Skip to main content

Session Timers in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
draft-ietf-sip-session-timer-15

The information below is for an old version of the document that is already published as an RFC.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 4028.
Authors Jonathan Rosenberg , Steve Donovan
Last updated 2020-01-21 (Latest revision 2004-08-11)
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Intended RFC status Proposed Standard
Formats
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
Stream WG state (None)
Document shepherd (None)
IESG IESG state Became RFC 4028 (Proposed Standard)
Action Holders
(None)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD Allison J. Mankin
Send notices to <rohan@cisco.com>
draft-ietf-sip-session-timer-15
SIP                                                           S. Donovan
Internet-Draft                                              J. Rosenberg
Expires: January 16, 2005                                    dynamicsoft
                                                           July 18, 2004

        Session Timers in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
                    draft-ietf-sip-session-timer-15

Status of this Memo

   By submitting this Internet-Draft, I certify that any applicable
   patent or other IPR claims of which I am aware have been disclosed,
   and any of which I become aware will be disclosed, in accordance with
   RFC 3668.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as
   Internet-Drafts.

   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."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 16, 2005.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines an extension to the Session Initiation Protocol
   (SIP).  This extension allows for a periodic refresh of SIP sessions
   through a re-INVITE or UPDATE request.  The refresh allows both user
   agents and proxies to determine if the SIP session is still active.
   The extension defines two new header fields, Session-Expires, which
   conveys the lifetime of the session, and Min-SE, which conveys the
   minimum allowed value for the session timer.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 1]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

Table of Contents

   1.   Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.   Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.   Overview of Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.   Session-Expires Header Field Definition  . . . . . . . . . .   8
   5.   Min-SE Header Field Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   6.   422 Response Code Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   7.   UAC Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     7.1  Generating an Initial Session Refresh Request  . . . . . .  12
     7.2  Processing a 2xx Response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     7.3  Processing a 422 Response  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     7.4  Generating Subsequent Session Refresh Requests . . . . . .  14
   8.   Proxy Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     8.1  Processing of Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     8.2  Processing of Responses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     8.3  Session Expiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   9.   UAS Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
   10.  Performing Refreshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   11.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     11.1   Inside Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     11.2   Outside Attacks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
   12.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     12.1   IANA Registration of Min-SE and Session-Expires
            Header Fields  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     12.2   IANA Registration of the 422 (Session Interval Too
            Small) Response Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     12.3   IANA Registration of the 'timer' Option Tag  . . . . . .  25
   13.  Example Call Flow  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
   14.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
   15.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
   15.1   Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
   15.2   Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
        Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
        Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . .  34

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 2]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

1.  Introduction

   The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) [2], does not define a
   keepalive mechanism for the sessions it establishes.  Although the
   user agents may be able to determine if the session has timed out
   using session specific mechanisms, proxies will not be able to do so.
   The result is that call stateful proxies will not always be able to
   determine whether a session is still active or not.  For instance,
   when a user agent fails to send a BYE message at the end of a
   session, or the BYE message gets lost due to network problems, a call
   stateful proxy will not know when the session has ended.  In this
   situation, the call stateful proxy will retain state for the call and
   has no deterministic method of determining when the call state
   information no longer applies.

   To resolve this problem, this extension defines a keepalive mechanism
   for SIP sessions.  UAs send periodic re-INVITE or UPDATE [3] requests
   (referred to as session refresh requests) to keep the session alive.
   The interval for the session refresh requests is determined through a
   negotiation mechanism defined here.  If a session refresh request is
   not received before the interval passes, the session is considered
   terminated.  Both UAs are supposed to send a BYE, and call stateful
   proxies can remove any state for the call.

   This refresh mechanism has additional applications.  For the same
   reasons a call stateful proxy server would like to determine whether
   the session is still active, a user agent would like to make this
   determination.  This determination can be made at a user agent
   without the use of SIP level mechanisms; for audio sessions, periodic
   RTCP packets serve as an indication of liveness [5].  However, it is
   desirable to separate SIP session liveness from the details of the
   particular session.

   Another application of the session timer is in the construction of a
   SIP Network Address Translator (NAT) Application Level Gateway (ALG)
   [6].  The ALG embedded in a NAT will need to maintain state for the
   duration of a call.  This state must eventually be removed.  Relying
   on a BYE to trigger the removal of state, besides being unreliable,
   introduces a potential denial of service attack.

   This document provides an extension to SIP that defines a session
   expiration mechanism.  Periodic refreshes, through re-INVITEs or
   UPDATEs, are used to keep the session active.  The extension is
   sufficiently backwards compatible with SIP that it works so long as
   either one of the two participants in a dialog understand the
   extension.  Two new header fields, Session-Expires and Min-SE, and a
   new response code, 422, are defined.  Session-Expires conveys the
   duration of the session, and Min-SE conveys the minimum allowed value

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 3]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   for the session expiration.  The 422 response code indicates that the
   session timer duration was too small.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 4]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

2.  Terminology

   In this document, the key words 'MUST', 'MUST NOT', 'REQUIRED',
   'SHALL', 'SHALLNOT', 'SHOULD', 'SHOULDNOT', 'RECOMMENDED', 'MAY', and
   'OPTIONAL' are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [1] and
   indicate requirement levels for compliant SIP implementations.

   Additionally, we define the following terms:
   Session Interval: The largest amount of time that can occur between
      session refresh requests in a dialog before the session will be
      considered timed out.  The session interval is conveyed in the
      Session-Expires header field defined here.  The UAS obtains this
      value from the Session-Expires header field in a 2xx response to a
      session refresh request that it sends.  Proxies and UACs determine
      this value from the Session-Expires header field in a 2xx response
      to a session refresh request that they receive.
   Minimum Timer: Because of the processing load of mid-dialog requests,
      all elements (proxy, UAC, UAS) can have a configured minimum value
      for the session interval that they are willing to accept.  This
      value is called the minimum timer.
   Session Expiration: The time at which an element will consider the
      session timed out, if no successful session refresh transaction
      occurs beforehand.
   Session Refresh Request: An INVITE or UPDATE request processed
      according to the rules of this specification.  If the request
      generates a 2xx response, the session expiration is increased to
      the current time plus the session interval obtained from the
      response.  A session refresh request is not to be confused with a
      target refresh request, defined in Section 6 of [2], which is a
      request that can update the remote target of a dialog.
   Initial Session Refresh Request: The first session refresh request
      sent with a particular Call-ID value.
   Subsequent Session Refresh Request: Any session refresh request sent
      with a particular Call-ID after the initial session refresh
      request.
   Refresh: Same as a session refresh request.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 5]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

3.  Overview of Operation

   This section provides a brief overview of operation of the extension.
   It is tutorial in nature and should not be considered as normative.

   This extension has the property that it works even when only one UA
   in a dialog supports it.  The processing steps differ for handling
   each of the four cases (UAC supports it, or doesn't, and UAS supports
   it, or doesn't).  For simplicity's sake, this section will describe
   basic operation in the case where both sides support the extension.

   A UAC starts by sending an INVITE.  It includes a Supported header
   field with the option tag 'timer', indicating support for this
   extension.

   This request passes through proxies, any one of which may have an
   interest in establishing a session timer.  Each proxy can insert a
   Session-Expires header field and a Min-SE header field into the
   request if none is already there or alter the value of existing
   Session-Expires and Min-SE header fields as described below.

   The Min-SE header field establishes the lower bound for the session
   refresh interval, i.e.  the fastest rate that any proxy servicing
   this request will be allowed to require.  The purpose of this header
   field is to prevent hostile proxies from setting arbitrarily short
   refresh intervals such that their neighbors are overloaded.  Each
   proxy processing the request can raise this lower bound (increase the
   period between refreshes) but is not allowed to lower it.

   The Session-Expires header field establishes the upper bound for the
   session refresh interval, i.e., the time period after processing a
   request for which any session-stateful proxy must retain its state
   for this session.  Any proxy servicing this request can lower this
   value, but is not allowed to decrease it below the value specified in
   the Min-SE header field.

   If the Session-Expires interval is too low for a proxy (i.e, lower
   than the value of Min-SE that the proxy would wish to assert), the
   proxy rejects the request with a 422 response.  That response
   contains a Min-SE header field, identifying the minimum session
   interval it is willing to support.  The UAC will try again, this time
   including the Min-SE header in the request.  The header field
   contains the largest Min-SE header field it observed in all 422
   responses received previously.  This way, the minimum timer meets the
   constraints of all proxies along the path.

   After several INVITE/422 iterations, the request eventually arrives
   at the UAS.  The UAS can adjust the value of the session interval as

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 6]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   if it was a proxy, and when done, it places the final session
   interval into the Session-Expires header field in a 2xx response.
   The Session-Expires header field also contains a 'refresher'
   parameter, which indicates who is doing the refreshing - the UA that
   is currently the UAC, or the UA that is currently the UAS.  As the
   2xx response travels back through the proxy chain, each proxy can
   observe the final session interval, but they can't change it.

   From the Session-Expires header field in the response, both UAs know
   that a session timer is active, they know when it will expire, and
   they know who is refreshing.  At some point before the expiration,
   the currently active refresher generates a session refresh request,
   which is a re-INVITE or UPDATE [3] request.  If the refresher never
   gets a response to that session refresh request, it sends a BYE to
   terminate the session.  Similarly, if the other side never gets the
   session refresh request before the session expires, it sends a BYE.

   The refresh requests sent once the session is established are
   processed identically to the initial requests, as described above.
   This means that a successful session refresh request will extend the
   session, as desired.

   The extension introduces additional complications beyond this basic
   flow to support cases where only one of the UAs supports it.  One
   such complication is that a proxy may need to insert the
   Session-Expires header into the response, in the event that the UAS
   doesn't support the extension.  The negotiation of the role of
   refresher is also affected by this capability; it takes into
   consideration which participants support the extension.

   It is worth noting that the session timer refreshes the session, not
   the dialog used to establish the session.  Of course, the two are
   related.  If the session expires, a BYE is sent, which terminates the
   session and generally, the dialog.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 7]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

4.  Session-Expires Header Field Definition

   The Session-Expires header field conveys the session interval for a
   SIP session.  It is placed only in INVITE or UPDATE requests, as well
   as in any 2xx response to an INVITE or UPDATE.  Like the SIP Expires
   header field, it contains a delta-time.

   The absolute minimum for the Session-Expires header field is 90
   seconds.  This value represents a bit more than twice the duration
   that a SIP transaction can take in the event of a timeout.  This
   allows sufficient time for a UA to attempt a refresh at the halfpoint
   of the session interval, and for that transaction to complete
   normally before the session expires.  However, 1800 seconds (30
   minutes) is RECOMMENDED as the value for the Session-Expires header
   field.  In other words, SIP entities MUST be prepared to handle
   Session-Expires header field values of any duration greater than 90
   seconds, but entities that insert the Session-Expires header field
   SHOULD NOT choose values less than 30 minutes.

   Small session intervals can be destructive to the network.  They
   cause excessive messaging traffic that affects both user agents and
   proxy servers.  They increase the possibility of 'glare' that can
   occur when both user agents send a re-INVITE or UPDATE at the same
   time.  Since the primary purpose of the session timer is to provide a
   means to time out state in SIP elements, very small values won't
   generally be needed.  30-minutes was chosen since 95% of phone calls
   are less than this duration.  However, the 30 minute minimum is
   listed as a SHOULD, and not a MUST, since the exact value for this
   number is dependent on many network factors, including network
   bandwidths and latencies, computing power, memory availability,
   network topology, and of course, the application scenario.  After
   all, SIP can set up any kind of session, not just a phone call.  At
   the time of publication of this document, 30 minutes seems
   appropriate.  Advances in technologies may result in the number being
   excessively large five years in the future.

   The default value of the Session-Expires header field is undefined.
   This means that absence of the Session-Expires header field implies
   no expiration of the session using the mechanism defined in this
   specification.  Note that other mechanisms not defined in this
   specification, such as locally configured timers, may apply.

   The syntax of the Session-Expires header field is:

   Session-Expires  = ('Session-Expires' / 'x') HCOLON delta-seconds
                        *(SEMI se-params)
   se-params        = refresher-param / generic-param
   refresher-param  = 'refresher' EQUAL  ('uas' / 'uac')

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 8]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   Note that a compact form, the letter x, has been reserved for
   Session-Expires.  The BNF for delta-seconds and generic-param is
   defined in Section 25 of RFC 3261 [2].

   Table 1 is an extension of Tables 2 and 3 in [2] for the
   Session-Expires and Min-SE header fields.  The column 'PRA' is for
   the PRACK method [7], 'UPD' is for the UPDATE method [3], 'SUB' is
   for the SUBSCRIBE method [8], and 'NOT' is for the NOTIFY method [8].

   +---------------+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
   |     Header    |where|proxy|ACK|BYE|CAN|INV|OPT|REG|PRA|UPD|SUB|NOT|
   +---------------+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
   |Session-Expires|  R  | amr | - | - | - | o | - | - | - | o | - | - |
   |               |     |     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
   |Session-Expires| 2xx | ar  | - | - | - | o | - | - | - | o | - | - |
   |               |     |     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
   |Min-SE         |  R  | amr | - | - | - | o | - | - | - | o | - | - |
   |               |     |     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
   |Min-SE         | 422 |     | - | - | - | m | - | - | - | m | - | - |
   +---------------+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
        Table 1 Session-Expires and Min-SE Header Fields

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005                [Page 9]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

5.  Min-SE Header Field Definition

   The Min-SE header field indicates the minimum value for the session
   interval, in units of delta-seconds.  When used in an INVITE or
   UPDATE request, it indicates the smallest value of the session
   interval that can be used for that session.  When present in a
   request or response, its value MUST NOT be less than 90 seconds.

   When not present, the default value for this header field is 90
   seconds.

   The Min-SE header field MUST NOT be used in responses except those
   with a 422 response code.  It indicates the minimum value of the
   session interval that the server is willing to accept.

   The syntax of the Min-SE header field is:

   Min-SE  =  'Min-SE' HCOLON delta-seconds *(SEMI generic-param)

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 10]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

6.  422 Response Code Definition

   This extension introduces the 422 (Session Interval Too Small)
   response code.  It is generated by a UAS or proxy when a request
   contains a Session-Expires header field with a duration that is below
   the minimum timer for the server.  The 422 response MUST contain a
   Min-SE header field with the minimum timer for that server.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 11]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

7.  UAC Behavior

7.1  Generating an Initial Session Refresh Request

   A UAC that supports the session timer extension defined here MUST
   include a Supported header field in each request (except ACK),
   listing the option tag 'timer' [2].  It MUST do so even if the UAC is
   not requesting usage of the session timer for this session.

   The UAC MAY include a Require header field in the request with the
   value 'timer' to indicate that the UAS must support the session timer
   to participate in the session.  This does not mean that the UAC is
   requiring the UAS to perform the refreshes, just that it is requiring
   the UAS to support the extension.  In addition, the UAC MAY include a
   Proxy-Require header field in the request with the value 'timer' to
   indicate that proxies must support session timer in order to
   correctly process the request.  However, usage of either Require or
   Proxy-Require by the UAC is NOT RECOMMENDED.  They are not needed,
   since the extension works even when only the UAC supports the
   extension.  The Supported header field containing 'timer' MUST still
   be included even if the Require or Proxy-Require header fields are
   present containing 'timer'.

   A UAC MAY include the Min-SE header field in the initial INVITE
   request.

   A UAC MAY include a Session-Expires header field in an initial
   session refresh request if it wishes for a session timer to be
   applied to the session.  The value of this header field indicates the
   session interval desired by the UAC.  If a Min-SE header is included
   in the initial session refresh request, the value of the
   Session-Expires MUST be greater than the value in Min-SE.

   The UAC MAY include the refresher parameter with value 'uac' if it
   wishes to perform the refreshes.  However, it is RECOMMENDED that the
   parameter be omitted, so that it can be selected by the negotiation
   mechanisms described below.

7.2  Processing a 2xx Response

   Session timer requires a UA to create and maintain state.  This state
   includes the session interval, the session expiration, and the
   identity of the refresher.  This state is associated with the dialog
   on which the session has been negotiated.

   When a 2xx response to a session refresh request arrives, it may or
   may not contain a Require header field with the value 'timer'.  If it
   does, the UAC MUST look for the Session-Expires header field to

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 12]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   process the response.

   If there was a Require header field in the response with the value
   'timer', the Session-Expires header field will always be present.
   UACs MUST be prepared to receive a Session-Expires header field in a
   response even if none were present in the request.  The 'refresher'
   parameter will be present in the Session-Expires header field,
   indicating who will be performing the refreshes.  The UAC MUST set
   the identity of the refresher to the value of this parameter.  If the
   parameter contains the value 'uac', the UAC will perform them.  It is
   possible that the UAC requested session timer (and thus included a
   Session-Expires header field in the request), but there was no
   Require or Session-Expires header field in the 2xx response.  This
   will happen when the UAS doesn't support the session timer extension,
   and only the UAC has asked for a session timer (no proxies have
   requested it).  In this case, if the UAC still wishes to use the
   session timer (they are purely for its benefit alone), it has to
   perform them.  To do this, the UAC follows the procedures defined in
   this specification as if the Session-Expires header field were in the
   2xx response, and its value was the same as the one in the request,
   but with a refresher parameter of 'uac'.

   If the 2xx response did not contain a Session-Expires header field,
   there is no session expiration.  In this case, no refreshes need to
   be sent.  A 2xx without a Session-Expires can come for both initial
   and subsequent session refresh requests.  This means that the session
   timer can be 'turned-off' mid dialog by receiving a response without
   a Session-Expires header.

   The UAC remembers the session interval for a session as the value of
   the delta-time from the Session-Expires header field in the most
   recent 2xx response to a session refresh request on a dialog.  It is
   explicitly allowed for there to be differing session intervals (or
   none at all) on differing dialogs established as a result of a single
   INVITE.  It also remembers whether it, or its peer, is the refresher
   on for the session.

   If the UAC must perform the refreshes, it computes the session
   expiration for that session.  The session expiration is the time of
   reception of the last 2xx response to a session refresh request on
   that dialog plus the session interval for that session.  If UA wishes
   to continue with the session beyond the session expiration, it MUST
   generate a refresh before the session expiration.  It is RECOMMENDED
   that this refresh be sent once half the session interval has elapsed.
   Additional procedures for this refresh are described in Section 10.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 13]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

7.3  Processing a 422 Response

   If the response to a session refresh request is a 422 (Session
   Interval Too Small) response message, then the UAC MAY retry the
   request.  The procedures for retrying are described in Section 7.4.
   This new request constitutes a new transaction and SHOULD have the
   same value of the Call-ID, To, and From of the previous request, but
   the CSeq should contain a new sequence number that is one higher than
   the previous.

7.4  Generating Subsequent Session Refresh Requests

   The values of Supported, Require and Proxy-Require used in the
   initial Session refresh request MUST be used.

   The UAC MUST insert the Min-SE header field into a session refresh
   request for a particular dialog if it has ever received a 422
   response to a previous session refresh request on the same dialog, or
   if it has received a session refresh request on that dialog which
   contained a Min-SE header field.  Similarly, if no dialog has been
   established yet, a UAC MUST insert the Min-SE header field into an
   INVITE request if it has ever received a 422 response to a previous
   INVITE request with the same Call-ID.

   The value of the Min-SE header field present in a session refresh
   request MUST be the largest value amongst all Min-SE header field
   values returned in all 422 responses, or received in session refresh
   requests, on the same dialog, if a dialog has been established.  If
   no dialog has been established, the Min-SE header field value is set
   to the largest value amongst all Min-SE header field values returned
   in all 422 responses for an INVITE request with the same Call-ID.  A
   result of this rule is that the maximum value of the Min-SE is
   effectively 'cleared' once the dialog is established, and from that
   point on, only the values from proxies known to be on the proxy path
   will end up being used.

   The UAC may have its own opinions about the minimum session interval.
   In that case, if the value above is too small, the UAC MAY increase
   it.

   In a session refresh request sent within a dialog with an active
   session timer, the Sesssion-Expires header field SHOULD be present.
   When present, it SHOULD be equal to the maximum of the Min-SE header
   field (recall that its default value when not present is 90 seconds)
   and the current session interval.  Inclusion of the Session-Expires
   header field with this value avoids certain denial-of-service
   attacks, as documented in Section 11.  As such, a UA should only
   ignore the SHOULD in unusual and singular cases where it is

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 14]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   desireable to change the session interval mid-dialog.

   If the session refresh request is not the initial one, it is
   RECOMMENDED that the refresher parameter be set to 'uac' if the
   element sending the request is currently performing refreshes, else
   'uas' if its peer is performing the refreshes.  This way, the role of
   refresher does not change on each refresh.  However, if it wishes to
   explicitly change the roles, it MAY use a value of 'uas' if it knows
   that the other side supports session timer.  It could know this by
   having received a request from its peer with a Supported header field
   containing the value 'timer'.  If it wishes to reselect the roles, it
   MAY omit the parameter.

   A re-INVITE generated to refresh the session is a normal re-INVITE,
   and an UPDATE generated to refresh a session is a normal UPDATE.  If
   a UAC knows that its peer supports the UPDATE method, it is
   RECOMMENDED that UPDATE be used instead of a re-INVITE.  A UA can
   make this determination if it has seen an Allow header field from its
   peer with the value 'UPDATE', or through a mid-dialog OPTIONS
   request.  It is RECOMMENDED that the UPDATE request not contain an
   offer [4], but a re-INVITE SHOULD contain one, even if the details of
   the session have not changed.  In that case, the offer MUST indicate
   that it has not changed.  In the case of SDP, this is accomplished by
   including the same value for the origin field as previous SDP
   messages to its peer.  The same is true for an answer exchanged as a
   result of a session refresh request; if it has not changed, that MUST
   be indicated.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 15]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

8.  Proxy Behavior

   Session timers are mostly of interest to call stateful proxy servers
   (that is, servers that maintain the state of calls and dialogs
   established through them).  However, a stateful proxy server (that
   is, a server which is aware of transaction state, but does not retain
   call or dialog state) MAY also follow the rules described here.
   Stateless proxies MUST NOT attempt to request session timers.
   Proxies that ask for session timers SHOULD record-route, since they
   won't receive refreshes if they don't.
      The proxy processing rules require the proxy to remember
      information between the request and response, ruling out stateless
      proxies.

8.1  Processing of Requests

   Processing of requests is identical for all session refresh requests.

   To request a session timer for a session, a proxy makes sure that a
   Session-Expires header field is present in a session refresh request
   for that session.  A proxy MAY insert a Session-Expires header field
   in the request before forwarding it, if none was present in the
   request.  This Session-Expires header field may contain any desired
   expiration time the proxy would like, but not with a duration lower
   than the value in the Min-SE header field in the request, if present.
   The proxy MUST NOT include a refresher parameter in the header field
   value.

   If the request already had a Session-Expires header field, the proxy
   MAY reduce its value, but MUST NOT set it to a duration lower than
   the value in the Min-SE header field in the request, if present.  If
   the value of the Session-Expires header field is greater than or
   equal to the value in the Min-SE header field (recall that the
   default is 90 seconds when the Min-SE header field is not present),
   the proxy MUST NOT increase the value of the Session-Expires header
   field.  If the value of the Session-Expires header field is lower
   than the value of the Min-SE header field (possibly because the proxy
   increased the value of the Min-SE header field, as described below),
   the proxy MUST increase the value of the Session-Expires header field
   to make it equal to Min-SE header field value.  The proxy MUST NOT
   insert or modify the value of the 'refresher' parameter in the
   Session-Expires header field.

   If the request contains a Supported header field with a value
   'timer', the proxy MAY reject the INVITE request with a 422 (Session
   Interval Too Small) response if the session interval in the
   Session-Expires header field is smaller than the minimum interval
   defined by the proxy's local policy.  When sending the 422 response,

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 16]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   the proxy MUST include a Min-SE header field with the value of its
   minimum interval.  That minimum MUST NOT be lower than 90 seconds.

   If the request doesn't indicate support for session timer, but the
   request contains a session interval that is too small, the proxy
   cannot usefully reject the request, as this would result in a call
   failure.  Rather, the proxy SHOULD insert a Min-SE header field
   containing its minimum interval.  If a Min-SE header field is already
   present, the proxy SHOULD increase (but MUST NOT decrease) the value
   to equal its minimum interval.  The proxy MUST then increase the
   Session-Expires header field value to be equal to the value in the
   Min-SE header field, as described above.  A proxy MUST NOT insert a
   Min-SE header field, or modify the value of an existing header field,
   in a proxied request if that request contains a Supported header
   field with the value 'timer'.  This is needed to protect against
   certain denial of service attacks, described in Section 11.

   Assuming the proxy has requested a session timer (and thus has
   possibly inserted the Session-Expires header field or reduced it),
   the proxy MUST remember that it is using a session timer, and also
   remember the value of the Session-Expires header field from the
   proxied request.  This MUST be remembered for the duration of the
   transaction.  The proxy MUST remember, for the duration of the
   transaction, whether the request contained the Supported header field
   with the value 'timer'.

   If the request did not contain a Supported header field with the
   value 'timer', the proxy MAY insert a Require header field into the
   request, with the value 'timer'.  However, this is NOT RECOMMENDED.
   This allows the proxy to insist on session timer for the session.
   This header field is not needed if a Supported header field was in
   the request; in this case, the proxy can already be sure that the
   session timer can be used for the session.

8.2  Processing of Responses

   When the final response to the request arrives, it is examined by the
   proxy.

   If the response does not contain a Session-Expires header field, but
   the proxy remembers that it requested a session timer in the request
   (by inserting, modifying, or examining and accepting the
   Session-Expires header field in the proxied request), this means that
   the UAS did not support the session timer.  If the proxy remembers
   that the UAC did not support session timer either, the proxy forwards
   the response upstream normally.  There is no session expiration for
   this session.  If, however, the proxy remembers that the UAC did
   support session timer, additional processing is needed.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 17]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   Because there is no Session-Expires or Require header field in the
   response, the proxy knows it is the first session-timer-aware proxy
   to receive the response.  This proxy MUST insert a Session-Expires
   header field into the response with the value it remembered from the
   forwarded request.  It MUST set the value of the 'refresher'
   parameter to 'uac'.  The proxy MUST insert the Require header field
   into the response, with the value 'timer', before forwarding it
   upstream.

   If the received response contains a Session-Expires header field, no
   modification of the response is needed.

   In all cases, if the 2xx response forwarded upstream by the proxy
   contains a Session-Expires header field, its value represents the
   session interval for the session associated with that response.  The
   proxy computes the session expiration as the time when the 2xx
   response is forwarded upstream, plus the session interval.  This
   session expiration MUST update any existing session expiration for
   the session.  The refresher parameter in the Session-Expires header
   field in the 2xx response forwarded upstream will be present, and it
   indicates which UA is performing the refreshes.  There can be
   multiple 2xx responses to a single INVITE, each representing a
   different dialog, resulting in multiple session expirations, one for
   each session associated with each dialog.

   The proxy MUST NOT modify the value of the Session-Expires header
   field received in the response (assuming one was present) before
   forwarding it upstream.

8.3  Session Expiration

   When the current time equals or passes the session expiration for a
   session, the proxy MAY remove associated call state, and MAY free any
   resources associated with the call.  Unlike the UA, it MUST NOT send
   a BYE.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 18]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

9.  UAS Behavior

   The UAS must respond to a request for a session timer by the UAC or a
   proxy in the path of the request, or it may request that a session
   Timer be used itself.

   If an incoming request contains a Supported header field with a value
   'timer' and a Session Expires header, the UAS MAY reject the INVITE
   request with a 422 (Session Interval Too Small) response if the
   session interval in the Session-Expires header field is smaller than
   the minimum interval defined by the UAS' local policy.  When sending
   the 422 response, the UAS MUST include a Min-SE header field with the
   value of its minimum interval.  This minimum interval MUST NOT be
   lower than 90 seconds.

   If the UAS wishes to accept the request, it copies the value of the
   Session-Expires header field from the request into the 2xx response.
   The UAS response MAY reduce its value, but MUST NOT set it to a
   duration lower than the value in the Min-SE header field in the
   request, if present, else 90s if not.  The UAS MUST NOT increase the
   value of the Session-Expires header field.

   If the incoming request contains a Supported header field with a
   value 'timer' but does not contain a Session-Expires header, the UAC
   indicated support for timers, but did not request one.  The UAS may
   request a session timer in the 2XX response by including a
   Session-Expires header field.  The value MUST NOT be set to a
   duration lower than the value in the Min-SE header field in the
   request, if present.

   The UAS MUST set the value of the refresher parameter in the
   Session-Expires header field in the 2xx response.  This value
   specifies who will perform refreshes for the dialog.  The value is
   based on the value of this parameter in the request, and on whether
   the UAC supports the session timer extension.  The UAC supports the
   extension if the 'timer' option tag was present in a Supported header
   field in the request.  Figure 3 defines how the value in the response
   is set.  A value of 'none' in the 2nd column means that there was no
   refresher parameter in the request.  A value of 'NA' in the third
   column means that this particular combination shouldn't happen, as
   it's disallowed by the protocol.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 19]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

       UAC supports?  refresher parameter  refresher parameter
                           in request           in response
       -------------------------------------------------------
             N                none                 uas
             N                uac                  NA
             N                uas                  NA
             Y                none             uas or uac
             Y                uac                  uac
             Y                uas                  uas

                         Figure 3: UAS Behavior

   The fourth row of Figure 3 describes a case where both the UAC and
   UAS support the session timer extension, and the UAC did not select
   who will perform refreshes.  This allows the UAS to decide whether
   it, or the UAC, will perform the refreshes.  However, as the table
   indicates, the UAS cannot override the UAC's choice of refresher, if
   it made one.

   If the refresher parameter in the Session-Expires header field in the
   2xx response has a value of 'uac', the UAS MUST place a Require
   header field into the response with the value 'timer'.  This is
   because the uac is performing refreshes and the response has to be
   processed for the UAC to know this.  If the refresher parameter in
   the 2xx response has a value of 'uas', and the Supported header field
   in the request contained the value 'timer', the UAS SHOULD place a
   Require header field into the response with the value 'timer'.  In
   this case, the UAC is not refreshing, but it is supposed to send a
   BYE if it never receives a refresh.  Since the call will still
   succeed without the UAC doing this, insertion of the Require is a
   SHOULD here, rather than a MUST.

   The UAS, just like the UAC, stores state for the session timer.  This
   state includes the session interval, the session expiration, and the
   identity of the refresher.  This state is bound to the dialog used to
   set up the session.  The session interval is set to the value of the
   delta-time from the Session-Expires header field in the most recent
   2xx response to a session refresh request on that dialog.  It also
   remembers whether it, or its peer, is the refresher on the leg, based
   on the value of the refresher parameter from the most recent 2xx
   response to a session refresh request on that dialog.  If the most
   recent 2xx response had no Session-Expires header field, there is no
   session expiration, and no refreshes need to be performed.

   If the UAS must refresh the session, it computes the session
   expiration.  The session expiration is the time of transmission of
   the last 2xx response to a session refresh request on that dialog
   plus the session interval.  If UA wishes to continue with the session

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 20]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   beyond the session expiration, it MUST generate a refresh before the
   session expiration.  It is RECOMMENDED that this refresh be sent once
   half the session interval has elapsed.  Additional procedures for
   this refresh are described in Section 10.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 21]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

10.  Performing Refreshes

   The side generating a refresh does so according to the UAC procedures
   defined in Section 7.  Note that only a 2xx response to a session
   refresh request extends the session expiration.  This means that a UA
   could attempt a refresh, and receive a 422 response with a Min-SE
   header field that contains a value much larger than the current
   session interval.  The UA will still need to send a session refresh
   request before the session expiration (which has not changed), even
   though this request will contain a value of the Session-Expires that
   is much larger than the current session interval.

   If the session refresh request transaction times out or generates a
   408 or 481 response, then the UAC sends a BYE request per the rules
   in Section 12.2.1.2 of RFC 3261 [2].  If the session refresh request
   does not generate a 2xx response (and, as a result, the session is
   not refreshed), and a response other than 408 or 481 is received, the
   UAC SHOULD follow the rules specific to that response code, and retry
   if possible.  For example, if the response is a 401, the UAC would
   retry the request with new credentials.  However, the UAC SHOULD NOT
   continuously retry the request if the server indicates the same error
   response.

   Similarly, if the side not performing refreshes does not receive a
   session refresh request before the session expiration, they SHOULD
   send a BYE to terminate the session, slightly before the session
   expiration.  The minimum of 32 seconds and one third the session
   interval is RECOMMENDED.
      Firewalls and NAT ALGs may be very unforgiving about allowing SIP
      traffic to pass after the expiration time of the session.  It is
      for this reason that the BYE should be sent before the expiration.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 22]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

11.  Security Considerations

   The session timer introduces the capability of a proxy or UA element
   to force compliant UAs to send refreshes at a rate of the element's
   choosing.  This introduces the possibility of denial-of-service
   attacks with significant amplification properties.  These attacks can
   be launched from 'outsiders' - elements that attempt to modify
   messages in transit, or by 'insiders' - elements which are
   legitimately in the request path, but are intent on doing harm.
   Fortunately, both cases are adequately handled by this specification.

11.1  Inside Attacks

   This introduces the possibility of rogue proxies or UAs introducing
   denial-of-service attacks.  However, the mechanisms in this
   specification prevent that from happening.

   First, consider the case of a rogue UAC that wishes to force a UAS to
   generate refreshes at a rapid rate.  To do so, it inserts a
   Session-Expires header field into an INVITE with a low duration and a
   refresher parameter equal to uas.  Assume it places a Supported
   header field into the request.  Any proxy, or the UAS, which objects
   to this low timer will reject the request with a 422, therefore
   preventing the attack.  If no Supported header field was present, the
   proxies will insert a Min-SE header field into the request before
   forwarding it.  As a result, the UAS will not choose a session timer
   lower than the minimum acceptable one to all elements on the path.
   This too prevents the attack.

   Next, consider the case of a rogue UAS that wishes to force a UAC to
   generate refreshes at a rapid rate.  In that case, the UAC has to
   support session timer.  The initial INVITE arrives at the rogue UAS,
   which returns a 2xx with a very small session interval.  The UAC uses
   this timer, and quickly sends a refresh.  Section 7.4 requires the
   UAC to copy the current session interval into the Session-Expires
   header field in the request.  This enables the proxies to see the
   current value.  The proxies will reject this request, and provide a
   Min-SE with a higher minimum.  The UAC will then use this higher
   minimum.  Note, that if the proxies did not reject the request, but
   rather proxied the request with a Min-SE header field, an attack
   would still be possible.  The UAS could discard this header field in
   a 2xx response, and force the UAC to continue to generate rapid
   requests.

   In a similar fashion, a rogue proxy cannot force either the UAC or
   UAS to generate refreshes unless the proxy remains on the signaling
   path, and sees every request and response.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 23]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

11.2  Outside Attacks

   An element that can observe and modify a request or response in
   transit can force rapid session refreshes.  To prevent that, requests
   and responses need to be protected by message integrity.  Since the
   session timer headers are not end-to-end, and are manipulated by
   proxies, the SIP S/MIME capabilities are not suitable for this task.
   Rather, integrity needs to be protected using hop-by-hop mechanisms.
   As a result, it is RECOMMENDED that an element that sends a request
   with a Session-Expires header field, or a Supported header field with
   the value 'timer', do so using TLS.  Since adequate protection is
   obtained only if security is applied on each hop, it is RECOMMENDED
   that the SIPS URI scheme be used in conjunction with this extension.
   This means that proxies that record-route and request session timer,
   SHOULD record-route with a SIPS URI.  A UA that inserts a
   Session-Expires header into a request or response SHOULD include a
   Contact URI that is a SIPS URI.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 24]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

12.  IANA Considerations

   This extension defines two new header fields, a new response code,
   and a new option tag.  SIP [2] defines IANA procedures for
   registering these.

12.1  IANA Registration of Min-SE and Session-Expires Header Fields

   The following is the registration for the Min-SE header field:
   RFC Number: RFC XXXX [Note to IANA: Fill in with the RFC number of
      this specification.]
   Header Name: Min-SE
   Compact Form: none

   The following is the registration for the Session-Expires header
   field:
   RFC Number: RFC XXXX [Note to IANA: Fill in with the RFC number of
      this specification.]
   Header Name: Session-Expires
   Compact Form: x

12.2  IANA Registration of the 422 (Session Interval Too Small) Response
     Code

   The following is the registration for the 422 (Session Interval Too
   Small) response code:
   Response Code: 422
   Default Reason Phrase: Session Interval Too Small
   RFC Number: RFC XXXX [Note to IANA: Fill in with the RFC number of
      this specification.]

12.3  IANA Registration of the 'timer' Option Tag

   The following is the registration for the 'timer' option tag:

   Name: timer
   Description: This option tag is for support of the session timer
      extension.  Inclusion in a Supported header field in a request or
      response indicates that the UA is capable of performing refreshes
      according to that specification.  Inclusion in a Require header in
      a request means that the UAS must understand the session timer
      extension to process the request.  Inclusion in a Require header
      field in a response indicates that the UAC must look for the
      Session-Expires header field in the response, and process
      accordingly.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 25]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

13.  Example Call Flow

   Example Session Timer Flow

       Alice      Proxy P1     Proxy P2        Bob
         |(1) INVITE  |            |            |
         |SE: 50      |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |(2) 422     |            |            |
         |MSE: 3600   |            |            |
         |<-----------|            |            |
         |(3) ACK     |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |(4) INVITE  |            |            |
         |SE:3600     |            |            |
         |MSE:3600    |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |            |(5) INVITE  |            |
         |            |SE:3600     |            |
         |            |MSE:3600    |            |
         |            |----------->|            |
         |            |(6) 422     |            |
         |            |MSE:4000    |            |
         |            |<-----------|            |
         |            |(7) ACK     |            |
         |            |----------->|            |
         |(8) 422     |            |            |
         |MSE:4000    |            |            |
         |<-----------|            |            |
         |(9) ACK     |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |(10) INVITE |            |            |
         |SE:4000     |            |            |
         |MSE:4000    |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |            |(11) INVITE |            |
         |            |SE:4000     |            |
         |            |MSE:4000    |            |
         |            |----------->|            |
         |            |            |(12) INVITE |
         |            |            |SE:4000     |
         |            |            |MSE:4000    |
         |            |            |----------->|
         |            |            |(13) 200 OK |
         |            |            |SE:4000     |
         |            |            |<-----------|
         |            |(14) 200 OK |            |
         |            |SE:4000     |            |

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 26]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

         |            |<-----------|            |
         |(15) 200 OK |            |            |
         |SE:4000     |            |            |
         |<-----------|            |            |
         |(16) ACK    |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |            |(17) ACK    |            |
         |            |------------------------>|
         |(18) UPDATE |            |            |
         |SE:4000     |            |            |
         |----------->|            |            |
         |            |(19) UPDATE |            |
         |            |SE:4000     |            |
         |            |------------------------>|
         |            |(20) 200 OK |            |
         |            |SE:4000     |            |
         |            |<------------------------|
         |(21) 200 OK |            |            |
         |SE:4000     |            |            |
         |<-----------|            |            |
         |            |(22) BYE    |            |
         |            |<------------------------|
         |(23) BYE    |            |            |
         |<-----------|            |            |
         |            |(24) 408    |            |
         |            |------------------------>|
    Figure 1: Example Session Timer Flow

   Figure 1 gives an example of a call flow that makes use of the
   session timer.  In this example, both the UAC and UAS support the
   session timer extension.  The initial INVITE request generated by the
   UAC, Alice (message 1), might look like:

   INVITE sips:bob@biloxi.example.com SIP/2.0
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds8
   Supported: timer
   Session-Expires: 50
   Max-Forwards: 70
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314159 INVITE
   Contact: <sips:alice@pc33.atlanta.example.com>
   Content-Type: application/sdp
   Content-Length: 142

   (Alice's SDP not shown)

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 27]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   This request indicates that Alice supports the session timer, and is
   request session refreshes every 50 seconds.  This arrives at the
   first proxy, P1.  This session interval is below the minimum allowed
   value of 3600.  So, P1 rejects the request with a 422 (message 2):

   SIP/2.0 422 Session Interval Too Small
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds8
     ;received=192.0.2.1
   Min-SE: 3600
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>;tag=9a8kz
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314159 INVITE

   This response contains a Min-SE header field with the value of 3600.
   Alice then retries the request.  This time, the request contains a
   Min-SE header, since Alice has received a 422 for other INVITE
   requests with the same Call-ID.  The new request (message 4) might
   look like:

   INVITE sips:bob@biloxi.example.com SIP/2.0
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds9
   Supported: timer
   Session-Expires: 3600
   Min-SE: 3600
   Max-Forwards: 70
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314160 INVITE
   Contact: <sips:alice@pc33.atlanta.example.com>
   Content-Type: application/sdp
   Content-Length: 142

   (Alice's SDP not shown)

   Proxy P1 record-routes.  Since the session interval is now acceptable
   to it, it forwards the request to P2 (message 5).  However, the
   session interval is below its minimum configured amount of 4000.  So,
   it rejects the request with a 422 response code (message 6), and
   includes a Min-SE header field with the value of 4000.  Once more,
   Alice retries the INVITE.  This time, the Min-SE header field in her
   INVITE is the maximum of all Min-SE she has received (3600 and 4000).
   Message 10 might look like:

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 28]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   INVITE sips:bob@biloxi.example.com SIP/2.0
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds10
   Supported: timer
   Session-Expires: 4000
   Min-SE: 4000
   Max-Forwards: 70
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314161 INVITE
   Contact: <sips:alice@pc33.atlanta.example.com>
   Content-Type: application/sdp
   Content-Length: 142

   (Alice's SDP not shown)

   P1 record-routes once again, but P2 does not (this wouldn't normally
   happen; presumably, if it asked for session timer, it would
   record-route the subsequent request).  The UAS receives the request.
   It copies the Session-Expires header from the request to the
   response, and adds a refresher parameter with value 'uac'.  This 200
   OK is forwarded back to Alice.  The response she receives (message
   15) might look like:

   SIP/2.0 200 OK
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds10
    ;received=192.0.2.1
   Require: timer
   Supported: timer
   Record-Route: sips:p1.atlanta.example.com;lr
   Session-Expires: 4000;refresher=uac
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>;tag=9as888nd
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314161 INVITE
   Contact: <sips:bob@192.0.2.4>
   Content-Type: application/sdp
   Content-Length: 142

   (Bob's SDP not shown)

   Alice generates an ACK (message 16), which is routed through P1 and
   then to Bob.  Since Alice is the refresher, around 3000 seconds
   later, Alice sends an UPDATE request to refresh the session.  Since
   this request is part of an established dialog, and Alice has not
   received any 422 responses or requests on that dialog, there is no

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 29]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   Min-SE header field in her request (message 18):

   UPDATE sips:bob@192.0.2.4 SIP/2.0
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds12
   Route: sips:p1.atlanta.example.com;lr
   Supported: timer
   Session-Expires: 4000;refresher=uac
   Max-Forwards: 70
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>;tag=9as888nd
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314162 UPDATE
   Contact: <sips:alice@pc33.atlanta.example.com>

   This is forwarded through P1 to Bob.  Bob generates a 200 OK, copying
   the Session-Expires header field into the response.  This is
   forwarded through P1, and arrives at Alice.  The response she
   receives (message 21) might look like:

   SIP/2.0 200 OK
   Via: SIP/2.0/TLS pc33.atlanta.example.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds12
     ;received=192.0.2.1
   Require: timer
   Session-Expires: 4000;refresher=uac
   To: Bob <sips:bob@biloxi.example.com>;tag=9as888nd
   From: Alice <sips:alice@atlanta.example.com>;tag=1928301774
   Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710
   CSeq: 314162 UPDATE
   Contact: <sips:bob@192.0.2.4>

   Shortly afterwards, Alice's UA crashes.  As a result, she never sends
   a session refresh request.  3968 seconds later, Bob times out, and
   sends a BYE request (message 22).  This is sent to P1.  P1 attempts
   to deliver it, but fails (since Alice's UA has crashed).  P1 then
   returns a 408 (Request Timeout) to Bob.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 30]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

14.  Acknowledgements

   The authors wish to thank Brett Tate for his contributions to this
   work.  Brian Rosen completed the editing of the document.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 31]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

15.  References

15.1  Normative References

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

   [2]  Rosenberg, J., Schulzrinne, H., Camarillo, G., Johnston, A.,
        Peterson, J., Sparks, R., Handley, M. and E. Schooler, "SIP:
        Session Initiation Protocol", RFC 3261, June 2002.

   [3]  Rosenberg, J., "The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) UPDATE
        Method", RFC 3311, October 2002.

   [4]  Rosenberg, J. and H. Schulzrinne, "An Offer/Answer Model with
        Session Description Protocol (SDP)", RFC 3264, June 2002.

15.2  Informative References

   [5]  Schulzrinne, H., Casner, S., Frederick, R. and V. Jacobson,
        "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications", RFC
        3550, July 2003.

   [6]  Srisuresh, P. and M. Holdrege, "IP Network Address Translator
        (NAT) Terminology and Considerations", RFC 2663, August 1999.

   [7]  Rosenberg, J. and H. Schulzrinne, "Reliability of Provisional
        Responses in Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 3262, June
        2002.

   [8]  Roach, A., "Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-Specific Event
        Notification", RFC 3265, June 2002.

Authors' Addresses

   Steven Donovan
   dynamicsoft
   5100 Tennyson Parkway
   Suite 1200
   Plano, TX  75024
   US

   EMail: sdonovan@dynamicsoft.com

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 32]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

   Jonathan Rosenberg
   dynamicsoft
   600 Lanidex Plaza
   Parsippany, NJ  07054
   US

   EMail: jdrosen@dynamicsoft.com

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 33]
Internet-Draft               Session Timer                     July 2004

Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.

Disclaimer of Validity

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
   INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  This document is subject
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

Acknowledgment

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.

Donovan & Rosenberg     Expires January 16, 2005               [Page 34]