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Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO)
draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-67

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
Author Fred Templin
Last updated 2020-10-26
Replaces draft-templin-aerolink
Replaced by draft-templin-6man-aero, draft-templin-6man-aero
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draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-67
Network Working Group                                    F. Templin, Ed.
Internet-Draft                              Boeing Research & Technology
Obsoletes: rfc5320, rfc5558, rfc5720,                   October 26, 2020
           rfc6179, rfc6706 (if
           approved)
Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: April 29, 2021

             Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO)
                    draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-67

Abstract

   This document specifies the operation of IP over Overlay Multilink
   Network (OMNI) interfaces using the Asymmetric Extended Route
   Optimization (AERO) internetworking and mobility management service.
   AERO/OMNI use an IPv6 link-local address format that supports
   operation of the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND) protocol and links ND
   to IP forwarding.  Prefix delegation/registration services are
   employed for network admission and to manage the routing system.
   Multilink operation, mobility management, quality of service (QoS)
   signaling and route optimization are naturally supported through
   dynamic neighbor cache updates.  Standard IP multicasting services
   are also supported.  AERO is a widely-applicable mobile
   internetworking service especially well-suited to aviation services,
   intelligent transportation systems, mobile Virtual Private Networks
   (VPNs) and many other applications.

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 https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   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 29, 2021.

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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 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
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   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO) . . . . . . . .  10
     3.1.  AERO Node Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     3.2.  The AERO Service over OMNI Links  . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       3.2.1.  AERO/OMNI Reference Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       3.2.2.  Link-Local Addresses (LLAs) and Domain Local
               Addresses (DLAs)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       3.2.3.  AERO Routing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       3.2.4.  OMNI Link Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       3.2.5.  Segment Routing Topologies (SRTs) . . . . . . . . . .  18
       3.2.6.  Segment Routing To the OMNI Link  . . . . . . . . . .  18
       3.2.7.  Segment Routing Within the OMNI Link  . . . . . . . .  19
       3.2.8.  Segment Routing Header Compression  . . . . . . . . .  21
     3.3.  OMNI Interface Characteristics  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     3.4.  OMNI Interface Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       3.4.1.  AERO Server/Relay Behavior  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       3.4.2.  AERO Proxy Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
       3.4.3.  AERO Client Behavior  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
       3.4.4.  AERO Bridge Behavior  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     3.5.  OMNI Interface Neighbor Cache Maintenance . . . . . . . .  24
       3.5.1.  OMNI Neighbor Interface Attributes  . . . . . . . . .  26
       3.5.2.  OMNI Neighbor Advertisement Message Flags . . . . . .  27
     3.6.  OMNI Interface Encapsulation and Re-encapsulation . . . .  27
     3.7.  OMNI Interface Decapsulation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
     3.8.  OMNI Interface Data Origin Authentication . . . . . . . .  29
     3.9.  OMNI Adaptation Layer and OMNI Interface MTU  . . . . . .  29
     3.10. OMNI Interface Forwarding Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . .  30
       3.10.1.  Client Forwarding Algorithm  . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
       3.10.2.  Proxy Forwarding Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
       3.10.3.  Server/Relay Forwarding Algorithm  . . . . . . . . .  32

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       3.10.4.  Bridge Forwarding Algorithm  . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
     3.11. OMNI Interface Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
     3.12. AERO Router Discovery, Prefix Delegation and
           Autoconfiguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
       3.12.1.  AERO Service Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
       3.12.2.  AERO Client Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
       3.12.3.  AERO Server Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  39
     3.13. The AERO Proxy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
       3.13.1.  Combined Proxy/Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
       3.13.2.  Detecting and Responding to Server Failures  . . . .  44
       3.13.3.  Point-to-Multipoint Server Coordination  . . . . . .  45
     3.14. AERO Route Optimization / Address Resolution  . . . . . .  46
       3.14.1.  Route Optimization Initiation  . . . . . . . . . . .  46
       3.14.2.  Relaying the NS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47
       3.14.3.  Processing the NS and Sending the NA . . . . . . . .  47
       3.14.4.  Relaying the NA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       3.14.5.  Processing the NA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  48
       3.14.6.  Route Optimization Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . .  49
     3.15. Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD) . . . . . . . . .  50
     3.16. Mobility Management and Quality of Service (QoS)  . . . .  51
       3.16.1.  Mobility Update Messaging  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52
       3.16.2.  Announcing Link-Layer Address and/or QoS Preference
                Changes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  53
       3.16.3.  Bringing New Links Into Service  . . . . . . . . . .  53
       3.16.4.  Deactivating Existing Links  . . . . . . . . . . . .  53
       3.16.5.  Moving Between Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54
     3.17. Multicast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55
       3.17.1.  Source-Specific Multicast (SSM)  . . . . . . . . . .  55
       3.17.2.  Any-Source Multicast (ASM) . . . . . . . . . . . . .  57
       3.17.3.  Bi-Directional PIM (BIDIR-PIM) . . . . . . . . . . .  58
     3.18. Operation over Multiple OMNI Links  . . . . . . . . . . .  58
     3.19. DNS Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  58
     3.20. Transition Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  59
     3.21. Detecting and Reacting to Server and Bridge Failures  . .  59
     3.22. AERO Clients on the Open Internet . . . . . . . . . . . .  60
       3.22.1.  Use of SEND and CGA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  63
     3.23. Time-Varying MNPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64
   4.  Implementation Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  65
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  65
   7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  67
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  68
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  68
     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  70
   Appendix A.  Non-Normative Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . .  75
     A.1.  Implementation Strategies for Route Optimization  . . . .  76
     A.2.  Implicit Mobility Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76
     A.3.  Direct Underlying Interfaces  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  77

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     A.4.  AERO Critical Infrastructure Considerations . . . . . . .  77
     A.5.  AERO Server Failure Implications  . . . . . . . . . . . .  78
     A.6.  AERO Client / Server Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . .  78
   Appendix B.  Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  80
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81

1.  Introduction

   Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO) fulfills the
   requirements of Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) [RFC7333] and
   route optimization [RFC5522] for aeronautical networking and other
   network mobility use cases such as intelligent transportation
   systems.  AERO is an internetworking and mobility management service
   based on the Overlay Multilink Network Interface (OMNI)
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface] Non-Broadcast, Multiple Access
   (NBMA) virtual link model.  The OMNI link is a virtual overlay
   configured over one or more underlying Internetworks, and nodes on
   the link can exchange IP packets via tunneling.  The OMNI Adaptation
   Layer (OAL) supports multilink operation for increased reliability,
   bandwidth optimization and traffic path selection while accommodating
   Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) diversity.

   The AERO service comprises Clients, Proxys, Servers and Relays that
   are seen as OMNI link neighbors as well as Bridges that interconnect
   OMNI link segments.  Each node's OMNI interface uses an IPv6 link-
   local address format that supports operation of the IPv6 Neighbor
   Discovery (ND) protocol [RFC4861] and links ND to IP forwarding.  A
   node's OMNI interface can be configured over multiple underlying
   interfaces, and may therefore appear as a single interface with
   multiple link-layer addresses.  Each link-layer address is subject to
   change due to mobility and/or QoS fluctuations, and link-layer
   address changes are signaled by ND messaging the same as for any IPv6
   link.

   AERO provides a cloud-based service where mobile nodes may use any
   Server acting as a Mobility Anchor Point (MAP) and fixed nodes may
   use any Relay on the link for efficient communications.  Fixed nodes
   forward packets destined to other AERO nodes to the nearest Relay,
   which forwards them through the cloud.  A mobile node's initial
   packets are forwarded through the Server, while direct routing is
   supported through asymmetric extended route optimization while data
   packets are flowing.  Both unicast and multicast communications are
   supported, and mobile nodes may efficiently move between locations
   while maintaining continuous communications with correspondents and
   without changing their IP Address.

   AERO Bridges are interconnected in a secured private BGP overlay
   routing instance using encapsulation to provide a hybrid routing/

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   bridging service that joins the underlying Internetworks of multiple
   disjoint administrative domains into a single unified OMNI link.
   Each OMNI link instance is characterized by the set of Mobility
   Service Prefixes (MSPs) common to all mobile nodes.  The link extends
   to the point where a Relay/Server is on the optimal route from any
   correspondent node on the link, and provides a conduit between the
   underlying Internetwork and the OMNI link.  To the underlying
   Internetwork, the Relay/Server is the source of a route to the MSP,
   and hence uplink traffic to the mobile node is naturally routed to
   the nearest Relay/Server.

   AERO assumes the use of PIM Sparse Mode in support of multicast
   communication.  In support of Source Specific Multicast (SSM) when a
   Mobile Node is the source, AERO route optimization ensures that a
   shortest-path multicast tree is established with provisions for
   mobility and multilink operation.  In all other multicast scenarios
   there are no AERO dependencies.

   AERO was designed for aeronautical networking for both manned and
   unmanned aircraft, where the aircraft is treated as a mobile node
   that can connect an Internet of Things (IoT).  AERO is also
   applicable to a wide variety of other use cases.  For example, it can
   be used to coordinate the Virtual Private Network (VPN) links of
   mobile nodes (e.g., cellphones, tablets, laptop computers, etc.) that
   connect into a home enterprise network via public access networks
   using services such as OpenVPN [OVPN].  It can also be used to
   facilitate vehicular and pedestrian communications services for
   intelligent transportation systems.  Other applicable use cases are
   also in scope.

   The following numbered sections present the AERO specification.  The
   appendices at the end of the document are non-normative.

2.  Terminology

   The terminology in the normative references applies; especially, the
   terminology in the OMNI specification
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface] is used extensively throughout.
   The following terms are defined within the scope of this document:

   IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND)
      an IPv6 control message service for coordinating neighbor
      relationships between nodes connected to a common link.  AERO uses
      the ND service specified in [RFC4861].

   IPv6 Prefix Delegation
      a networking service for delegating IPv6 prefixes to nodes on the
      link.  The nominal service is DHCPv6 [RFC8415], however alternate

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      services (e.g., based on ND messaging) are also in scope.  Most
      notably, a minimal form of prefix delegation known as "prefix
      registration" can be used if the Client knows its prefix in
      advance and can represent it in the IPv6 source address of an ND
      message.

   Access Network (ANET)
      a node's first-hop data link service network (e.g., a radio access
      network, cellular service provider network, corporate enterprise
      network, etc.) that often provides link-layer security services
      such as IEEE 802.1X and physical-layer security prevent
      unauthorized access internally and with border network-layer
      security services such as firewalls and proxies that prevent
      unauthorized outside access.

   ANET interface
      a node's attachment to a link in an ANET.

   Internetwork (INET)
      a connected IP network topology with a coherent routing and
      addressing plan and that provides a transit backbone service for
      ANET end systems.  INETs also provide an underlay service over
      which the AERO virtual link is configured.  Example INETs include
      corporate enterprise networks, aviation networks, and the public
      Internet itself.  When there is no administrative boundary between
      an ANET and the INET, the ANET and INET are one and the same.

   INET Partition
      frequently, INETs such as large corporate enterprise networks are
      sub-divided internally into separate isolated partitions.  Each
      partition is fully connected internally but disconnected from
      other partitions, and there is no requirement that separate
      partitions maintain consistent Internet Protocol and/or addressing
      plans.  (Each INET partition is seen as a separate OMNI link
      segment as discussed below.)

   INET interface
      a node's attachment to a link in an INET.

   INET address
      an IP address assigned to a node's interface connection to an
      INET.

   INET encapsulation
      the encapsulation of a packet in an outer header or headers that
      can be routed within the scope of the local INET partition.

   OMNI link

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      the same as defined in [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface], and
      manifested by IPv6 encapsulation [RFC2473].  The OMNI link spans
      underlying INET segments joined by virtual bridges in a spanning
      tree the same as a bridged campus LAN.  AERO nodes on the OMNI
      link appear as single-hop neighbors even though they may be
      separated by multiple underlying INET hops, and can use Segment
      Routing [RFC8402] to cause packets to visit selected waypoints on
      the link.

   OMNI domain
      a set of affiliated OMNI links that collectively provide services
      under a common (set of) Mobility Service Prefixes (MSPs).

   OMNI Interface
      a node's attachment to an OMNI link.  Since the addresses assigned
      to an OMNI interface are managed for uniqueness, OMNI interfaces
      do not require Duplicate Address Detection (DAD) and therefore set
      the administrative variable 'DupAddrDetectTransmits' to zero
      [RFC4862].

   OMNI Adaptation Layer (OAL)
      an OMNI interface process whereby packets admitted into the
      interface are wrapped in a mid-layer IPv6 header and fragmented/
      reassembled if necessary to support the OMNI link Maximum
      Transmission Unit (MTU).  The OAL is also responsible for
      generating MTU-related control messages as necessary, and for
      providing addressing context for spanning multiple segments of a
      bridged OMNI link.

   OMNI Link-Local Address (LLA)
      a link local IPv6 address per [RFC4291] constructed as specified
      in Section 3.2.2.

   OMNI Domain-Local Address (DLA)
      an IPv6 address from the prefix [DLA]::/10 constructed as
      specified in [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].  OMNI DLAs are
      statelessly derived from OMNI LLAs, and vice-versa.

   underlying interface
      an ANET or INET interface over which an OMNI interface is
      configured.

   Mobility Service Prefix (MSP)
      an IP prefix assigned to the OMNI link and from which more-
      specific Mobile Network Prefixes (MNPs) are derived.

   Mobile Network Prefix (MNP)

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      an IP prefix allocated from an MSP and delegated to an AERO Client
      or Relay.

   AERO node
      a node that is connected to an OMNI link and participates in the
      AERO internetworking and mobility service.

   AERO Client ("Client")
      an AERO node that connects over one or more underlying interfaces
      and requests MNP delegation/registration service from AERO
      Servers.  The Client assigns a Client LLA to the OMNI interface
      for use in ND exchanges with other AERO nodes and forwards packets
      to correspondents according to OMNI interface neighbor cache
      state.

   AERO Server ("Server")
      an INET node that configures an OMNI interface to provide default
      forwarding and mobility/multilink services for AERO Clients.  The
      Server assigns an administratively-provisioned LLA to its OMNI
      interface to support the operation of the ND services, and
      advertises all of its associated MNPs via BGP peerings with
      Bridges.

   AERO Relay ("Relay")
      an AERO Server that also provides forwarding services between
      nodes reached via the OMNI link and correspondents on other links.
      AERO Relays are provisioned with MNPs (i.e., the same as for an
      AERO Client) and run a dynamic routing protocol to discover any
      non-MNP IP routes.  In both cases, the Relay advertises the MSP(s)
      to its downstream networks, and distributes all of its associated
      MNPs and non-MNP IP routes via BGP peerings with Bridges (i.e.,
      the same as for an AERO Server).

   AERO Bridge ("Bridge")
      a node that provides hybrid routing/bridging services (as well as
      a security trust anchor) for nodes on an OMNI link.  As a router,
      the Bridge forwards packets using standard IP forwarding.  As a
      bridge, the Bridge forwards packets over the OMNI link without
      decrementing the IPv6 Hop Limit.  AERO Bridges peer with Servers
      and other Bridges to discover the full set of MNPs for the link as
      well as any non-MNPs that are reachable via Relays.

   AERO Proxy ("Proxy")
      a node that provides proxying services between Clients in an ANET
      and Servers in external INETs.  The AERO Proxy is a conduit
      between the ANET and external INETs in the same manner as for
      common web proxies, and behaves in a similar fashion as for ND
      proxies [RFC4389].  A node may be configured to act as either a

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      Proxy and/or a Server, depending on Client Server selection
      criteria.

   ingress tunnel endpoint (ITE)
      an OMNI interface endpoint that injects encapsulated packets into
      an OMNI link.

   egress tunnel endpoint (ETE)
      an OMNI interface endpoint that receives encapsulated packets from
      an OMNI link.

   link-layer address
      an IP address used as an encapsulation header source or
      destination address from the perspective of the OMNI interface.
      When an upper layer protocol (e.g., UDP) is used as part of the
      encapsulation, the port number is also considered as part of the
      link-layer address.

   network layer address
      the source or destination address of an encapsulated IP packet
      presented to the OMNI interface.

   end user network (EUN)
      an internal virtual or external edge IP network that an AERO
      Client or Relay connects to the rest of the network via the OMNI
      interface.  The Client/Relay sees each EUN as a "downstream"
      network, and sees the OMNI interface as the point of attachment to
      the "upstream" network.

   Mobile Node (MN)
      an AERO Client and all of its downstream-attached networks that
      move together as a single unit, i.e., an end system that connects
      an Internet of Things.

   Mobile Router (MR)
      a MN's on-board router that forwards packets between any
      downstream-attached networks and the OMNI link.

   Route Optimization Source (ROS)
      the AERO node nearest the source that initiates route
      optimization.  The ROS may be a Server or Proxy acting on behalf
      of the source Client.

   Route Optimization responder (ROR)
      the AERO node nearest the target destination that responds to
      route optimization requests.  The ROR may be a Server acting on
      behalf of a target MNP Client, or a Relay for a non-MNP
      destination.

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   MAP List
      a geographically and/or topologically referenced list of addresses
      of all Servers within the same OMNI link.  There is a single MAP
      list for the entire OMNI link.

   Distributed Mobility Management (DMM)
      a BGP-based overlay routing service coordinated by Servers and
      Bridges that tracks all Server-to-Client associations.

   Mobility Service (MS)
      the collective set of all Servers, Proxys, Bridges and Relays that
      provide the AERO Service to Clients.

   Mobility Service Endpoint MSE)
      an individual Server, Proxy, Bridge or Relay in the Mobility
      Service.

   Throughout the document, the simple terms "Client", "Server",
   "Bridge", "Proxy" and "Relay" refer to "AERO Client", "AERO Server",
   "AERO Bridge", "AERO Proxy" and "AERO Relay", respectively.
   Capitalization is used to distinguish these terms from other common
   Internetworking uses in which they appear without capitalization.

   The terminology of DHCPv6 [RFC8415] and IPv6 ND [RFC4861] (including
   the names of node variables, messages and protocol constants) is used
   throughout this document.  The terms "All-Routers multicast", "All-
   Nodes multicast", "Solicited-Node multicast" and "Subnet-Router
   anycast" are defined in [RFC4291].  Also, the term "IP" is used to
   generically refer to either Internet Protocol version, i.e., IPv4
   [RFC0791] or IPv6 [RFC8200].

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119][RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

3.  Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization (AERO)

   The following sections specify the operation of IP over OMNI links
   using the AERO service:

3.1.  AERO Node Types

   AERO Clients are Mobile Nodes (MNs) that connect via underlying
   interfaces with addresses that may change when the Client moves to a
   new network connection point.  AERO Clients register their Mobile
   Network Prefixes (MNPs) with the AERO service, and distribute the

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   MNPs to nodes on EUNs.  AERO Bridges, Servers, Proxys and Relays are
   critical infrastructure elements in fixed (i.e., non-mobile) INET
   deployments and hence have permanent and unchanging INET addresses.
   Together, they constitute the AERO service which provides an OMNI
   link virtual overlay for connecting AERO Clients.

   AERO Bridges provide hybrid routing/bridging services (as well as a
   security trust anchor) for nodes on an OMNI link.  Bridges use
   standard IPv6 routing to forward packets both within the same INET
   partitions and between disjoint INET partitions based on a mid-layer
   IPv6 encapsulation per [RFC2473].  The inner IP layer experiences a
   virtual bridging service since the inner IP TTL/Hop Limit is not
   decremented during forwarding.  Each Bridge also peers with Servers
   and other Bridges in a dynamic routing protocol instance to provide a
   Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) service for the list of active
   MNPs (see Section 3.2.3).  Bridges present the OMNI link as a set of
   one or more Mobility Service Prefixes (MSPs) and configure secured
   tunnels with Servers, Relays, Proxys and other Bridges; they further
   maintain IP forwarding table entries for each MNP and any other
   reachable non-MNP prefixes.

   AERO Servers provide default forwarding and mobility/multilink
   services for AERO Client Mobile Nodes (MNs).  Each Server also peers
   with Bridges in a dynamic routing protocol instance to advertise its
   list of associated MNPs (see Section 3.2.3).  Servers facilitate
   prefix delegation/registration exchanges with Clients, where each
   delegated prefix becomes an MNP taken from an MSP.  Servers forward
   packets between OMNI interface neighbors and track each Client's
   mobility profiles.  Servers may further act as Servers for some sets
   of Clients and as Proxies for others.

   AERO Proxys provide a conduit for ANET Clients to associate with
   Servers in external INETs.  Client and Servers exchange control plane
   messages via the Proxy acting as a bridge between the ANET/INET
   boundary.  The Proxy forwards data packets between Clients and the
   OMNI link according to forwarding information in the neighbor cache.
   The Proxy function is specified in Section 3.13.  Proxys may further
   act as Proxys for some sets of Clients and as Servers for others.

   AERO Relays are Servers that provide forwarding services between the
   OMNI interface and INET/EUN interfaces.  Relays are provisioned with
   MNPs the same as for an AERO Client, and also run a dynamic routing
   protocol to discover any non-MNP IP routes.  The Relay advertises the
   MSP(s) to its connected networks, and distributes all of its
   associated MNPs and non-MNP IP routes via BGP peerings with Bridges

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3.2.  The AERO Service over OMNI Links

3.2.1.  AERO/OMNI Reference Model

   Figure 1 presents the basic OMNI link reference model:

                          +----------------+
                          | AERO Bridge B1 |
                          | Nbr: S1, S2, P1|
                          |(X1->S1; X2->S2)|
                          |      MSP M1    |
                          +-+---------+--+-+
       +--------------+     | Secured |  |     +--------------+
       |AERO Server S1|     | tunnels |  |     |AERO Server S2|
       |  Nbr: C1, B1 +-----+         |  +-----+  Nbr: C2, B1 |
       |  default->B1 |               |        |  default->B1 |
       |    X1->C1    |               |        |    X2->C2    |
       +-------+------+               |        +------+-------+
               |       OMNI link      |               |
       X===+===+===================+==)===============+===+===X
           |                       |  |                   |
     +-----+--------+     +--------+--+-----+    +--------+-----+
     |AERO Client C1|     |  AERO Proxy P1  |    |AERO Client C2|
     |    Nbr: S1   |     |(Proxy Nbr Cache)|    |   Nbr: S2    |
     | default->S1  |     +--------+--------+    | default->S2  |
     |    MNP X1    |              |             |    MNP X2    |
     +------+-------+     .--------+------.      +-----+--------+
            |           (- Proxyed Clients -)          |
           .-.            `---------------'           .-.
        ,-(  _)-.                                  ,-(  _)-.
     .-(_  IP   )-.   +-------+     +-------+    .-(_  IP   )-.
   (__    EUN      )--|Host H1|     |Host H2|--(__    EUN      )
      `-(______)-'    +-------+     +-------+     `-(______)-'

                    Figure 1: AERO/OMNI Reference Model

   In this model:

   o  the OMNI link is an overlay network service configured over one or
      more underlying INET partitions which may be managed by different
      administrative authorities and have incompatible protocols and/or
      addressing plans.

   o  AERO Bridge B1 aggregates Mobility Service Prefix (MSP) M1,
      discovers Mobile Network Prefixes (MNPs) X* and advertises the MSP
      via BGP peerings over secured tunnels to Servers (S1, S2).
      Bridges connect the disjoint segments of a partitioned OMNI link.

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   o  AERO Servers/Relays S1 and S2 configure secured tunnels with
      Bridge B1 and also provide mobility, multilink and default router
      services for their associated Clients C1 and C2.

   o  AERO Clients C1 and C2 associate with Servers S1 and S2,
      respectively.  They receive Mobile Network Prefix (MNP)
      delegations X1 and X2, and also act as default routers for their
      associated physical or internal virtual EUNs.  Simple hosts H1 and
      H2 attach to the EUNs served by Clients C1 and C2, respectively.

   o  AERO Proxy P1 configures a secured tunnel with Bridge B1 and
      provides proxy services for AERO Clients in secured enclaves that
      cannot associate directly with other OMNI link neighbors.

   An OMNI link configured over a single INET appears as a single
   unified link with a consistent underlying network addressing plan.
   In that case, all nodes on the link can exchange packets via simple
   INET encapsulation, since the underlying INET is connected.  In
   common practice, however, an OMNI link may be partitioned into
   multiple "segments", where each segment is a distinct INET
   potentially managed under a different administrative authority (e.g.,
   as for worldwide aviation service providers such as ARINC, SITA,
   Inmarsat, etc.).  Individual INETs may also themselves be partitioned
   internally, in which case each internal partition is seen as a
   separate segment.

   The addressing plan of each segment is consistent internally but will
   often bear no relation to the addressing plans of other segments.
   Each segment is also likely to be separated from others by network
   security devices (e.g., firewalls, proxies, packet filtering
   gateways, etc.), and in many cases disjoint segments may not even
   have any common physical link connections.  Therefore, nodes can only
   be assured of exchanging packets directly with correspondents in the
   same segment, and not with those in other segments.  The only means
   for joining the segments therefore is through inter-domain peerings
   between AERO Bridges.

   The same as for traditional campus LANs, multiple OMNI link segments
   can be joined into a single unified link via a virtual bridging
   service using the OMNI Adaptation Layer (OAL) which inserts a mid-
   layer IPv6 encapsulation per [RFC2473] that supports inter-segment
   forwarding (i.e., bridging) without decrementing the network-layer
   TTL/Hop Limit.  This bridging of OMNI link segments is shown in
   Figure 2:

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                 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
               .                                               .
               .              .-(::::::::)                     .
               .           .-(::::::::::::)-.   +-+            .
               .          (:::: Segment A :::)--|B|---+        .
               .           `-(::::::::::::)-'   +-+   |        .
               .              `-(::::::)-'            |        .
               .                                      |        .
               .              .-(::::::::)            |        .
               .           .-(::::::::::::)-.   +-+   |        .
               .          (:::: Segment B :::)--|B|---+        .
               .           `-(::::::::::::)-'   +-+   |        .
               .              `-(::::::)-'            |        .
               .                                      |        .
               .              .-(::::::::)            |        .
               .           .-(::::::::::::)-.   +-+   |        .
               .          (:::: Segment C :::)--|B|---+        .
               .           `-(::::::::::::)-'   +-+   |        .
               .              `-(::::::)-'            |        .
               .                                      |        .
               .                ..(etc)..             x        .
               .                                               .
               .                                               .
               .    <- OMNI link Bridged by encapsulation ->   .
                 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .

                   Figure 2: Bridging OMNI Link Segments

   Bridges, Servers, Relays and Proxys connect via secured INET tunnels
   over their respective segments in a spanning tree topology rooted at
   the Bridges.  The secured spanning tree supports strong
   authentication for IPv6 ND control messages and may also be used to
   convey the initial data packets in a flow.  Route optimization can
   then be employed to cause data packets to take more direct paths
   between OMNI link neighbors without having to strictly follow the
   spanning tree.

3.2.2.  Link-Local Addresses (LLAs) and Domain Local Addresses (DLAs)

   AERO nodes on OMNI links use the Link-Local Address (LLA) prefix
   fe80::/10 [RFC4291] to assign LLAs used for network-layer addresses
   in IPv6 ND and data messages.  They also use the Domain Local Address
   (DLA) prefix [DLA]::/10 to form DLAs used for OAL header source and
   destination addresses.  See [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface] for a
   full specification of the LLAs and DLAs used by AERO nodes on OMNI
   links.

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   For routing system organization (see Section 3.2.3), DLAs are
   organized in partition prefixes, e.g., [DLA]::1000/116.  For each
   such partition prefix, the Bridge(s) that connect that segment assign
   the all-zero's address of the prefix as a Subnet Router Anycast
   address.  For example, the Subnet Router Anycast address for
   [DLA]::1000/116 is simply [DLA]::1000.

3.2.3.  AERO Routing System

   The AERO routing system comprises a private instance of the Border
   Gateway Protocol (BGP) [RFC4271] that is coordinated between Bridges
   and Servers and does not interact with either the public Internet BGP
   routing system or any underlying INET routing systems.

   In a reference deployment, each Server is configured as an Autonomous
   System Border Router (ASBR) for a stub Autonomous System (AS) using
   an AS Number (ASN) that is unique within the BGP instance, and each
   Server further uses eBGP to peer with one or more Bridges but does
   not peer with other Servers.  Each INET of a multi-segment OMNI link
   must include one or more Bridges, which peer with the Servers and
   Proxys within that INET.  All Bridges within the same INET are
   members of the same hub AS using a common ASN, and use iBGP to
   maintain a consistent view of all active MNPs currently in service.
   The Bridges of different INETs peer with one another using eBGP.

   Bridges advertise the OMNI link's MSPs and any non-MNP routes to each
   of their Servers.  This means that any aggregated non-MNPs (including
   "default") are advertised to all Servers.  Each Bridge configures a
   black-hole route for each of its MSPs.  By black-holing the MSPs, the
   Bridge will maintain forwarding table entries only for the MNPs that
   are currently active, and packets destined to all other MNPs will
   correctly incur Destination Unreachable messages due to the black-
   hole route.  In this way, Servers have only partial topology
   knowledge (i.e., they know only about the MNPs of their directly
   associated Clients) and they forward all other packets to Bridges
   which have full topology knowledge.

   Each OMNI link segment assigns a unique sub-prefix of [DLA]::/96
   known as the DLA partition prefix.  For example, a first segment
   could assign [DLA]::1000/116, a second could assign [DLA]::2000/116,
   a third could assign [DLA]::3000/116, etc.  The administrative
   authorities for each segment must therefore coordinate to assure
   mutually-exclusive partition prefix assignments, but internal
   provisioning of each prefix is an independent local consideration for
   each administrative authority.

   DLA partition prefixes are statically represented in Bridge
   forwarding tables.  Bridges join multiple segments into a unified

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   OMNI link over multiple diverse administrative domains.  They support
   a bridging function by first establishing forwarding table entries
   for their partition prefixes either via standard BGP routing or
   static routes.  For example, if three Bridges ('A', 'B' and 'C') from
   different segments serviced [DLA]::1000/116, [DLA]::2000/116 and
   [DLA]::3000/116 respectively, then the forwarding tables in each
   Bridge are as follows:

   A: [DLA]::1000/116->local, [DLA]::2000/116->B, [DLA]::3000/116->C

   B: [DLA]::1000/116->A, [DLA]::2000/116->local, [DLA]::3000/116->C

   C: [DLA]::1000/116->A, [DLA]::2000/116->B, [DLA]::3000/116->local

   These forwarding table entries are permanent and never change, since
   they correspond to fixed infrastructure elements in their respective
   segments.

   DLA Client prefixes are instead dynamically advertised in the AERO
   routing system by Servers and Relays that provide service for their
   corresponding MNPs.  For example, if three Servers ('D', 'E' and 'F')
   service the MNPs 2001:db8:1000:2000::/56, 2001:db8:3000:4000::/56 and
   2001:db8:5000:6000::/56 then the routing system would include:

   D: [DLA]:2001:db8:1000:2000::/72

   E: [DLA]:2001:db8:3000:4000::/72

   F: [DLA]:2001:db8:5000:6000::/72

   A full discussion of the BGP-based routing system used by AERO is
   found in [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-atn-bgp].

3.2.4.  OMNI Link Encapsulation

   With the Client and partition prefixes in place in each Bridge's
   forwarding table, control and data packets sent between AERO nodes in
   different segments can therefore be carried over the spanning tree
   via mid-layer encapsulation using the OMNI Adaptation Layer (OAL)
   header.  For example, when an AERO service node forwards a packet
   with IPv6 address 2001:db8:1:2::1 to a target AERO node with IPv6
   address 2001:db8:1000:2000::1, it first encapsulates the packet in an
   OAL header with source address set to its own DLA address (e.g.,
   [DLA]::1000:2000) and destination address set to
   [DLA]:2001:db8:1000:2000::. Next, it encapsulates the resulting OAL
   packet in an INET header with source address set to its own INET
   address (e.g., 192.0.2.100) and destination set to the INET address
   of a Bridge (e.g., 192.0.2.1).

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   OAL encapsulation is based on Generic Packet Tunneling in IPv6
   [RFC2473]; the encapsulation format in the above example is shown in
   Figure 3:

        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |          INET Header          |
        |       src = 192.0.2.100       |
        |        dst = 192.0.2.1        |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |          OAL Header           |
        |    src = [DLA]::1000:2000     |
        | dst=[DLA]:2001:db8:1000:2000::|
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |        Inner IP Header        |
        |    src = 2001:db8:1:2::1      |
        |  dst = 2001:db8:1000:2000::1  |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |                               |
        ~                               ~
        ~      Inner Packet Body        ~
        ~                               ~
        |                               |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                       Figure 3: SPAN Encapsulation

   In this format, the inner IP header and packet body are the original
   IP packet, the OAL header is an IPv6 header prepared according to
   [RFC2473], and the INET header is prepared as discussed in
   Section 3.6.

   This gives rise to a routing system that contains both Client prefix
   routes that may change dynamically due to regional node mobility and
   partition prefix routes that rarely if ever change.  The Bridges can
   therefore provide link-layer bridging by sending packets over the
   spanning tree instead of network-layer routing according to MNP
   routes.  As a result, opportunities for packet loss due to node
   mobility between different segments are mitigated.

   In normal operations, IPv6 ND messages are conveyed over secured
   paths between OMNI link neighbors so that specific Proxys, Servers or
   Relays can be addressed without being subject to mobility events.
   Conversely, only the first few packets destined to Clients need to
   traverse secured paths until route optimization can determine a more
   direct path.

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3.2.5.  Segment Routing Topologies (SRTs)

   The 16-bit sub-prefixes of [DLA]::/10 identify up to 64 distinct
   Segment Routing Topologies (SRTs).  Each SRT is a mutually-exclusive
   OMNI link overlay instance using a distinct set of DLAs, and emulates
   a Virtual LAN (VLAN) service for the OMNI link.  In some cases (e.g.,
   when redundant topologies are needed for fault tolerance and
   reliability) it may be beneficial to deploy multiple SRTs that act as
   independent overlay instances.  A communication failure in one
   instance therefore will not affect communications in other instances.

   Each SRT is identified by a distinct value in bits 10-15 of
   [DLA]::10, i.e., as [DLA0]::/16, [DLA1]::/16, [DLA2]::/16, etc.  This
   document asserts that up to four SRTs provide a level of safety
   sufficient for critical communications such as civil aviation.  Each
   SRT is designated with a color that identifies a different OMNI link
   instance as follows:

   o  Red - corresponds to [DLA0]::/16

   o  Green - corresponds to [DLA1]::/16

   o  Blue-1 - corresponds to [DLA2]::/16

   o  Blue-2 - corresponds to [DLA3]::/16

   o  [DLA4]::/16 through [DLA63]::/16 are available for additional
      SRTs.

   Each OMNI interface assigns an anycast DLA corresponding to its SRT
   prefix.  For example, the anycast DLA for the Green SRT is simply
   [DLA1]::. The anycast DLA is used for OMNI interface determination in
   Safety-Based Multilink (SBM) as discussed in
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].  Each OMNI interface further
   applies Performance-Based Multilink (PBM) internally.

3.2.6.  Segment Routing To the OMNI Link

   An original IPv6 source can direct a packet to an OMNI link Client by
   including a Segment Routing Header (SRH) with the anycast DLA for the
   selected SRT as either the IPv6 destination or as an intermediate hop
   within the SRH.  This allows the original source to determine the
   specific topology a packet will traverse when there may be multiple
   alternatives to choose from.  Since the SRH contains no useful
   information for the destination, the Client may elect to delete the
   SRH before forwarding in order to reduce overhead.  This form of
   Segment Routing supports Safety-Based Multilink (SBM), and can be
   exercised through general-purpose SRH types such as [RFC8754].

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3.2.7.  Segment Routing Within the OMNI Link

   AERO nodes that insert an OAL header can use Segment Routing within
   the OMNI link when necessary to influence the path of packets
   destined to targets in remote segments without requiring all packets
   to traverse strict spanning tree paths.

   When a Client, Proxy or Server has a packet to send to a target
   discovered through route optimization located in the same OMNI link
   segment, it encapsulates the packet in an OAL header with the DLA of
   the target as the destination address if fragmentation is necessary;
   otherwise, it may omit the OAL header.  The node then uses the
   target's Link Layer Address (L2ADDR) information for INET
   encapsulation without including an SRH.

   When a Client, Proxy or Server has a packet to send to a route
   optimization target located in a remote OMNI link segment, it
   encapsulates the packet in an OAL header with its own DLA as the
   source address.  The node then SHOULD include an SRH [RFC8754] while
   forwarding the packet to a Bridge.

   When the SRH is omitted, the node sets the OAL header destination
   address to the DLA of the target Client/Proxy/Server and packet
   forwarding is via spanning tree paths.  When the SRH is included, the
   node first sets the destination address to the DLA Subnet Router
   Anycast address of the remote segment and sets the lower 32 bits of
   the DLA of the target's Proxy/Server as the Last Hop Segment (LHS).
   The node also includes an AERO Route Optimization specification in
   the SRH TLV section as shown in Figure 4:

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Type=TBD    |     Length    | MNPlen|V| FMT |     MNP[1]    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |    MNP[2]     |     MNP[3]    |       ...     |     MNP[i]    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      ~                   Link Layer Address (L2ADDR)                 ~
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                 Figure 4: AERO Route Optimization SRH TLV

   In this format:

   o  Type is TBD to be assigned according to the Segment Routing Header
      TLV registry [RFC8754].

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   o  Length is the length of the body of the TLV in bytes, excluding
      the Type and Length fields.

   o  MNPlen encodes a value between 0 and 15 that, when added to 1,
      indicates the number of octets of the IPv4/IPv6 MNP prefix that
      follows.  (For example, when MNPlen encodes the value 2 the number
      of octets 'i' is set to the value 3.)

   o  V indicates the IP protocol version of the MNP that follows.  V is
      set to 0 for IPv4 or 1 for IPv6.

   o  FMT is a three bit code that determines the context and format of
      the L2ADDR exactly as specified in the OMNI Interface Attributes
      sub-option [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].

   o  MNP[1], MNP[2], etc. up to MNP[i] encode the leading 'i' octets of
      the MNP, beginning with the most significant octet followed by the
      next most significant octet, etc.  The number of MNP octets to be
      included is determined by the number of trailing zero octets in
      the prefix.  For example, for the IPv6 MNP 2001:db8:1:2::/64, 'i'
      is set to 8 and only the leftmost 8 octets of the MNP are
      included.  In the same way, for the IPv4 MNP 192.0.2/24, 'i' is
      set to 3 and only the leftmost 3 octets of the MNP are included.

   o  Link Layer Address (L2ADDR) is a UDP Port Number and IP address
      encoded according to FMT exactly as specified in
      [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].

   The node then forwards the packet via a local Bridge, which will
   eventually direct it to a Bridge on the same segment as the target.

   When a Bridge receives a packet with Segments Left=1 and with LHS on
   a local segment, it checks to see if there is an AERO Route
   Optimization TLV.  If so, the Bridge creates a DLA destination
   according to FMT.  If FMT indicates that L2ADDR corresponds to a
   target Proxy/Server, the Bridge concatenates the SRT [DLA*]::/96
   prefix with the 32 bit LHS value to form the DLA destination.
   Otherwise, the Bridge concatenates the SRT [DLA*]::/16 prefix with
   the leading MNPlen octets of the MNP and sets the remaining rightmost
   bits to 0 to form a Subnet Router Anycast DLA destination.  The
   Bridge then writes the DLA into the OAL header destination address
   and encapsulates the packet in an INET header with the target's
   L2ADDR as the destination then forwards the packet.  Since the SRH
   contains no useful information for the destination, the Bridge may
   elect to delete the SRH before forwarding in order to reduce
   overhead.

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   In this way, the Bridge participates in route optimization to reduce
   traffic load and suboptimal routing through strict spanning tree
   paths.  Note that if the Bridge does not recognize the AERO Route
   Optimization TLV, it instead places the SRT [DLA*]::/96 prefix
   concatenated with the 32 bit LHS in the IPv6 destination address and
   forwards according to the spanning tree.  (Note that this is the same
   behavior that would occur if the AERO Route Optimization TLV were not
   present).

3.2.8.  Segment Routing Header Compression

   In the Segment Routing use cases discussed above, the segment routing
   headers must be kept to a minimum size since source and target
   Clients may be located behind low-end wireless links (e.g., 1Mbps or
   less).  The Compressed Routing Header (CRH)
   [I-D.bonica-6man-comp-rtg-hdr] provides a compact form that reduces
   the header size by omitting invariant information.  The CRH Helper
   option [I-D.bonica-6man-crh-helper-opt] can be used to encode the
   AERO Route Optimization TLV, and the final hop Bridge that performs
   route optimization may remove the CRH and its helper before
   encapsulating and forwarding to the target.

   The CRH and its companion helper option are therefore seen as
   critical architectural elements that should be quickly progressed
   through the standards process.  Implementations SHOULD use the CRH
   and its companion helper option instead of other Routing Header types
   whenever possible to conserve bandwidth.

3.3.  OMNI Interface Characteristics

   OMNI interfaces are virtual interfaces configured over one or more
   underlying interfaces classified as follows:

   o  INET interfaces connect to an INET either natively or through one
      or several IPv4 Network Address Translators (NATs).  Native INET
      interfaces have global IP addresses that are reachable from any
      INET correspondent.  All Server, Relay and Bridge interfaces are
      native interfaces, as are INET-facing interfaces of Proxys.  NATed
      INET interfaces connect to a private network behind one or more
      NATs that provide INET access.  Clients that are behind a NAT are
      required to send periodic keepalive messages to keep NAT state
      alive when there are no data packets flowing.

   o  ANET interfaces connect to an ANET that is separated from the open
      INET by a Proxy.  Proxys can actively issue control messages over
      the INET on behalf of the Client to reduce ANET congestion.

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   o  VPNed interfaces use security encapsulation over the INET to a
      Virtual Private Network (VPN) server that also acts as a Server or
      Proxy.  Other than the link-layer encapsulation format, VPNed
      interfaces behave the same as Direct interfaces.

   o  Direct interfaces connect a Client directly to a Server or Proxy
      without crossing any ANET/INET paths.  An example is a line-of-
      sight link between a remote pilot and an unmanned aircraft.  The
      same Client considerations apply as for VPNed interfaces.

   OMNI interfaces use OAL encapsulation as necessary as discussed in
   Section 3.2.4.  OMNI interfaces use link-layer encapsulation (see:
   Section 3.6) to exchange packets with OMNI link neighbors over INET
   or VPNed interfaces.  OMNI interfaces do not use link-layer
   encapsulation over ANET and Direct underlying interfaces.

   OMNI interfaces maintain a neighbor cache for tracking per-neighbor
   state the same as for any interface.  OMNI interfaces use ND messages
   including Router Solicitation (RS), Router Advertisement (RA),
   Neighbor Solicitation (NS) and Neighbor Advertisement (NA) for
   neighbor cache management.

   OMNI interfaces send ND messages with an OMNI option formatted as
   specified in [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].  The OMNI option
   includes prefix registration information and Interface Attributes
   containing link information parameters for the OMNI interface's
   underlying interfaces.  Each OMNI option may include multiple
   Interface Attributes sub-options, each identified by an ifIndex
   value.

   A Client's OMNI interface may be configured over multiple underlying
   interface connections.  For example, common mobile handheld devices
   have both wireless local area network ("WLAN") and cellular wireless
   links.  These links are often used "one at a time" with low-cost WLAN
   preferred and highly-available cellular wireless as a standby, but a
   simultaneous-use capability could provide benefits.  In a more
   complex example, aircraft frequently have many wireless data link
   types (e.g. satellite-based, cellular, terrestrial, air-to-air
   directional, etc.) with diverse performance and cost properties.

   If a Client's multiple underlying interfaces are used "one at a time"
   (i.e., all other interfaces are in standby mode while one interface
   is active), then ND message OMNI options include only a single
   Interface Attributes sub-option set to constant values.  In that
   case, the Client would appear to have a single interface but with a
   dynamically changing link-layer address.

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   If the Client has multiple active underlying interfaces, then from
   the perspective of ND it would appear to have multiple link-layer
   addresses.  In that case, ND message OMNI options MAY include
   multiple Interface Attributes sub-options - each with values that
   correspond to a specific interface.  Every ND message need not
   include Interface Attributes for all underlying interfaces; for any
   attributes not included, the neighbor considers the status as
   unchanged.

   Bridge, Server and Proxy OMNI interfaces may be configured over one
   or more secured tunnel interfaces.  The OMNI interface configures
   both an LLA and its corresponding DLA, while the underlying secured
   tunnel interfaces are either unnumbered or configure the same DLA.
   The OMNI interface encapsulates each IP packet in an OAL header and
   presents the packet to the underlying secured tunnel interface.
   Routing protocols such as BGP that run over the OMNI interface do not
   employ OAL encapsulation, but rather present the routing protocol
   messages directly to the underlying secured tunnels while using the
   DLA as the source address.  This distinction must be honored
   consistently according to each node's configuration so that the IP
   forwarding table will associate discovered IP routes with the correct
   interface.

3.4.  OMNI Interface Initialization

   AERO Servers, Proxys and Clients configure OMNI interfaces as their
   point of attachment to the OMNI link.  AERO nodes assign the MSPs for
   the link to their OMNI interfaces (i.e., as a "route-to-interface")
   to ensure that packets with destination addresses covered by an MNP
   not explicitly assigned to a non-OMNI interface are directed to the
   OMNI interface.

   OMNI interface initialization procedures for Servers, Proxys, Clients
   and Bridges are discussed in the following sections.

3.4.1.  AERO Server/Relay Behavior

   When a Server enables an OMNI interface, it assigns an LLA/DLA
   appropriate for the given OMNI link segment.  The Server also
   configures secured tunnels with one or more neighboring Bridges and
   engages in a BGP routing protocol session with each Bridge.

   The OMNI interface provides a single interface abstraction to the IP
   layer, but internally comprises multiple secured tunnels as well as
   an NBMA nexus for sending encapsulated data packets to OMNI interface
   neighbors.  The Server further configures a service to facilitate ND
   exchanges with AERO Clients and manages per-Client neighbor cache

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   entries and IP forwarding table entries based on control message
   exchanges.

   Relays are simply Servers that run a dynamic routing protocol to
   redistribute routes between the OMNI interface and INET/EUN
   interfaces (see: Section 3.2.3).  The Relay provisions MNPs to
   networks on the INET/EUN interfaces (i.e., the same as a Client would
   do) and advertises the MSP(s) for the OMNI link over the INET/EUN
   interfaces.  The Relay further provides an attachment point of the
   OMNI link to a non-MNP-based global topology.

3.4.2.  AERO Proxy Behavior

   When a Proxy enables an OMNI interface, it assigns an LLA/DLA and
   configures permanent neighbor cache entries the same as for Servers.
   The Proxy also configures secured tunnels with one or more
   neighboring Bridges and maintains per-Client neighbor cache entries
   based on control message exchanges.  Importantly Proxys are often
   configured to act as Servers, and vice-versa.

3.4.3.  AERO Client Behavior

   When a Client enables an OMNI interface, it sends RS messages with ND
   parameters over its underlying interfaces to a Server, which returns
   an RA message with corresponding parameters.  (The RS/RA messages may
   pass through a Proxy in the case of a Client's ANET interface, or
   through one or more NATs in the case of a Client's INET interface.)

3.4.4.  AERO Bridge Behavior

   AERO Bridges configure an OMNI interface and assign the DLA Subnet
   Router Anycast address for each OMNI link segment they connect to.
   Bridges configure secured tunnels with Servers, Proxys and other
   Bridges; they also configure LLAs/DLAs and permanent neighbor cache
   entries the same as Servers.  Bridges engage in a BGP routing
   protocol session with a subset of the Servers and other Bridges on
   the spanning tree (see: Section 3.2.3).

3.5.  OMNI Interface Neighbor Cache Maintenance

   Each OMNI interface maintains a conceptual neighbor cache that
   includes an entry for each neighbor it communicates with on the OMNI
   link per [RFC4861].  OMNI interface neighbor cache entries are said
   to be one of "permanent", "symmetric", "asymmetric" or "proxy".

   Permanent neighbor cache entries are created through explicit
   administrative action; they have no timeout values and remain in
   place until explicitly deleted.  AERO Bridges maintain permanent

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   neighbor cache entries for their associated Proxys/Servers (and vice-
   versa).  Each entry maintains the mapping between the neighbor's
   network-layer LLA and corresponding INET address.

   Symmetric neighbor cache entries are created and maintained through
   RS/RA exchanges as specified in Section 3.12, and remain in place for
   durations bounded by prefix lifetimes.  AERO Servers maintain
   symmetric neighbor cache entries for each of their associated
   Clients, and AERO Clients maintain symmetric neighbor cache entries
   for each of their associated Servers.

   Asymmetric neighbor cache entries are created or updated based on
   route optimization messaging as specified in Section 3.14, and are
   garbage-collected when keepalive timers expire.  AERO ROSs maintain
   asymmetric neighbor cache entries for active targets with lifetimes
   based on ND messaging constants.  Asymmetric neighbor cache entries
   are unidirectional since only the ROS (and not the ROR) creates an
   entry.

   Proxy neighbor cache entries are created and maintained by AERO
   Proxys when they process Client/Server ND exchanges, and remain in
   place for durations bounded by ND and prefix lifetimes.  AERO Proxys
   maintain proxy neighbor cache entries for each of their associated
   Clients.  Proxy neighbor cache entries track the Client state and the
   address of the Client's associated Server(s).

   To the list of neighbor cache entry states in Section 7.3.2 of
   [RFC4861], Proxy and Server OMNI interfaces add an additional state
   DEPARTED that applies to symmetric and proxy neighbor cache entries
   for Clients that have recently departed.  The interface sets a
   "DepartTime" variable for the neighbor cache entry to "DEPART_TIME"
   seconds.  DepartTime is decremented unless a new ND message causes
   the state to return to REACHABLE.  While a neighbor cache entry is in
   the DEPARTED state, packets destined to the target Client are
   forwarded to the Client's new location instead of being dropped.
   When DepartTime decrements to 0, the neighbor cache entry is deleted.
   It is RECOMMENDED that DEPART_TIME be set to the default constant
   value REACHABLE_TIME plus 10 seconds (40 seconds by default) to allow
   a window for packets in flight to be delivered while stale route
   optimization state may be present.

   When an ROR receives an authentic NS message used for route
   optimization, it searches for a symmetric neighbor cache entry for
   the target Client.  The ROR then returns a solicited NA message
   without creating a neighbor cache entry for the ROS, but creates or
   updates a target Client "Report List" entry for the ROS and sets a
   "ReportTime" variable for the entry to REPORT_TIME seconds.  The ROR
   resets ReportTime when it receives a new authentic NS message, and

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   otherwise decrements ReportTime while no authentic NS messages have
   been received.  It is RECOMMENDED that REPORT_TIME be set to the
   default constant value REACHABLE_TIME plus 10 seconds (40 seconds by
   default) to allow a window for route optimization to converge before
   ReportTime decrements below REACHABLE_TIME.

   When the ROS receives a solicited NA message response to its NS
   message used for route optimization, it creates or updates an
   asymmetric neighbor cache entry for the target network-layer and
   link-layer addresses.  The ROS then (re)sets ReachableTime for the
   neighbor cache entry to REACHABLE_TIME seconds and uses this value to
   determine whether packets can be forwarded directly to the target,
   i.e., instead of via a default route.  The ROS otherwise decrements
   ReachableTime while no further solicited NA messages arrive.  It is
   RECOMMENDED that REACHABLE_TIME be set to the default constant value
   30 seconds as specified in [RFC4861].

   AERO nodes also use the value MAX_UNICAST_SOLICIT to limit the number
   of NS keepalives sent when a correspondent may have gone unreachable,
   the value MAX_RTR_SOLICITATIONS to limit the number of RS messages
   sent without receiving an RA and the value MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTISEMENT
   to limit the number of unsolicited NAs that can be sent based on a
   single event.  It is RECOMMENDED that MAX_UNICAST_SOLICIT,
   MAX_RTR_SOLICITATIONS and MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTISEMENT be set to 3 the
   same as specified in [RFC4861].

   Different values for DEPART_TIME, REPORT_TIME, REACHABLE_TIME,
   MAX_UNICAST_SOLICIT, MAX_RTR_SOLCITATIONS and
   MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTISEMENT MAY be administratively set; however, if
   different values are chosen, all nodes on the link MUST consistently
   configure the same values.  Most importantly, DEPART_TIME and
   REPORT_TIME SHOULD be set to a value that is sufficiently longer than
   REACHABLE_TIME to avoid packet loss due to stale route optimization
   state.

3.5.1.  OMNI Neighbor Interface Attributes

   OMNI interface IPv6 ND messages include OMNI options
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface] with Interface Attributes that
   provide Link-Layer Address and QoS Preference information for the
   neighbor's underlying interfaces.  This information is stored in the
   neighbor cache and provides the basis for the forwarding algorithm
   specified in Section 3.10.  The information is cumulative and
   reflects the union of the OMNI information from the most recent ND
   messages received from the neighbor; it is therefore not required
   that each ND message contain all neighbor information.

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   The OMNI option Interface Attributes for each underlying interface
   includes a two-part "Link-Layer Address" consisting of a simple IP
   encapsulation address determined by the FMT and L2ADDR fields and an
   OAL DLA determined by the SRT and LHS fields.  If the neighbor is
   located in the local OMNI link segment (and, if any necessary NAT
   state has been established) forwarding via simple IP encapsulation
   can be used; otherwise, OAL encapsulation must be used.  Underlying
   interfaces are further selected based on their associated preference
   values "high", "medium", "low" or "disabled".

   Note: the OMNI option is distinct from any Source/Target Link-Layer
   Address Options (S/TLLAOs) that may appear in an ND message according
   to the appropriate IPv6 over specific link layer specification (e.g.,
   [RFC2464]).  If both an OMNI option and S/TLLAO appear, the former
   pertains to encapsulation addresses while the latter pertains to the
   native L2 address format of the underlying media.

3.5.2.  OMNI Neighbor Advertisement Message Flags

   As discussed in Section 4.4 of [RFC4861] NA messages include three
   flag bits R, S and O.  OMNI interface NA messages treat the flags as
   follows:

   o  R: The R ("Router") flag is set to 1 in the NA messages sent by
      all AERO/OMNI node types.  Simple hosts that would set R to 0 do
      not occur on the OMNI link itself, but may occur on the downstream
      links of Clients and Relays.

   o  S: The S ("Solicited") flag is set exactly as specified in
      Section 4.4. of [RFC4861], i.e., it is set to 1 for Solicited NAs
      and set to 0 for Unsolicited NAs (both unicast and multicast).

   o  O: The O ("Override") flag is set to 0 for solicited proxy NAs and
      set to 1 for all other solicited and unsolicited NAs.  For further
      study is whether solicited NAs for anycast targets apply for OMNI
      links.  Since OMNI LLAs must be uniquely assigned to Clients to
      support correct ND protocol operation, however, no role is
      currently seen for assigning the same OMNI LLA to multiple
      Clients.

3.6.  OMNI Interface Encapsulation and Re-encapsulation

   The OMNI Adaptation Layer (OAL) inserts a mid-layer IPv6 header known
   as the OAL header when necessary as discussed in the following
   sections.  After either inserting or omitting the OAL header, the
   OMNI interface also inserts or omits an outer encapsulation header as
   discussed below.

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   OMNI interfaces avoid outer encapsulation over Direct underlying
   interfaces and ANET underlying interfaces for which the first-hop
   access router is connected to the same underlying link.  Otherwise,
   OMNI interfaces encapsulate packets according to whether they are
   entering the OMNI interface from the network layer or if they are
   being re-admitted into the same OMNI link they arrived on.  This
   latter form of encapsulation is known as "re-encapsulation".

   For packets entering the OMNI interface from the network layer, the
   OMNI interface copies the "TTL/Hop Limit", "Type of Service/Traffic
   Class" [RFC2983], "Flow Label"[RFC6438] (for IPv6) and "Congestion
   Experienced" [RFC3168] values in the inner packet's IP header into
   the corresponding fields in the OAL and outer encapsulation
   header(s).

   For packets undergoing re-encapsulation, the OMNI interface instead
   copies these values from the original encapsulation header into the
   new encapsulation header, i.e., the values are transferred between
   encapsulation headers and *not* copied from the encapsulated packet's
   network-layer header.  (Note especially that by copying the TTL/Hop
   Limit between encapsulation headers the value will eventually
   decrement to 0 if there is a (temporary) routing loop.)

   OMNI interfaces configured over ANET underlying interfaces which
   employ a different IP protocol version and/or may be located multiple
   IP hops from the nearest Proxy/Server use IP-in-IP encapsulation so
   that the inner packet can traverse the ANET.  IPv6 underlying ANET
   interfaces use [RFC2473] encapsulation, while IPv4 interfaces use the
   appropriate encapsulation per one of [RFC2529][RFC5214][RFC2003].

   OMNI interfaces configured over INET underlying interfaces
   encapsulate packets in INET headers according to the next hop
   determined in the forwarding algorithm in Section 3.10.  If the next
   hop is reached via a secured tunnel, the OMNI interface uses an
   encapsulation format specific to the secured tunnel type (see:
   Section 6).  If the next hop is reached via an unsecured INET
   interface, the OMNI interface instead uses UDP/IP encapsulation per
   [RFC4380] and as extended in [RFC6081].

   When UDP/IP encapsulation is used, the OMNI interface next sets the
   UDP source port to a constant value that it will use in each
   successive packet it sends, and sets the UDP length field to the
   length of the encapsulated packet plus 8 bytes for the UDP header
   itself plus the length of any included extension headers or trailers.
   The encapsulated packet may be either IPv6 or IPv4, as distinguished
   by the version number found in the first four bits.

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   For UDP/IP-encapsulated packets sent to a Server, Relay or Bridge,
   the OMNI interface sets the UDP destination port to 8060, i.e., the
   IANA-registered port number for AERO.  For packets sent to a Client,
   the OMNI interface sets the UDP destination port to the port value
   stored in the neighbor cache entry for this Client.  The OMNI
   interface finally includes/omits the UDP checksum according to
   [RFC6935][RFC6936].

3.7.  OMNI Interface Decapsulation

   OMNI interfaces decapsulate packets destined either to the AERO node
   itself or to a destination reached via an interface other than the
   OMNI interface the packet was received on.  When the encapsulated
   packet arrives in multiple OAL fragments, the OMNI interface
   reassembles as discussed in Section 3.9.  Further decapsulation steps
   are performed according to the appropriate encapsulation format
   specification.

3.8.  OMNI Interface Data Origin Authentication

   AERO nodes employ simple data origin authentication procedures.  In
   particular:

   o  AERO Bridges, Servers and Proxys accept encapsulated data packets
      and control messages received from the (secured) spanning tree.

   o  AERO Proxys and Clients accept packets that originate from within
      the same secured ANET.

   o  AERO Clients and Relays accept packets from downstream network
      correspondents based on ingress filtering.

   o  AERO Clients, Relays and Servers verify the outer UDP/IP
      encapsulation addresses according to [RFC4380].

   AERO nodes silently drop any packets that do not satisfy the above
   data origin authentication procedures.  Further security
   considerations are discussed in Section 6.

3.9.  OMNI Adaptation Layer and OMNI Interface MTU

   The OMNI interface observes the link nature of tunnels, including the
   Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU), Maximum Reassembly Unit (MRU) and
   the role of fragmentation and reassembly[I-D.ietf-intarea-tunnels].
   The OMNI interface employs an OMNI Adaptation Layer (OAL) for
   accommodating multiple underlying links with diverse MTUs.  The
   functions of the OAL and the OMNI interface MTU/MRU are specified in

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   Section 5 of [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface], with MTU/MRU both set
   to the constant value 9180 bytes.

3.10.  OMNI Interface Forwarding Algorithm

   IP packets enter a node's OMNI interface either from the network
   layer (i.e., from a local application or the IP forwarding system) or
   from the link layer (i.e., from an OMNI interface neighbor).  All
   packets entering a node's OMNI interface first undergo data origin
   authentication as discussed in Section 3.8.  Packets that satisfy
   data origin authentication are processed further, while all others
   are dropped silently.  The OMNI interface OAL wraps accepted packets
   in an OAL header and SRH if necessary as discussed above.

   Packets that enter the OMNI interface from the network layer are
   forwarded to an OMNI interface neighbor.  Packets that enter the OMNI
   interface from the link layer are either re-admitted into the OMNI
   link or forwarded to the network layer where they are subject to
   either local delivery or IP forwarding.  In all cases, the OMNI
   interface itself MUST NOT decrement the network layer TTL/Hop-count
   since its forwarding actions occur below the network layer.

   OMNI interfaces may have multiple underlying interfaces and/or
   neighbor cache entries for neighbors with multiple underlying
   interfaces (see Section 3.3).  The OMNI interface uses interface
   attributes and/or traffic classifiers (e.g., DSCP value, port number,
   etc.) to select an outgoing underlying interface for each packet
   based on the node's own QoS preferences, and also to select a
   destination link-layer address based on the neighbor's underlying
   interface with the highest preference.  AERO implementations SHOULD
   allow for QoS preference values to be modified at runtime through
   network management.

   If multiple outgoing interfaces and/or neighbor interfaces have a
   preference of "high", the AERO node replicates the packet and sends
   one copy via each of the (outgoing / neighbor) interface pairs;
   otherwise, the node sends a single copy of the packet via an
   interface with the highest preference.  AERO nodes keep track of
   which underlying interfaces are currently "reachable" or
   "unreachable", and only use "reachable" interfaces for forwarding
   purposes.

   The following sections discuss the OMNI interface forwarding
   algorithms for Clients, Proxys, Servers and Bridges.  In the
   following discussion, a packet's destination address is said to
   "match" if it is the same as a cached address, or if it is covered by
   a cached prefix (which may be encoded in an LLA).

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3.10.1.  Client Forwarding Algorithm

   When an IP packet enters a Client's OMNI interface from the network
   layer the Client searches for an asymmetric neighbor cache entry that
   matches the destination.  If there is a match, the Client uses one or
   more "reachable" neighbor interfaces in the entry for packet
   forwarding.  If there is no asymmetric neighbor cache entry, the
   Client instead forwards the packet toward a Server (the packet is
   intercepted by a Proxy if there is a Proxy on the path).  The Client
   encapsulates the packet in an OAL header and SRH if necessary and
   fragments according to MTU requirements (see: Section 3.9).

   When an IP packet enters a Client's OMNI interface from the link-
   layer, if the destination matches one of the Client's MNPs or link-
   local addresses the Client reassembles and decapsulates as necessary
   and delivers the inner packet to the network layer.  Otherwise, the
   Client drops the packet and MAY return a network-layer ICMP
   Destination Unreachable message subject to rate limiting (see:
   Section 3.11).

3.10.2.  Proxy Forwarding Algorithm

   For control messages originating from or destined to a Client, the
   Proxy intercepts the message and updates its proxy neighbor cache
   entry for the Client.  The Proxy then forwards a (proxyed) copy of
   the control message.  (For example, the Proxy forwards a proxied
   version of a Client's NS/RS message to the target neighbor, and
   forwards a proxied version of the NA/RA reply to the Client.)

   When the Proxy receives a data packet from a Client within the ANET,
   the Proxy reassembles and re-fragments if necessary then searches for
   an asymmetric neighbor cache entry that matches the destination and
   forwards as follows:

   o  if the destination matches an asymmetric neighbor cache entry, the
      Proxy uses one or more "reachable" neighbor interfaces in the
      entry for packet forwarding using OAL encapsulation and including
      a SRH if necessary according to the cached link-layer address
      information.  If the neighbor interface is in the same OMNI link
      segment, the Proxy forwards the packet directly to the neighbor;
      otherwise, it forwards the packet to a Bridge.

   o  else, the Proxy uses OAL encapsulation and forwards the packet to
      a Bridge while using the DLA corresponding to the packet's
      destination as the OAL destination address.

   When the Proxy receives an encapsulated data packet from an INET
   neighbor or from a secured tunnel from a Bridge, it accepts the

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   packet only if data origin authentication succeeds and if there is a
   proxy neighbor cache entry that matches the inner destination.  Next,
   the Proxy reassembles the packet (if necessary) and continues
   processing.  If the reassembly is complete and the neighbor cache
   state is REACHABLE, the Proxy then returns a PTB if necessary (see:
   Section 3.9) then either drops or forwards the packet to the Client
   while performing OAL encapsulation and re-fragmentation if necessary.
   If the neighbor cache entry state is DEPARTED, the Proxy instead
   changes the OAL destination address to the address of the new Server
   and forwards it to a Bridge while performing OAL re-fragmentation if
   necessary.

3.10.3.  Server/Relay Forwarding Algorithm

   For control messages destined to a target Client's LLA that are
   received from a secured tunnel, the Server intercepts the message and
   sends a Proxyed response on behalf of the Client.  (For example, the
   Server sends a Proxyed NA message reply in response to an NS message
   directed to one of its associated Clients.)  If the Client's neighbor
   cache entry is in the DEPARTED state, however, the Server instead
   forwards the packet to the Client's new Server as discussed in
   Section 3.16.

   When the Server receives an encapsulated data packet from an INET
   neighbor or from a secured tunnel, it accepts the packet only if data
   origin authentication succeeds.  The Server then continues processing
   as follows:

   o  if the network layer destination matches a symmetric neighbor
      cache entry in the REACHABLE state the Server prepares the packet
      for forwarding to the destination Client.  The Server first
      reassembles (if necessary) and forwards the packet (while re-
      fragmenting if necessary) as specified in Section 3.9.

   o  else, if the destination matches a symmetric neighbor cache entry
      in the DEPARETED state the Server re-encapsulates the packet and
      forwards it using the DLA of the Client's new Server as the OAL
      header destination.

   o  else, if the destination matches an asymmetric neighbor cache
      entry, the Server uses one or more "reachable" neighbor interfaces
      in the entry for packet forwarding via the local INET if the
      neighbor is in the same OMNI link segment or using OAL
      encapsulation and Segment Routing if necessary with the final
      destination set to the neighbor's DLA otherwise.

   o  else, if the destination matches a non-MNP route in the IP
      forwarding table or an LLA assigned to the Server's OMNI

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      interface, the Server reassembles if necessary, decapsulates the
      packet and releases it to the network layer for local delivery or
      IP forwarding.

   o  else, the Server drops the packet.

   When the Server's OMNI interface receives a data packet from the
   network layer or from a VPNed or Direct Client, it performs OAL
   encapsulation and fragmentation if necessary, then processes the
   packet according to the network-layer destination address as follows:

   o  if the destination matches a symmetric or asymmetric neighbor
      cache entry the Server processes the packet as above.

   o  else, the Server encapsulates the packet in an OAL header and
      forwards it to a Bridge using its own DLA as the source and the
      DLA corresponding to the destination as the destination.

3.10.4.  Bridge Forwarding Algorithm

   Bridges forward OAL-encapsulated packets over secured tunnels the
   same as any IP router.  When the Bridge receives an OAL-encapsulated
   packet via a secured tunnel, it removes the outer INET header and
   searches for a forwarding table entry that matches the OAL
   destination address.  The Bridge then processes the packet as
   follows:

   o  if the destination matches its DLA Subnet Router Anycast address,
      the Bridge checks for a SRH.  If there is a SRH with Segments
      Left=1, with the DLA of a Proxy/Server on the local segment as the
      LHS, and with an AERO Route Optimization TLV, the Bridge examines
      the FMT to determine if the target is behind a NAT.  If no NAT is
      indicated, the Bridge copies the MNP Subnet Router Anycast address
      if an MNP is included (otherwise copies the Proxy/Server DLA) into
      the destination address then forwards the packet directly to the
      L2ADDR using link-layer (UDP/IP) encapsulation.  If a NAT is
      indicated, the Bridge MAY perform NAT traversal procedures by
      sending bubbles per [RFC4380].  The Bridge then either applies
      AERO route optimization if NAT traversal procedures have been
      successfully applied, or forwards the packet directly to the
      Server.

   o  if the destination matches one of the Bridge's own addresses, the
      Bridge submits the packet for local delivery.

   o  else, if the destination matches a forwarding table entry the
      Bridge forwards the packet via a secured tunnel to the next hop.
      If the destination matches an MSP without matching an MNP,

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      however, the Bridge instead drops the packet and returns an ICMP
      Destination Unreachable message subject to rate limiting (see:
      Section 3.11).

   o  else, the Bridge drops the packet and returns an ICMP Destination
      Unreachable as above.

   As for any IP router, the Bridge decrements the TTL/Hop Limit when it
   forwards the packet.  Therefore, only the Hop Limit in the OAL header
   is decremented, and not the TTL/Hop Limit in the inner packet header.
   Bridges do not insert OAL headers themselves; instead, they act as
   IPv6 routers and forward packets based on the destination address
   found in the OAL headers of packets they receive.

3.11.  OMNI Interface Error Handling

   When an AERO node admits a packet into the OMNI interface, it may
   receive link-layer or network-layer error indications.

   A link-layer error indication is an ICMP error message generated by a
   router in the INET on the path to the neighbor or by the neighbor
   itself.  The message includes an IP header with the address of the
   node that generated the error as the source address and with the
   link-layer address of the AERO node as the destination address.

   The IP header is followed by an ICMP header that includes an error
   Type, Code and Checksum.  Valid type values include "Destination
   Unreachable", "Time Exceeded" and "Parameter Problem"
   [RFC0792][RFC4443].  (OMNI interfaces ignore all link-layer IPv4
   "Fragmentation Needed" and IPv6 "Packet Too Big" messages since they
   only emit packets that are guaranteed to be no larger than the IP
   minimum link MTU as discussed in Section 3.9.)

   The ICMP header is followed by the leading portion of the packet that
   generated the error, also known as the "packet-in-error".  For
   ICMPv6, [RFC4443] specifies that the packet-in-error includes: "As
   much of invoking packet as possible without the ICMPv6 packet
   exceeding the minimum IPv6 MTU" (i.e., no more than 1280 bytes).  For
   ICMPv4, [RFC0792] specifies that the packet-in-error includes:
   "Internet Header + 64 bits of Original Data Datagram", however
   [RFC1812] Section 4.3.2.3 updates this specification by stating: "the
   ICMP datagram SHOULD contain as much of the original datagram as
   possible without the length of the ICMP datagram exceeding 576
   bytes".

   The link-layer error message format is shown in Figure 5 (where, "L2"
   and "L3" refer to link-layer and network-layer, respectively):

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        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        ~                               ~
        |        L2 IP Header of        |
        |         error message         |
        ~                               ~
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        |         L2 ICMP Header        |
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ---
        ~                               ~   P
        |   IP and other encapsulation  |   a
        | headers of original L3 packet |   c
        ~                               ~   k
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+   e
        ~                               ~   t
        |        IP header of           |
        |      original L3 packet       |   i
        ~                               ~   n
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        ~                               ~   e
        |    Upper layer headers and    |   r
        |    leading portion of body    |   r
        |   of the original L3 packet   |   o
        ~                               ~   r
        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ---

         Figure 5: OMNI Interface Link-Layer Error Message Format

   The AERO node rules for processing these link-layer error messages
   are as follows:

   o  When an AERO node receives a link-layer Parameter Problem message,
      it processes the message the same as described as for ordinary
      ICMP errors in the normative references [RFC0792][RFC4443].

   o  When an AERO node receives persistent link-layer Time Exceeded
      messages, the IP ID field may be wrapping before earlier fragments
      awaiting reassembly have been processed.  In that case, the node
      should begin including integrity checks and/or institute rate
      limits for subsequent packets.

   o  When an AERO node receives persistent link-layer Destination
      Unreachable messages in response to encapsulated packets that it
      sends to one of its asymmetric neighbor correspondents, the node
      should process the message as an indication that a path may be
      failing, and optionally initiate NUD over that path.  If it
      receives Destination Unreachable messages over multiple paths, the
      node should allow future packets destined to the correspondent to
      flow through a default route and re-initiate route optimization.

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   o  When an AERO Client receives persistent link-layer Destination
      Unreachable messages in response to encapsulated packets that it
      sends to one of its symmetric neighbor Servers, the Client should
      mark the path as unusable and use another path.  If it receives
      Destination Unreachable messages on many or all paths, the Client
      should associate with a new Server and release its association
      with the old Server as specified in Section 3.16.5.

   o  When an AERO Server receives persistent link-layer Destination
      Unreachable messages in response to encapsulated packets that it
      sends to one of its symmetric neighbor Clients, the Server should
      mark the underlying path as unusable and use another underlying
      path.

   o  When an AERO Server or Proxy receives link-layer Destination
      Unreachable messages in response to an encapsulated packet that it
      sends to one of its permanent neighbors, it treats the messages as
      an indication that the path to the neighbor may be failing.
      However, the dynamic routing protocol should soon reconverge and
      correct the temporary outage.

   When an AERO Bridge receives a packet for which the network-layer
   destination address is covered by an MSP, if there is no more-
   specific routing information for the destination the Bridge drops the
   packet and returns a network-layer Destination Unreachable message
   subject to rate limiting.  The Bridge writes the network-layer source
   address of the original packet as the destination address and uses
   one of its non link-local addresses as the source address of the
   message.

   When an AERO node receives an encapsulated packet for which the
   reassembly buffer it too small, it drops the packet and returns a
   network-layer Packet Too Big (PTB) message.  The node first writes
   the MRU value into the PTB message MTU field, writes the network-
   layer source address of the original packet as the destination
   address and writes one of its non link-local addresses as the source
   address.

3.12.  AERO Router Discovery, Prefix Delegation and Autoconfiguration

   AERO Router Discovery, Prefix Delegation and Autoconfiguration are
   coordinated as discussed in the following Sections.

3.12.1.  AERO Service Model

   Each AERO Server on the OMNI link is configured to facilitate Client
   prefix delegation/registration requests.  Each Server is provisioned
   with a database of MNP-to-Client ID mappings for all Clients enrolled

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   in the AERO service, as well as any information necessary to
   authenticate each Client.  The Client database is maintained by a
   central administrative authority for the OMNI link and securely
   distributed to all Servers, e.g., via the Lightweight Directory
   Access Protocol (LDAP) [RFC4511], via static configuration, etc.
   Clients receive the same service regardless of the Servers they
   select.

   AERO Clients and Servers use ND messages to maintain neighbor cache
   entries.  AERO Servers configure their OMNI interfaces as advertising
   NBMA interfaces, and therefore send unicast RA messages with a short
   Router Lifetime value (e.g., ReachableTime seconds) in response to a
   Client's RS message.  Thereafter, Clients send additional RS messages
   to keep Server state alive.

   AERO Clients and Servers include prefix delegation and/or
   registration parameters in RS/RA messages (see
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface]).  The ND messages are exchanged
   between Client and Server according to the prefix management schedule
   required by the service.  If the Client knows its MNP in advance, it
   can employ prefix registration by including its LLA as the source
   address of an RS message and with an OMNI option with valid prefix
   registration information for the MNP.  If the Server (and Proxy)
   accept the Client's MNP assertion, they inject the prefix into the
   routing system and establish the necessary neighbor cache state.

   The following sections specify the Client and Server behavior.

3.12.2.  AERO Client Behavior

   AERO Clients discover the addresses of Servers in a similar manner as
   described in [RFC5214].  Discovery methods include static
   configuration (e.g., from a flat-file map of Server addresses and
   locations), or through an automated means such as Domain Name System
   (DNS) name resolution [RFC1035].  Alternatively, the Client can
   discover Server addresses through a layer 2 data link login exchange,
   or through a unicast RA response to a multicast/anycast RS as
   described below.  In the absence of other information, the Client can
   resolve the DNS Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)
   "linkupnetworks.[domainname]" where "linkupnetworks" is a constant
   text string and "[domainname]" is a DNS suffix for the OMNI link
   (e.g., "example.com").

   To associate with a Server, the Client acts as a requesting router to
   request MNPs.  The Client prepares an RS message with prefix
   management parameters and includes a Nonce and Timestamp option if
   the Client needs to correlate RA replies.  If the Client already
   knows the Server's LLA, it includes the LLA as the network-layer

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   destination address; otherwise, it includes (link-local) All-Routers
   multicast as the network-layer destination.  If the Client already
   knows its own LLA, it uses the LLA as the network-layer source
   address; otherwise, it uses an OMNI Temporary LLA as the network-
   layer source address and includes a DHCP Unique Identifier (DUID)
   sub-option in the OMNI option (see:
   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface]).

   The Client next includes an OMNI option in the RS message to register
   its link-layer information with the Server.  The Client sets the OMNI
   option prefix registration information according to the MNP, and
   includes Interface Attributes corresponding to the underlying
   interface over which the Client will send the RS message.  The Client
   MAY include additional Interface Attributes specific to other
   underlying interfaces.

   The Client then sends the RS message (either directly via Direct
   interfaces, via a VPN for VPNed interfaces, via a Proxy for ANET
   interfaces or via INET encapsulation for INET interfaces) and waits
   for an RA message reply (see Section 3.12.3).  The Client retries up
   to MAX_RTR_SOLICITATIONS times until an RA is received.  If the
   Client receives no RAs, or if it receives an RA with Router Lifetime
   set to 0, the Client SHOULD abandon this Server and try another
   Server.  Otherwise, the Client processes the prefix information found
   in the RA message.

   Next, the Client creates a symmetric neighbor cache entry with the
   Server's LLA as the network-layer address and the Server's
   encapsulation and/or link-layer addresses as the link-layer address.
   The Client records the RA Router Lifetime field value in the neighbor
   cache entry as the time for which the Server has committed to
   maintaining the MNP in the routing system via this underlying
   interface, and caches the other RA configuration information
   including Cur Hop Limit, M and O flags, Reachable Time and Retrans
   Timer.  The Client then autoconfigures LLAs for each of the delegated
   MNPs and assigns them to the OMNI interface.  The Client also caches
   any MSPs included in Route Information Options (RIOs) [RFC4191] as
   MSPs to associate with the OMNI link, and assigns the MTU value in
   the MTU option to the underlying interface.

   The Client then registers additional underlying interfaces with the
   Server by sending RS messages via each additional interface.  The RS
   messages include the same parameters as for the initial RS/RA
   exchange, but with destination address set to the Server's LLA.

   Following autoconfiguration, the Client sub-delegates the MNPs to its
   attached EUNs and/or the Client's own internal virtual interfaces as
   described in [I-D.templin-v6ops-pdhost] to support the Client's

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   downstream attached "Internet of Things (IoT)".  The Client
   subsequently sends additional RS messages over each underlying
   interface before the Router Lifetime received for that interface
   expires.

   After the Client registers its underlying interfaces, it may wish to
   change one or more registrations, e.g., if an interface changes
   address or becomes unavailable, if QoS preferences change, etc.  To
   do so, the Client prepares an RS message to send over any available
   underlying interface.  The RS includes an OMNI option with prefix
   registration information specific to its MNP, with Interface
   Attributes specific to the selected underlying interface, and with
   any additional Interface Attributes specific to other underlying
   interfaces.  When the Client receives the Server's RA response, it
   has assurance that the Server has been updated with the new
   information.

   If the Client wishes to discontinue use of a Server it issues an RS
   message over any underlying interface with an OMNI option with a
   prefix release indication.  When the Server processes the message, it
   releases the MNP, sets the symmetric neighbor cache entry state for
   the Client to DEPARTED and returns an RA reply with Router Lifetime
   set to 0.  After a short delay (e.g., 2 seconds), the Server
   withdraws the MNP from the routing system.

3.12.3.  AERO Server Behavior

   AERO Servers act as IP routers and support a prefix delegation/
   registration service for Clients.  Servers arrange to add their LLAs
   to a static map of Server addresses for the link and/or the DNS
   resource records for the FQDN "linkupnetworks.[domainname]" before
   entering service.  Server addresses should be geographically and/or
   topologically referenced, and made available for discovery by Clients
   on the OMNI link.

   When a Server receives a prospective Client's RS message on its OMNI
   interface, it SHOULD return an immediate RA reply with Router
   Lifetime set to 0 if it is currently too busy or otherwise unable to
   service the Client.  Otherwise, the Server authenticates the RS
   message and processes the prefix delegation/registration parameters.
   The Server first determines the correct MNPs to provide to the Client
   by searching the Client database.  When the Server returns the MNPs,
   it also creates a forwarding table entry for the DLA corresponding to
   each MNP so that the MNPs are propagated into the routing system
   (see: Section 3.2.3).  For IPv6, the Server creates an IPv6
   forwarding table entry for each MNP.  For IPv4, the Server creates an
   IPv6 forwarding table entry with the IPv4-compatibility DLA prefix
   corresponding to the IPv4 address.

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   The Server next creates a symmetric neighbor cache entry for the
   Client using the base LLA as the network-layer address and with
   lifetime set to no more than the smallest prefix lifetime.  Next, the
   Server updates the neighbor cache entry by recording the information
   in each Interface Attributes sub-option in the RS OMNI option.  The
   Server also records the actual OAL/INET addresses in the neighbor
   cache entry.

   Next, the Server prepares an RA message using its LLA as the network-
   layer source address and the network-layer source address of the RS
   message as the network-layer destination address.  The Server sets
   the Router Lifetime to the time for which it will maintain both this
   underlying interface individually and the symmetric neighbor cache
   entry as a whole.  The Server also sets Cur Hop Limit, M and O flags,
   Reachable Time and Retrans Timer to values appropriate for the OMNI
   link.  The Server includes the MNPs, any other prefix management
   parameters and an OMNI option with no Interface Attributes.  The
   Server then includes one or more RIOs that encode the MSPs for the
   OMNI link, plus an MTU option (see Section 3.9).  The Server finally
   forwards the message to the Client using OAL/INET, INET, or NULL
   encapsulation as necessary.

   After the initial RS/RA exchange, the Server maintains a
   ReachableTime timer for each of the Client's underlying interfaces
   individually (and for the Client's symmetric neighbor cache entry
   collectively) set to expire after ReachableTime seconds.  If the
   Client (or Proxy) issues additional RS messages, the Server sends an
   RA response and resets ReachableTime.  If the Server receives an ND
   message with a prefix release indication it sets the Client's
   symmetric neighbor cache entry to the DEPARTED state and withdraws
   the MNP from the routing system after a short delay (e.g., 2
   seconds).  If ReachableTime expires before a new RS is received on an
   individual underlying interface, the Server marks the interface as
   DOWN.  If ReachableTime expires before any new RS is received on any
   individual underlying interface, the Server sets the symmetric
   neighbor cache entry state to STALE and sets a 10 second timer.  If
   the Server has not received a new RS or ND message with a prefix
   release indication before the 10 second timer expires, it deletes the
   neighbor cache entry and withdraws the MNP from the routing system.

   The Server processes any ND messages pertaining to the Client and
   returns an NA/RA reply in response to solicitations.  The Server may
   also issue unsolicited RA messages, e.g., with reconfigure parameters
   to cause the Client to renegotiate its prefix delegation/
   registrations, with Router Lifetime set to 0 if it can no longer
   service this Client, etc.  Finally, If the symmetric neighbor cache
   entry is in the DEPARTED state, the Server deletes the entry after
   DepartTime expires.

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   Note: Clients SHOULD notify former Servers of their departures, but
   Servers are responsible for expiring neighbor cache entries and
   withdrawing routes even if no departure notification is received
   (e.g., if the Client leaves the network unexpectedly).  Servers
   SHOULD therefore set Router Lifetime to ReachableTime seconds in
   solicited RA messages to minimize persistent stale cache information
   in the absence of Client departure notifications.  A short Router
   Lifetime also ensures that proactive Client/Server RS/RA messaging
   will keep any NAT state alive (see above).

   Note: All Servers on an OMNI link MUST advertise consistent values in
   the RA Cur Hop Limit, M and O flags, Reachable Time and Retrans Timer
   fields the same as for any link, since unpredictable behavior could
   result if different Servers on the same link advertised different
   values.

3.12.3.1.  DHCPv6-Based Prefix Registration

   When a Client is not pre-provisioned with an OMNI LLA containing a
   MNP, it will need for the Server to select an MNP on its behalf and
   set up the correct state in the AERO routing service.  The DHCPv6
   service [RFC8415] is used to support this requirement.

   When a Client without a pre-provisioned OMNI MN LLA needs to have the
   Server select an MNP, it sends an RS message with source address set
   to an OMNI Temporary LLA.  The RS message includes an OMNI option
   with a DUID sub-option that contains a unique DUID value for the MN,
   and a Prefix Length value corresponding to the length of MNP it
   wishes to receive.

   When the Server receives the RS message, it notes that the source was
   a Temporary LLA and derives the DUID and Prefix Length from the OMNI
   option.  The Server (acting as a "proxy DHCP client") then crafts a
   well-formed DHCPv6 Solicit message with Prefix Delegation (PD)
   parameters, and forwards the message to a locally-resident DHCPv6
   server.  The DHCPv6 server then delegates an MNP and returns a DHCPv6
   Reply message with PD parameters.  (Note: the Solicit message should
   contain enough identifying information for the MN so that the AR can
   correlate the server's Reply with the original Solicit.)

   When the Server receives the DHCPv6 Reply, it adds a route to the
   routing system and creates an OMNI MN LLA based on the delegated MNP.
   The Server then sends an RA back to the Client with the (newly-
   created) OMNI MN LLA as the destination address and with Prefix
   Length set in the OMNI option.  When the Client receives the RA, it
   creates a default route, assigns the Subnet Router Anycast address
   and sets its OMNI LLA based on the delegated MNP.

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3.13.  The AERO Proxy

   Clients may connect to protected-spectrum ANETs that employ physical
   and/or link-layer security services to facilitate communications to
   Servers in outside INETs.  In that case, the ANET can employ an AERO
   Proxy.  The Proxy is located at the ANET/INET border and listens for
   RS messages originating from or RA messages destined to ANET Clients.
   The Proxy acts on these control messages as follows:

   o  when the Proxy receives an RS message from a new ANET Client, it
      first authenticates the message then examines the network-layer
      destination address.  If the destination address is a Server's
      LLA, the Proxy proceeds to the next step.  Otherwise, if the
      destination is (link-local) All-Routers multicast, the Proxy
      selects a "nearby" Server that is likely to be a good candidate to
      serve the Client and replaces the destination address with the
      Server's LLA.  Next, the Proxy creates a proxy neighbor cache
      entry and caches the Client and Server link-layer addresses along
      with the OMNI option information and any other identifying
      information including Transaction IDs, Client Identifiers, Nonce
      values, etc.  The Proxy finally encapsulates the (proxyed) RS
      message in an OAL header with source set to the Proxy's DLA and
      destination set to the Server's DLA.  The Proxy also includes an
      OMNI header with an Interface Attributes option that includes its
      own INET address plus a unique Port Number for this Client, then
      forwards the message into the OMNI link spanning tree.

   o  when the Server receives the RS, it authenticates the message then
      creates or updates a symmetric neighbor cache entry for the Client
      with the Proxy's DLA, INET address and Port Number as the link-
      layer address information.  The Server then sends an RA message
      back to the Proxy via the spanning tree.

   o  when the Proxy receives the RA, it authenticates the message and
      matches it with the proxy neighbor cache entry created by the RS.
      The Proxy then caches the prefix information as a mapping from the
      Client's MNPs to the Client's link-layer address, caches the
      Server's advertised Router Lifetime and sets the neighbor cache
      entry state to REACHABLE.  The Proxy then optionally rewrites the
      Router Lifetime and forwards the (proxyed) message to the Client.
      The Proxy finally includes an MTU option (if necessary) with an
      MTU to use for the underlying ANET interface.

   After the initial RS/RA exchange, the Proxy forwards any Client data
   packets for which there is no matching asymmetric neighbor cache
   entry to a Bridge using OAL encapsulation with its own DLA as the
   source and the DLA corresponding to the Client as the destination.
   The Proxy instead forwards any Client data destined to an asymmetric

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   neighbor cache target directly to the target according to the OAL/
   link-layer information - the process of establishing asymmetric
   neighbor cache entries is specified in Section 3.14.

   While the Client is still attached to the ANET, the Proxy sends NS,
   RS and/or unsolicited NA messages to update the Server's symmetric
   neighbor cache entries on behalf of the Client and/or to convey QoS
   updates.  This allows for higher-frequency Proxy-initiated RS/RA
   messaging over well-connected INET infrastructure supplemented by
   lower-frequency Client-initiated RS/RA messaging over constrained
   ANET data links.

   If the Server ceases to send solicited advertisements, the Proxy
   sends unsolicited RAs on the ANET interface with destination set to
   (link-local) All-Nodes multicast and with Router Lifetime set to zero
   to inform Clients that the Server has failed.  Although the Proxy
   engages in ND exchanges on behalf of the Client, the Client can also
   send ND messages on its own behalf, e.g., if it is in a better
   position than the Proxy to convey QoS changes, etc.  For this reason,
   the Proxy marks any Client-originated solicitation messages (e.g. by
   inserting a Nonce option) so that it can return the solicited
   advertisement to the Client instead of processing it locally.

   If the Client becomes unreachable, the Proxy sets the neighbor cache
   entry state to DEPARTED and retains the entry for DepartTime seconds.
   While the state is DEPARTED, the Proxy forwards any packets destined
   to the Client to a Bridge via OAL encapsulation with the Client's
   current Server as the destination.  The Bridge in turn forwards the
   packets to the Client's current Server.  When DepartTime expires, the
   Proxy deletes the neighbor cache entry and discards any further
   packets destined to this (now forgotten) Client.

   In some ANETs that employ a Proxy, the Client's MNP can be injected
   into the ANET routing system.  In that case, the Client can send data
   messages without encapsulation so that the ANET routing system
   transports the unencapsulated packets to the Proxy.  This can be very
   beneficial, e.g., if the Client connects to the ANET via low-end data
   links such as some aviation wireless links.

   If the first-hop ANET access router is on the same underlying link
   and recognizes the AERO/OMNI protocol, the Client can avoid
   encapsulation for both its control and data messages.  When the
   Client connects to the link, it can send an unencapsulated RS message
   with source address set to its LLA and with destination address set
   to the LLA of the Client's selected Server or to (link-local) All-
   Routers multicast.  The Client includes an OMNI option formatted as
   specified in [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].

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   The Client then sends the unencapsulated RS message, which will be
   intercepted by the AERO-Aware access router.  The access router then
   encapsulates the RS message in an ANET header with its own address as
   the source address and the address of a Proxy as the destination
   address.  The access router further remembers the address of the
   Proxy so that it can encapsulate future data packets from the Client
   via the same Proxy.  If the access router needs to change to a new
   Proxy, it simply sends another RS message toward the Server via the
   new Proxy on behalf of the Client.

   In some cases, the access router and Proxy may be one and the same
   node.  In that case, the node would be located on the same physical
   link as the Client, but its message exchanges with the Server would
   need to pass through a security gateway at the ANET/INET border.  The
   method for deploying access routers and Proxys (i.e. as a single node
   or multiple nodes) is an ANET-local administrative consideration.

3.13.1.  Combined Proxy/Servers

   Clients may need to connect directly to Servers via INET, Direct and
   VPNed interfaces (i.e., non-ANET interfaces).  If the Client's
   underlying interfaces all connect via the same INET partition, then
   it can connect to a single controlling Server via all interfaces.

   If some Client interfaces connect via different INET partitions,
   however, the Client still selects a set of controlling Servers and
   sends RS messages via their directly-connected Servers while using
   the LLA of the controlling Server as the destination.

   When a Server receives an RS with destination set to the LLA of a
   controlling Server, it acts as a Proxy to forward the message to the
   controlling Server while forwarding the corresponding RA reply to the
   Client.

3.13.2.  Detecting and Responding to Server Failures

   In environments where fast recovery from Server failure is required,
   Proxys SHOULD use proactive Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD)
   to track Server reachability in a similar fashion as for
   Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) [RFC5880].  Proxys can then
   quickly detect and react to failures so that cached information is
   re-established through alternate paths.  The NUD control messaging is
   carried only over well-connected ground domain networks (i.e., and
   not low-end aeronautical radio links) and can therefore be tuned for
   rapid response.

   Proxys perform proactive NUD with Servers for which there are
   currently active ANET Clients by sending continuous NS messages in

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   rapid succession, e.g., one message per second.  The Proxy sends the
   NS message via the spanning tree with the Proxy's LLA as the source
   and the LLA of the Server as the destination.  When the Proxy is also
   sending RS messages to the Server on behalf of ANET Clients, the
   resulting RA responses can be considered as equivalent hints of
   forward progress.  This means that the Proxy need not also send a
   periodic NS if it has already sent an RS within the same period.  If
   the Server fails (i.e., if the Proxy ceases to receive
   advertisements), the Proxy can quickly inform Clients by sending
   multicast RA messages on the ANET interface.

   The Proxy sends RA messages on the ANET interface with source address
   set to the Server's address, destination address set to (link-local)
   All-Nodes multicast, and Router Lifetime set to 0.  The Proxy SHOULD
   send MAX_FINAL_RTR_ADVERTISEMENTS RA messages separated by small
   delays [RFC4861].  Any Clients on the ANET that had been using the
   failed Server will receive the RA messages and associate with a new
   Server.

3.13.3.  Point-to-Multipoint Server Coordination

   In environments where Client messaging over ANETs is bandwidth-
   limited and/or expensive, Clients can enlist the services of the
   Proxy to coordinate with multiple Servers in a single RS/RA message
   exchange.  The Client can send a single RS message to (link-local)
   All-Routers multicast that includes the ID's of multiple Servers in
   MS-Register sub-options of the OMNI option.

   When the Proxy receives the RS and processes the OMNI option, it
   sends a separate RS to each MS-Register Server ID.  When the Proxy
   receives an RA, it can optionally return an immediate "singleton" RA
   to the Client or record the Server's ID for inclusion in a pending
   "aggregate" RA message.  The Proxy can then return aggregate RA
   messages to the Client including multiple Server IDs in order to
   conserve bandwidth.  Each RA includes a proper subset of the Server
   IDs from the original RS message, and the Proxy must ensure that the
   message contents of each RA are consistent with the information
   received from the (aggregated) Servers.

   Clients can thereafter employ efficient point-to-multipoint Server
   coordination under the assistance of the Proxy to reduce the number
   of messages sent over the ANET while enlisting the support of
   multiple Servers for fault tolerance.  Clients can further include
   MS-Release sub-options in IPv6 ND messages to request the Proxy to
   release from former Servers via the procedures discussed in
   Section 3.16.5.

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   The OMNI interface specification [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface]
   provides further discussion of the Client/Proxy RS/RA messaging
   involved in point-to-multipoint coordination.

3.14.  AERO Route Optimization / Address Resolution

   While data packets are flowing between a source and target node,
   route optimization SHOULD be used.  Route optimization is initiated
   by the first eligible Route Optimization Source (ROS) closest to the
   source as follows:

   o  For Clients on VPNed and Direct interfaces, the Server is the ROS.

   o  For Clients on ANET interfaces, the Proxy is the ROS.

   o  For Clients on INET interfaces, the Client itself is the ROS.

   o  For correspondent nodes on INET/EUN interfaces serviced by a
      Relay, the Relay is the ROS.

   The route optimization procedure is conducted between the ROS and the
   target Server/Relay acting as a Route Optimization Responder (ROR) in
   the same manner as for IPv6 ND Address Resolution and using the same
   NS/NA messaging.  The target may either be a MNP Client serviced by a
   Server, or a non-MNP correspondent reachable via a Relay.

   The procedures are specified in the following sections.

3.14.1.  Route Optimization Initiation

   While data packets are flowing from the source node toward a target
   node, the ROS performs address resolution by sending an NS message
   for Address Resolution (NS(AR)) to receive a solicited NA message
   from the ROR.  When the ROS sends an NS(AR), it includes:

   o  the LLA of the ROS as the source address.

   o  the data packet's destination as the Target Address.

   o  the Solicited-Node multicast address [RFC4291] formed from the
      lower 24 bits of the data packet's destination as the destination
      address, e.g., for 2001:db8:1:2::10:2000 the NS destination
      address is ff02:0:0:0:0:1:ff10:2000.

   The NS(AR) message includes an OMNI option with no Interface
   Attributes, such that the target will not create a neighbor cache
   entry.  The Prefix Length in the OMNI option is set to the Prefix
   Length associated with the ROS's LLA.

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   The ROS then encapsulates the NS(AR) message in an OAL header with
   source set to its own DLA and destination set to the DLA
   corresponding to the target, then sends the message into the spanning
   tree without decrementing the network-layer TTL/Hop Limit field.
   (When the ROS is a Client, it instead securely sends the NS(AR) per
   Section 3.22.1 to one of its current Servers, which forwards the
   message into the spanning tree on behalf of the Client.  When the
   Server forwards the NS(AR), it sets the IPv6 source address and the
   OAL source address to the LLA and DLA of the Client, respectively.)

3.14.2.  Relaying the NS

   When the Bridge receives the NS(AR) message from the ROS, it discards
   the INET header and determines that the ROR is the next hop by
   consulting its standard IPv6 forwarding table for the OAL header
   destination address.  The Bridge then forwards the message toward the
   ROR via the spanning tree the same as for any IPv6 router.  The
   final-hop Bridge in the spanning tree will deliver the message via a
   secured tunnel to the ROR.

3.14.3.  Processing the NS and Sending the NA

   When the ROR receives the NS(AR) message, it examines the Target
   Address to determine whether it has a neighbor cache entry and/or
   route that matches the target.  If there is no match, the ROR drops
   the message.  Otherwise, the ROR continues processing as follows:

   o  if the target belongs to an MNP Client neighbor in the DEPARTED
      state the ROR changes the NS(AR) message OAL destination address
      to the DLA of the Client's new Server, forwards the message into
      the spanning tree and returns from processing.

   o  If the target belongs to an MNP Client neighbor in the REACHABLE
      state, the ROR instead adds the AERO source address to the target
      Client's Report List with time set to ReportTime.

   o  If the target belongs to a non-MNP route, the ROR continues
      processing without adding an entry to the Report List.

   The ROR then prepares a solicited NA message to send back to the ROS
   but does not create a neighbor cache entry.  The ROR sets the NA
   source address to the LLA corresponding to the target, sets the
   Target Address to the target of the solicitation, and sets the
   destination address to the source of the solicitation.  The ROR then
   includes an OMNI option with Prefix Length set to the length
   associated with the LLA.

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   If the target is an MNP Client, the ROR next includes Interface
   Attributes in the OMNI option for each of the target Client's
   underlying interfaces with current information for each interface and
   with the S/T-ifIndex field in the OMNI header set to 0 to indicate
   that the message originated from the ROR and not the Client.

   For each Interface Attributes sub-option, the ROR sets the L2ADDR
   according to its own INET address for VPNed or Direct interfaces, to
   the INET address of the Proxy or to the Client's INET address for
   INET interfaces.  The ROR then includes the lower 32 bits of its own
   DLA (or the DLA of the Proxy) as the LHS, encodes the DLA prefix
   length code in the SRT field and sets the FMT code accordingly as
   specified in Section 3.3.

   The ROR then sets the NA message R flag to 1 (as a router), S flag to
   1 (as a response to a solicitation), and O flag to 0 (as a proxy).
   The ROR finally encapsulates the NA message in an OAL header with
   source set to its own DLA and destination set to the source DLA of
   the NS(AR) message, then forwards the message into the spanning tree
   without decrementing the network-layer TTL/Hop Limit field.

3.14.4.  Relaying the NA

   When the Bridge receives the NA message from the ROR, it discards the
   INET header and determines that the ROS is the next hop by consulting
   its standard IPv6 forwarding table for the OAL header destination
   address.  The Bridge then forwards the OAL-encapsulated NA message
   toward the ROS the same as for any IPv6 router.  The final-hop Bridge
   in the spanning tree will deliver the message via a secured tunnel to
   the ROS.

3.14.5.  Processing the NA

   When the ROS receives the solicited NA message, it processes the
   message the same as for standard IPv6 Address Resolution [RFC4861].
   In the process, it caches the source DLA then creates an asymmetric
   neighbor cache entry for the target and caches all information found
   in the OMNI option.  The ROS finally sets the asymmetric neighbor
   cache entry lifetime to ReachableTime seconds.  (When the ROS is a
   Client, the solicited NA message will first be delivered via the
   spanning tree to one of its current Servers, which then securely
   forwards the message to the Client per Section 3.22.1.  When the
   Server forwards the NS(AR), it sets the IPv6 source address to its
   own Cryptographically-Generated Address (CGA) and sets the OAL source
   address to its own DLA.)

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3.14.6.  Route Optimization Maintenance

   Following route optimization, the ROS forwards future data packets
   destined to the target via the addresses found in the cached link-
   layer information.  The route optimization is shared by all sources
   that send packets to the target via the ROS, i.e., and not just the
   source on behalf of which the route optimization was initiated.

   While new data packets destined to the target are flowing through the
   ROS, it sends additional NS(AR) messages to the ROR before
   ReachableTime expires to receive a fresh solicited NA message the
   same as described in the previous sections (route optimization
   refreshment strategies are an implementation matter, with a non-
   normative example given in Appendix A.1).  The ROS uses the cached
   DLA of the ROR as the NS(AR) OAL destination address (i.e., instead
   of using the DLA corresponding to the target as was the case for the
   initial NS(AR)), and sends up to MAX_MULTICAST_SOLICIT NS(AR)
   messages separated by 1 second until an NA is received.  If no NA is
   received, the ROS assumes that the current ROR has become unreachable
   and deletes the target neighbor cache entry.  Subsequent data packets
   will trigger a new route optimization with an NS with OAL destination
   address set to the DLA corresponding to the target per Section 3.14.1
   to discover a new ROR while initial data packets travel over a
   suboptimal route.

   If an NA is received, the ROS then updates the asymmetric neighbor
   cache entry to refresh ReachableTime, while (for MNP destinations)
   the ROR adds or updates the ROS address to the target's Report List
   and with time set to ReportTime.  While no data packets are flowing,
   the ROS instead allows ReachableTime for the asymmetric neighbor
   cache entry to expire.  When ReachableTime expires, the ROS deletes
   the asymmetric neighbor cache entry.  Any future data packets flowing
   through the ROS will again trigger a new route optimization.

   The ROS may also receive unsolicited NA messages from the ROR at any
   time (see: Section 3.16).  If there is an asymmetric neighbor cache
   entry for the target, the ROS updates the link-layer information but
   does not update ReachableTime since the receipt of an unsolicited NA
   does not confirm that any forward paths are working.  If there is no
   asymmetric neighbor cache entry, the ROS simply discards the
   unsolicited NA.

   In this arrangement, the ROS holds an asymmetric neighbor cache entry
   for the target via the ROR, but the ROR does not hold an asymmetric
   neighbor cache entry for the ROS.  The route optimization neighbor
   relationship is therefore asymmetric and unidirectional.  If the
   target node also has packets to send back to the source node, then a
   separate route optimization procedure is performed in the reverse

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   direction.  But, there is no requirement that the forward and reverse
   paths be symmetric.

3.15.  Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD)

   AERO nodes perform Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD) per
   [RFC4861] either reactively in response to persistent link-layer
   errors (see Section 3.11) or proactively to confirm reachability.
   The NUD algorithm is based on periodic control message exchanges.
   The algorithm may further be seeded by ND hints of forward progress,
   but care must be taken to avoid inferring reachability based on
   spoofed information.  For example, authentic IPv6 ND message
   exchanges may be considered as acceptable hints of forward progress,
   while spurious data packets should not be.

   AERO Servers, Proxys and Relays can use (OAL-encapsulated) standard
   NS/NA NUD exchanges sent over the OMNI link spanning tree to securely
   test reachability without risk of DoS attacks from nodes pretending
   to be a neighbor (these NS/NA(NUD) messages use the unicast LLAs and
   DLAs of the two parties involved in the NUD test the same as for
   standard IPv6 ND).  Proxys can further perform NUD to securely verify
   Server reachability on behalf of their proxyed Clients.  However, a
   means for an ROS to test the unsecured forward directions of target
   route optimized paths is also necessary.

   When an ROR directs an ROS to a neighbor with one or more target
   link-layer addresses, the ROS can proactively test each such
   unsecured route optimized path by sending "loopback" NS(NUD)
   messages.  While testing the paths, the ROS can optionally continue
   to send packets via the spanning tree, maintain a small queue of
   packets until target reachability is confirmed, or (optimistically)
   allow packets to flow via the route optimized paths.

   When the ROS sends a loopback NS(NUD) message, it uses its own LLA as
   both the IPv6 source and destination address, and the MNP Subnet-
   Router anycast address as the Target Address.  The ROS includes a
   Nonce and Timestamp option, then encapsulates the message in OAL/INET
   headers with its own DLA as the source and the DLA of the route
   optimization target as the destination.  The ROS then forwards the
   message to the target (either directly to the L2ADDR of the target if
   the target is in the same OMNI link segment, or via a Bridge if the
   target is in a different OMNI link segment).

   When the route optimization target receives the NS(NUD) message, it
   notices that the IPv6 destination address is the same as the source
   address.  It then reverses the OAL header source and destination
   addresses and returns the message to the ROS (either directly or via
   the spanning tree).  The route optimization target does not decrement

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   the NS(NUD) message IPv6 Hop-Limit in the process, since the message
   has not exited the OMNI link.

   When the ROS receives the NS(NUD) message, it can determine from the
   Nonce, Timestamp and Target Address that the message originated from
   itself and that it transited the forward path.  The ROS need not
   prepare an NA response, since the destination of the response would
   be itself and testing the route optimization path again would be
   redundant.

   The ROS marks route optimization target paths that pass these NUD
   tests as "reachable", and those that do not as "unreachable".  These
   markings inform the OMNI interface forwarding algorithm specified in
   Section 3.10.

   Note that to avoid a DoS vector nodes MUST NOT return loopback
   NS(NUD) messages received from an unsecured link-layer source via the
   spanning tree.

3.16.  Mobility Management and Quality of Service (QoS)

   AERO is a Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) service.  Each Server
   is responsible for only a subset of the Clients on the OMNI link, as
   opposed to a Centralized Mobility Management (CMM) service where
   there is a single network mobility collective entity for all Clients.
   Clients coordinate with their associated Servers via RS/RA exchanges
   to maintain the DMM profile, and the AERO routing system tracks all
   current Client/Server peering relationships.

   Servers provide default routing and mobility/multilink services for
   their dependent Clients.  Clients are responsible for maintaining
   neighbor relationships with their Servers through periodic RS/RA
   exchanges, which also serves to confirm neighbor reachability.  When
   a Client's underlying interface address and/or QoS information
   changes, the Client is responsible for updating the Server with this
   new information.  Note that when there is a Proxy in the path, the
   Proxy can also perform some RS/RA exchanges on the Client's behalf.

   Mobility management messaging is based on the transmission and
   reception of unsolicited Neighbor Advertisement (uNA) messages.  Each
   uNA message sets the IPv6 destination address to (link-local) All-
   Nodes multicast to convey a general update of Interface Attributes to
   (possibly) multiple recipients, or to a specific unicast LLA to
   announce a departure event to a specific recipient.  Implementations
   must therefore examine the destination address to determine the
   nature of the mobility event (i.e., update vs departure).

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   Mobility management considerations are specified in the following
   sections.

3.16.1.  Mobility Update Messaging

   Servers accommodate Client mobility, multilink and/or QoS change
   events by sending unsolicited NA (uNA) messages to each ROS in the
   target Client's Report List.  When a Server sends a uNA message, it
   sets the IPv6 source address to the Client's LLA, sets the
   destination address to (link-local) All-Nodes multicast and sets the
   Target Address to the Client's Subnet-Router anycast address.  The
   Server also includes an OMNI option with Prefix Length set to the
   length associated with the Client's LLA, with Interface Attributes
   for the target Client's underlying interfaces and with the OMNI
   header S/T-ifIndex set to 0.  The Server then sets the NA R flag to
   1, the S flag to 0 and the O flag to 1, then encapsulates the message
   in an OAL header with source set to its own DLA and destination set
   to the DLA of the ROS and sends the message into the spanning tree.

   As discussed in Section 7.2.6 of [RFC4861], the transmission and
   reception of uNA messages is unreliable but provides a useful
   optimization.  In well-connected Internetworks with robust data links
   uNA messages will be delivered with high probability, but in any case
   the Server can optionally send up to MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTISEMENT uNAs
   to each ROS to increase the likelihood that at least one will be
   received.

   When the ROS receives a uNA message prepared as above, it ignores the
   message if there is no existing neighbor cache entry for the Client.
   Otherwise, it uses the included OMNI option information to update the
   neighbor cache entry, but does not reset ReachableTime since the
   receipt of an unsolicited NA message from the target Server does not
   provide confirmation that any forward paths to the target Client are
   working.

   If uNA messages are lost, the ROS may be left with stale address and/
   or QoS information for the Client for up to ReachableTime seconds.
   During this time, the ROS can continue sending packets according to
   its stale neighbor cache information.  When ReachableTime is close to
   expiring, the ROS will re-initiate route optimization and receive
   fresh link-layer address information.

   In addition to sending uNA messages to the current set of ROSs for
   the Client, the Server also sends uNAs to the DLA associated with the
   link-layer address for any underlying interface for which the link-
   layer address has changed.  These uNA messages update an old Proxy/
   Server that cannot easily detect (e.g., without active probing) when
   a formerly-active Client has departed.  When the Server sends the

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   uNA, it sets the IPv6 source address to the Client's LLA, sets the
   destination address to the old Proxy/Server's LLA, and sets the
   Target Address to the Client's Subnet-Router anycast address.  The
   Server also includes an OMNI option with Prefix Length set to the
   length associated with the Client's LLA, with Interface Attributes
   for the changed underlying interface, and with the OMNI header S/
   T-ifIndex set to 0.  The Server then sets the NA R flag to 1, the S
   flag to 0 and the O flag to 1, then encapsulates the message in an
   OAL header with source set to its own DLA and destination set to the
   DLA of the old Proxy/Server and sends the message into the spanning
   tree.

3.16.2.  Announcing Link-Layer Address and/or QoS Preference Changes

   When a Client needs to change its underlying interface addresses and/
   or QoS preferences (e.g., due to a mobility event), either the Client
   or its Proxys send RS messages to the Server via the spanning tree
   with an OMNI option that includes Interface attributes with the new
   link quality and address information.

   Up to MAX_RTR_SOLICITATIONS RS messages MAY be sent in parallel with
   sending actual data packets in case one or more RAs are lost.  If all
   RAs are lost, the Client SHOULD re-associate with a new Server.

   When the Server receives the Client's changes, it sends uNA messages
   to all nodes in the Report List the same as described in the previous
   section.

3.16.3.  Bringing New Links Into Service

   When a Client needs to bring new underlying interfaces into service
   (e.g., when it activates a new data link), it sends an RS message to
   the Server via the underlying interface with an OMNI option that
   includes Interface Attributes with appropriate link quality values
   and with link-layer address information for the new link.

3.16.4.  Deactivating Existing Links

   When a Client needs to deactivate an existing underlying interface,
   it sends an RS or uNA message to its Server with an OMNI option with
   appropriate Interface Attribute values - in particular, the link
   quality value 0 assures that neighbors will cease to use the link.

   If the Client needs to send RS/uNA messages over an underlying
   interface other than the one being deactivated, it MUST include
   Interface Attributes with appropriate link quality values for any
   underlying interfaces being deactivated.

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   Note that when a Client deactivates an underlying interface,
   neighbors that have received the RS/uNA messages need not purge all
   references for the underlying interface from their neighbor cache
   entries.  The Client may reactivate or reuse the underlying interface
   and/or its ifIndex at a later point in time, when it will send RS/uNA
   messages with fresh Interface Attributes to update any neighbors.

3.16.5.  Moving Between Servers

   The Client performs the procedures specified in Section 3.12.2 when
   it first associates with a new Server or renews its association with
   an existing Server.  The Client also includes MS-Release identifiers
   in the RS message OMNI option per [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface]
   if it wants the new Server to notify any old Servers from which the
   Client is departing.

   When the new Server receives the Client's RS message, it returns an
   RA as specified in Section 3.12.3 and sends up to
   MAX_NEIGHBOR_ADVERTIISEMENT uNA messages to any old Servers listed in
   OMNI option MS-Release identifiers.  When the new Server sends a uNA
   message, it sets the IPv6 source address to the Client's LLA, sets
   the destination address to the old Server's LLA, and sets the Target
   Address to the Client's Subnet-Router anycast address.  The new
   Server also includes an OMNI option with Prefix Length set to the
   length associated with the Client's LLA, with Interface Attributes
   for its own underlying interface, and with the OMNI header S/
   T-ifIndex set to 0.  The new Server then sets the NA R flag to 1, the
   S flag to 0 and the O flag to 1, then encapsulates the message in an
   OAL header with source set to its own DLA and destination set to the
   DLA of the old Server and sends the message into the spanning tree.

   When an old Server receives the uNA, it changes the Client's neighbor
   cache entry state to DEPARTED, sets the link-layer address of the
   Client to the new Server's DLA, and resets DepartTime.  After a short
   delay (e.g., 2 seconds) the old Server withdraws the Client's MNP
   from the routing system.  After DepartTime expires, the old Server
   deletes the Client's neighbor cache entry.

   The old Server also iteratively forwards a copy of the uNA message to
   each ROS in the Client's Report List by changing the OAL destination
   address to the DLA of the ROS while leaving all other fields of the
   message unmodified.  When the ROS receives the uNA, it examines the
   Target address to determine the correct asymmetric neighbor cache
   entry and verifies that the IPv6 destination address matches the old
   Server.  The ROS then caches the IPv6 source address as the new
   Server for the existing asymmetric neighbor cache entry and marks the
   entry as STALE.  While in the STALE state, the ROS allows new data
   packets to flow according to any existing cached link-layer

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   information and sends new NS(AR) messages using its own DLA as the
   OAL source and the DLA of the new Server as the OAL destination
   address to elicit NA messages that reset the asymmetric neighbor
   cache entry state to REACHABLE.  If no new NA message is received for
   10 seconds while in the STALE state, the ROS deletes the neighbor
   cache entry.

   Clients SHOULD NOT move rapidly between Servers in order to avoid
   causing excessive oscillations in the AERO routing system.  Examples
   of when a Client might wish to change to a different Server include a
   Server that has gone unreachable, topological movements of
   significant distance, movement to a new geographic region, movement
   to a new OMNI link segment, etc.

   When a Client moves to a new Server, some of the fragments of a
   multiple fragment packet may have already arrived at the old Server
   while others are en route to the new Server, however no special
   attention in the reassembly algorithm is necessary when re-routed
   fragments are simply treated as loss.

3.17.  Multicast

   The AERO Client provides an IGMP (IPv4) [RFC2236] or MLD (IPv6)
   [RFC3810] proxy service for its EUNs and/or hosted applications
   [RFC4605].  The Client forwards IGMP/MLD messages over any of its
   underlying interfaces for which group membership is required.  The
   IGMP/MLD messages may be further forwarded by a first-hop ANET access
   router acting as an IGMP/MLD-snooping switch [RFC4541], then
   ultimately delivered to an AERO Proxy/Server acting as a Protocol
   Independent Multicast - Sparse-Mode (PIM-SM, or simply "PIM")
   Designated Router (DR) [RFC7761].  AERO Relays also act as PIM
   routers (i.e., the same as AERO Proxys/Servers) on behalf of nodes on
   INET/EUN networks.  The behaviors identified in the following
   sections correspond to Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) and Any-Source
   Multicast (ASM) operational modes.

3.17.1.  Source-Specific Multicast (SSM)

   When an ROS (i.e., an AERO Proxy/Server/Relay) "X" acting as PIM
   router receives a Join/Prune message from a node on its downstream
   interfaces containing one or more ((S)ource, (G)roup) pairs, it
   updates its Multicast Routing Information Base (MRIB) accordingly.
   For each S belonging to a prefix reachable via X's non-OMNI
   interfaces, X then forwards the (S, G) Join/Prune to any PIM routers
   on those interfaces per [RFC7761].

   For each S belonging to a prefix reachable via X's OMNI interface, X
   originates a separate copy of the Join/Prune for each (S,G) in the

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   message using its own LLA as the source address and ALL-PIM-ROUTERS
   as the destination address.  X then encapsulates each message in an
   OAL header with source address set to the DLA of X and destination
   address set to S then forwards the message into the spanning tree,
   which delivers it to AERO Server/Relay "Y" that services S.  At the
   same time, if the message was a Join, X sends a route-optimization NS
   message toward each S the same as discussed in Section 3.14.  The
   resulting NAs will return the LLA for the prefix that matches S as
   the network-layer source address and with an OMNI option with the DLA
   corresponding to any underlying interfaces that are currently
   servicing S.

   When Y processes the Join/Prune message, if S located behind any
   INET, Direct, or VPNed interfaces Y acts as a PIM router and updates
   its MRIB to list X as the next hop in the reverse path.  If S is
   located behind any Proxys "Z"*, Y also forwards the message to each
   Z* over the spanning tree while continuing to use the LLA of X as the
   source address.  Each Z* then updates its MRIB accordingly and
   maintains the LLA of X as the next hop in the reverse path.  Since
   the Bridges do not examine network layer control messages, this means
   that the (reverse) multicast tree path is simply from each Z* (and/or
   Y) to X with no other multicast-aware routers in the path.  If any Z*
   (and/or Y) is located on the same OMNI link segment as X, the
   multicast data traffic sent to X directly using OAL/INET
   encapsulation instead of via a Bridge.

   Following the initial Join/Prune and NS/NA messaging, X maintains an
   asymmetric neighbor cache entry for each S the same as if X was
   sending unicast data traffic to S.  In particular, X performs
   additional NS/NA exchanges to keep the neighbor cache entry alive for
   up to t_periodic seconds [RFC7761].  If no new Joins are received
   within t_periodic seconds, X allows the neighbor cache entry to
   expire.  Finally, if X receives any additional Join/Prune messages
   for (S,G) it forwards the messages to each Y and Z* in the neighbor
   cache entry over the spanning tree.

   At some later time, Client C that holds an MNP for source S may
   depart from a first Proxy Z1 and/or connect via a new Proxy Z2.  In
   that case, Y sends an unsolicited NA message to X the same as
   specified for unicast mobility in Section 3.16.  When X receives the
   unsolicited NA message, it updates its asymmetric neighbor cache
   entry for the LLA for source S and sends new Join messages to any new
   Proxys Z2.  There is no requirement to send any Prune messages to old
   Proxys Z1 since source S will no longer source any multicast data
   traffic via Z1.  Instead, the multicast state for (S,G) in Proxy Z1
   will soon time out since no new Joins will arrive.

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   After some later time, C may move to a new Server Y2 and depart from
   old Sever Y1.  In that case, Y1 sends Join messages for any of C's
   active (S,G) groups to Y2 while including its own LLA as the source
   address.  This causes Y2 to include Y1 in the multicast forwarding
   tree during the interim time that Y1's symmetric neighbor cache entry
   for C is in the DEPARTED state.  At the same time, Y1 sends an
   unsolicited NA message to X with an OMNI option with S/T-ifIndex in
   the header set to 0 and a release indication to cause X to release
   its asymmetric neighbor cache entry.  X then sends a new Join message
   to S via the spanning tree and re-initiates route optimization the
   same as if it were receiving a fresh Join message from a node on a
   downstream link.

3.17.2.  Any-Source Multicast (ASM)

   When an ROS X acting as a PIM router receives a Join/Prune from a
   node on its downstream interfaces containing one or more (*,G) pairs,
   it updates its Multicast Routing Information Base (MRIB) accordingly.
   X then forwards a copy of the message to the Rendezvous Point (RP) R
   for each G over the spanning tree.  X uses its own LLA as the source
   address and ALL-PIM-ROUTERS as the destination address, then
   encapsulates each message in an OAL header with source address set to
   the DLA of X and destination address set to R, then sends the message
   into the spanning tree.  At the same time, if the message was a Join
   X initiates NS/NA route optimization the same as for the SSM case
   discussed in Section 3.17.1.

   For each source S that sends multicast traffic to group G via R, the
   Proxy/Server Z* for the Client that aggregates S encapsulates the
   packets in PIM Register messages and forwards them to R via the
   spanning tree, which may then elect to send a PIM Join to Z*. This
   will result in an (S,G) tree rooted at Z* with R as the next hop so
   that R will begin to receive two copies of the packet; one native
   copy from the (S, G) tree and a second copy from the pre-existing (*,
   G) tree that still uses PIM Register encapsulation.  R can then issue
   a PIM Register-stop message to suppress the Register-encapsulated
   stream.  At some later time, if C moves to a new Proxy/Server Z*, it
   resumes sending packets via PIM Register encapsulation via the new
   Z*.

   At the same time, as multicast listeners discover individual S's for
   a given G, they can initiate an (S,G) Join for each S under the same
   procedures discussed in Section 3.17.1.  Once the (S,G) tree is
   established, the listeners can send (S, G) Prune messages to R so
   that multicast packets for group G sourced by S will only be
   delivered via the (S, G) tree and not from the (*, G) tree rooted at
   R.  All mobility considerations discussed for SSM apply.

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3.17.3.  Bi-Directional PIM (BIDIR-PIM)

   Bi-Directional PIM (BIDIR-PIM) [RFC5015] provides an alternate
   approach to ASM that treats the Rendezvous Point (RP) as a Designated
   Forwarder (DF).  Further considerations for BIDIR-PIM are out of
   scope.

3.18.  Operation over Multiple OMNI Links

   An AERO Client can connect to multiple OMNI links the same as for any
   data link service.  In that case, the Client maintains a distinct
   OMNI interface for each link, e.g., 'omni0' for the first link,
   'omni1' for the second, 'omni2' for the third, etc.  Each OMNI link
   would include its own distinct set of Bridges, Servers and Proxys,
   thereby providing redundancy in case of failures.

   Each OMNI link could utilize the same or different ANET connections.
   The links can be distinguished at the link-layer via the SRT prefix
   in a similar fashion as for Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tagging
   (e.g., IEEE 802.1Q) and/or through assignment of distinct sets of
   MSPs on each link.  This gives rise to the opportunity for supporting
   multiple redundant networked paths, with each VLAN distinguished by a
   different SRT "color" (see: Section 3.2.5).

   The Client's IP layer can select the outgoing OMNI interface
   appropriate for a given traffic profile while (in the reverse
   direction) correspondent nodes must have some way of steering their
   packets destined to a target via the correct OMNI link.

   In a first alternative, if each OMNI link services different MSPs,
   then the Client can receive a distinct MNP from each of the links.
   IP routing will therefore assure that the correct Red/Green/Blue/etc.
   network is used for both outbound and inbound traffic.  This can be
   accomplished using existing technologies and approaches, and without
   requiring any special supporting code in correspondent nodes or
   Bridges.

   In a second alternative, if each OMNI link services the same MSP(s)
   then each link could assign a distinct "OMNI link Anycast" address
   that is configured by all Bridges on the link.  Correspondent nodes
   can then perform Segment Routing to select the correct SRT, which
   will then direct the packet over multiple hops to the target.

3.19.  DNS Considerations

   AERO Client MNs and INET correspondent nodes consult the Domain Name
   System (DNS) the same as for any Internetworking node.  When
   correspondent nodes and Client MNs use different IP protocol versions

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   (e.g., IPv4 correspondents and IPv6 MNs), the INET DNS must maintain
   A records for IPv4 address mappings to MNs which must then be
   populated in Relay NAT64 mapping caches.  In that way, an IPv4
   correspondent node can send packets to the IPv4 address mapping of
   the target MN, and the Relay will translate the IPv4 header and
   destination address into an IPv6 header and IPv6 destination address
   of the MN.

   When an AERO Client registers with an AERO Server, the Server can
   return the address(es) of DNS servers in RDNSS options [RFC6106].
   The DNS server provides the IP addresses of other MNs and
   correspondent nodes in AAAA records for IPv6 or A records for IPv4.

3.20.  Transition Considerations

   OAL encapsulation ensures that dissimilar INET partitions can be
   joined into a single unified OMNI link, even though the partitions
   themselves may have differing protocol versions and/or incompatible
   addressing plans.  However, a commonality can be achieved by
   incrementally distributing globally routable (i.e., native) IP
   prefixes to eventually reach all nodes (both mobile and fixed) in all
   OMNI link segments.  This can be accomplished by incrementally
   deploying AERO Relays on each INET partition, with each Relay
   distributing its MNPs and/or discovering non-MNP prefixes on its INET
   links.

   This gives rise to the opportunity to eventually distribute native IP
   addresses to all nodes, and to present a unified OMNI link view even
   if the INET partitions remain in their current protocol and
   addressing plans.  In that way, the OMNI link can serve the dual
   purpose of providing a mobility/multilink service and a transition
   service.  Or, if an INET partition is transitioned to a native IP
   protocol version and addressing scheme that is compatible with the
   OMNI link MNP-based addressing scheme, the partition and OMNI link
   can be joined by Relays.

   Relays that connect INETs/EUNs with dissimilar IP protocol versions
   may need to employ a network address and protocol translation
   function such as NAT64[RFC6146].

3.21.  Detecting and Reacting to Server and Bridge Failures

   In environments where rapid failure recovery is required, Servers and
   Bridges SHOULD use Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)
   [RFC5880].  Nodes that use BFD can quickly detect and react to
   failures so that cached information is re-established through
   alternate nodes.  BFD control messaging is carried only over well-

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   connected ground domain networks (i.e., and not low-end radio links)
   and can therefore be tuned for rapid response.

   Servers and Bridges maintain BFD sessions in parallel with their BGP
   peerings.  If a Server or Bridge fails, BGP peers will quickly re-
   establish routes through alternate paths the same as for common BGP
   deployments.  Similarly, Proxys maintain BFD sessions with their
   associated Bridges even though they do not establish BGP peerings
   with them.

   Proxys SHOULD use proactive NUD for Servers for which there are
   currently active ANET Clients in a manner that parallels BFD, i.e.,
   by sending unicast NS messages in rapid succession to receive
   solicited NA messages.  When the Proxy is also sending RS messages on
   behalf of ANET Clients, the RS/RA messaging can be considered as
   equivalent hints of forward progress.  This means that the Proxy need
   not also send a periodic NS if it has already sent an RS within the
   same period.  If a Server fails, the Proxy will cease to receive
   advertisements and can quickly inform Clients of the outage by
   sending multicast RA messages on the ANET interface.

   The Proxy sends multicast RA messages with source address set to the
   Server's address, destination address set to (link-local) All-Nodes
   multicast, and Router Lifetime set to 0.  The Proxy SHOULD send
   MAX_FINAL_RTR_ADVERTISEMENTS RA messages separated by small delays
   [RFC4861].  Any Clients on the ANET interface that have been using
   the (now defunct) Server will receive the RA messages and associate
   with a new Server.

3.22.  AERO Clients on the Open Internet

   AERO Clients that connect to the open Internet via INET interfaces
   can establish a VPN or direct link to securely connect to a Server in
   a "tethered" arrangement with all of the Client's traffic transiting
   the Server.  Alternatively, the Client can associate with an INET
   Server using UDP/IP encapsulation and asymmetric securing services as
   discussed in the following sections.

   When a Client's OMNI interface enables an INET underlying interface,
   it first determines whether the interface is likely to be behind a
   NAT.  For IPv4, the Client assumes it is on the open Internet if the
   INET address is not a special-use IPv4 address per [RFC3330].
   Similarly for IPv6, the Client assumes it is on the open Internet if
   the INET address is not a link-local [RFC4291] or unique-local
   [RFC4193] IPv6 address.

   The Client then prepares a UDP/IP-encapsulated RS message with IPv6
   source address set to its LLA, with IPv6 destination set to (link-

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   local) All-Routers multicast and with an OMNI option with underlying
   interface parameters.  If the Client believes that it is on the open
   Internet, it SHOULD include Interface Attributes with the L2ADDR used
   for INET encapsulation (otherwise, it MAY omit L2ADDR).  If the
   underlying address is IPv4, the Client includes the Port Number and
   IPv4 address written in obfuscated form [RFC4380] as discussed in
   Section 3.3.  If the underlying interface address is IPv6, the Client
   instead includes the Port Number and IPv6 address in obfuscated form.
   The Client finally includes an Authentication option per [RFC4380] to
   provide message authentication, sets the UDP/IP source to its INET
   address and UDP port, sets the UDP/IP destination to the Server's
   INET address and the AERO service port number (8060), then sends the
   message to the Server.

   When the Server receives the RS, it authenticates the message and
   registers the Client's MNP and INET interface information according
   to the OMNI option parameters.  If the RS message includes an L2ADDR
   in the OMNI option, the Server compares the encapsulation IP address
   and UDP port number with the (unobfuscated) values.  If the values
   are the same, the Server caches the Client's information as "INET"
   addresses meaning that the Client is likely to accept direct messages
   without requiring NAT traversal exchanges.  If the values are
   different (or, if the OMNI option did not include an L2ADDR) the
   Server instead caches the Client's information as "NAT" addresses
   meaning that NAT traversal exchanges may be necessary.

   The Server then returns an RA message with IPv6 source and
   destination set corresponding to the addresses in the RS, and with an
   Authentication option per [RFC4380].  For IPv4, the Server also
   includes an Origin option per [RFC4380] with the mapped and
   obfuscated Port Number and IPv4 address observed in the encapsulation
   headers.  For IPv6, the Server instead includes an IPv6 Origin option
   per Figure 6 with the mapped and obfuscated observed Port Number and
   IPv6 address (note that the value 0x02 in the second octet
   differentiates from other [RFC4380] option types).

      +--------+--------+-----------------+
      |  0x00  | 0x02   | Origin port #   |
      +--------+--------+-----------------+
      ~  Origin IPv6 address              ~
      +-----------------------------------+

                       Figure 6: IPv6 Origin Option

   When the Client receives the RA message, it compares the mapped Port
   Number and IP address from the Origin option with its own address.
   If the addresses are the same, the Client assumes the open Internet /

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   Cone NAT principle; if the addresses are different, the Client
   instead assumes that further qualification procedures are necessary
   to detect the type of NAT and proceeds according to standard
   [RFC4380] procedures.

   After the Client has registered its INET interfaces in such RS/RA
   exchanges it sends periodic RS messages to receive fresh RA messages
   before the Router Lifetime received on each INET interface expires.
   The Client also maintains default routes via its Servers, i.e., the
   same as described in earlier sections.

   When the Client sends messages to target IP addresses, it also
   invokes route optimization per Section 3.14 using IPv6 ND address
   resolution messaging.  The Client sends the NS(AR) message to the
   Server wrapped in a UDP/IP header with an Authentication option with
   the NS source address set to the Client's LLA and destination address
   set to the target solicited node multicast address.  The Server
   authenticates the message and sends a corresponding NS(AR) message
   over the spanning tree the same as if it were the ROS, but with the
   OAL source address set to the Server's DLA and destination set to the
   DLA of the target.  When the ROR receives the NS(AR), it adds the
   Server's DLA and Client's LLA to the target's Report List, and
   returns an NA with OMNI option information for the target.  The
   Server then returns a UDP/IP encapsulated NA message with an
   Authentication option to the Client.

   Following route optimization for targets in the same OMNI link
   segment, if the target's L2ADDR is on the open INET, the Client
   forwards data packets directly to the target INET address.  If the
   target is behind a NAT, the Client first establishes NAT state for
   the L2ADDR using the "bubble" mechanisms specified in
   [RFC6081][RFC4380].  The Client continues to send data packets via
   its Server until NAT state is populated, then begins forwarding
   packets via the direct path through the NAT to the target.  For
   targets in different OMNI link segments, the Client inserts an SRH
   and forwards data packets to the Bridge that returned the NA message.

   The ROR may return uNAs via the Server if the target moves, and the
   Server will send corresponding Authentication-protected uNAs to the
   Client.  The Client can also send "loopback" NS(NUD) messages to test
   forward path reachability even though there is no security
   association between the Client and the target.

   The Client sends UDP/IP encapsulated IPv6 packets no larger than 1280
   bytes in one piece.  In order to accommodate larger IPv6 packets (up
   to the OMNI interface MTU), the Client inserts an OAL header with
   source set to its own DLA and destination set to the DLA of the
   target and uses IPv6 fragmentation according to Section 3.9.  The

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   Client then encapsulates each fragment in a UDP/IP header and sends
   the fragments to the next hop.

3.22.1.  Use of SEND and CGA

   In some environments, use of the [RFC4380] Authentication option
   alone may be sufficient for assuring IPv6 ND message authentication
   between Clients and Servers.  When additional protection is
   necessary, nodes should employ SEcure Neighbor Discovery (SEND)
   [RFC3971] with Cryptographically-Generated Addresses (CGA) [RFC3972].

   When SEND/CGA are used, the Client prepares RS messages with its
   link-local CGA as the IPv6 source and (link-local) All-Routers
   multicast as the IPv6 Destination, includes any SEND options and
   wraps the message in an OAL header.  The Client sets the OAL source
   address to its own DLA and sets the OAL destination address to (site-
   local) All-Routers multicast.  The Client then wraps the RS message
   in UDP/IP headers according to [RFC4380] and sends the message to the
   Server.

   When the Server receives the message, it first verifies the
   Authentication option (if present) then uses the OAL source address
   to determine the MNP of the Client.  The Server then processes the
   SEND options to authenticate the RS message and prepares an RA
   message response.  The Server prepares the RA with its own link-local
   CGA as the IPv6 source and the CGA of the Client as the IPv6
   destination, includes any SEND options and wraps the message in an
   OAL header.  The Server sets the OAL source address to its own DLA
   and sets the OAL destination address to the Client's DLA.  The Server
   then wraps the RA message in UDP/IP headers according to [RFC4380]
   and sends the message to the Client.  Thereafter, the Client/Server
   send additional RS/RA messages to maintain their association and any
   NAT state.

   The Client and Server also may exchange NS/NA messages using their
   own CGA as the source and with OAL encapsulation as above.  When a
   Client sends an NS(AR), it sets the IPv6 source to its CGA and sets
   the IPv6 destination to the Solicited-Node Multicast address of the
   target.  The Client then wraps the message in an OAL header with its
   own DLA as the source and the DLA of the target as the destination
   and sends it to the Server.  The Server authenticates the message,
   then changes the IPv6 source address to the Client's LLA, removes the
   SEND options, and sends a corresponding NS(AR) into the spanning
   tree.  When the Server receives the corresponding OAL-encapsulated
   NA, it changes the IPv6 destination address to the Client's CGA,
   inserts SEND options, then wraps the message in UDP/IP headers and
   sends it to the Client.

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   When a Client sends a uNA, it sets the IPv6 source address to its own
   CGA and sets the IPv6 destination address to (link-local) All-Nodes
   multicast, includes SEND options, wraps the message in OAL and UDP/IP
   headers and sends the message to the Server.  The Server
   authenticates the message, then changes the IPv6 address to the
   Client's LLA, removes the SEND options and forwards the message the
   same as discussed in Section 3.16.1.  In the reverse direction, when
   the Server forwards a uNA to the Client, it changes the IPv6 address
   to its own CGA and inserts SEND options then forwards the message to
   the Client.

   When a Client sends an NS(NUD), it sets both the IPv6 source and
   destination address to its own LLA, wraps the message in an OAL
   header and UDP/IP headers, then sends the message directly to the
   peer which will loop the message back.  In this case alone, the
   Client does not use the Server as a trust broker for forwarding the
   ND message.

3.23.  Time-Varying MNPs

   In some use cases, it is desirable, beneficial and efficient for the
   Client to receive a constant MNP that travels with the Client
   wherever it moves.  For example, this would allow air traffic
   controllers to easily track aircraft, etc.  In other cases, however
   (e.g., intelligent transportation systems), the MN may be willing to
   sacrifice a modicum of efficiency in order to have time-varying MNPs
   that can be changed every so often to defeat adversarial tracking.

   The DHCPv6 service offers a way for Clients that desire time-varying
   MNPs to obtain short-lived prefixes (e.g., on the order of a small
   number of minutes).  In that case, the identity of the Client would
   not be bound to the MNP but rather the Client's identity would be
   bound to the DHCPv6 Device Unique Identifier (DUID) and used as the
   seed for Prefix Delegation.  The Client would then be obligated to
   renumber its internal networks whenever its MNP (and therefore also
   its LLA) changes.  This should not present a challenge for Clients
   with automated network renumbering services, however presents limits
   for the durations of ongoing sessions that would prefer to use a
   constant address.

4.  Implementation Status

   An early AERO implementation based on OpenVPN (https://openvpn.net/)
   was announced on the v6ops mailing list on January 10, 2018 and an
   initial public release of the AERO proof-of-concept source code was
   announced on the intarea mailing list on August 21, 2015.

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   AERO Release-3.0.2 was tagged on October 15, 2020, and is undergoing
   internal testing.  Additional releases expected Q42020, with first
   public release expected before year-end.

5.  IANA Considerations

   The IANA has assigned a 4-octet Private Enterprise Number "45282" for
   AERO in the "enterprise-numbers" registry.

   The IANA has assigned the UDP port number "8060" for an earlier
   experimental version of AERO [RFC6706].  This document obsoletes
   [RFC6706] and claims the UDP port number "8060" for all future use.

   The IANA is instructed to assign a new type value TBD in the Segment
   Routing Header TLV registry [RFC8754].

   No further IANA actions are required.

6.  Security Considerations

   AERO Bridges configure secured tunnels with AERO Servers, Relays and
   Proxys within their local OMNI link segments.  Applicable secured
   tunnel alternatives include IPsec [RFC4301], TLS/SSL [RFC8446], DTLS
   [RFC6347], WireGuard [WG], etc.  The AERO Bridges of all OMNI link
   segments in turn configure secured tunnels for their neighboring AERO
   Bridges in a spanning tree topology.  Therefore, control messages
   exchanged between any pair of OMNI link neighbors on the spanning
   tree are already secured.

   AERO Servers, Relays and Proxys targeted by a route optimization may
   also receive data packets directly from arbitrary nodes in INET
   partitions instead of via the spanning tree.  For INET partitions
   that apply effective ingress filtering to defeat source address
   spoofing, the simple data origin authentication procedures in
   Section 3.8 can be applied.

   For INET partitions that require strong security in the data plane,
   two options for securing communications include 1) disable route
   optimization so that all traffic is conveyed over secured tunnels, or
   2) enable on-demand secure tunnel creation between INET partition
   neighbors.  Option 1) would result in longer routes than necessary
   and traffic concentration on critical infrastructure elements.
   Option 2) could be coordinated by establishing a secured tunnel on-
   demand instead of performing an NS/NA exchange in the route
   optimization procedures.  Procedures for establishing on-demand
   secured tunnels are out of scope.

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   AERO Clients that connect to secured ANETs need not apply security to
   their ND messages, since the messages will be intercepted by a
   perimeter Proxy that applies security on its INET-facing interface as
   part of the spanning tree (see above).  AERO Clients connected to the
   open INET can use symmetric network and/or transport layer security
   services such as VPNs or can by some other means establish a direct
   link.  When a VPN or direct link may be impractical, however, an
   asymmetric security service such as SEcure Neighbor Discovery (SEND)
   [RFC3971] with Cryptographically Generated Addresses (CGAs) [RFC3972]
   and/or the Authentication option [RFC4380] can be applied.

   Application endpoints SHOULD use application-layer security services
   such as TLS/SSL, DTLS or SSH [RFC4251] to assure the same level of
   protection as for critical secured Internet services.  AERO Clients
   that require host-based VPN services SHOULD use symmetric network
   and/or transport layer security services such as IPsec, TLS/SSL,
   DTLS, etc.  AERO Proxys and Servers can also provide a network-based
   VPN service on behalf of the Client, e.g., if the Client is located
   within a secured enclave and cannot establish a VPN on its own
   behalf.

   AERO Servers and Bridges present targets for traffic amplification
   Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.  This concern is no different than
   for widely-deployed VPN security gateways in the Internet, where
   attackers could send spoofed packets to the gateways at high data
   rates.  This can be mitigated by connecting Servers and Bridges over
   dedicated links with no connections to the Internet and/or when
   connections to the Internet are only permitted through well-managed
   firewalls.  Traffic amplification DoS attacks can also target an AERO
   Client's low data rate links.  This is a concern not only for Clients
   located on the open Internet but also for Clients in secured
   enclaves.  AERO Servers and Proxys can institute rate limits that
   protect Clients from receiving packet floods that could DoS low data
   rate links.

   AERO Relays must implement ingress filtering to avoid a spoofing
   attack in which spurious messages with DLA addresses are injected
   into an OMNI link from an outside attacker.  AERO Clients MUST ensure
   that their connectivity is not used by unauthorized nodes on their
   EUNs to gain access to a protected network, i.e., AERO Clients that
   act as routers MUST NOT provide routing services for unauthorized
   nodes.  (This concern is no different than for ordinary hosts that
   receive an IP address delegation but then "share" the address with
   other nodes via some form of Internet connection sharing such as
   tethering.)

   The MAP list MUST be well-managed and secured from unauthorized
   tampering, even though the list contains only public information.

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   The MAP list can be conveyed to the Client in a similar fashion as in
   [RFC5214] (e.g., through layer 2 data link login messaging, secure
   upload of a static file, DNS lookups, etc.).

   Although public domain and commercial SEND implementations exist,
   concerns regarding the strength of the cryptographic hash algorithm
   have been documented [RFC6273] [RFC4982].

   SRH authentication facilities are specified in [RFC8754].

   Security considerations for accepting link-layer ICMP messages and
   reflected packets are discussed throughout the document.

   Security considerations for IPv6 fragmentation and reassembly are
   discussed in [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface].

7.  Acknowledgements

   Discussions in the IETF, aviation standards communities and private
   exchanges helped shape some of the concepts in this work.
   Individuals who contributed insights include Mikael Abrahamsson, Mark
   Andrews, Fred Baker, Bob Braden, Stewart Bryant, Brian Carpenter,
   Wojciech Dec, Pavel Drasil, Ralph Droms, Adrian Farrel, Nick Green,
   Sri Gundavelli, Brian Haberman, Bernhard Haindl, Joel Halpern, Tom
   Herbert, Sascha Hlusiak, Lee Howard, Zdenek Jaron, Andre Kostur,
   Hubert Kuenig, Ted Lemon, Andy Malis, Satoru Matsushima, Tomek
   Mrugalski, Madhu Niraula, Alexandru Petrescu, Behcet Saikaya, Michal
   Skorepa, Joe Touch, Bernie Volz, Ryuji Wakikawa, Tony Whyman, Lloyd
   Wood and James Woodyatt.  Members of the IESG also provided valuable
   input during their review process that greatly improved the document.
   Special thanks go to Stewart Bryant, Joel Halpern and Brian Haberman
   for their shepherding guidance during the publication of the AERO
   first edition.

   This work has further been encouraged and supported by Boeing
   colleagues including Kyle Bae, M.  Wayne Benson, Dave Bernhardt, Cam
   Brodie, John Bush, Balaguruna Chidambaram, Irene Chin, Bruce Cornish,
   Claudiu Danilov, Don Dillenburg, Joe Dudkowski, Wen Fang, Samad
   Farooqui, Anthony Gregory, Jeff Holland, Seth Jahne, Brian Jaury,
   Greg Kimberly, Ed King, Madhuri Madhava Badgandi, Laurel Matthew,
   Gene MacLean III, Rob Muszkiewicz, Sean O'Sullivan, Vijay
   Rajagopalan, Greg Saccone, Rod Santiago, Kent Shuey, Brian Skeen,
   Mike Slane, Carrie Spiker, Katie Tran, Brendan Williams, Amelia
   Wilson, Julie Wulff, Yueli Yang, Eric Yeh and other members of the
   Boeing mobility, networking and autonomy teams.  Kyle Bae, Wayne
   Benson, Katie Tran and Eric Yeh are especially acknowledged for
   implementing the AERO functions as extensions to the public domain
   OpenVPN distribution.

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   Earlier works on NBMA tunneling approaches are found in
   [RFC2529][RFC5214][RFC5569].

   Many of the constructs presented in this second edition of AERO are
   based on the author's earlier works, including:

   o  The Internet Routing Overlay Network (IRON)
      [RFC6179][I-D.templin-ironbis]

   o  Virtual Enterprise Traversal (VET)
      [RFC5558][I-D.templin-intarea-vet]

   o  The Subnetwork Encapsulation and Adaptation Layer (SEAL)
      [RFC5320][I-D.templin-intarea-seal]

   o  AERO, First Edition [RFC6706]

   Note that these works cite numerous earlier efforts that are not also
   cited here due to space limitations.  The authors of those earlier
   works are acknowledged for their insights.

   This work is aligned with the NASA Safe Autonomous Systems Operation
   (SASO) program under NASA contract number NNA16BD84C.

   This work is aligned with the FAA as per the SE2025 contract number
   DTFAWA-15-D-00030.

   This work is aligned with the Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA)
   Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomy programs.

   This work is aligned with the Boeing Information Technology (BIT)
   MobileNet program.

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.templin-6man-omni-interface]
              Templin, F. and T. Whyman, "Transmission of IP Packets
              over Overlay Multilink Network (OMNI) Interfaces", draft-
              templin-6man-omni-interface-50 (work in progress), October
              2020.

   [RFC0791]  Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc791>.

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   [RFC0792]  Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", STD 5,
              RFC 792, DOI 10.17487/RFC0792, September 1981,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc792>.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC2473]  Conta, A. and S. Deering, "Generic Packet Tunneling in
              IPv6 Specification", RFC 2473, DOI 10.17487/RFC2473,
              December 1998, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2473>.

   [RFC3971]  Arkko, J., Ed., Kempf, J., Zill, B., and P. Nikander,
              "SEcure Neighbor Discovery (SEND)", RFC 3971,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3971, March 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3971>.

   [RFC3972]  Aura, T., "Cryptographically Generated Addresses (CGA)",
              RFC 3972, DOI 10.17487/RFC3972, March 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3972>.

   [RFC4191]  Draves, R. and D. Thaler, "Default Router Preferences and
              More-Specific Routes", RFC 4191, DOI 10.17487/RFC4191,
              November 2005, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4191>.

   [RFC4193]  Hinden, R. and B. Haberman, "Unique Local IPv6 Unicast
              Addresses", RFC 4193, DOI 10.17487/RFC4193, October 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4193>.

   [RFC4380]  Huitema, C., "Teredo: Tunneling IPv6 over UDP through
              Network Address Translations (NATs)", RFC 4380,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4380, February 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4380>.

   [RFC4861]  Narten, T., Nordmark, E., Simpson, W., and H. Soliman,
              "Neighbor Discovery for IP version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 4861,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4861, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4861>.

   [RFC4862]  Thomson, S., Narten, T., and T. Jinmei, "IPv6 Stateless
              Address Autoconfiguration", RFC 4862,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4862, September 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4862>.

   [RFC6081]  Thaler, D., "Teredo Extensions", RFC 6081,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6081, January 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6081>.

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   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8200]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
              (IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.

   [RFC8415]  Mrugalski, T., Siodelski, M., Volz, B., Yourtchenko, A.,
              Richardson, M., Jiang, S., Lemon, T., and T. Winters,
              "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6)",
              RFC 8415, DOI 10.17487/RFC8415, November 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8415>.

8.2.  Informative References

   [BGP]      Huston, G., "BGP in 2015, http://potaroo.net", January
              2016.

   [I-D.bonica-6man-comp-rtg-hdr]
              Bonica, R., Kamite, Y., Alston, A., Henriques, D., and L.
              Jalil, "The IPv6 Compact Routing Header (CRH)", draft-
              bonica-6man-comp-rtg-hdr-23 (work in progress), October
              2020.

   [I-D.bonica-6man-crh-helper-opt]
              Li, X., Bao, C., Ruan, E., and R. Bonica, "Compressed
              Routing Header (CRH) Helper Option", draft-bonica-6man-
              crh-helper-opt-02 (work in progress), October 2020.

   [I-D.ietf-intarea-frag-fragile]
              Bonica, R., Baker, F., Huston, G., Hinden, R., Troan, O.,
              and F. Gont, "IP Fragmentation Considered Fragile", draft-
              ietf-intarea-frag-fragile-17 (work in progress), September
              2019.

   [I-D.ietf-intarea-tunnels]
              Touch, J. and M. Townsley, "IP Tunnels in the Internet
              Architecture", draft-ietf-intarea-tunnels-10 (work in
              progress), September 2019.

   [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-atn-bgp]
              Templin, F., Saccone, G., Dawra, G., Lindem, A., and V.
              Moreno, "A Simple BGP-based Mobile Routing System for the
              Aeronautical Telecommunications Network", draft-ietf-
              rtgwg-atn-bgp-06 (work in progress), June 2020.

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   [I-D.templin-6man-dhcpv6-ndopt]
              Templin, F., "A Unified Stateful/Stateless Configuration
              Service for IPv6", draft-templin-6man-dhcpv6-ndopt-10
              (work in progress), June 2020.

   [I-D.templin-intarea-seal]
              Templin, F., "The Subnetwork Encapsulation and Adaptation
              Layer (SEAL)", draft-templin-intarea-seal-68 (work in
              progress), January 2014.

   [I-D.templin-intarea-vet]
              Templin, F., "Virtual Enterprise Traversal (VET)", draft-
              templin-intarea-vet-40 (work in progress), May 2013.

   [I-D.templin-ironbis]
              Templin, F., "The Interior Routing Overlay Network
              (IRON)", draft-templin-ironbis-16 (work in progress),
              March 2014.

   [I-D.templin-v6ops-pdhost]
              Templin, F., "IPv6 Prefix Delegation and Multi-Addressing
              Models", draft-templin-v6ops-pdhost-26 (work in progress),
              June 2020.

   [OVPN]     OpenVPN, O., "http://openvpn.net", October 2016.

   [RFC1035]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
              specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, DOI 10.17487/RFC1035,
              November 1987, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1035>.

   [RFC1812]  Baker, F., Ed., "Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers",
              RFC 1812, DOI 10.17487/RFC1812, June 1995,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1812>.

   [RFC2003]  Perkins, C., "IP Encapsulation within IP", RFC 2003,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2003, October 1996,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2003>.

   [RFC2236]  Fenner, W., "Internet Group Management Protocol, Version
              2", RFC 2236, DOI 10.17487/RFC2236, November 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2236>.

   [RFC2464]  Crawford, M., "Transmission of IPv6 Packets over Ethernet
              Networks", RFC 2464, DOI 10.17487/RFC2464, December 1998,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2464>.

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   [RFC2529]  Carpenter, B. and C. Jung, "Transmission of IPv6 over IPv4
              Domains without Explicit Tunnels", RFC 2529,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2529, March 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2529>.

   [RFC2983]  Black, D., "Differentiated Services and Tunnels",
              RFC 2983, DOI 10.17487/RFC2983, October 2000,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2983>.

   [RFC3168]  Ramakrishnan, K., Floyd, S., and D. Black, "The Addition
              of Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to IP",
              RFC 3168, DOI 10.17487/RFC3168, September 2001,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3168>.

   [RFC3330]  IANA, "Special-Use IPv4 Addresses", RFC 3330,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3330, September 2002,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3330>.

   [RFC3810]  Vida, R., Ed. and L. Costa, Ed., "Multicast Listener
              Discovery Version 2 (MLDv2) for IPv6", RFC 3810,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3810, June 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3810>.

   [RFC4251]  Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
              Protocol Architecture", RFC 4251, DOI 10.17487/RFC4251,
              January 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4251>.

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
              Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4271>.

   [RFC4291]  Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
              Architecture", RFC 4291, DOI 10.17487/RFC4291, February
              2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4291>.

   [RFC4301]  Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, DOI 10.17487/RFC4301,
              December 2005, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4301>.

   [RFC4389]  Thaler, D., Talwar, M., and C. Patel, "Neighbor Discovery
              Proxies (ND Proxy)", RFC 4389, DOI 10.17487/RFC4389, April
              2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4389>.

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   [RFC4443]  Conta, A., Deering, S., and M. Gupta, Ed., "Internet
              Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet
              Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Specification", STD 89,
              RFC 4443, DOI 10.17487/RFC4443, March 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4443>.

   [RFC4511]  Sermersheim, J., Ed., "Lightweight Directory Access
              Protocol (LDAP): The Protocol", RFC 4511,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4511, June 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4511>.

   [RFC4541]  Christensen, M., Kimball, K., and F. Solensky,
              "Considerations for Internet Group Management Protocol
              (IGMP) and Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) Snooping
              Switches", RFC 4541, DOI 10.17487/RFC4541, May 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4541>.

   [RFC4605]  Fenner, B., He, H., Haberman, B., and H. Sandick,
              "Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) / Multicast
              Listener Discovery (MLD)-Based Multicast Forwarding
              ("IGMP/MLD Proxying")", RFC 4605, DOI 10.17487/RFC4605,
              August 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4605>.

   [RFC4982]  Bagnulo, M. and J. Arkko, "Support for Multiple Hash
              Algorithms in Cryptographically Generated Addresses
              (CGAs)", RFC 4982, DOI 10.17487/RFC4982, July 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4982>.

   [RFC5015]  Handley, M., Kouvelas, I., Speakman, T., and L. Vicisano,
              "Bidirectional Protocol Independent Multicast (BIDIR-
              PIM)", RFC 5015, DOI 10.17487/RFC5015, October 2007,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5015>.

   [RFC5214]  Templin, F., Gleeson, T., and D. Thaler, "Intra-Site
              Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol (ISATAP)", RFC 5214,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5214, March 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5214>.

   [RFC5320]  Templin, F., Ed., "The Subnetwork Encapsulation and
              Adaptation Layer (SEAL)", RFC 5320, DOI 10.17487/RFC5320,
              February 2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5320>.

   [RFC5522]  Eddy, W., Ivancic, W., and T. Davis, "Network Mobility
              Route Optimization Requirements for Operational Use in
              Aeronautics and Space Exploration Mobile Networks",
              RFC 5522, DOI 10.17487/RFC5522, October 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5522>.

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   [RFC5558]  Templin, F., Ed., "Virtual Enterprise Traversal (VET)",
              RFC 5558, DOI 10.17487/RFC5558, February 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5558>.

   [RFC5569]  Despres, R., "IPv6 Rapid Deployment on IPv4
              Infrastructures (6rd)", RFC 5569, DOI 10.17487/RFC5569,
              January 2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5569>.

   [RFC5880]  Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (BFD)", RFC 5880, DOI 10.17487/RFC5880, June 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5880>.

   [RFC6106]  Jeong, J., Park, S., Beloeil, L., and S. Madanapalli,
              "IPv6 Router Advertisement Options for DNS Configuration",
              RFC 6106, DOI 10.17487/RFC6106, November 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6106>.

   [RFC6146]  Bagnulo, M., Matthews, P., and I. van Beijnum, "Stateful
              NAT64: Network Address and Protocol Translation from IPv6
              Clients to IPv4 Servers", RFC 6146, DOI 10.17487/RFC6146,
              April 2011, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6146>.

   [RFC6179]  Templin, F., Ed., "The Internet Routing Overlay Network
              (IRON)", RFC 6179, DOI 10.17487/RFC6179, March 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6179>.

   [RFC6221]  Miles, D., Ed., Ooghe, S., Dec, W., Krishnan, S., and A.
              Kavanagh, "Lightweight DHCPv6 Relay Agent", RFC 6221,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6221, May 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6221>.

   [RFC6273]  Kukec, A., Krishnan, S., and S. Jiang, "The Secure
              Neighbor Discovery (SEND) Hash Threat Analysis", RFC 6273,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6273, June 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6273>.

   [RFC6347]  Rescorla, E. and N. Modadugu, "Datagram Transport Layer
              Security Version 1.2", RFC 6347, DOI 10.17487/RFC6347,
              January 2012, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6347>.

   [RFC6438]  Carpenter, B. and S. Amante, "Using the IPv6 Flow Label
              for Equal Cost Multipath Routing and Link Aggregation in
              Tunnels", RFC 6438, DOI 10.17487/RFC6438, November 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6438>.

   [RFC6706]  Templin, F., Ed., "Asymmetric Extended Route Optimization
              (AERO)", RFC 6706, DOI 10.17487/RFC6706, August 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6706>.

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   [RFC6935]  Eubanks, M., Chimento, P., and M. Westerlund, "IPv6 and
              UDP Checksums for Tunneled Packets", RFC 6935,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6935, April 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6935>.

   [RFC6936]  Fairhurst, G. and M. Westerlund, "Applicability Statement
              for the Use of IPv6 UDP Datagrams with Zero Checksums",
              RFC 6936, DOI 10.17487/RFC6936, April 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6936>.

   [RFC7333]  Chan, H., Ed., Liu, D., Seite, P., Yokota, H., and J.
              Korhonen, "Requirements for Distributed Mobility
              Management", RFC 7333, DOI 10.17487/RFC7333, August 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7333>.

   [RFC7761]  Fenner, B., Handley, M., Holbrook, H., Kouvelas, I.,
              Parekh, R., Zhang, Z., and L. Zheng, "Protocol Independent
              Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM): Protocol Specification
              (Revised)", STD 83, RFC 7761, DOI 10.17487/RFC7761, March
              2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7761>.

   [RFC8402]  Filsfils, C., Ed., Previdi, S., Ed., Ginsberg, L.,
              Decraene, B., Litkowski, S., and R. Shakir, "Segment
              Routing Architecture", RFC 8402, DOI 10.17487/RFC8402,
              July 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8402>.

   [RFC8446]  Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
              Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8446>.

   [RFC8754]  Filsfils, C., Ed., Dukes, D., Ed., Previdi, S., Leddy, J.,
              Matsushima, S., and D. Voyer, "IPv6 Segment Routing Header
              (SRH)", RFC 8754, DOI 10.17487/RFC8754, March 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8754>.

   [WG]       Wireguard, "Wireguard, https://www.wireguard.com", August
              2020.

Appendix A.  Non-Normative Considerations

   AERO can be applied to a multitude of Internetworking scenarios, with
   each having its own adaptations.  The following considerations are
   provided as non-normative guidance:

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A.1.  Implementation Strategies for Route Optimization

   Route optimization as discussed in Section 3.14 results in the route
   optimization source (ROS) creating an asymmetric neighbor cache entry
   for the target neighbor.  The neighbor cache entry is maintained for
   at most ReachableTime seconds and then deleted unless updated.  In
   order to refresh the neighbor cache entry lifetime before the
   ReachableTime timer expires, the specification requires
   implementations to issue a new NS/NA exchange to reset ReachableTime
   while data packets are still flowing.  However, the decision of when
   to initiate a new NS/NA exchange and to perpetuate the process is
   left as an implementation detail.

   One possible strategy may be to monitor the neighbor cache entry
   watching for data packets for (ReachableTime - 5) seconds.  If any
   data packets have been sent to the neighbor within this timeframe,
   then send an NS to receive a new NA.  If no data packets have been
   sent, wait for 5 additional seconds and send an immediate NS if any
   data packets are sent within this "expiration pending" 5 second
   window.  If no additional data packets are sent within the 5 second
   window, delete the neighbor cache entry.

   The monitoring of the neighbor data packet traffic therefore becomes
   an asymmetric ongoing process during the neighbor cache entry
   lifetime.  If the neighbor cache entry expires, future data packets
   will trigger a new NS/NA exchange while the packets themselves are
   delivered over a longer path until route optimization state is re-
   established.

A.2.  Implicit Mobility Management

   OMNI interface neighbors MAY provide a configuration option that
   allows them to perform implicit mobility management in which no ND
   messaging is used.  In that case, the Client only transmits packets
   over a single interface at a time, and the neighbor always observes
   packets arriving from the Client from the same link-layer source
   address.

   If the Client's underlying interface address changes (either due to a
   readdressing of the original interface or switching to a new
   interface) the neighbor immediately updates the neighbor cache entry
   for the Client and begins accepting and sending packets according to
   the Client's new address.  This implicit mobility method applies to
   use cases such as cellphones with both WiFi and Cellular interfaces
   where only one of the interfaces is active at a given time, and the
   Client automatically switches over to the backup interface if the
   primary interface fails.

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A.3.  Direct Underlying Interfaces

   When a Client's OMNI interface is configured over a Direct interface,
   the neighbor at the other end of the Direct link can receive packets
   without any encapsulation.  In that case, the Client sends packets
   over the Direct link according to QoS preferences.  If the Direct
   interface has the highest QoS preference, then the Client's IP
   packets are transmitted directly to the peer without going through an
   ANET/INET.  If other interfaces have higher QoS preferences, then the
   Client's IP packets are transmitted via a different interface, which
   may result in the inclusion of Proxys, Servers and Bridges in the
   communications path.  Direct interfaces must be tested periodically
   for reachability, e.g., via NUD.

A.4.  AERO Critical Infrastructure Considerations

   AERO Bridges can be either Commercial off-the Shelf (COTS) standard
   IP routers or virtual machines in the cloud.  Bridges must be
   provisioned, supported and managed by the INET administrative
   authority, and connected to the Bridges of other INETs via inter-
   domain peerings.  Cost for purchasing, configuring and managing
   Bridges is nominal even for very large OMNI links.

   AERO Servers can be standard dedicated server platforms, but most
   often will be deployed as virtual machines in the cloud.  The only
   requirements for Servers are that they can run the AERO user-level
   code and have at least one network interface connection to the INET.
   As with Bridges, Servers must be provisioned, supported and managed
   by the INET administrative authority.  Cost for purchasing,
   configuring and managing Servers is nominal especially for virtual
   Servers hosted in the cloud.

   AERO Proxys are most often standard dedicated server platforms with
   one network interface connected to the ANET and a second interface
   connected to an INET.  As with Servers, the only requirements are
   that they can run the AERO user-level code and have at least one
   interface connection to the INET.  Proxys must be provisioned,
   supported and managed by the ANET administrative authority.  Cost for
   purchasing, configuring and managing Proxys is nominal, and borne by
   the ANET administrative authority.

   AERO Relays can be any dedicated server or COTS router platform
   connected to INETs and/or EUNs.  The Relay connects to the OMNI link
   and engages in eBGP peering with one or more Bridges as a stub AS.
   The Relay then injects its MNPs and/or non-MNP prefixes into the BGP
   routing system, and provisions the prefixes to its downstream-
   attached networks.  The Relay can perform ROS/ROR services the same

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   as for any Server, and can route between the MNP and non-MNP address
   spaces.

A.5.  AERO Server Failure Implications

   AERO Servers may appear as a single point of failure in the
   architecture, but such is not the case since all Servers on the link
   provide identical services and loss of a Server does not imply
   immediate and/or comprehensive communication failures.  Although
   Clients typically associate with a single Server at a time, Server
   failure is quickly detected and conveyed by Bidirectional Forward
   Detection (BFD) and/or proactive NUD allowing Clients to migrate to
   new Servers.

   If a Server fails, ongoing packet forwarding to Clients will continue
   by virtue of the asymmetric neighbor cache entries that have already
   been established in route optimization sources (ROSs).  If a Client
   also experiences mobility events at roughly the same time the Server
   fails, unsolicited NA messages may be lost but proxy neighbor cache
   entries in the DEPARTED state will ensure that packet forwarding to
   the Client's new locations will continue for up to DepartTime
   seconds.

   If a Client is left without a Server for an extended timeframe (e.g.,
   greater than ReachableTime seconds) then existing asymmetric neighbor
   cache entries will eventually expire and both ongoing and new
   communications will fail.  The original source will continue to
   retransmit until the Client has established a new Server
   relationship, after which time continuous communications will resume.

   Therefore, providing many Servers on the link with high availability
   profiles provides resilience against loss of individual Servers and
   assurance that Clients can establish new Server relationships quickly
   in event of a Server failure.

A.6.  AERO Client / Server Architecture

   The AERO architectural model is client / server in the control plane,
   with route optimization in the data plane.  The same as for common
   Internet services, the AERO Client discovers the addresses of AERO
   Servers and selects one Server to connect to.  The AERO service is
   analogous to common Internet services such as google.com, yahoo.com,
   cnn.com, etc.  However, there is only one AERO service for the link
   and all Servers provide identical services.

   Common Internet services provide differing strategies for advertising
   server addresses to clients.  The strategy is conveyed through the
   DNS resource records returned in response to name resolution queries.

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   As of January 2020 Internet-based 'nslookup' services were used to
   determine the following:

   o  When a client resolves the domainname "google.com", the DNS always
      returns one A record (i.e., an IPv4 address) and one AAAA record
      (i.e., an IPv6 address).  The client receives the same addresses
      each time it resolves the domainname via the same DNS resolver,
      but may receive different addresses when it resolves the
      domainname via different DNS resolvers.  But, in each case,
      exactly one A and one AAAA record are returned.

   o  When a client resolves the domainname "ietf.org", the DNS always
      returns one A record and one AAAA record with the same addresses
      regardless of which DNS resolver is used.

   o  When a client resolves the domainname "yahoo.com", the DNS always
      returns a list of 4 A records and 4 AAAA records.  Each time the
      client resolves the domainname via the same DNS resolver, the same
      list of addresses are returned but in randomized order (i.e.,
      consistent with a DNS round-robin strategy).  But, interestingly,
      the same addresses are returned (albeit in randomized order) when
      the domainname is resolved via different DNS resolvers.

   o  When a client resolves the domainname "amazon.com", the DNS always
      returns a list of 3 A records and no AAAA records.  As with
      "yahoo.com", the same three A records are returned from any
      worldwide Internet connection point in randomized order.

   The above example strategies show differing approaches to Internet
   resilience and service distribution offered by major Internet
   services.  The Google approach exposes only a single IPv4 and a
   single IPv6 address to clients.  Clients can then select whichever IP
   protocol version offers the best response, but will always use the
   same IP address according to the current Internet connection point.
   This means that the IP address offered by the network must lead to a
   highly-available server and/or service distribution point.  In other
   words, resilience is predicated on high availability within the
   network and with no client-initiated failovers expected (i.e., it is
   all-or-nothing from the client's perspective).  However, Google does
   provide for worldwide distributed service distribution by virtue of
   the fact that each Internet connection point responds with a
   different IPv6 and IPv4 address.  The IETF approach is like google
   (all-or-nothing from the client's perspective), but provides only a
   single IPv4 or IPv6 address on a worldwide basis.  This means that
   the addresses must be made highly-available at the network level with
   no client failover possibility, and if there is any worldwide service
   distribution it would need to be conducted by a network element that
   is reached via the IP address acting as a service distribution point.

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   In contrast to the Google and IETF philosophies, Yahoo and Amazon
   both provide clients with a (short) list of IP addresses with Yahoo
   providing both IP protocol versions and Amazon as IPv4-only.  The
   order of the list is randomized with each name service query
   response, with the effect of round-robin load balancing for service
   distribution.  With a short list of addresses, there is still
   expectation that the network will implement high availability for
   each address but in case any single address fails the client can
   switch over to using a different address.  The balance then becomes
   one of function in the network vs function in the end system.

   The same implications observed for common highly-available services
   in the Internet apply also to the AERO client/server architecture.
   When an AERO Client connects to one or more ANETs, it discovers one
   or more AERO Server addresses through the mechanisms discussed in
   earlier sections.  Each Server address presumably leads to a fault-
   tolerant clustering arrangement such as supported by Linux-HA,
   Extended Virtual Synchrony or Paxos.  Such an arrangement has
   precedence in common Internet service deployments in lightweight
   virtual machines without requiring expensive hardware deployment.
   Similarly, common Internet service deployments set service IP
   addresses on service distribution points that may relay requests to
   many different servers.

   For AERO, the expectation is that a combination of the Google/IETF
   and Yahoo/Amazon philosophies would be employed.  The AERO Client
   connects to different ANET access points and can receive 1-2 Server
   LLAs at each point.  It then selects one AERO Server address, and
   engages in RS/RA exchanges with the same Server from all ANET
   connections.  The Client remains with this Server unless or until the
   Server fails, in which case it can switch over to an alternate
   Server.  The Client can likewise switch over to a different Server at
   any time if there is some reason for it to do so.  So, the AERO
   expectation is for a balance of function in the network and end
   system, with fault tolerance and resilience at both levels.

Appendix B.  Change Log

   << RFC Editor - remove prior to publication >>

   Changes from draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-61 to draft-templin-
   intrea-6706bis-62:

   o  New sub-section on OMNI Neighbor Interface Attributes

   Changes from draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-59 to draft-templin-
   intrea-6706bis-60:

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   o  Removed all references to S/TLLAO - all Interface Attributes are
      now maintained completely in the OMNI option.

   Changes from draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-58 to draft-templin-
   intrea-6706bis-59:

   o  The term "Relay" used in older draft versions is now "Bridge".
      "Relay" now refers to what was formally called: "Gateway".

   o  Fine-grained cleanup of Forwarding Algorithm; IPv6 ND message
      addressing; OMNI Prefix Lengths, etc.

   Changes from draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-54 to draft-templin-
   intrea-6706bis-55:

   o  Updates on Segment Routing and S/TLLAO contents.

   o  Various editorials and addressing cleanups.

   Changes from draft-templin-intarea-6706bis-52 to draft-templin-
   intrea-6706bis-53:

   o  Normative reference to the OMNI spec, and remove portions that are
      already specified in OMNI.

   o  Renamed "AERO interface/link" to "OMIN interface/link" throughout
      the document.

   o  Truncated obsolete back section matter.

Author's Address

   Fred L. Templin (editor)
   Boeing Research & Technology
   P.O. Box 3707
   Seattle, WA  98124
   USA

   Email: fltemplin@acm.org

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