patel & Giaretta             Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4640              PS Bootstrapping Mobile IPv6        September 2006

           5.3.1. Dormant Mode Mobile Nodes ..........................10
   6. Network Access and Mobility Services ...........................11
   7. Deployment Scenarios ...........................................13
      7.1. Mobility Service Subscription Scenario ....................13
      7.2. Integrated ASP Network Scenario ...........................14
      7.3. Third-Party MSP Scenario ..................................14
      7.4. Infrastructure-less Scenario ..............................15
   8. Parameters for Authentication ..................................15
   9. Security Considerations ........................................17
      9.1. Security Requirements of Mobile IPv6 ......................17
      9.2. Threats to the Bootstrapping Process ......................18
   10. Contributors ..................................................19
   11. Acknowledgements ..............................................20
   12. Informative References ........................................20

1.  Introduction

   Mobile IPv6 [RFC3775] specifies mobility support based on the
   assumption that a mobile node (MN) has a trust relationship with an
   entity called the home agent.  Once the home agent address has been
   learned (for example, via manual configuration, anycast discovery
   mechanisms, or DNS lookup), Mobile IPv6 signaling messages between
   the mobile node and the home agent are secured with IPsec or with the
   authentication protocol, as defined in [RFC4285].  The requirements
   for this security architecture are created with [RFC3775], and the
   details of this procedure are described in [RFC3776].

   In [RFC3775], there is an implicit requirement that the MN be
   provisioned with enough information that will permit it to register
   successfully with its home agent.  However, having this information
   statically provisioned creates practical deployment issues.

   This document serves to define the problem of bootstrapping.
   Bootstrapping is defined as the process of obtaining enough
   information at the mobile node that it can successfully register with
   an appropriate home agent.

   The requirements for bootstrapping could consider various
   scenarios/network deployment issues.  It is the basic assumption of
   this document that certain minimal parameters (seed information) are