TCP Option to Denote Packet Mood
RFC 5841

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Independent Submission                                            R. Hay
Request for Comments: 5841                                     W. Turkal
Category: Informational                                      Google Inc.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                             1 April 2010

                    TCP Option to Denote Packet Mood

Abstract

   This document proposes a new TCP option to denote packet mood.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
   RFC stream.  The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
   its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
   implementation or deployment.  Documents approved for publication by
   the RFC Editor are not a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5841.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2010 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
   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.

Hay & Turkal                  Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 5841            TCP Option to Denote Packet Mood        1 April 2010

1.  Introduction

   In an attempt to anthropomorphize the bit streams on countless
   physical layer networks throughout the world, we propose a TCP option
   to express packet mood [DSM-IV].

   Packets cannot feel.  They are created for the purpose of moving data
   from one system to another.  However, it is clear that in specific
   situations some measure of emotion can be inferred or added.  For
   instance, a packet that is retransmitted to resend data for a packet
   for which no ACK was received could be described as an 'angry'
   packet, or a 'frustrated' packet (if it is not the first
   retransmission for instance).  So how can these kinds of feelings be
   conveyed in the packets themselves.  This can be addressed by adding
   TCP Options [RFC793] to the TCP header, using ASCII characters that
   encode commonly used "emoticons" to convey packet mood.

1.1.  Terminology

   The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD,
   SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, when they appear in this
   document, are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2.  Syntax

   A TCP Option has a 1-byte kind field, followed by a 1-byte length
   field [RFC793].  It is proposed that option 25 (released 2000-12-18)
   be used to define packet mood.  This option would have a length value
   of 4 or 5 bytes.  All the simple emotions described as expressible
   via this mechanism can be displayed with two or three 7-bit, ASCII-
   encoded characters.  Multiple mood options may appear in a TCP
   header, so as to express more complex moods than those defined here
   (for instance if a packet were happy and surprised).

              TCP Header Format

         Kind     Length     Meaning
         ----     --------   -------
          25      Variable   Packet Mood

Hay & Turkal                  Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 5841            TCP Option to Denote Packet Mood        1 April 2010

   In more detail:

           +--------+--------+--------+--------+
           |00011001|00000100|00111010|00101001|
           +--------+--------+--------+--------+
            Kind=25  Length=4 ASCII :  ASCII )

           +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
           |00011001|00000101|00111110|00111010|01000000|
           +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
            Kind=25  Length=5 ASCII >  ACSII :  ASCII @

3.  Simple Emotional Representation

   It is proposed that common emoticons be used to denote packet mood.
   Packets do not "feel" per se.  The emotions they could be tagged with
   are a reflection of the user mood expressed through packets.

   So the humanity expressed in a packet would be entirely sourced from
   humans.

   To this end, it is proposed that simple emotions be used convey mood
   as follows.

      ASCII                Mood
      =====                ====
      :)                   Happy
      :(                   Sad
      :D                   Amused
      %(                   Confused
      :o                   Bored
      :O                   Surprised
      :P                   Silly
      :@                   Frustrated
      >:@                  Angry
      :|                   Apathetic
      ;)                   Sneaky