Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) R. Droms
Request for Comments: 7973
Category: Informational P. Duffy
ISSN: 2070-1721 Cisco
November 2016
Assignment of an Ethertype for IPv6 with
Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN) Encapsulation
Abstract
When carried over Layer 2 technologies such as Ethernet, IPv6
datagrams using Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN)
encapsulation as defined in RFC 4944 must be identified so the
receiver can correctly interpret the encoded IPv6 datagram. The IETF
officially requested the assignment of an Ethertype for that purpose
and this document reports that assignment.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
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). Not all documents
approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.
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/rfc7973.
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 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
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Assignment of an Ethertype by IEEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. Introduction
The IETF defined "LoWPAN encapsulation", a format for IPv6 [RFC2460]
datagram encapsulation [RFC4944]. This document regards any IPv6
datagram using the Dispatch octet as defined in Section 5.1 of RFC
4944 as using LoWPAN encapsulation. LoWPAN encapsulation as defined
in RFC 4944 has been updated by [RFC6282], and may be extended and
modified by future IETF Standards. The intended Layer 2 technology
for IPv6 datagrams using LoWPAN encapsulation as originally defined
is [IEEE.802.15.4_2011], which does not provide for a protocol switch
in its Layer 2 headers.
The following list gives some example use cases for the Ethertype-
based protocol dispatch for the LoWPAN-encapsulated IPv6 datagram:
o Usage of LoWPAN encapsulation in conjunction with IEEE 802.15.9
Multiplexed Data Service [IEEE802159], which provides the ability
to perform upper layer protocol dispatch for IEEE 802.15.4
networks. Wi-SUN Alliance intends to use the 15.9 Multiplexed
Data Information Element for upper layer protocol dispatch. As
specified in IEEE 802.15.9, dispatch of LoWPAN encapsulation
frames will require that an Ethertype be assigned for LoWPAN
encapsulation.
Droms & Duffy Informational [Page 2]RFC 7973 Ethertype for LoWPAN Encapsulation November 2016
o LoWPAN encapsulation will likely be needed for Wi-Fi Alliance's
HaLoW [HALOW] standard (low-power operation in the 900 MHz band).
o Other Layer 2 technologies such as Ethernet and debugging tools
such as Wireshark require a unique Protocol Type field for LoWPAN
encapsulation to properly interpret IPv6 datagrams that use LoWPAN
encapsulation.
o Any existing or future Layer 2 technology, incorporating
Ethertype-based upper layer dispatch, can use the Ethertype
proposed in this document to dispatch LoWPAN-encapsulated IPv6
datagrams.
2. Assignment of an Ethertype by IEEE
The IETF formally submitted a request to IEEE for assignment of an
Ethertype for IPv6 datagrams using LoWPAN encapsulation. IEEE has
responded with the assignment of Ethertype 0xA0ED for this purpose.
The assignment has been recorded by IEEE [IEEE-ETHERTYPES].
3. IANA Considerations
The following entry has been added to the "ETHER TYPES" subregistry
of the "IEEE 802 Numbers" registry [IANA-IEEE802]:
Ethertype (decimal): 41197
Ethertype (hex): A0ED
Exp. Ethernet (decimal): -
Exp. Ethernet (octal): -
Description: LoWPAN encapsulation
References: RFC 7973 (this document)
4. Security Considerations
This document only requests assignment of an Ethertype for IPv6
datagrams using LoWPAN encapsulation. It has no incremental
implications for security beyond those in the relevant protocols.
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5. Normative References
[HALOW] Wi-Fi Alliance, "Wi-Fi HaLow",
<http://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-halow>.
[IANA-IEEE802]
IANA, "IEEE 802 Numbers",
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/ieee-802-numbers>.
[IEEE-ETHERTYPES]
IEEE, "Ethertype",
<http://standards-oui.ieee.org/ethertype/eth.txt>.
[IEEE.802.15.4_2011]
IEEE, "IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area
networks--Part 15.4: Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area
Networks (LR-WPANs)", IEEE 802.15.4-2011,
DOI 10.1109/ieeestd.2011.6012487, September 2011,
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/
opac?punumber=6012485>.
[IEEE802159]
IEEE, "IEEE Draft Recommended Practice for Transport of
Key Management Protocol (KMP) Datagrams",
IEEE P802.15.9/D04, May 2015,
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/
articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7272753>.
[RFC2460] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, DOI 10.17487/RFC2460,
December 1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2460>.
[RFC4944] Montenegro, G., Kushalnagar, N., Hui, J., and D. Culler,
"Transmission of IPv6 Packets over IEEE 802.15.4
Networks", RFC 4944, DOI 10.17487/RFC4944, September 2007,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4944>.
[RFC6282] Hui, J., Ed. and P. Thubert, "Compression Format for IPv6
Datagrams over IEEE 802.15.4-Based Networks", RFC 6282,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6282, September 2011,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6282>.
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Authors' Addresses
Ralph Droms
Email: rdroms.ietf@gmail.com
Paul Duffy
Cisco
1414 Massachusetts Ave.
Boxborough, Massachusetts 01719
United States of America
Phone: +1 978 204 9993
Email: paduffy@cisco.com
Droms & Duffy Informational [Page 5]
