Subject: [IANA #409959] Genreral Request for Assignements

From: Avi Lior <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:39:35 -0400

Hi Bernard,

Thank you for the review of the NAS-Port-Type IANA request for assignment.  In a previous email you were seeking answers to the following questions:
Bernard wrote:
Can someone answer the following questions?
1. What is different between WiMAX WiFi and normal IEEE 802.11?  We already have a number of IEEE 802.11 NAS-Port-types allocated and have proposed additional data for this.
2. Why do DHCP and a location service need NAS-Port-Type values?
3. Why should we just allocate a generic WiMAX NAS-Port and let additional data be included in a WiMAX Forum VSA?
The general answer to your question is as follows:
For a given session, the WIMAX AAA Server interacts with many different WiMAX network elements and also non-WiMAX network elements.  The approach taken by WiMAX is to have an explicit indication from the NAS as to the context of the RADIUS access-request.  The NAS-Port-Type is viewed as the attribute to provide that information.
WRT 1) the WiMAX AAA needs to be able to differentiate between a normal WiFi Access and a WiMAX NAS which is an a WiFI-WiMAX IWK NAS which has additional behaviours over and above the "normal" wifi AP.  T

WRT 2) Again, WiMAX AAA needs to differentiate between the request from both these entities because the AAA behaviour is different when request comes from  a DHCP server vs., a Location Based Server.
WRT 3)  WiMAX would just be inventing our own NAS-Port-Type attribute.  We thought the idea is that we reuse attributes when we can. Since there doesn't seem to be a lack of number space associated with NAS-Port-Type there doesn't seem to be a reason to invent our own attribute.

-- Avi Lior
--Bridgewater Systems