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Using Saratoga with a Bundle Agent as a Convergence Layer for Delay- Tolerant Networking
draft-wood-dtnrg-saratoga-12

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Authors Lloyd Wood , Jim McKim , Wesley Eddy , Will Ivancic , Chris Jackson
Last updated 2013-04-21
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draft-wood-dtnrg-saratoga-12
Network Working Group                                            L. Wood
Internet-Draft                                             Surrey alumni
Intended status: Experimental                                   J. McKim
Expires: October 23, 2013                                           RSIS
                                                              W. M. Eddy
                                                             MTI Systems
                                                              W. Ivancic
                                                                    NASA
                                                              C. Jackson
                                                                    SSTL
                                                          April 21, 2013

  Using Saratoga with a Bundle Agent as a Convergence Layer for Delay-
                          Tolerant Networking
                      draft-wood-dtnrg-saratoga-12

Abstract

   Saratoga is a simple, lightweight, UDP-based transfer protocol.  This
   describes how to use Saratoga as a Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN)
   "convergence layer" with the Bundle Protocol and its Bundle Agents,
   building on the Saratoga specification in draft-wood-tsvwg-saratoga.

Status of This Memo

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

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on October 23, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 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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   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Background  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Applicability Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Using Saratoga with a DTN Bundle Agent  . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Proactive and Reactive Fragmentation  . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   7.  A Note on Naming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   8.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

1.  Background

   The Saratoga protocol is specified in [I-D.wood-tsvwg-saratoga].
   Saratoga can optionally be used for Delay/Disruption-Tolerant
   Networking (DTN) [RFC4838], as a "convergence layer" to exchange
   bundles between peer nodes.  Saratoga was originally designed prior
   to work on the Bundle Protocol [RFC5050] by the DTN Research Group
   (DTNRG).  It was later recognized that Saratoga could also be used to
   reliably exchange bundles between DTNRG Bundle Agents by using a
   logical mapping from DTNRG bundles to Saratoga files and back.  The
   DTN concept encompasses networks where ad-hoc, intermittent
   connectivity is expected, connections may be infrequently established
   or short-lived, and end-to-end paths are not present.  As Saratoga
   was designed for intermittent, disrupted, space communications,
   Saratoga's operating environment is a DTN network.  This makes the
   Saratoga transfer protocol a natural fit as a convergence layer for
   the DTNRG's Bundle Protocol, although the Bundle Protocol is not
   necessary for operation of Saratoga.

   This document contains notes on use of Saratoga for the bundle
   transfer procedure.

   Bundle transfers over Saratoga from space and the UK-DMC satellite,
   with use of proactive fragmentation, have now been demonstrated.
   More details are provided in [IAC-2008] [SSTL-2008] [Ivancic10].

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2.  Applicability Statement

   Why use Saratoga as a DTN convergence layer?  The DTN architecture
   already has a number of choices of convergence layer.  Convergence
   layers have been proposed for various link types, e.g.  Ethernet or
   Bluetooth.  As IP already runs over many link types, a convergence
   layer that can run over many links using IP is likely to take
   advantage of TCP or UDP.

   For traversing the terrestrial Internet while supporting congestion
   control, a simple TCP convergence layer has been implemented in the
   DTN software reference implementation [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-tcp-clayer].  A
   simple UDP convergence layer, able to be used over dedicated private
   links where congestion control is not required, is also present.
   However, that simple UDP convergence layer presumes that a bundle
   will always fit into a single UDP packet, does not support
   segmentation of bundles across multiple UDP packets, and does not
   guarantee reliable delivery with retransmissions.  Its use is
   discouraged [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-udp-clayer].

   Two protocols capable of supporting segmentation of large bundles
   across multiple UDP packets, with ARQ-based flexible delivery robust
   to packet loss, are Saratoga [I-D.wood-tsvwg-saratoga] and the
   Licklider Transmission Protocol (LTP) [RFC5325].

   Both Saratoga and LTP were designed based on experience gained with
   using the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP), which was developed
   for the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS).  The
   main design difference between LTP and Saratoga is that LTP transfers
   arbitrary un-named data blobs (binary large objects), requiring a
   higher layer (normally delay-tolerant-networking bundling) to handle
   naming, while Saratoga transfers named files including file metadata,
   and can be independent of higher layers.  Both protocols can run over
   the User Datagram Protocol, UDP [RFC0768], though LTP also is
   intended to run at other layers in the stack (including directly over
   the link), while Saratoga is only intended to run above the UDP or
   UDP-Lite transport protocols.  If errors in delivered content can be
   tolerated (perhaps because the data being transferred has its own
   integrity checks), Saratoga can also be used to transfer an entire
   file or stream without error checking, using UDP-Lite [RFC3828],
   which can protect only header content from errors.

   Saratoga includes a file checksum mechanism to detect transfer errors
   and to provide an overall degree of reliability.  Licklider has no
   similar reliability mechanism, although Licklider's optional security
   mechanism [RFC5327] can be implemented to give some error detection.

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   Saratoga can also be used for delivery over unidirectional broadcast
   links.  Another UDP-based convergence layer proposed for
   unidirectional links is Uni-DTN [I-D.kutscher-dtnrg-uni-clayer].
   Uni-DTN is based on FLUTE forward layered coding for multicast
   delivery.  Saratoga presumes that the forward error coding needed to
   prevent errors in transmission is present at another layer in the
   stack, usually near the physical layer.

3.  Using Saratoga with a DTN Bundle Agent

   While Saratoga was first developed for efficient file transfer, the
   similarity between bundle payloads and files, in that both are
   arbitrary blobs of some number of octets, allows Saratoga to be used
   as a convergence layer for exchanging bundles between DTN bundle
   agents.  This section explains the basic concepts involved in mapping
   bundle exchange onto the file transfer mechanism.

   Routing of bundles is outside the scope of Saratoga and of this
   document.  Once a complete bundle file has been transferred between
   peers using Saratoga, that bundle can be forwarded onwards along a
   next available hop in any way.  Saratoga provides a mechanism for
   forwarding, but does provide input to routing or forwarding
   decisions.

   A DTN bundle agent can work alongside a Saratoga peer to move
   bundles.  One simple method of communicating bundles between the
   bundle agent and the Saratoga peer is to have a shared directory that
   is accessible to both the bundle and Saratoga processes.  To send a
   bundle, the bundle agent can place the complete bundle (the
   concatenated set of Bundle Protocol blocks) into a file in this
   shared directory.  The local Saratoga instance is then able to _put_
   this bundle to peers or allow them to _get_ it.  A flag bit in the
   Saratoga METADATA and DATA packets indicates whether a particular
   file is a bundle or not.  This enables the receiving Saratoga peer to
   know whether to handle the file itself, or to pass it to the local
   bundle agent.

   When using Saratoga as a convergence layer to transfer bundles, the
   local bundle agent will either place bundles as files for Saratoga to
   transfer from its directory, or otherwise use interprocess
   communication to notify Saratoga of and provide a bundle to be
   transferred.

   Key to the use of Saratoga for bundle transfer are:

   - indicating the capability to interoperate with a local bundle
   agent.  This involves advertising the capability to handle bundles
   via setting Flag bit 10 in Saratoga BEACON packets, and indicating

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   when a bundle is being transferred by setting Flag bits 10 and 11 in
   the METADATA and DATA packets.

   - identifying the Bundle Agent in use, by providing an Endpoint
   Identifier (EID) in the Saratoga BEACON packet.

   Note that the name of a file holding a bundle is actually
   unimportant, as long as it can be determined that it does hold a
   bundle.  The filename becomes temporary, and local only to the
   transfer.  One implementation strategy is to name each bundle file
   with a file name constructed from two fields of the Primary Bundle
   Header: the DTN Endpoint Identifier (EID) of the destination node and
   the bundle's creation time field.  In the rare case of filename
   collisions in using this scheme, additional octets can be appended to
   the filename following some arbitrary local scheme.  Bundle files
   might be placed in different directories with different Saratoga-peer
   access controls depending on the intended next-hop, if this
   information is known ahead of time.  In any case, Saratoga only
   provides the transfer mechanism, and any forwarding decisions based
   on routing intelligence would be made within the DTN bundle agents.
   All of this detail is considered a matter of implementation for the
   bundle agent, and is not specified here.

   The identity field in the Saratoga BEACON packet allows a local DTN
   bundle agent to advertise its administrative EID via Saratoga.  Other
   Saratoga peers that hear that BEACON can then notify their local DTN
   bundle agents of the contact.  These notifications might be used to
   integrate contact information into a routing information base, as
   they are similar to the "hello" packets used in several routing
   protocols.  However, this is outside the scope of this document.

   The "epoch" format used in Saratoga timestamps in file object records
   is the number of seconds since January 1, 2000 in UTC, which is the
   same epoch used in the DTN Bundle Protocol for timestamps.  This must
   include all leapseconds.

   We expect that Saratoga instances will often work in conjunction with
   DTN bundle agents to fill the role of a convergence-layer adapter
   between bundle agents connected via point-to-point links.  Saratoga
   implementations designed to work this way should have a way of
   notifying bundle agents when they receive BEACONs from other nodes,
   and when transfers have completed.  In order for custody transfer to
   function properly, notifications between the Saratoga instances and
   bundle agents on both sides of a fully-successful bundle file
   transfer are required.

   When Saratoga is used as a convergence-layer adapter, it is desirable
   to turn on Saratoga's end-to-end checksum facilty to provide an

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   indication of correct bundle transfer.  This is necessary due to the
   bundle protocol design not including its own reliability checks for
   internal robustness.  See discussion of this problem with the bundle
   protocol in [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-bundle-checksum].

4.  Proactive and Reactive Fragmentation

   Proactive fragmentation - splitting a bundle, before transfer, into
   multiple separate Saratoga transfers that are reassembled after
   delivery at the receiving peer - is relatively straightforward.
   Reactive fragmentation - recovery of disrupted partial transfers - is
   less so.

   For bundle file transfers, the local bundle agent could interact with
   Saratoga in order to perform a reactive fragmentation of the bundle
   whose transfer was interrupted by expiration of the inactivity timer.
   For DTN custody transfer, we expect complications to be encountered
   in making this reactive fragmentation work properly, and the details
   required to implement this functionality are left out of this
   specification until more experience has been obtained with reactive
   fragmentation in general.

   This document does not specify the functionality required for
   reactive fragmentation of bundles as described in [RFC4838], other
   than what is needed to support disrupted delivery and hop-by-hop
   custody transfer of complete bundles.  Reactive fragmentation of
   bundles lies outside the scope of custody transfer of complete
   bundles, and of this document.

   However, the status of a transfer that Saratoga provides to a bundle
   agent could be used to trigger the reactive fragmentation of bundles
   if a bundle file transfer is interrupted part-way through (assuming
   at least the bundle protocol headers and some portion of the data was
   successfully transferred first).  This would allow for efficient
   recovery when unplanned interruptions occur.  This requires some
   coordination between the Saratoga node and the local bundle agent at
   each end.  The local API or coupling between the Saratoga peer and
   its bundle agent does not affect the interoperability between either
   the Saratoga peers or the DTN bundle agents, assuming that both sides
   agree that fragmentation will occur at the lowest un-acknowledged
   octet of the bundle file after the disruption.  Reactive
   fragmentation and any forwarding of the fragments onwards for
   reassembly at some downstream node is solely a bundle-agent problem.

5.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no actions for IANA.

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6.  Security Considerations

   When Saratoga is also used with a bundle agent, the security and
   reliability considerations that have been outlined in detail in
   [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-bundle-checksum] should be borne in mind.

   Security in DTNs is in general considered an open issue.  If a
   framework of techniques for handling security in DTN scenarios
   emerges, Saratoga might be adapted to conform to this.

7.  A Note on Naming

   Saratoga is named for the USS Saratoga (CV-3), the aircraft carrier
   sunk at Bikini Atoll and now a popular diving site.

   The philosophy behind the protocol and its use described here can be
   summarized as Saratoga Carries Upper Bundles Adequately, or SCUBA.

8.  Informative References

   [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-bundle-checksum]
              Eddy, W., Wood, L., and W. Ivancic, "Reliability-only
              Ciphersuites for the Bundle Protocol", draft-irtf-dtnrg-
              bundle-checksum-09 (work in progress), May 2011.

   [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-tcp-clayer]
              Demmer, M., Ott, J., and S. Perreault, "Delay Tolerant
              Networking TCP Convergence Layer Protocol", draft-irtf-
              dtnrg-tcp-clayer-05 (work in progress), January 2013.

   [I-D.irtf-dtnrg-udp-clayer]
              Kruse, H. and S. Ostermann, "UDP Convergence Layers for
              the DTN Bundle and LTP Protocols", draft-irtf-dtnrg-udp-
              clayer-00 (work in progress), November 2008.

   [I-D.kutscher-dtnrg-uni-clayer]
              Kutscher, D., "Uni-DTN: A DTN Convergence Layer Protocol
              for Unidirectional Transport", draft-kutscher-dtnrg-uni-
              clayer-00 (work in progress), April 2007.

   [I-D.wood-tsvwg-saratoga]
              Wood, L., McKim, J., Eddy, W., Ivancic, W., and C.
              Jackson, "Saratoga: A Scalable File Transfer Protocol",
              draft-wood-tsvwg-saratoga-13 (work in progress) , April
              2013.

   [IAC-2008]

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              Wood, L., Ivancic, W., Eddy, W., Stewart, D., Northam, J.,
              Jackson, C., and A. da Silva Curiel, "Use of the Delay-
              Tolerant Networking Bundle Protocol from Space",
              conference paper IAC-08-B.2.3.10, 59th International
              Astronautical Congress, Glasgow , September 2008.

   [Ivancic10]
              Ivancic, W., Eddy, W., Stewart, D., Wood, L., Northam, J.,
              and C. Jackson, "Experience with delay-tolerant networking
              from orbit", International Journal of Satellite
              Communications and Networking, Special Issue on best
              papers of the Fourth Advanced Satellite Mobile Systems
              Conference (ASMS 2008), vol. 28, issues 5-6, pp. 335-351,
              September-December 2010.

   [RFC0768]  Postel, J., "User Datagram Protocol", STD 6, RFC 768,
              August 1980.

   [RFC3828]  Larzon, L-A., Degermark, M., Pink, S., Jonsson, L-E., and
              G. Fairhurst, "The Lightweight User Datagram Protocol
              (UDP-Lite)", RFC 3828, July 2004.

   [RFC4838]  Cerf, V., Burleigh, S., Hooke, A., Torgerson, L., Durst,
              R., Scott, K., Fall, K., and H. Weiss, "Delay-Tolerant
              Networking Architecture", RFC 4838, April 2007.

   [RFC5050]  Scott, K. and S. Burleigh, "Bundle Protocol
              Specification", RFC 5050, November 2007.

   [RFC5325]  Burleigh, S., Ramadas, M., and S. Farrell, "Licklider
              Transmission Protocol - Motivation", RFC 5325, September
              2008.

   [RFC5327]  Farrell, S., Ramadas, M., and S. Burleigh, "Licklider
              Transmission Protocol - Security Extensions", RFC 5327,
              September 2008.

   [SSTL-2008]
              , "UK-DMC satellite first to transfer sensor data from
              space using 'bundle' protocol", press release, Surrey
              Satellite Technology Ltd , September 2008.

Authors' Addresses

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   Lloyd Wood
   University of Surrey alumni
   Sydney, New South Wales
   Australia

   Email: L.Wood@society.surrey.ac.uk

   Jim McKim
   RS Information Systems
   NASA Glenn Research Center
   21000 Brookpark Road, MS 142-1
   Cleveland, OH  44135
   USA

   Phone: +1-216-433-6536
   Email: James.H.McKim@grc.nasa.gov

   Wesley M. Eddy
   MTI Systems
   MS 500-ASRC
   NASA Glenn Research Center
   21000 Brookpark Road
   Cleveland, OH  44135
   USA

   Phone: +1-216-433-6682
   Email: weddy@grc.nasa.gov

   Will Ivancic
   NASA Glenn Research Center
   21000 Brookpark Road, MS 54-5
   Cleveland, OH  44135
   USA

   Phone: +1-216-433-3494
   Email: William.D.Ivancic@grc.nasa.gov

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   Chris Jackson
   Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
   Tycho House
   Surrey Space Centre
   20 Stephenson Road
   Guildford, Surrey  GU2 7YE
   United Kingdom

   Phone: +44-1483-803-803
   Email: C.Jackson@sstl.co.uk

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