A Presence Architecture for the Distribution of GEOPRIV Location Objects
RFC 4079

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Network Working Group                                        J. Peterson
Request for Comments: 4079                                       NeuStar
Category: Informational                                        July 2005

                    A Presence Architecture for the
                Distribution of GEOPRIV Location Objects

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

   GEOPRIV defines the concept of a 'using protocol' -- a protocol that
   carries GEOPRIV location objects.  GEOPRIV also defines various
   scenarios for the distribution of location objects that require the
   concepts of subscriptions and asynchronous notifications.  This
   document examines some existing IETF work on the concept of presence,
   shows how presence architectures map onto GEOPRIV architectures, and
   moreover demonstrates that tools already developed for presence could
   be reused to simplify the standardization and implementation of
   GEOPRIV.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Framework Analysis ..............................................2
   3. Presence Architecture for GEOPRIV ...............................3
   4. GEOPRIV Extensions to PIDF ......................................5
   5. Security Considerations .........................................5
   6. Acknowledgements ................................................5
   7. Informative References ..........................................6

Peterson                     Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4079                 GEOPRIV Presence Arch                 July 2005

1.  Introduction

   GEOPRIV is a standard for the transmission of location information
   and privacy policies over the Internet.  Location information is a
   description of a particular spatial location, which may be
   represented as coordinates (via longitude, latitude, and so on), as
   civil addresses (such as postal addresses), or in other ways.
   GEOPRIV focuses on the privacy and security issues, from both a
   technology perspective and a policy perspective, of sharing location
   information over the Internet; it essentially defines a secure
   container class capable of carrying both location information and
   policy data governing the distribution of this information.  GEOPRIV
   also defines the concept of a 'using protocol' -- a protocol that
   carries the GEOPRIV location object.

   Presence is a service defined in RFC2778 [2] that allows users of a
   communications service to monitor one another's availability and
   disposition in order to make decisions about communicating.  Presence
   information is highly dynamic, and it generally characterizes whether
   a user is online or offline, busy or idle, away from communications
   devices or nearby, and the like.

   This document shows the applicability of presence to GEOPRIV and
   shows that a presence protocol could be a suitable using protocol for
   GEOPRIV.  This document is not intended to demonstrate that presence
   is the only method by which GEOPRIV location objects might be
   distributed.  However, there are numerous applications of GEOPRIV
   that depend on the fundamental subscription/notification architecture
   that also underlies presence.

2.  Framework Analysis

   The GEOPRIV framework [1] defines four primary network entities: a
   Location Generator, a Location Server, a Location Recipient, and a
   Rule Holder.  Three interfaces between these entities are defined,
   including a publication interface and a notification interface.

   GEOPRIV specifies that a 'using protocol' is employed to transport
   location objects from one place to another.  If the publication
   interface and notification interface are network connections, then a
   using protocol would be responsible for the transmission of the
   location object.  Location Recipients may request that a Location
   Server provide them with GEOPRIV location information concerning a
   particular Target.  The Location Generator publishes Location
   Information to a Location Server, which, in coordination with
   policies set by the Rule Maker, distributes the location information
   to Location Recipients as necessary.

Peterson                     Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 4079                 GEOPRIV Presence Arch                 July 2005

   The GEOPRIV requirements document shows three scenarios for the use
   of the GEOPRIV protocol.  In some of these scenarios (such as the
   third), a Location Recipient sends some kind of message to the
   Location Server to request the periodic transmission of location
   information.  The location of a GEOPRIV Target is likely to vary over
   time (if the Target is a person, or something similarly mobile), and