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Blockwise transfers in CoAP
draft-ietf-core-block-10

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 7959.
Authors Carsten Bormann , Zach Shelby
Last updated 2012-10-21
Replaces draft-bormann-core-coap-block
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
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IESG IESG state Became RFC 7959 (Proposed Standard)
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Responsible AD Barry Leiba
Send notices to core-chairs@tools.ietf.org, draft-ietf-core-block@tools.ietf.org
draft-ietf-core-block-10
CoRE Working Group                                            C. Bormann
Internet-Draft                                   Universitaet Bremen TZI
Intended status: Standards Track                          Z. Shelby, Ed.
Expires: April 24, 2013                                        Sensinode
                                                        October 21, 2012

                      Blockwise transfers in CoAP
                        draft-ietf-core-block-10

Abstract

   CoAP is a RESTful transfer protocol for constrained nodes and
   networks.  Basic CoAP messages work well for the small payloads we
   expect from temperature sensors, light switches, and similar
   building-automation devices.  Occasionally, however, applications
   will need to transfer larger payloads -- for instance, for firmware
   updates.  With HTTP, TCP does the grunt work of slicing large
   payloads up into multiple packets and ensuring that they all arrive
   and are handled in the right order.

   CoAP is based on datagram transports such as UDP or DTLS, which
   limits the maximum size of resource representations that can be
   transferred without too much fragmentation.  Although UDP supports
   larger payloads through IP fragmentation, it is limited to 64 KiB
   and, more importantly, doesn't really work well for constrained
   applications and networks.

   Instead of relying on IP fragmentation, this specification extends
   basic CoAP with a pair of "Block" options, for transferring multiple
   blocks of information from a resource representation in multiple
   request-response pairs.  In many important cases, the Block options
   enable a server to be truly stateless: the server can handle each
   block transfer separately, with no need for a connection setup or
   other server-side memory of previous block transfers.

   In summary, the Block options provide a minimal way to transfer
   larger representations in a block-wise fashion.

Status of this Memo

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

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on April 24, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 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.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.  Block-wise transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     2.1.  The Block Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     2.2.  Structure of a Block Option  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     2.3.  Block Options in Requests and Responses  . . . . . . . . .  9
     2.4.  Using the Block Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   3.  Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   4.  The Size Option  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   5.  HTTP Mapping Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
     7.1.  Mitigating Resource Exhaustion Attacks . . . . . . . . . . 25
     7.2.  Mitigating Amplification Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
   8.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   9.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
     9.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
     9.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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1.  Introduction

   The CoRE WG is tasked with standardizing an Application Protocol for
   Constrained Networks/Nodes, CoAP.  This protocol is intended to
   provide RESTful [REST] services not unlike HTTP [RFC2616], while
   reducing the complexity of implementation as well as the size of
   packets exchanged in order to make these services useful in a highly
   constrained network of themselves highly constrained nodes.

   This objective requires restraint in a number of sometimes
   conflicting ways:

   o  reducing implementation complexity in order to minimize code size,

   o  reducing message sizes in order to minimize the number of
      fragments needed for each message (in turn to maximize the
      probability of delivery of the message), the amount of
      transmission power needed and the loading of the limited-bandwidth
      channel,

   o  reducing requirements on the environment such as stable storage,
      good sources of randomness or user interaction capabilities.

   CoAP is based on datagram transports such as UDP, which limit the
   maximum size of resource representations that can be transferred
   without creating unreasonable levels of IP fragmentation.  In
   addition, not all resource representations will fit into a single
   link layer packet of a constrained network, which may cause
   adaptation layer fragmentation even if IP layer fragmentation is not
   required.  Using fragmentation (either at the adaptation layer or at
   the IP layer) to enable the transport of larger representations is
   possible up to the maximum size of the underlying datagram protocol
   (such as UDP), but the fragmentation/reassembly process burdens the
   lower layers with conversation state that is better managed in the
   application layer.

   The present specification defines a pair of CoAP options to enable
   _block-wise_ access to resource representations.  The Block options
   provide a minimal way to transfer larger resource representations in
   a block-wise fashion.  The overriding objective is to avoid the need
   for creating conversation state at the server for block-wise GET
   requests.  (It is impossible to fully avoid creating conversation
   state for POST/PUT, if the creation/replacement of resources is to be
   atomic; where that property is not needed, there is no need to create
   server conversation state in this case, either.)

   In summary, this specification adds a pair of Block options to CoAP
   that can be used for block-wise transfers.  Benefits of using these

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   options include:

   o  Transfers larger than what can be accommodated in constrained-
      network link-layer packets can be performed in smaller blocks.

   o  No hard-to-manage conversation state is created at the adaptation
      layer or IP layer for fragmentation.

   o  The transfer of each block is acknowledged, enabling
      retransmission if required.

   o  Both sides have a say in the block size that actually will be
      used.

   o  The resulting exchanges are easy to understand using packet
      analyzer tools and thus quite accessible to debugging.

   o  If needed, the Block options can also be used (without changes) to
      provide random access to power-of-two sized blocks within a
      resource representation.

   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, BCP 14
   [RFC2119] and indicate requirement levels for compliant CoAP
   implementations.

   In this document, the term "byte" is used in its now customary sense
   as a synonym for "octet".

   Where bit arithmetic is explained, this document uses the notation
   familiar from the programming language C, except that the operator
   "**" stands for exponentiation.

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2.  Block-wise transfers

   As discussed in the introduction, there are good reasons to limit the
   size of datagrams in constrained networks:

   o  by the maximum datagram size (~ 64 KiB for UDP)

   o  by the desire to avoid IP fragmentation (MTU of 1280 for IPv6)

   o  by the desire to avoid adaptation layer fragmentation (60-80 bytes
      for 6LoWPAN [RFC4919])

   When a resource representation is larger than can be comfortably
   transferred in the payload of a single CoAP datagram, a Block option
   can be used to indicate a block-wise transfer.  As payloads can be
   sent both with requests and with responses, this specification
   provides two separate options for each direction of payload transfer.

   In the following, the term "payload" will be used for the actual
   content of a single CoAP message, i.e. a single block being
   transferred, while the term "body" will be used for the entire
   resource representation that is being transferred in a block-wise
   fashion.

   In most cases, all blocks being transferred for a body will be of the
   same size.  The block size is not fixed by the protocol.  To keep the
   implementation as simple as possible, the Block options support only
   a small range of power-of-two block sizes, from 2**4 (16) to 2**10
   (1024) bytes.  As bodies often will not evenly divide into the power-
   of-two block size chosen, the size need not be reached in the final
   block (but even for the final block, the chosen power-of-two size
   will still be indicated in the block size field of the Block option).

2.1.  The Block Options

       +------+---+---+---+---+--------+--------+--------+---------+
       | Type | C | U | N | R | Name   | Format | Length | Default |
       +------+---+---+---+---+--------+--------+--------+---------+
       |   23 | C | U | - | - | Block2 | uint   | 0-3 B  | (none)  |
       |      |   |   |   |   |        |        |        |         |
       |   27 | C | U | - | - | Block1 | uint   | 0-3 B  | (none)  |
       +------+---+---+---+---+--------+--------+--------+---------+

                       Table 1: Block Option Numbers

   Both Block1 and Block2 options can be present both in request and
   response messages.  In either case, the Block1 Option pertains to the
   request payload, and the Block2 Option pertains to the response

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   payload.

   Hence, for the methods defined in [I-D.ietf-core-coap], Block1 is
   useful with the payload-bearing POST and PUT requests and their
   responses.  Block2 is useful with GET, POST, and PUT requests and
   their payload-bearing responses (2.01, 2.02, 2.04, 2.05 -- see
   section "Payload" of [I-D.ietf-core-coap]).

   (As a memory aid: Block_1_ pertains to the payload of the _1st_ part
   of the request-response exchange, i.e. the request, and Block_2_
   pertains to the payload of the _2nd_ part of the request-response
   exchange, i.e. the response.)

   Where Block1 is present in a request or Block2 in a response (i.e.,
   in that message to the payload of which it pertains) it indicates a
   block-wise transfer and describes how this block-wise payload forms
   part of the entire body being transferred ("descriptive usage").
   Where it is present in the opposite direction, it provides additional
   control on how that payload will be formed or was processed ("control
   usage").

   Implementation of either Block option is intended to be optional.
   However, when it is present in a CoAP message, it MUST be processed
   (or the message rejected); therefore it is identified as a critical
   option.  It MUST NOT occur more than once.

2.2.  Structure of a Block Option

   Three items of information may need to be transferred in a Block
   option:

   o  The size of the block (SZX);

   o  whether more blocks are following (M);

   o  the relative number of the block (NUM) within a sequence of blocks
      with the given size.

   The value of the option is a 1-, 2- or 3-byte integer which encodes
   these three fields, see Figure 1.

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           0
           0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
          |  NUM  |M| SZX |
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

           0                   1
           0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
          |          NUM          |M| SZX |
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

           0                   1                   2
           0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
          |                   NUM                 |M| SZX |
          +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                       Figure 1: Block option value

   The block size is encoded as a three-bit unsigned integer (0 for 2**4
   to 6 for 2**10 bytes), which we call the "SZX" (size exponent); the
   actual block size is then "2**(SZX + 4)".  SZX is transferred in the
   three least significant bits of the option value (i.e., "val & 7"
   where "val" is the value of the option).

   The fourth least significant bit, the M or "more" bit ("val & 8"),
   indicates whether more blocks are following or the current block-wise
   transfer is the last block being transferred.

   The option value divided by sixteen (the NUM field) is the sequence
   number of the block currently being transferred, starting from zero.
   The current transfer is therefore about the "size" bytes starting at
   byte "NUM << (SZX + 4)".

   Implementation note:  As an implementation convenience, "(val & ~0xF)
      << (val & 7)", i.e. the option value with the last 4 bits masked
      out, shifted to the left by the value of SZX, gives the byte
      position of the block being transferred.

   More specifically, within the option value of a Block1 or Block2
   Option, the meaning of the option fields is defined as follows:

   NUM:  Block Number.  The block number is a variable-size (4, 12, or
      20 bit) unsigned integer (uint, see Appendix A of
      [I-D.ietf-core-coap]) indicating the block number being requested
      or provided.  Block number 0 indicates the first block of a body.

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   M: More Flag (not last block).  For descriptive usage, this flag, if
      unset, indicates that the payload in this message is the last
      block in the body; when set it indicates that there are one or
      more additional blocks available.  When a Block2 Option is used in
      a request to retrieve a specific block number ("control usage"),
      the M bit MUST be sent as zero and ignored on reception.  (In a
      Block1 Option in a response, the M flag is used to indicate
      atomicity, see below.)

   SZX:  Block Size.  The block size is a three-bit unsigned integer
      indicating the size of a block to the power of two.  Thus block
      size = 2**(SZX + 4).  The allowed values of SZX are 0 to 6, i.e.,
      the minimum block size is 2**(0+4) = 16 and the maximum is
      2**(6+4) = 1024.  The value 7 for SZX (which would indicate a
      block size of 2048) is reserved, i.e.  MUST NOT be sent and MUST
      lead to a 4.00 Bad Request response code upon reception in a
      request.

   There is no default value for the Block1 and Block2 Options.  Absence
   of one of these options is equivalent to an option value of 0 with
   respect to the value of NUM and M that could be given in the option,
   i.e. it indicates that the current block is the first and only block
   of the transfer (block number 0, M bit not set).  However, in
   contrast to the explicit value 0, which would indicate an SZX of 0
   and thus a size value of 16 bytes, there is no specific explicit size
   implied by the absence of the option -- the size is left unspecified.
   (Note that, as for any uint, the value 0 is efficiently indicated by
   a zero-length option; this, therefore, is different in semantics from
   the absence of the option.)

2.3.  Block Options in Requests and Responses

   The Block options are used in one of three roles:

   o  In descriptive usage, i.e. a Block2 Option in a response (e.g., a
      2.05 response for GET), or a Block1 Option in a request (e.g., PUT
      or POST):

      *  The NUM field in the option value describes what block number
         is contained in the payload of this message.

      *  The M bit indicates whether further blocks are required to
         complete the transfer of that body.

      *  The block size given by SZX MUST match the size of the payload
         in bytes, if the M bit is set.  (SZX does not govern the
         payload size if M is unset).  For Block2, if the request
         suggested a larger value of SZX, the next request MUST move SZX

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         down to the size given here.  (The effect is that, if the
         server uses the smaller of its preferred block size and the one
         requested, all blocks for a body use the same block size.)

   o  A Block2 Option in control usage in a request (e.g., GET):

      *  The NUM field in the Block2 Option gives the block number of
         the payload that is being requested to be returned in the
         response.

      *  In this case, the M bit has no function and MUST be set to
         zero.

      *  The block size given (SZX) suggests a block size (in the case
         of block number 0) or repeats the block size of previous blocks
         received (in the case of block numbers other than 0).

   o  A Block1 Option in control usage in a response (e.g., a 2.xx
      response for a PUT or POST request):

      *  The NUM field of the Block1 Option indicates what block number
         is being acknowledged.

      *  If the M bit was set in the request, the server can choose
         whether to act on each block separately, with no memory, or
         whether to handle the request for the entire body atomically,
         or any mix of the two.  If the M bit is also set in the
         response, it indicates that this response does not carry the
         final response code to the request, i.e. the server collects
         further blocks and plans to implement the request atomically
         (e.g., acts only upon reception of the last block of payload).
         Conversely, if the M bit is unset even though it was set in the
         request, it indicates the block-wise request was enacted now
         specifically for this block, and the response carries the final
         response to this request (and to any previous ones with the M
         bit set in the response's Block1 Option in this sequence of
         block-wise transfers); the client is still expected to continue
         sending further blocks, the request method for which may or may
         not also be enacted per-block.

      *  Finally, the SZX block size given in a control Block1 Option
         indicates the largest block size preferred by the server for
         transfers toward the resource that is the same or smaller than
         the one used in the initial exchange; the client SHOULD use
         this block size or a smaller one in all further requests in the
         transfer sequence, even if that means changing the block size
         (and possibly scaling the block number accordingly) from now
         on.

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2.4.  Using the Block Options

   Using one or both Block options, a single REST operation can be split
   into multiple CoAP message exchanges.  As specified in
   [I-D.ietf-core-coap], each of these message exchanges uses their own
   CoAP Message ID.

   When a request is answered with a response carrying a Block2 Option
   with the M bit set, the requester may retrieve additional blocks of
   the resource representation by sending further requests with the same
   options and a Block2 Option giving the block number and block size
   desired.  In a request, the client MUST set the M bit of a Block2
   Option to zero and the server MUST ignore it on reception.

   To influence the block size used in a response, the requester also
   uses the Block2 Option, giving the desired size, a block number of
   zero and an M bit of zero.  A server MUST use the block size
   indicated or a smaller size.  Any further block-wise requests for
   blocks beyond the first one MUST indicate the same block size that
   was used by the server in the response for the first request that
   gave a desired size using a Block2 Option.

   Once the Block2 Option is used by the requester and a first response
   has been received with a possibly adjusted block size, all further
   requests in a single block-wise transfer SHOULD ultimately use the
   same size, except that there may not be enough content to fill the
   last block (the one returned with the M bit not set).  (Note that the
   client may start using the Block2 Option in a second request after a
   first request without a Block2 Option resulted in a Block option in
   the response.)  The server SHOULD use the block size indicated in the
   request option or a smaller size, but the requester MUST take note of
   the actual block size used in the response it receives to its initial
   request and proceed to use it in subsequent requests.  The server
   behavior MUST ensure that this client behavior results in the same
   block size for all responses in a sequence (except for the last one
   with the M bit not set, and possibly the first one if the initial
   request did not contain a Block2 Option).

   Block-wise transfers can be used to GET resources the representations
   of which are entirely static (not changing over time at all, such as
   in a schema describing a device), or for dynamically changing
   resources.  In the latter case, the Block2 Option SHOULD be used in
   conjunction with the ETag Option, to ensure that the blocks being
   reassembled are from the same version of the representation: The
   server SHOULD include an ETag option in each response.  If an ETag
   option is available, the client's reassembler, when reassembling the
   representation from the blocks being exchanged, MUST compare ETag
   Options.  If the ETag Options do not match in a GET transfer, the

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   requester has the option of attempting to retrieve fresh values for
   the blocks it retrieved first.  To minimize the resulting
   inefficiency, the server MAY cache the current value of a
   representation for an ongoing sequence of requests.  (The server may
   identify the sequence by the combination of the requesting end-point
   and the URI being the same in each block-wise request.)  Note well
   that this specification makes no requirement for the server to
   establish any state; however, servers that offer quickly changing
   resources may thereby make it impossible for a client to ever
   retrieve a consistent set of blocks.

   In a request with a request payload (e.g., PUT or POST), the Block1
   Option refers to the payload in the request (descriptive usage).

   In response to a request with a payload (e.g., a PUT or POST
   transfer), the block size given in the Block1 Option indicates the
   block size preference of the server for this resource (control
   usage).  Obviously, at this point the first block has already been
   transferred by the client without benefit of this knowledge.  Still,
   the client SHOULD heed the preference and, for all further blocks,
   use the block size preferred by the server or a smaller one.  Note
   that any reduction in the block size may mean that the second request
   starts with a block number larger than one, as the first request
   already transferred multiple blocks as counted in the smaller size.

   To counter the effects of adaptation layer fragmentation on packet
   delivery probability, a client may want to give up retransmitting a
   request with a relatively large payload even before MAX_RETRANSMIT
   has been reached, and try restating the request as a block-wise
   transfer with a smaller payload.  Note that this new attempt is then
   a new message-layer transaction and requires a new Message ID.
   (Because of the uncertainty whether the request or the
   acknowledgement was lost, this strategy is useful mostly for
   idempotent requests.)

   In a blockwise transfer of a request payload (e.g., a PUT or POST)
   that is intended to be implemented in an atomic fashion at the
   server, the actual creation/replacement takes place at the time the
   final block, i.e. a block with the M bit unset in the Block1 Option,
   is received.  If not all previous blocks are available at the server
   at this time, the transfer fails and error code 4.08 (Request Entity
   Incomplete) MUST be returned.  The error code 4.13 (Request Entity
   Too Large) can be returned at any time by a server that does not
   currently have the resources to store blocks for a block-wise request
   payload transfer that it would intend to implement in an atomic
   fashion.  (Note that a 4.13 response to a request that does not
   employ Block1 is a hint for the client to try sending Block1, and a
   4.13 response with a smaller SZX in the Block1 than requested is a

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   hint to try a smaller SZX.)

   Note that there is no way to perform multiple concurrently proceeding
   block-wise request payload transfer (e.g., PUT or POST) operations to
   the same URI.  Starting a new block-wise sequence of requests to the
   same URI (before an old sequence from the same endpoint was finished)
   simply overwrites the context the server may still be keeping.  (This
   is probably exactly what one wants in this case - the client may
   simply have restarted and lost its knowledge of the previous
   sequence.)

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3.  Examples

   This section gives a number of short examples with message flows for
   a block-wise GET, and for a PUT or POST.  These examples demonstrate
   the basic operation, the operation in the presence of
   retransmissions, and examples for the operation of the block size
   negotiation.

   In all these examples, a Block option is shown in a decomposed way
   separating the kind of Block option (1 or 2), block number (NUM),
   more bit (M), and block size exponent (2**(SZX+4)) by slashes.  E.g.,
   a Block2 Option value of 33 would be shown as 2/2/0/32), or a Block1
   Option value of 59 would be shown as 1/3/1/128.

   The first example (Figure 2) shows a GET request that is split into
   three blocks.  The server proposes a block size of 128, and the
   client agrees.  The first two ACKs contain 128 bytes of payload each,
   and third ACK contains between 1 and 128 bytes.

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                            |
     | CON [MID=1234], GET, /status                       ------> |
     |                                                            |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.05 Content, 2/0/1/128          |
     |                                                            |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/1/0/128            ------> |
     |                                                            |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.05 Content, 2/1/1/128          |
     |                                                            |
     | CON [MID=1236], GET, /status, 2/2/0/128            ------> |
     |                                                            |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 2.05 Content, 2/2/0/128          |

                      Figure 2: Simple blockwise GET

   In the second example (Figure 3), the client anticipates the
   blockwise transfer (e.g., because of a size indication in the link-
   format description [RFC6690]) and sends a size proposal.  All ACK
   messages except for the last carry 64 bytes of payload; the last one
   carries between 1 and 64 bytes.

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   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], GET, /status, 2/0/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.05 Content, 2/0/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/1/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.05 Content, 2/1/1/64         |
     :                                                          :
     :                          ...                             :
     :                                                          :
     | CON [MID=1238], GET, /status, 2/4/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1238], 2.05 Content, 2/4/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1239], GET, /status, 2/5/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1239], 2.05 Content, 2/5/0/64         |

              Figure 3: Blockwise GET with early negotiation

   In the third example (Figure 4), the client is surprised by the need
   for a blockwise transfer, and unhappy with the size chosen
   unilaterally by the server.  As it did not send a size proposal
   initially, the negotiation only influences the size from the second
   message exchange onward.  Since the client already obtained both the
   first and second 64-byte block in the first 128-byte exchange, it
   goes on requesting the third 64-byte block ("2/0/64").  None of this
   is (or needs to be) understood by the server, which simply responds
   to the requests as it best can.

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   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], GET, /status                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.05 Content, 2/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/2/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.05 Content, 2/2/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1236], GET, /status, 2/3/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 2.05 Content, 2/3/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1237], GET, /status, 2/4/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1237], 2.05 Content, 2/4/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1238], GET, /status, 2/5/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1238], 2.05 Content, 2/5/0/64         |

               Figure 4: Blockwise GET with late negotiation

   In all these (and the following) cases, retransmissions are handled
   by the CoAP message exchange layer, so they don't influence the block
   operations (Figure 5, Figure 6).

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], GET, /status                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.05 Content, 2/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GE/////////////////////////              |
     |                                                          |
     | (timeout)                                                |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/2/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.05 Content, 2/2/1/64         |
     :                                                          :
     :                          ...                             :
     :                                                          :
     | CON [MID=1238], GET, /status, 2/5/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1238], 2.05 Content, 2/5/0/64         |

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        Figure 5: Blockwise GET with late negotiation and lost CON

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], GET, /status                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.05 Content, 2/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/2/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | //////////////////////////////////tent, 2/2/1/64         |
     |                                                          |
     | (timeout)                                                |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], GET, /status, 2/2/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.05 Content, 2/2/1/64         |
     :                                                          :
     :                          ...                             :
     :                                                          :
     | CON [MID=1238], GET, /status, 2/5/0/64           ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1238], 2.05 Content, 2/5/0/64         |

        Figure 6: Blockwise GET with late negotiation and lost ACK

   The following examples demonstrate a PUT exchange; a POST exchange
   looks the same, with different requirements on atomicity/idempotence.
   Note that, similar to GET, the responses to the requests that have a
   more bit in the request Block1 Option are provisional; only the final
   response tells the client that the PUT succeeded.

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], PUT, /options, 1/0/1/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.04 Changed, 1/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], PUT, /options, 1/1/1/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.04 Changed, 1/1/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1236], PUT, /options, 1/2/0/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 2.04 Changed, 1/2/0/128        |

                   Figure 7: Simple atomic blockwise PUT

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   A stateless server that simply builds/updates the resource in place
   (statelessly) may indicate this by not setting the more bit in the
   response (Figure 8); in this case, the response codes are valid
   separately for each block being updated.  This is of course only an
   acceptable behavior of the server if the potential inconsistency
   present during the run of the message exchange sequence does not lead
   to problems, e.g. because the resource being created or changed is
   not yet or not currently in use.

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], PUT, /options, 1/0/1/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.04 Changed, 1/0/0/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], PUT, /options, 1/1/1/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.04 Changed, 1/1/0/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1236], PUT, /options, 1/2/0/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 2.04 Changed, 1/2/0/128        |

                 Figure 8: Simple stateless blockwise PUT

   Finally, a server receiving a blockwise PUT or POST may want to
   indicate a smaller block size preference (Figure 9).  In this case,
   the client SHOULD continue with a smaller block size; if it does, it
   MUST adjust the block number to properly count in that smaller size.

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], PUT, /options, 1/0/1/128    ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.04 Changed, 1/0/1/32         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], PUT, /options, 1/4/1/32     ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.04 Changed, 1/4/1/32         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1236], PUT, /options, 1/5/1/32     ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.04 Changed, 1/5/1/32         |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1237], PUT, /options, 1/6/0/32     ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 2.04 Changed, 1/6/0/32         |

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          Figure 9: Simple atomic blockwise PUT with negotiation

   Block options may be used in both directions of a single exchange.
   The following example demonstrates a blockwise POST request,
   resulting in a separate blockwise response.

   CLIENT                                                     SERVER
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1234], POST, /soap, 1/0/1/128      ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1234], 2.01 Created, 1/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1235], POST, /soap, 1/1/1/128      ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1235], 2.01 Created, 1/1/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | CON [MID=1236], POST, /soap, 1/2/0/128      ------>      |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   ACK [MID=1236], 0, 1/2/0/128                   |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   CON [MID=4712], 2.01 Created, 2/0/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | ACK [MID=4712], 0, 2/0/1/128                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   CON [MID=4713], 2.01 Created, 2/1/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | ACK [MID=4713], 0, 2/1/1/128                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   CON [MID=4714], 2.01 Created, 2/2/1/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | ACK [MID=4714], 0, 2/2/1/128                     ------> |
     |                                                          |
     | <------   CON [MID=4715], 2.01 Created, 2/3/0/128        |
     |                                                          |
     | ACK [MID=4715], 0, 2/3/0/128                     ------> |

     Figure 10: Atomic blockwise POST with separate blockwise response

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4.  The Size Option

   In many cases when transferring a large resource representation block
   by block, it is advantageous to know the total size early in the
   process.  Some indication may be available from the maximum size
   estimate attribute "sz" provided in a resource description [RFC6690].
   However, the size may vary dynamically, so a more up-to-date
   indication may be useful.

   The Size Option may be used for three purposes:

   o  in a request, to ask the server to provide a size estimate along
      with the usual response ("size request").  For this usage, the
      value MUST be set to 0.

   o  in a response carrying a Block2 Option, to indicate the current
      estimate the server has of the total size of the resource
      representation.

   o  in a request carrying a Block1 Option, to indicate the current
      estimate the client has of the total size of the resource
      representation.

   In the latter two cases ("size indication"), the value of the option
   is the current estimate, measured in bytes.

   A size request can be easily distinguished from a size indication, as
   the third case is not useful for a GET or DELETE, and an actual size
   indication of 0 would either be overridden by the actual size of the
   payload for a PUT or POST or would not be useful.

   Apart from conveying/asking for size information, the Size option has
   no other effect on the processing of the request or response.  If the
   client wants to minimize the size of the payload in the resulting
   response, it should add a Block2 option to the request with a small
   block size (e.g., setting SZX=0).

   The Size Option is "elective", i.e., a client MUST be prepared for
   the server to ignore the size estimate request.  The Size Option MUST
   NOT occur more than once.

        +------+---+---+---+---+------+--------+--------+---------+
        | Type | C | U | N | R | Name | Format | Length | Default |
        +------+---+---+---+---+------+--------+--------+---------+
        | 28   | - | - | N | - | Size | uint   | 0-4 B  | (none)  |
        +------+---+---+---+---+------+--------+--------+---------+

   Implementation Notes:

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   o  As a quality of implementation consideration, blockwise transfers
      for which the total size considerably exceeds the size of one
      block are expected to include size indications, whenever those can
      be provided without undue effort (preferably with the first block
      exchanged).  If the size estimate does not change, the indication
      does not need to be repeated for every block.

   o  The end of a blockwise transfer is governed by the M bits in the
      Block Options, _not_ by exhausting the size estimates exchanged.

   o  As usual for an option of type uint, the value 0 is best expressed
      as an empty option (0 bytes).  There is no default value.

   o  Size is neither critical nor unsafe, and is marked as No-Cache-
      Key.

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5.  HTTP Mapping Considerations

   In this subsection, we give some brief examples for the influence the
   Block options might have on intermediaries that map between CoAP and
   HTTP.

   For mapping CoAP requests to HTTP, the intermediary may want to map
   the sequence of block-wise transfers into a single HTTP transfer.
   E.g., for a GET request, the intermediary could perform the HTTP
   request once the first block has been requested and could then
   fulfill all further block requests out of its cache.  A constrained
   implementation may not be able to cache the entire object and may use
   a combination of TCP flow control and (in particular if timeouts
   occur) HTTP range requests to obtain the information necessary for
   the next block transfer at the right time.

   For PUT or POST requests, there is more variation in how HTTP servers
   might implement ranges.  Some WebDAV servers do, but in general the
   CoAP-to-HTTP intermediary will have to try sending the payload of all
   the blocks of a block-wise transfer within one HTTP request.  If
   enough buffering is available, this request can be started when the
   last CoAP block is received.  A constrained implementation may want
   to relieve its buffering by already starting to send the HTTP request
   at the time the first CoAP block is received; any HTTP 408 status
   code that indicates that the HTTP server became impatient with the
   resulting transfer can then be mapped into a CoAP 4.08 response code
   (similarly, 413 maps to 4.13).

   For mapping HTTP to CoAP, the intermediary may want to map a single
   HTTP transfer into a sequence of block-wise transfers.  If the HTTP
   client is too slow delivering a request body on a PUT or POST, the
   CoAP server might time out and return a 4.08 response code, which in
   turn maps well to an HTTP 408 status code (again, 4.13 maps to 413).
   HTTP range requests received on the HTTP side may be served out of a
   cache and/or mapped to GET requests that request a sequence of blocks
   overlapping the range.

   (Note that, while the semantics of CoAP 4.08 and HTTP 408 differ,
   this difference is largely due to the different way the two protocols
   are mapped to transport.  HTTP has an underlying TCP connection,
   which supplies connection state, so a HTTP 408 status code can
   immediately be used to indicate that a timeout occurred during
   transmitting a request through that active TCP connection.  The CoAP
   4.08 response code indicates one or more missing blocks, which may be
   due to timeouts or resource constraints; as there is no connection
   state, there is no way to deliver such a response immediately;
   instead, it is delivered on the next block transfer.  Still, HTTP 408
   is probably the best mapping back to HTTP, as the timeout is the most

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   likely cause for a CoAP 4.08.  Note that there is no way to
   distinguish a timeout from a missing block for a server without
   creating additional state, the need for which we want to avoid.)

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6.  IANA Considerations

   This draft adds the following option numbers to the CoAP Option
   Numbers registry of [I-D.ietf-core-coap]:

                      +--------+--------+-----------+
                      | Number | Name   | Reference |
                      +--------+--------+-----------+
                      | 23     | Block2 | [RFCXXXX] |
                      |        |        |           |
                      | 28     | Size   | [RFCXXXX] |
                      |        |        |           |
                      | 27     | Block1 | [RFCXXXX] |
                      +--------+--------+-----------+

                       Table 2: CoAP Option Numbers

   This draft adds the following response code to the CoAP Response
   Codes registry of [I-D.ietf-core-coap]:

           +------+--------------------------------+-----------+
           | Code | Description                    | Reference |
           +------+--------------------------------+-----------+
           |  136 | 4.08 Request Entity Incomplete | [RFCXXXX] |
           +------+--------------------------------+-----------+

                       Table 3: CoAP Response Codes

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7.  Security Considerations

   Providing access to blocks within a resource may lead to surprising
   vulnerabilities.  Where requests are not implemented atomically, an
   attacker may be able to exploit a race condition or confuse a server
   by inducing it to use a partially updated resource representation.
   Partial transfers may also make certain problematic data invisible to
   intrusion detection systems; it is RECOMMENDED that an intrusion
   detection system (IDS) that analyzes resource representations
   transferred by CoAP implement the Block options to gain access to
   entire resource representations.  Still, approaches such as
   transferring even-numbered blocks on one path and odd-numbered blocks
   on another path, or even transferring blocks multiple times with
   different content and obtaining a different interpretation of
   temporal order at the IDS than at the server, may prevent an IDS from
   seeing the whole picture.  These kinds of attacks are well understood
   from IP fragmentation and TCP segmentation; CoAP does not add
   fundamentally new considerations.

   Where access to a resource is only granted to clients making use of a
   specific security association, all blocks of that resource MUST be
   subject to the same security checks; it MUST NOT be possible for
   unprotected exchanges to influence blocks of an otherwise protected
   resource.  As a related consideration, where object security is
   employed, PUT/POST should be implemented in the atomic fashion,
   unless the object security operation is performed on each access and
   the creation of unusable resources can be tolerated.

   A stateless server might be susceptible to an attack where the
   adversary sends a Block1 (e.g., PUT) block with a high block number:
   A naive implementation might exhaust its resources by creating a huge
   resource representation.

   Misleading size indications may be used by an attacker to induce
   buffer overflows in poor implementations, for which the usual
   considerations apply.

7.1.  Mitigating Resource Exhaustion Attacks

   Certain blockwise requests may induce the server to create state,
   e.g. to create a snapshot for the blockwise GET of a fast-changing
   resource to enable consistent access to the same version of a
   resource for all blocks, or to create temporary resource
   representations that are collected until pressed into service by a
   final PUT or POST with the more bit unset.  All mechanisms that
   induce a server to create state that cannot simply be cleaned up
   create opportunities for denial-of-service attacks.  Servers SHOULD
   avoid being subject to resource exhaustion based on state created by

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   untrusted sources.  But even if this is done, the mitigation may
   cause a denial-of-service to a legitimate request when it is drowned
   out by other state-creating requests.  Wherever possible, servers
   should therefore minimize the opportunities to create state for
   untrusted sources, e.g. by using stateless approaches.

   Performing segmentation at the application layer is almost always
   better in this respect than at the transport layer or lower (IP
   fragmentation, adaptation layer fragmentation), e.g. because there is
   application layer semantics that can be used for mitigation or
   because lower layers provide security associations that can prevent
   attacks.  However, it is less common to apply timeouts and keepalive
   mechanisms at the application layer than at lower layers.  Servers
   MAY want to clean up accumulated state by timing it out (cf. response
   code 4.08), and clients SHOULD be prepared to run blockwise transfers
   in an expedient way to minimize the likelihood of running into such a
   timeout.

7.2.  Mitigating Amplification Attacks

   [I-D.ietf-core-coap] discusses the susceptibility of CoAP end-points
   for use in amplification attacks.

   A CoAP server can reduce the amount of amplification it provides to
   an attacker by offering large resource representations only in
   relatively small blocks.  With this, e.g., for a 1000 byte resource,
   a 10-byte request might result in an 80-byte response (with a 64-byte
   block) instead of a 1016-byte response, considerably reducing the
   amplification provided.

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8.  Acknowledgements

   Much of the content of this draft is the result of discussions with
   the [I-D.ietf-core-coap] authors, and via many CoRE WG discussions.

   Charles Palmer provided extensive editorial comments to a previous
   version of this draft, some of which the authors hope to have covered
   in this version.  Esko Dijk reviewed a more recent version, leading
   to a number of further editorial improvements as well as a solution
   to the 4.13 ambiguity problem.  Markus Becker proposed getting rid of
   an ill-conceived default value for the Block2 and Block1 options.

   Kepeng Li, Linyi Tian, and Barry Leiba wrote up an early version of
   the Size Option, which has informed this draft.

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9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-core-coap]
              Shelby, Z., Hartke, K., Bormann, C., and B. Frank,
              "Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)",
              draft-ietf-core-coap-12 (work in progress), October 2012.

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

   [RFC2616]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.

9.2.  Informative References

   [REST]     Fielding, R., "Architectural Styles and the Design of
              Network-based Software Architectures", Ph.D. Dissertation,
              University of California, Irvine, 2000, <http://
              www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/
              fielding_dissertation.pdf>.

   [RFC4919]  Kushalnagar, N., Montenegro, G., and C. Schumacher, "IPv6
              over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPANs):
              Overview, Assumptions, Problem Statement, and Goals",
              RFC 4919, August 2007.

   [RFC6690]  Shelby, Z., "Constrained RESTful Environments (CoRE) Link
              Format", RFC 6690, August 2012.

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Authors' Addresses

   Carsten Bormann
   Universitaet Bremen TZI
   Postfach 330440
   Bremen  D-28359
   Germany

   Phone: +49-421-218-63921
   Email: cabo@tzi.org

   Zach Shelby (editor)
   Sensinode
   Kidekuja 2
   Vuokatti  88600
   Finland

   Phone: +358407796297
   Email: zach@sensinode.com

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