ROLL                                                             D. Popa
Internet-Draft                                               J. Jetcheva
Intended status: Standards Track                                   Itron
Expires: March 30, 2012                                        N. Dejean
                                                              Elster SAS
                                                              R. Salazar
                                                              Landis+Gyr
                                                                  J. Hui
                                                                   Cisco
                                                      September 27, 2011


Applicability Statement for the Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy
                     Networks (RPL) in AMI Networks
                  draft-ietf-roll-applicability-ami-03

Abstract

   This document discusses the applicability of RPL in Advanced Metering
   Infrastructure (AMI) networks.

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
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on March 30, 2012.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect



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   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.1.  Electric Metering  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.2.  Gas and Water Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.3.  Routing Protocol for LLNs (RPL)  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.4.  Requirements Language  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.  Deployment Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.1.  Network Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       2.1.1.  Electric Meter Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       2.1.2.  Energy-Constrained Network Infrastructure  . . . . . .  6
     2.2.  Traffic Characteristics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.2.1.  Smart Metering Data  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       2.2.2.  Distribution Automation Communication  . . . . . . . .  8
       2.2.3.  Emerging Applications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   3.  Using RPL to Meet Functional Requirements  . . . . . . . . . .  8
   4.  RPL Profile  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     4.1.  RPL Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.1.1.  RPL Instances  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.1.2.  Storing vs. Non-Storing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.1.3.  DAO Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.1.4.  Path Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.1.5.  Objective Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.1.6.  DODAG Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.1.7.  Multicast  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       4.1.8.  Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       4.1.9.  P2P communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     4.2.  Recommended Configuration Defaults and Ranges  . . . . . . 12
       4.2.1.  Trickle Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.2.2.  Other Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   5.  Manageability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   7.  Other Related Protocols  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   8.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   9.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     10.1. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     10.2. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16






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1.  Introduction

   Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems enable the
   measurement, configuration, and control of energy, gas and water
   consumption and distribution, through two-way scheduled, on
   exception, and on-demand communication.

   AMI networks are composed of millions of endpoints, including meters,
   distribution automation elements, and home area network devices.
   They are typically inter-connected using some combination of wireless
   technologies and power-line communications, along with a backhaul
   network providing connectivity to "command-and-control" management
   software applications at the utility company back office.

1.1.  Electric Metering

   In many deployments, in addition to measuring energy consumption, the
   electric meter network plays a central role in the Smart Grid since
   it enables the utility company to control and query the electric
   meters themselves and also since it can serve as a backhaul for all
   other devices in the Smart Grid, e.g., water and gas meters,
   distribution automation and home area network devices.  Electric
   meters may also be used as sensors to monitor electric grid quality
   and to support applications such as Electric Vehicle charging.

   Electric meter networks are composed of millions of smart meters (or
   nodes), each of which is resource-constrained in terms of processing
   power, storage capabilities, and communication bandwidth, due to a
   combination of factors including Federal Communications Commission
   (FCC) or other continents' regulations on spectrum use, American
   National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards or other continents'
   regulation on meter behavior and performance, on heat emissions
   within the meter, form factor and cost considerations.  These
   constraints result in a compromise between range and throughput, with
   effective link throughput of tens to a few hundred kilobits per
   second per link, a potentially significant portion of which is taken
   up by protocol and encryption overhead when strong security measures
   are in place.

   Electric meters are often interconnected into multi-hop mesh
   networks, each of which is connected to a backhaul network leading to
   the utility company network through a network aggregation point,
   e.g., an LBR (LLN Border Router).

1.2.  Gas and Water Metering

   While electric meters typically consume electricity from the same
   electric feed that they are monitoring, gas and water meters



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   typically run on a modest source of stored energy (e.g., batteries).

   In some scenarios, gas and water meters are integrated into the same
   AMI network as the electric meters and may operate as network
   endpoints (rather than routers) in order to prolong their own
   lifetime.  In other scenarios, however, such meters may not have the
   luxury of relying on a fully powered AMI routing infrastructure but
   must communicate through a dedicated infrastructure to reach a LBR.
   This infrastructure can be either powered by the electricity grid, by
   battery-based devices, or ones relying on alternative sources of
   energy (e.g., solar power).

1.3.  Routing Protocol for LLNs (RPL)

   RPL provides routing functionality for mesh networks that can scale
   up to thousands of resource-constrained devices, interconnected by
   low power and lossy links, and communicating with the external
   network infrastructure through a common aggregation point(s) (e.g., a
   LBR).

   RPL builds a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) routing structure rooted at
   the LBR, ensures loop-free routing, and provides support for
   alternate routes, as well as, for a wide range of routing metrics and
   policies.

   RPL was desgined to operate in energy-constrained environments and
   includes energy-saving mechanisms (e.g., Trickle timers) and energy-
   aware metrics.  Its ability to support multiple different metrics and
   constraints at the same time enables it to run efficiently in
   heterogeneous networks composed of nodes and links with vastly
   different characteristics[I-D.ietf-roll-routing-metrics].

   This note describes the applicability of RPL (as defined in
   [I-D.ietf-roll-rpl]) to AMI deployments.  RPL was designed to meet
   the following application requirements:

   o  Routing Requirements for Urban Low-Power and Lossy Networks
      [RFC5548].

   o  Industrial Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy Networks
      [RFC5673].

   o  Home Automation Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy
      Networks [RFC5826].

   o  Building Automation Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy
      Networks [RFC5867].




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   The Routing Requirements for Urban Low-Power and Lossy Networks are
   applicable to AMI networks as well.

   The terminology used in this document is defined in
   [I-D.ietf-roll-terminology].

1.4.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].


2.  Deployment Scenarios

2.1.  Network Topology

   AMI networks are composed of millions of endpoints distributed across
   both urban and rural environments.  Such endpoints include electric,
   gas, and water meters, distribution automation elements, and home
   area network devices.  Devices in the network communicate directly
   with other devices in close proximity using a variety of low-power
   and/or lossy link technologies that are both wired and wireless
   (e.g., IEEE 802.15.4, IEEE P1901.2, and 802.11).  In addition to
   serving as sources and destinations of packets, many network elements
   typically also forward packets and thus form a mesh topology.

2.1.1.  Electric Meter Network

   In a typical AMI deployment, groups of meters within physical
   proximity form routing domains, each in the order of a 1,000 to
   10,000 meters.  Thus, each electric meter mesh typically has several
   thousand wireless endpoints, with densities varying based on the area
   and the terrain.  For example, apartment buildings in urban centers
   may have hundreds of meters in close proximity, whereas rural areas
   may have sparse node distributions and include nodes that only have a
   small number of network neighbors.

   Each routing domain is connected to the larger IP infrastructure
   through one or more LBRs, which provide Wide Area Network (WAN)
   connectivity through various traditional network technologies, e.g.,
   Ethernet, cellular, private WAN.  Paths in the mesh between a network
   node and the nearest LBR may be composed of several hops or even
   several tens of hops.

   Powered from the main line, electric meters have less energy
   constraints than battery powered devices, such as gas and water
   meters, and can afford the additional resources required to route



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   packets.  In mixed environments, electric meters can provide the
   routing topology while gas and water meters can operate as leaf
   nodes.

   Electric meter networks may also serve as transit networks for other
   types of devices, including distribution automation elements (e.g.,
   sensors and actuators), and in-home devices.  These other devices may
   utilize a different link-layer technology than the one used in the
   meter network.

   The routing protocol operating in networks with the topology
   characteristics described above needs to be able to scale with
   network size and number of forwarding hops, and have the ability to
   handle a wide range of network densities.

2.1.2.  Energy-Constrained Network Infrastructure

   In the absence of a co-located electric meter network, gas and water
   meters must either connect directly to the larger IP network
   infrastructure or rely on a dedicated routing infrastructure.
   Deploying such infrastructures is a challenging task as the routing
   devices can sometimes only be placed in specific locations and thus
   do not always have access to a continous energy source.  Battery-
   operated or energy-harvesting (e.g., equipped with solar panels)
   routers are thus often used in these kinds of scenarios.

   Due to the expected lifetime (10 to 20 years) of such networks and
   their reliance on alternative sources of energy, energy consumption
   needs to be taken into account when designing and deploying them.
   There are a number of challenging trade-offs and considerations that
   exist in that respect.  One such consideration is that managing a
   higher number of meters per router leads to increased energy
   consumption.  However, increasing the number of routers in the
   network and thus reducing the number of meters managed by each router
   increases deployment and maintenance costs.  At the same time, the
   use of a sparser routing infrastructure necessitates the use of
   higher transmit power levels at nodes in the network, which causes
   increased energy consumption.

   The deployment and operational needs of energy-constrained network
   infrastructure require the use of routing mechanisms that take into
   account energy consumption, minimize energy use and prolong network
   lifetime.

2.2.  Traffic Characteristics






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2.2.1.  Smart Metering Data

   In current AMI deployments, metering applications typically require
   all smart meters to communicate with a few head-end servers, deployed
   in the utility company data center.

   Head-end servers generate data traffic to configure smart metering
   devices or initiate queries, and use unicast and multicast to
   efficiently communicate with a single device or groups of devices
   respectively (i.e., Point-to-Multipoint (P2MP) communication).  The
   head-end server may send a single small packet at a time to the
   meters (e.g., a meter read request, a small configuration change) or
   a series of large packets (e.g., a firmware upgrade across one or
   even thousands of devices).  The frequency of large file transfers,
   e.g., firmware upgrade of all metering devices, is typically much
   lower than the frequency of sending configuration messages or
   queries.

   Each smart meter generates Smart Metering Data (SMD) traffic
   according to a schedule (e.g., periodic meter reads), in response to
   on-demand queries (e.g., on-demand meter reads), or in response to
   some local event (e.g., power outage, leak detection).  Such traffic
   is typically destined to a single head-end server.

   The bulk of the SMD traffic tends to be directed towards the LBR,
   both in terms of bytes (since reports are typically much larger than
   queries) and in terms of number of packets, e.g., some reports have
   to be split into multiple packets due to packet size limitations,
   periodic reports can be sent without requiring a query to be sent for
   each one first, unsolicited events like alarms and outage
   notifications are only generated by the meters and sent towards the
   LBR.  The SMD traffic is thus highly asymmetric, where the majority
   of the traffic volume generated by the smart meters typically goes
   through the LBRs, and is directed from the smart meter devices to the
   head-end servers, in a Multipoint-to-Point (MP2P) fashion.

   Current SMD traffic patterns are fairly uniform and well-understood.
   The traffic generated by the head-end server and destined to metering
   devices is dominated by periodic meter reads, while traffic generated
   by the metering devices is typically uniformly spread over some
   periodic read time-window.

   Smart metering applications typically do not have hard real-time
   constraints, but they are often subject to bounded latency and
   stringent reliability service level agreements.

   From a routing perspective, SMD applications require efficient P2MP
   communication between the devices in the network and one or more



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   LBRs.  In addition, timely loop resolution and broken link repair are
   needed to meet latency requirements.  Finally, the availability of
   redundant paths is important for increasing network reliability.

2.2.2.  Distribution Automation Communication

   Distribution Automation (DA) applications typically involve a small
   number of devices that communicate with each other in a Point-to-
   Point (P2P) fashion, and may or may not be in close physical
   proximity.

   DA applications typically have more stringent latency requirements
   than SMD applications.

2.2.3.  Emerging Applications

   There are a number of emerging applications such as electric vehicle
   charging.  These applications may require P2P communication and may
   eventually have more stringent latency requirements than SMD
   applications.


3.  Using RPL to Meet Functional Requirements

   The functional requirements for most AMI deployments are similar to
   those listed in [RFC5548]:

   o  The routing protocol MUST be capable of supporting the
      organization of a large number of nodes into regions containing on
      the order of 10^2 to 10^4 nodes each.

   o  The routing protocol MUST provide mechanisms to support
      configuration of the routing protocol itself.

   o  The routing protocol SHOULD support and utilize the large number
      of highly directed flows to a few head-end servers to handle
      scalability.

   o  The routing protocol MUST dynamically compute and select effective
      routes composed of low-power and lossy links.  Local network
      dynamics SHOULD NOT impact the entire network.  The routing
      protocol MUST compute multiple paths when possible.

   o  The routing protocol MUST support multicast and anycast
      addressing.  The routing protocol SHOULD support formation and
      identification of groups of field devices in the network.

   RPL supports:



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   o  Large-scale networks characterized by highly directed traffic
      flows between each smart meter and the head-end servers in the
      utility network.  To this end, RPL builds a Directed Acyclic Graph
      (DAG) rooted at each LBR.

   o  Zero-touch configuration.  This is done through in-band methods
      for configuring RPL variables using DIO messages.

   o  The use of links with time-varying quality characteristics.  This
      is accomplished by allowing the use of metrics that effectively
      capture the quality of a path (e.g., Expected Transmission Count
      (ETX)) and by limiting the impact of changing local conditions by
      discovering and maintaining multiple DAG parents, and by using
      local repair mechanisms when DAG links break.


4.  RPL Profile

   This section outlines a RPL profile for a representative AMI
   deployment.

4.1.  RPL Features

4.1.1.  RPL Instances

   RPL operation is defined for a single RPL instance.  However,
   multiple RPL instances can be supported in multi-service networks
   where different applications may require the use of different routing
   metrics and constraints, e.g., a network carrying both SDM and DA
   traffic.

4.1.2.  Storing vs. Non-Storing Mode

   In most scenarios, electric meters are powered by the electric grid
   they are monitoring and are not energy-constrained.  Instead, the
   capabilities of an electric meter are primarily determined by cost.
   As a result, different AMI deployments can vary significantly in
   terms of the memory, computation, and communication trade-offs they
   embody.  For this reason, the use of RPL storing or non-storing mode
   SHOULD be deployment specific.

   For example, when meters are memory constrained and cannot adequately
   store the route tables necessary to support downward routing in a
   typical deployment, non-storing mode is preferred.  When nodes are
   capable of storing such routing tables, storing mode may lead to
   reduced overhead and route repair latency.





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4.1.3.  DAO Policy

   Two-way communication is a requirement in AMI systems.  As a result,
   nodes SHOULD send DAO messages to establish downward paths from the
   root to themselves.

4.1.4.  Path Metrics

   Smart metering deployments utilize link technologies that may exhibit
   significant packet loss and thus require routing metrics that take
   packet loss into account.  To characterize a path over such link
   technologies, AMI deployments can use the Expected Transmission Count
   (ETX) metric as defined in[I-D.ietf-roll-routing-metrics].

   For water- and gas-only networks that do not rely on powered
   infrastructure, simpler metrics that require less energy to compute
   would be more appropriate.  In particular, a combination of hop count
   and link quality can satisfy this requirement.  As minimizing energy
   consumption is critical in these types of networks, available node
   energy should also be used in conjunction with these two metrics.
   The usage of additional metrics specifically designed for such
   networks may be defined in companion RFCs.

4.1.5.  Objective Function

   RPL relies on an Objective Function for selecting parents and
   computing path costs and rank.  This objective function is decoupled
   from the core RPL mechanisms and also from the metrics in use in the
   network.  Two objective functions for RPL have been defined at the
   time of this writing, OF0 and MRHOF, both of which define the
   selection of a preferred parent and backup parents, and are suitable
   for AMI deployments.

   Neither of the currently defined objective functions supports
   multiple metrics that might be required in heterogeneous networks
   (e.g., networks composed of devices with different energy
   constraints) or combination of metrics that might be required for
   water- and gas-only networks.  Additional objective functions
   specifically designed for such networks may be defined in companion
   RFCs.

4.1.6.  DODAG Repair

   To effectively handle time-varying link characteristics and
   availability, AMI deployments SHOULD utilize the local repair
   mechanisms in RPL.

   Local repair is triggered by broken link detection and in storing



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   mode by loop detection as well.

   The first local repair mechanism consists of a node detaching from a
   DODAG and then re-attaching to the same or to a different DODAG at a
   later time.  While detached, a node advertises an infinite rank value
   so that its children can select a different parent.  This process is
   known as poisoning and is described in Section 8.2.2.5 of
   [I-D.ietf-roll-rpl].  While RPL provides an option to form a local
   DODAG, doing so in AMI deployments is of little benefit since AMI
   applications typically communicate through a LBR.  After the detached
   node has made sufficient effort to send notification to its children
   that it is detached, the node can rejoin the same DODAG with a higher
   rank value.  The configured duration of the poisoning mechanism needs
   to take into account the disconnection time applications running over
   the network can tolerate.  Note that when joining a different DODAG,
   the node need not perform poisoning.

   The second local repair mechanism controls how much a node can
   increase its rank within a given DODAG Version (e.g., after detaching
   from the DODAG as a result of broken link or loop detection).
   Setting the DAGMaxRankIncrease to a non-zero value enables this
   mechanism, and setting it to a value of less than infinity limits the
   cost of count-to-infinity scenarios when they occur, thus controlling
   the duration of disconnection applications may experience.

4.1.7.  Multicast

   RPL defines multicast support for its storing mode of operation,
   where the DODAG structure built for unicast packet dissemination is
   used for multicast distribution as well.  In particular, multicast
   forwarding state creation is done through DAO messages with multicast
   target options sent along the DODAG towards the root.  Thereafter
   nodes with forwarding state for a particular group forward multicast
   packets along the DODAG by copying them to all children from which
   they have received a DAO with a multicast target option for the
   group.

   Multicast support for RPL in non-storing mode will be defined in
   companion RFCs.

4.1.8.  Security

   AMI deployments operate in areas that do not provide any physical
   security.  For this reason, the link layer, transport layer and
   application layer technologies utilized within AMI networks typically
   provide security mechanisms to ensure authentication,
   confidentiality, integrity, and freshness.  As a result, AMI
   deployments may not need to implement RPL's security mechanisms and



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   could rely on link layer and higher layer security features.

4.1.9.  P2P communications

   Distribution Automation and other emerging applications may require
   efficient P2P communications.  Basic P2P capabilities are already
   defined in the RPL RFC [I-D.ietf-roll-rpl].  Additional mechanisms
   for efficient P2P communication are being developed in companion
   RFCs.

4.2.  Recommended Configuration Defaults and Ranges

4.2.1.  Trickle Parameters

   Trickle was designed to be density-aware and perform well in networks
   characterized by a wide range of node densities.  The combination of
   DIO packet suppression and adaptive timers for sending updates allows
   Trickle to perform well in both sparse and dense environments.

   Node densities in AMI deployments can vary greatly, from nodes having
   only one or a handful of neighbors to nodes having several hundred
   neighbors.  In high density environments, relatively low values for
   Imin may cause a short period of congestion when an inconsistency is
   detected and DIO updates are sent by a large number of neighboring
   nodes nearly simultaneously.  While the Trickle timer will
   exponentially backoff, some time may elapse before the congestion
   subsides.  While some link layers employ contention mechanisms that
   attempt to avoid congestion, relying solely on the link layer to
   avoid congestion caused by a large number of DIO updates can result
   in increased communication latency for other control and data traffic
   in the network.

   To mitigate this kind of short-term congestion, this document
   recommends a more conservative set of values for the Trickle
   parameters than those specified in [RFC6206].  In particular,
   DIOIntervalMin is set to a larger value to avoid periods of
   congestion in dense environments, and DIORefundancyConstant is
   parameterized accordingly as described below.  These values are
   appropriate for the timely distribution of DIO updates in both sparse
   and dense scenarios while avoiding the short-term congestion that
   might arise in dense scenarios.

   Because the actual link capacity depends on the particular link
   technology used within an AMI deployment, the Trickle parameters are
   specified in terms of the link's maximum capacity for transmitting
   link-local multicast messages.  If the link can transmit m link-local
   multicast packets per second on average, the expected time it takes
   to transmit a link-local multicast packet is 1/m seconds.



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   DIOIntervalMin:  AMI deployments SHOULD set DIOIntervalMin such that
      the Trickle Imin is at least 50 times as long as it takes to
      transmit a link-local multicast packet.  This value is larger than
      that recommended in [RFC6206] to avoid congestion in dense urban
      deployments as described above.  In energy-constrained deployments
      (e.g., in water and gas battery-based routing infrastructure),
      DIOIntervalMin MAY be set to a value resulting in a Trickle Imin
      of several (e.g. 2) hours.

   DIOIntervalDoublings:  AMI deployments SHOULD set
      DIOIntervalDoublings such that the Trickle Imax is at least 2
      hours or more.  For very energy constrained deployments (e.g.,
      water and gas battery-based routing infrastructure),
      DIOIntervalDoublings MAY be set to a value resulting in a Trickle
      Imax of several (e.g., 2) days.

   DIORedundancyConstant:  AMI deployments SHOULD set
      DIORedundancyConstant to a value of at least 10.  This is due to
      the larger chosen value for DIOIntervalMin and the proportional
      relationship between Imin and k suggested in [RFC6206].  This
      increase is intended to compensate for the increased communication
      latency of DIO updates caused by the increase in the
      DIOIntervalMin value, though the proportional relationship between
      Imin and k suggested in [RFC6206] is not preserved.  Instead,
      DIORedundancyConstant is set to a lower value in order to reduce
      the number of packet transmissions in dense environments.

4.2.2.  Other Parameters

   o  AMI deployments SHOULD set MinHopRankIncrease to 256, resulting in
      8 bits of resolution (e.g., for the ETX metric).

   o  To enable local repair, AMI deployments SHOULD set MaxRankIncrease
      to a value that allows a device to move a small number of hops
      away from the root.  With a MinHopRankIncrease of 256, a
      MaxRankIncrease of 1024 would allow a device to move up to 4 hops
      away.


5.  Manageability Considerations

   Network manageability is a critical aspect of smart grid network
   deployment and operation.  With millions of devices participating in
   the smart grid network, many requiring real-time reachability,
   automatic configuration, and lightweight network health monitoring
   and management are crucial for achieving network availability and
   efficient operation.




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   RPL enables automatic and consistent configuration of RPL routers
   through parameters specified by the DODAG root and disseminated
   through DIO packets.  The use of Trickle for scheduling DIO
   transmissions ensures lightweight yet timely propagation of important
   network and parameter updates and allows network operators to choose
   the trade-off point they are comfortable with respect to overhead vs.
   reliability and timeliness of network updates.

   The metrics in use in the network along with the Trickle Timer
   parameters used to control the frequency and redundancy of network
   updates can be dynamically varied by the root during the lifetime of
   the network.  To that end, all DIO messages SHOULD contain a Metric
   Container option for disseminating the metrics and metric values used
   for DODAG setup.  In addition, DIO messages SHOULD contain a DODAG
   Configuration option for disseminating the Trickle Timer parameters
   throughout the network.

   The possibility of dynamically updating the metrics in use in the
   network as well as the frequency of network updates allows deployment
   characteristics (e.g., network density) to be discovered during
   network bring-up and to be used to tailor network parameters once the
   network is operational rather than having to rely on precise pre-
   configuration.  This also allows the network parameters and the
   overall routing protocol behavior to evolve during the lifetime of
   the network.

   RPL specifies a number of variables and events that can be tracked
   for purposes of network fault and performance monitoring of RPL
   routers.  Depending on the memory and processing capabilities of each
   smart grid device, various subsets of these can be employed in the
   field.


6.  Security Considerations

   Smart grid networks are subject to stringent security requirements as
   they are considered a critical infrastructure component.  At the same
   time, since they are composed of large numbers of resource-
   constrained devices inter-connected with limited-throughput links,
   many available security mechanisms are not practical for use in such
   networks.  As a result, the choice of security mechanisms is highly
   dependent on the device and network capabilities characterizing a
   particular deployment.

   In contrast to other types of LLNs, in smart grid networks
   centralized administrative control and access to a permanent secure
   infrastructure is available.  As a result link-layer, transport-layer
   and/or application-layer security mechanisms are typically in place



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   and using RPL's secure mode is not necessary.


7.  Other Related Protocols

   This document contains no other related protocols.


8.  IANA Considerations

   This memo includes no request to IANA.


9.  Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to acknowledge the review, feedback, and
   comments of Jari Arkko, Dominique Barthel, Cedric Chauvenet, Philip
   Levis, and JP Vasseur.


10.  References

10.1.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-6man-rpl-option]
              Hui, J. and J. Vasseur, "RPL Option for Carrying RPL
              Information in Data-Plane Datagrams",
              draft-ietf-6man-rpl-option-03 (work in progress),
              March 2011.

   [I-D.ietf-roll-p2p-rpl]
              Goyal, M., Baccelli, E., Philipp, M., Brandt, A., Cragie,
              R., and J. Martocci, "Reactive Discovery of Point-to-Point
              Routes in Low Power and Lossy Networks",
              draft-ietf-roll-p2p-rpl-04 (work in progress), July 2011.

   [I-D.ietf-roll-routing-metrics]
              Vasseur, J., Kim, M., Pister, K., Dejean, N., and D.
              Barthel, "Routing Metrics used for Path Calculation in Low
              Power and Lossy Networks",
              draft-ietf-roll-routing-metrics-19 (work in progress),
              March 2011.

   [I-D.ietf-roll-rpl]
              Winter, T., Thubert, P., Brandt, A., Clausen, T., Hui, J.,
              Kelsey, R., Levis, P., Pister, K., Struik, R., and J.
              Vasseur, "RPL: IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low power and
              Lossy Networks", draft-ietf-roll-rpl-19 (work in



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              progress), March 2011.

   [I-D.ietf-roll-terminology]
              Vasseur, J., "Terminology in Low power And Lossy
              Networks", draft-ietf-roll-terminology-06 (work in
              progress), September 2011.

   [RFC5548]  Dohler, M., Watteyne, T., Winter, T., and D. Barthel,
              "Routing Requirements for Urban Low-Power and Lossy
              Networks", RFC 5548, May 2009.

   [RFC5673]  Pister, K., Thubert, P., Dwars, S., and T. Phinney,
              "Industrial Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy
              Networks", RFC 5673, October 2009.

   [RFC5826]  Brandt, A., Buron, J., and G. Porcu, "Home Automation
              Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy Networks",
              RFC 5826, April 2010.

   [RFC5867]  Martocci, J., De Mil, P., Riou, N., and W. Vermeylen,
              "Building Automation Routing Requirements in Low-Power and
              Lossy Networks", RFC 5867, June 2010.

   [RFC6206]  Levis, P., Clausen, T., Hui, J., Gnawali, O., and J. Ko,
              "The Trickle Algorithm", RFC 6206, March 2011.

10.2.  Normative References

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


Authors' Addresses

   Daniel Popa
   Itron
   52 Rue Camille Desmoulins
   92448 Issy les Moulineaux
   France

   Email: daniel.popa@itron.com










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Internet-Draft          RPL Applicability for AMI         September 2011


   Jorjeta Jetcheva
   Itron
   2111 N Molter Rd.
   Liberty Lake, WA 99019
   USA

   Email: jorjeta.jetcheva@itron.com


   Nicolas Dejean
   Elster SAS
   Espace Concorde, 120 impasse JB Say
   Perols, 34470
   France

   Email: nicolas.dejean@coronis.com


   Ruben Salazar
   Landis+Gyr
   30000 Mill Creek Ave # 100
   Alpharetta, GA  30022

   Email: ruben.salazar@landisgyr.com


   Jonathan W. Hui
   Cisco
   170 West Tasman Drive
   San Jose, California  95134
   USA

   Phone: +408 424 1547
   Email: jonhui@cisco.com

















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