





Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)                             H. Kruse
Request for Comments: 7122                               Ohio University
Category: Experimental                                           S. Jero
ISSN: 2070-1721                                        Purdue University
                                                            S. Ostermann
                                                         Ohio University
                                                              March 2014


                    Datagram Convergence Layers for
  the Delay- and Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) Bundle Protocol
               and Licklider Transmission Protocol (LTP)

Abstract

   This document specifies the preferred method for transporting Delay-
   and Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocol data over the
   Internet using datagrams.  It covers convergence layers for the
   Bundle Protocol (RFC 5050), as well as the transportation of segments
   using the Licklider Transmission Protocol (LTP) (RFC 5326).  UDP and
   the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) are the candidate
   datagram protocols discussed.  UDP can only be used on a local
   network or in cases where the DTN node implements explicit congestion
   control.  DCCP addresses the congestion control problem, and its use
   is recommended whenever possible.  This document is a product of the
   Delay-Tolerant Networking Research Group (DTNRG) and represents the
   consensus of the DTNRG.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for examination, experimental implementation, and
   evaluation.

   This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  This document is a product of the Internet Research Task
   Force (IRTF).  The IRTF publishes the results of Internet-related
   research and development activities.  These results might not be
   suitable for deployment.  This RFC represents the consensus of the
   Delay-Tolerant Networking Research Group of the Internet Research
   Task Force (IRTF).  Documents approved for publication by the IRSG
   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/rfc7122.




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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  General Recommendation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Recommendations for Implementers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.1.  How and Where to Deal with Fragmentation  . . . . . . . .   6
       3.1.1.  DCCP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       3.1.2.  UDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.2.  Bundle Protocol over a Datagram Convergence Layer . . . .   6
       3.2.1.  DCCP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.2.2.  UDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.3.  LTP over Datagrams  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.3.1.  DCCP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.3.2.  UDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.4.  Keep-Alive Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.5.  Checksums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.5.1.  DCCP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.5.2.  UDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.6.  DCCP Congestion Control Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10














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1.  Introduction

   DTN communication protocols include the Bundle Protocol described in
   RFC 5050 [RFC5050], which provides transmission of application data
   blocks ("bundles") through optional intermediate custody transfer,
   and the Licklider Transmission Protocol (LTP) -- LTP Motivation
   [RFC5325], LTP Specification [RFC5326], and LTP Security [RFC5327] --
   which can be used to transmit bundles reliably and efficiently over a
   point-to-point link.  It is often desirable to test these protocols
   over Internet Protocol links.  "Delay Tolerant Networking TCP
   Convergence Layer Protocol" [CLAYER] defines a method for
   transporting bundles over TCP.  This document specifies the preferred
   method for transmitting either bundles or LTP blocks across the
   Internet using datagrams in place of TCP.  Figure 1 shows the general
   protocol layering described in the DTN documents.  DTN Applications
   interact with the Bundle Protocol Layer, which in turn uses a
   Convergence Layer to prepare a bundle for transmission.  The
   Convergence Layer will typically rely on a lower-level protocol to
   carry out the transmission.

           +-----------------------------------------+
           |                                         |
           |             DTN Application             |
           |                                         |
           +-----------------------------------------+
           +-----------------------------------------+
           |                                         |
           |           Bundle Protocol (BP)          |
           |                                         |
           +-----------------------------------------+
           +-----------------------------------------+
           |                                         |
           |      Convergence Layer Adapter (CL)     |
           |                                         |
           +-----------------------------------------+
           +-----------------------------------------+
           |                                         |
           |    Local Data-Link Layer (Transport)    |
           |                                         |
           +-----------------------------------------+

                 Figure 1: Generic Protocol Stack for DTN

   This document provides guidance for implementation of the two
   protocol stacks illustrated in Figure 2.  In Figure 2(a), the
   Convergence Layer Adapter is UDP or DCCP for direct transport of





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   bundles over the Internet.  In Figure 2(b), the Convergence Layer
   Adapter is LTP, which then uses UDP or DCCP as the local data-link
   layer.

       +-------------+         +-------------+
       |             |         |             |
       |   DTN App   |         |   DTN App   |
       |             |         |             |
       +-------------+         +-------------+
       +-------------+         +-------------+
       |             |         |             |
       |      BP     |         |      BP     |
       |             |         |             |
       +-------------+         +-------------+
       +-------------+         +-------------+
       |             |         |             |
       |  UDP/DCCP   |         |      LTP    |
       |             |         |             |
       +-------------+         +-------------+
                               +-------------+
                               |             |
                               |  UDP/DCCP   |
                               |             |
                               +-------------+

             (a)                     (b)

           Figure 2: Protocol Stacks Addressed in this Document

1.1.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

2.  General Recommendation

   In order to utilize DTN protocols across the Internet, whether for
   testing purposes or as part of a larger network path, it is necessary
   to encapsulate them into a standard Internet Protocol so that they
   travel easily across the Internet.  This is particularly true for
   LTP, which provides no endpoint addressing.  This encapsulation
   choice needs to be made carefully in order to avoid redundancy, since
   DTN protocols may provide their own reliability mechanisms.

   Congestion control is vital to the continued functioning of the
   Internet, particularly for situations where data will be sent at
   arbitrarily fast data rates.  The Bundle Protocol delegates provision



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   of reliable delivery and, implicitly, congestion control to the
   convergence layer used (Section 7.2 of RFC 5050 [RFC5050]).  In
   situations where TCP will work effectively in communications between
   pairs of DTN nodes, use of the TCP convergence layer [CLAYER] will
   provide the required reliability and congestion control for transport
   of bundles and would be the default choice in the Internet.
   Alternatives such as encapsulating bundles directly in datagrams and
   using UDP or DCCP are not generally appropriate because they offer
   limited reliability and, in the case of UDP, no congestion control.

   LTP, on the other hand, offers its own form of reliability.
   Particularly for testing purposes, it makes no sense to run LTP over
   a protocol like TCP that offers reliability already.  In addition,
   running LTP over TCP would reduce the flexibility available to users,
   since LTP offers more control over what data is delivered reliably
   and what data is delivered best effort, a feature that TCP lacks.  As
   such, it would be better to run LTP over an unreliable protocol.

   One solution would be to use UDP.  UDP provides no reliability,
   allowing LTP to manage that itself.  However, UDP also does not
   provide congestion control.  Because LTP is designed to run over
   fixed-rate radio links, it does provide rate control but not
   congestion control.  Lack of congestion control in network
   connections is a major problem that can cause artificially high loss
   rates and/or serious fairness issues.  Previous standards documents
   are unanimous in recommending congestion control for protocols to be
   used on the Internet, see "Congestion Control Principles" [RFC2914],
   "Unicast UDP Usage Guidelines" [RFC5405], and "Queue Management and
   Congestion Avoidance" [RFC2309], among others.  RFC 5405, in
   particular, calls congestion control "vital" for "applications that
   can operate at higher, potentially unbounded data rates".  Therefore,
   any Bundle Protocol implementation permitting the use of UDP to
   transport LTP segments or bundles outside an isolated network for the
   transmission of any non-trivial amounts of data MUST implement
   congestion control consistent with RFC 5405.

   Alternatively, the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP)
   [RFC4340] was designed specifically to provide congestion control
   without reliability for those applications that traverse the Internet
   but do not desire to retransmit lost data.  As such, it is
   RECOMMENDED that, if possible, DCCP be used to transport LTP segments
   across the Internet.









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3.  Recommendations for Implementers

3.1.  How and Where to Deal with Fragmentation

   The Bundle Protocol allows bundles with sizes limited only by node
   resource constraints.  In IPv4, the maximum size of a UDP datagram is
   nearly 64 KB.  In IPv6, when using jumbograms [RFC2675], UDP
   datagrams can technically be up to 4 GB in size [RFC2147], although
   this option is rarely used.  (Note: RFC 2147 was obsoleted by RFC
   2675.)  It is well understood that sending large IP datagrams that
   must be fragmented by the network has enormous efficiency penalties
   [Kent87].  The Bundle Protocol specification provides a bundle
   fragmentation concept [RFC5050] that allows a large bundle to be
   divided into bundle fragments.  If the Bundle Protocol is being
   encapsulated in DCCP or UDP, it therefore SHOULD create each fragment
   of sufficiently small size that it can then be encapsulated into a
   datagram that will not need to be fragmented at the IP layer.

   IP fragmentation can be avoided by using IP Path MTU Discovery
   [RFC1191] [RFC1981], which depends on the deterministic delivery of
   ICMP Packet Too Big (PTB) messages from routers in the network.  To
   bypass a condition referred to as a black hole [RFC2923], a newer
   specification is available in [RFC4821] to determine the IP Path MTU
   without the use of PTB messages.  This document does not attempt to
   recommend one fragmentation avoidance mechanism over another; the
   information in this section is included for the benefit of
   implementers.

3.1.1.  DCCP

   Because DCCP implementations are not required to support IP
   fragmentation and are not allowed to enable it by default, a DCCP
   Convergence Layer (we will use "CL" from here on) MUST NOT accept
   data segments that cannot be sent as a single MTU-sized datagram.

3.1.2.  UDP

   When an LTP CL is using UDP for datagram delivery, it SHOULD NOT
   create segments that will result in UDP datagrams that will need to
   be fragmented, as discussed above.

3.2.  Bundle Protocol over a Datagram Convergence Layer

   In general, the use of the Bundle Protocol over a datagram CL is
   discouraged in IP networks.  Bundles can be of (almost) arbitrary
   length, and the Bundle Protocol does not include an effective
   retransmission mechanism.  Whenever possible, the Bundle Protocol
   SHOULD be operated over the TCP Convergence Layer or over LTP.



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   If a datagram CL is used for transmission of bundles, every datagram
   MUST contain exactly one bundle or 4 octets of zero bits as a keep-
   alive.  Bundles that are too large for the path MTU SHOULD be
   fragmented and reassembled at the Bundle Protocol layer to prevent IP
   fragmentation.

3.2.1.  DCCP

   The DCCP CL for Bundle Protocol use SHOULD use the IANA-assigned port
   4556/DCCP and service code 1685351985; the use of other port numbers
   and service codes is implementation specific.

3.2.2.  UDP

   The UDP CL for Bundle Protocol use SHOULD use the IANA-assigned port
   4556/UDP; the use of other port numbers is implementation specific.

3.3.  LTP over Datagrams

   LTP is designed as a point-to-point protocol within DTN, and it
   provides intrinsic acknowledgement and retransmission facilities.
   LTP segments are transported over a "local data-link layer" (RFC 5325
   [RFC5325]); we will use the term "transport" from here on.  Transport
   of LTP using datagrams is an appropriate choice.  When a datagram
   transport is used to send LTP segments, every datagram MUST contain
   exactly one LTP segment or 4 octets of zero bits as a keep-alive.
   LTP MUST perform segmentation in such a way as to ensure that every
   LTP segment fits into a single packet which will not require IP
   fragmentation as discussed above.

3.3.1.  DCCP

   The DCCP transport for LTP SHOULD use the IANA-assigned port 1113/
   DCCP and service code 7107696; the use of other port numbers and
   service codes is implementation specific.

3.3.2.  UDP

   The UDP transport for LTP SHOULD use the IANA-assigned port 1113/UDP;
   the use of other port numbers is implementation specific.

3.4.  Keep-Alive Option

   It may be desirable for a UDP or DCCP CL or transport to send "keep-
   alive" packets during extended idle periods.  This may be needed to
   refresh a contact table entry at the destination, or to maintain an
   address mapping in a NAT or a dynamic access rule in a firewall.
   Therefore, the CL or transport MAY send a datagram containing exactly



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   4 octets of zero bits.  The CL or transport receiving such a packet
   MUST discard this packet.  The receiving CL or transport may then
   perform local maintenance of its state tables; these maintenance
   functions are not covered in this document.  Note that packets
   carrying bundles or segments will always contain more than 4 octets
   of information (either the bundle or the LTP header); keep-alive
   packets will therefore never be mistaken for actual data packets.  If
   UDP or DCCP is being used for communication in both directions
   between a pair of bundle agents, transmission and processing of keep-
   alives in the two directions occurs independently.  Keep-alive
   intervals SHOULD be configurable, SHOULD default to 15 seconds, and
   MUST NOT be configured shorter than 15 seconds.

3.5.  Checksums

   Both the core Bundle Protocol specification and core LTP
   specification assume that they are transmitting over an erasure
   channel, i.e., a channel that either delivers packets correctly or
   not at all.

3.5.1.  DCCP

   A DCCP transmitter MUST, therefore, ensure that the entire packet is
   checksummed by setting the Checksum Coverage to zero.  Likewise, the
   DCCP receiver MUST ignore all packets with partial checksum coverage.

3.5.2.  UDP

   A UDP transmitter, therefore, MUST NOT disable UDP checksums, and the
   UDP receiver MUST NOT disable the checking of received UDP checksums.

   Even when UDP checksums are enabled, a small probability of UDP
   packet corruption remains.  In some environments, it may be
   acceptable for LTP or the Bundle Protocol to occasionally receive
   corrupted input.  In general, however, a UDP implementation SHOULD
   use optional security extensions available in the Bundle Protocol or
   LTP to protect against message corruption.

3.6.  DCCP Congestion Control Modules

   DCCP supports pluggable congestion control modules in order to
   optimize its behavior to particular environments.  The two most
   common congestion control modules (CCIDs) are TCP-like Congestion
   Control (CCID2) [RFC4341] and TCP-Friendly Rate Control (CCID3)
   [RFC4342].  TCP-like Congestion Control is designed to emulate TCP's
   congestion control as much as possible.  It is recommended for
   applications that want to send data as quickly as possible, while
   TCP-Friendly Rate Control is aimed at applications that want to avoid



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   sudden changes in sending rate.  DTN use cases seem to fit more into
   the first case, so DCCP CL's and transports SHOULD use TCP-like
   Congestion Control (CCID2) by default.

4.  IANA Considerations

   Port number assignments 1113/UDP and 4556/UDP have been registered
   with IANA.  The assignment for 1113/UDP referenced [RFC5326]; this
   entry has been changed to add the present document in addition to
   [RFC5326].  The assignment of 4556/UDP had no reference; this entry
   has been changed to point to the present document.  The service name
   for 4556/UDP has been changed from dtn-bundle-udp to dtn-bundle.
   Port number 1113/DCCP (ltp-deepspace) with Service Code 7107696 has
   been assigned for the transport of LTP.  Port number 4556/DCCP (dtn-
   bundle) with Service Code 1685351985 has been assigned for the
   transport of bundles.  The port number assignment for 4556/TCP is
   addressed in the [CLAYER] document.

5.  Security Considerations

   This memo describes the use of datagrams to transport DTN application
   data.  Hosts may be in the position of having to accept and process
   packets from unknown sources; the DTN Endpoint ID can be discovered
   only after the bundle has been retrieved from the DCCP or UDP packet.
   Hosts SHOULD use authentication methods available in the DTN
   specifications to prevent malicious hosts from inserting unknown data
   into the application.

   Hosts need to listen for and process DCCP or UDP data on the known
   LTP or Bundle Protocol ports.  A denial-of-service scenario exists
   where a malicious host sends datagrams at a high rate, forcing the
   receiving hosts to use their resources to process and attempt to
   authenticate this data.  Whenever possible, hosts SHOULD use IP
   address filtering to limit the origin of packets to known hosts.

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2147]  Borman, D., "TCP and UDP over IPv6 Jumbograms", RFC 2147,
              May 1997.

   [RFC2675]  Borman, D., Deering, S., and R. Hinden, "IPv6 Jumbograms",
              RFC 2675, August 1999.




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   [RFC4340]  Kohler, E., Handley, M., and S. Floyd, "Datagram
              Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP)", RFC 4340, March 2006.

   [RFC4341]  Floyd, S. and E. Kohler, "Profile for Datagram Congestion
              Control Protocol (DCCP) Congestion Control ID 2: TCP-like
              Congestion Control", RFC 4341, March 2006.

   [RFC5050]  Scott, K. and S. Burleigh, "Bundle Protocol
              Specification", RFC 5050, November 2007.

   [RFC5325]  Burleigh, S., Ramadas, M., and S. Farrell, "Licklider
              Transmission Protocol - Motivation", RFC 5325, September
              2008.

   [RFC5326]  Ramadas, M., Burleigh, S., and S. Farrell, "Licklider
              Transmission Protocol - Specification", RFC 5326,
              September 2008.

   [RFC5327]  Farrell, S., Ramadas, M., and S. Burleigh, "Licklider
              Transmission Protocol - Security Extensions", RFC 5327,
              September 2008.

6.2.  Informative References

   [CLAYER]   Demmer, M., Ott, J., and S. Perreault, "Delay Tolerant
              Networking TCP Convergence Layer Protocol", Work in
              Progress, January 2014.

   [Kent87]   Kent, C. and J. Mogul, "Fragmentation considered harmful",
              SIGCOMM '87, Proceedings of the ACM workshop on Frontiers
              in computer communications technology, 1987,
              <http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/55482.55524>.

   [RFC1191]  Mogul, J. and S. Deering, "Path MTU discovery", RFC 1191,
              November 1990.

   [RFC1981]  McCann, J., Deering, S., and J. Mogul, "Path MTU Discovery
              for IP version 6", RFC 1981, August 1996.

   [RFC2309]  Braden, B., Clark, D., Crowcroft, J., Davie, B., Deering,
              S., Estrin, D., Floyd, S., Jacobson, V., Minshall, G.,
              Partridge, C., Peterson, L., Ramakrishnan, K., Shenker,
              S., Wroclawski, J., and L. Zhang, "Recommendations on
              Queue Management and Congestion Avoidance in the
              Internet", RFC 2309, April 1998.

   [RFC2914]  Floyd, S., "Congestion Control Principles", BCP 41, RFC
              2914, September 2000.



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   [RFC2923]  Lahey, K., "TCP Problems with Path MTU Discovery", RFC
              2923, September 2000.

   [RFC4342]  Floyd, S., Kohler, E., and J. Padhye, "Profile for
              Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) Congestion
              Control ID 3: TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC)", RFC 4342,
              March 2006.

   [RFC4821]  Mathis, M. and J. Heffner, "Packetization Layer Path MTU
              Discovery", RFC 4821, March 2007.

   [RFC5405]  Eggert, L. and G. Fairhurst, "Unicast UDP Usage Guidelines
              for Application Designers", BCP 145, RFC 5405, November
              2008.

Authors' Addresses

   Hans Kruse
   Ohio University
   31 S. Court Street, Rm 150
   Athens, OH  45701
   United States

   Phone: +1 740 593 4891
   EMail: kruse@ohio.edu


   Samuel Jero
   Purdue University
   West Lafayette, IN  47907
   United States

   EMail: sjero@purdue.edu


   Shawn Ostermann
   Ohio University
   Stocker Engineering Center
   Athens, OH  45701
   United States

   Phone: +1 740 593 1566
   EMail: ostermann@eecs.ohiou.edu








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