Including Geolocation Information in IPv6 Packet Headers (IPv6 GEO)
draft-skeen-6man-ipv6geo-00.txt

Abstract

This document provides a specification for including geolocation information in the headers of IPv6 packets (IPv6 GEO). The information is intended to be included in packets for which the location of the source node is to be conveyed to the destination node or nodes.

Status of This Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

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This Internet-Draft will expire on January 3, 2015.

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. 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.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Terminology
• 3. Requirements
• 4. Motivation and Applicability
• 5. IPv6 GEO Specification
• 5.1. IPv6 GEO Destination Option Format
• 5.2. IPv6 GEO Option Encoding Algorithm
• 5.3. IPv6 Node Requirements
• 6. IANA Considerations
• 7. Security Considerations
• 8. Related Work in the IETF
• 9. Implementation Status
• 10. Contributers
• 11. Acknowledgments
• 12. References
• 12.1. Normative References
• 12.2. Informative References
• Authors' Addresses

1. Introduction

Internet Protocol, version 4 (IPv4) [RFC0791] provides limited capabilities for including additional information in the headers of packets. The maximum IPv4 header length is 60 bytes including any IP options, and options are not widely used due to incompatibilities with network middleboxes. On the other hand, Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6) [RFC2460] includes an extensible header format whereby additional information can be inserted between the IPv6 header and the transport layer header. These extensions can be included on a per-packet basis, and not necessarily for all packets of the same flow. This document specifies a format for including geolocation information within the headers of individual IPv6 packets (IPv6 GEO).

IPv6 GEO information is included at the discretion of source nodes for the benefit of destination nodes and/or network elements that may need to examine the headers of packets in flight. Legacy destination nodes that do not recognize the IPv6 GEO information must ignore it and process the rest of the packet as if it were not present. The IPv6 specification defines several extension header types, including the Destination Options header. Section 4.6 of [RFC2460] describes conditions under which new information should be encoded as either a new extension header or as a new destination option:

[RFC6564] further states that:

• "Note that there are two possible ways to encode optional destination information in an IPv6 packet: either as an option in the Destination Options header, or as a separate extension header. The Fragment header and the Authentication header are examples of the latter approach. Which approach can be used depends on what action is desired of a destination node that does not understand the optional information:"

Section 3 of

• "The base IPv6 standard [RFC2460] allows the use of both extension headers and destination options in order to encode optional destination information in an IPv6 packet. The use of destination options to encode this information provides more flexible handling characteristics and better backward compatibility than using extension headers. Because of this, implementations SHOULD use destination options as the preferred mechanism for encoding optional destination information, and use a new extension header only if destination options do not satisfy their needs. The request for creation of a new IPv6 extension header MUST be accompanied by a specific explanation of why destination options could not be used to convey this information."

Our first interpretation of this guidance and the supporting text that follows suggests that, since IPv6 GEO information must be ignored by legacy destination nodes, encoding as a Destination Option is indicated. Further investigation and community input may indicate that a new extension header type is instead warranted. In either case, future versions of this document will adopt the encoding approach indicated by community consensus.

2. Terminology

The following terms are defined within the scope of this document:

IPv6 Geolocation (IPv6 GEO)

a means for identifying the location of the source of an IPv6 packet based on geographical coordinates, altitude, timestamp and/or other information conveyed from the source to the destination(s).

3. Requirements

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 [RFC2119]. When used in lower case (e.g., must, must not, etc.), these words MUST NOT be interpreted as described in [RFC2119], but are rather interpreted as they would be in common English.

4. Motivation and Applicability

Traditionally, a given source node will include a set of identifying criteria that can be used to help determine the relative location of that node on the network. Such criteria include, but are not limited to, IP address, Ethernet, 802.11 or Bluetooth MAC addresses, Wifi and RFID tags, or other user-defined variables that may be specific to a given implementation. However, these variables are often unreliable in determining the physical location of a source node as modern networks are typically implemented with a logical “layer 2” structure without emphasis on the node's physical location. Furthermore, variables such as IP address and Wifi RFID tags are commonly defined by a network administrator and are subject to the implementation criteria of a given network, and therefore are susceptible to error in identifying the location of a given node since there is no common mechanism for linking these criteria to a given physical location. In addition, the proliferation of portable and handheld mobile devices makes it increasingly likely that nodes will at some point change the point of attachment to a given network and will need to be identified and likely authenticated against a set of reliable location-based criteria.

In the absence of location-based authentication criteria, a host will typically be configured to require either local parameters, i.e., username and password, or a strong “two-factor” authentication mechanism, or both. Whereas the merit and applicability of these methods is outside the scope of this document, some implementations require an additional layer of authentication control based on the physical location of a given source node. As a result, a means for identifying the location of the source node based on the geographical coordinates, altitude, timestamp and/or other information is needed.

Numerous use cases can be identified for location-based authentication control that would require the source node to provide its current location to one or more destination node(s). The source node to be geolocated can be defined as any IPv6 GEO node capable of encoding the geolocation data within the IPv6 Destination Options header; for example, a remote corporate user, a ground soldier, or an unmanned aerial vehicle, to name a few. The destination node can be any IPv6 node that can interpret the IPv6 GEO encoded data contained in the Destination Options header; for example, an authentication server responsible for deriving the geolocation criteria received from the source node and authenticating it against a location-based access policy.

Potential use cases for IPv6 GEO include:

• A remote corporate user that requires an encrypted tunnel connection to a corporate VPN server. In addition to a two-factor authentication request, an IPv6 source node using IPv6 GEO would also encode its geolocation data into the authentication request to be sent to the corporate VPN server. The corporate VPN server would authenticate the specified location of the source node to the corporate policy that includes the list of approved locations for the source node on the corporate authentication server in order to accept the connection request.
• An expeditionary team may want to relay geolocation data to a mission control center in order to provide emergency response coordinates, humanitarian support vectors, new terrain characteristics, or as a means to coordinate the search of a large geographic region. Further, a method to authenticate the control messages sent from the expedition team leader to the control center may require that the geolocation authenticity of the messages be verified
• A first responder may require a rapidly deployable means of providing geolocation data to emergency teams engaged in rescuing lost or injured personnel or in coordinating the location of support personnel conducting a search over wide geographic areas. The ability to provide location awareness could provides the critical communication needed to reduce the time to contact in life-threatening emergency situations.
• Civil aviation Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems require a means for tracking the location of aircraft in their various phases of flight (both on the ground and in the sky). As ATM becomes increasingly dependent on data communications, the ability to associate an aircraft's location with its communications messaging can augment and in some instances replace legacy mechanisms.
• Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) are envisioned in a wide variety of use cases. IPv6 GEO information sharing for both ground control and UAS-to-UAS communications will naturally result in more effective fleet coordination and tracking.
• Space exploration vehicles must be tracked by control stations and other vehicles throughout all mission phases. Especially for deep space applications, an extraterrestrial location coordinate system may be needed.
• Convergence of dynamic routing protocols in a wide variety of mobile networks can benefit greatly from knowledge of the geographical locations of prospective neighbors. This information is best conveyed in the headers of IPv6 packets used for routing protocol control message exchanges

In these cases, the actual implementation of a geolocation authentication mechanism is considered outside the scope of this document. This document seeks to specify a method for including the geolocation data in the IPv6 Destination Options header in order for it to be utilized in the manner specified by a set of given implementation criteria.

5. IPv6 GEO Specification

5.1. IPv6 GEO Destination Option Format

The IPv6 GEO "Type 0" Destination Option is formatted as shown in Figure 1:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
                                   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   |  Option Type  | Opt Data Len  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |    GEO Type   | Reserved|T|A|L|      LAT/LON Integer Part     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         LAT Fraction Part                     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         LON Fraction Part                     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                        Altitude (bits 0-31)                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                        Altitude (bits 32-63)                  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         Time Stamp  (sec)                     |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         Time Stamp  (usec)                    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+