Diameter Base Protocol
RFC 6733

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                   V. Fajardo, Ed.
Request for Comments: 6733                        Telcordia Technologies
Obsoletes: 3588, 5719                                           J. Arkko
Category: Standards Track                              Ericsson Research
ISSN: 2070-1721                                              J. Loughney
                                                   Nokia Research Center
                                                            G. Zorn, Ed.
                                                             Network Zen
                                                            October 2012

                         Diameter Base Protocol

Abstract

   The Diameter base protocol is intended to provide an Authentication,
   Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) framework for applications such
   as network access or IP mobility in both local and roaming
   situations.  This document specifies the message format, transport,
   error reporting, accounting, and security services used by all
   Diameter applications.  The Diameter base protocol as defined in this
   document obsoletes RFC 3588 and RFC 5719, and it must be supported by
   all new Diameter implementations.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in 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/rfc6733.

Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 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.  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 Simplified BSD License.

   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................7
      1.1. Diameter Protocol ..........................................9
           1.1.1. Description of the Document Set ....................10
           1.1.2. Conventions Used in This Document ..................11
           1.1.3. Changes from RFC 3588 ..............................11
      1.2. Terminology ...............................................12
      1.3. Approach to Extensibility .................................17
           1.3.1. Defining New AVP Values ............................18
           1.3.2. Creating New AVPs ..................................18
           1.3.3. Creating New Commands ..............................18
           1.3.4. Creating New Diameter Applications .................19
   2. Protocol Overview ..............................................20
      2.1. Transport .................................................22
           2.1.1. SCTP Guidelines ....................................23
      2.2. Securing Diameter Messages ................................24
      2.3. Diameter Application Compliance ...........................24
      2.4. Application Identifiers ...................................24
      2.5. Connections vs. Sessions ..................................25
      2.6. Peer Table ................................................26

Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012

      2.7. Routing Table .............................................27