Official ARPA-Internet protocols
RFC 901

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Network Working Group                                        J. Reynolds
Request for Comments: 901                                      J. Postel
                                                                     ISI
Obsoletes: RFCs  880, 840                                      June 1984

                    OFFICIAL ARPA-INTERNET PROTOCOLS

Status of this Memo

   This memo is an official status report on the protocols used in the
   ARPA-Internet community.

Introduction

   This RFC identifies the documents specifying the official protocols
   used in the Internet.  Annotations identify any revisions or changes
   planned.

   To first order, the official protocols are those in the "Internet
   Protocol Transition Workbook" (IPTW) dated March 1982.  There are
   several protocols in use that are not in the IPTW.  A few of the
   protocols in the IPTW have been revised.  Notably, the mail protocols
   have been revised and issued as a volume titled "Internet Mail
   Protocols" dated November 1982.  Telnet and the most useful option
   protocols were issued by the NIC in a booklet entitled "Internet
   Telnet Protocol and Options" (ITP), dated June 1983.  Some protocols
   have not been revised for many years, these are found in the old
   "ARPANET Protocol Handbook" (APH) dated January 1978.  There is also
   a volume of protocol related information called the "Internet
   Protocol Implementers Guide" (IPIG) dated August 1982.

   This document is organized as a sketchy outline.  The entries are
   protocols (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol).  In each entry there
   are notes on status, specification, comments, other references,
   dependencies, and contact.

      The status is one of: required, recommended, elective, or
      experimental.

      The specification identifies the protocol defining documents.

      The comments describe any differences from the specification or
      problems with the protocol.

      The other references identify documents that comment on or expand
      on the protocol.

      The dependencies indicate what other protocols are called upon by
      this protocol.

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Official ARPA-Internet Protocols                                 RFC 901

      The contact indicates a person who can answer questions about the
      protocol.

      In particular, the status may be:

         required

            - all hosts must implement the required protocol,

         recommended

            - all hosts are encouraged to implement the recommended
            protocol,

         elective

            - hosts may implement or not the elective protocol,

         experimental

            - hosts should not implement the experimental protocol
            unless they are participating in the experiment and have
            coordinated their use of this protocol with the contact
            person, and

         none

            - this is not a protocol.

         For further information about protocols in general, please
         contact:

            Joyce Reynolds
            USC - Information Sciences Institute
            4676 Admiralty Way
            Marina del Rey, California  90292-6695

            Phone: (213) 822-1511

            ARPA mail: JKREYNOLDS@USC-ISIF.ARPA

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Official ARPA-Internet Protocols                                 RFC 901

Overview

   Catenet Model  ------------------------------------------------------

      STATUS:  None

      SPECIFICATION:  IEN 48 (in IPTW)

      COMMENTS:

         Gives an overview of the organization and principles of the
         Internet.

         Could be revised and expanded.

      OTHER REFERENCES:

         RFC 871 - A Perspective on the ARPANET Reference Model

      DEPENDENCIES:

      CONTACT: Postel@USC-ISIF.ARPA

Network Level

   Internet Protocol (IP)  ---------------------------------------------

      STATUS:  Required

      SPECIFICATION:  RFC 791 (in IPTW)

      COMMENTS:

         This is the universal protocol of the Internet.  This datagram
         protocol provides the universal addressing of hosts in the
         Internet.

         A few minor problems have been noted in this document.

         The most serious is a bit of confusion in the route options.
         The route options have a pointer that indicates which octet of
         the route is the next to be used.  The confusion is between the
         phrases "the pointer is relative to this option" and "the
         smallest legal value for the pointer is 4".  If you are
         confused, forget about the relative part, the pointer begins
         at 4.

         Another important point is the alternate reassembly procedure
         suggested in RFC 815.

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Official ARPA-Internet Protocols                                 RFC 901