Subject: [mobile-ip] CAPWAP BOF

From: "Pat R. Calhoun" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 17:00:15 -0700

FYI

PatC
----
BOF NAME & ACRONYM: Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points
                    (capwap)
AREA:               OPS
BOF CHAIR(S):       Dorothy Stanley ([email-masked])
                    James Kempf ([email-masked])

MAILING LIST:
List:               [email-masked]
Subscribe:          [email-masked]
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Archive:            http://mail.frascone.com/pipermail/public/lwapp/

AGENDA:
    Intro and Agenda Bashing (5 min)
    LWAPP (Pat Calhoun) (10 min)
    SNMP (Marcus Brunner) (10 min)
    Accesss Point Discovery (Inderpreet Singh) (10 min).
    Security and Certificate Provisioning (David Molnar) (10 min)
    Discussion (40 min)
    Summary and Next Steps (10 min)

FULL DESCRIPTION:

Conventional IETF wisdom has it that wireless access points for
non-provisioned wireless media are no more than simple Layer 2 bridges
that transparently forward packets between the wired and wireless
links. While this is indeed their primary function, in reality, higher
layer functions have been gradually migrating into such access points.
An example is network access server functionality. Managing this
functionality, its interaction between access points, and between
access points and access routers has become increasingly difficult.
Because some of the functions involve exchange of Layer 2 information,
IETF has traditionally maintained that it is "Not Our Problem". On the
other hand, because many of the functions either use or provide
services with a Layer 3 component, the relevant Layer 2 standardization
bodies (such as IEEE for 802.11) have been reluctant to step forward
and own the problem either. 

Recently, next generation 802.11 network infrastructure (also referred
to as WLAN switches) have seen significant interest in the market.
Several companies, both startups and incumbents in the WLAN space, have
announced, or are shipping products. Most of these products have a
similar architecture which simplifies the access points, but does not
remove the problem of managing the interaction with the IP network.
Given the interest in the market for such products, there is no doubt
that standardizing the interface between the AP and the controller (or
WLAN switch) would benefit the Internet community. Would defining a new
Layer 2 independent protocol to manage wireless access points both
dynamically and statically help? Can existing IETF solutions contribute,
and, if so, is there any Layer 2 independent work that IETF might do to
adapt those solutions to the problem space?

Wireless access points also have additional security needs that are
ill met by regarding them as simple Layer 2 bridges. Because such
access points are easy to deploy by design, security provisioning is
difficult to achieve. How does the network provider's router verify
that a particular access point is authorized to be on the network?
Wireless access points are also being called upon to provide
increasingly more complex security for hosts, approaching that
provided by the highly provisioned wireless media in cellular
networks. Can the implementation of these functions be simplified by
centralizing the intelligence and distributing the RF interfaces?

In this BOF, we will discuss these issues and attempt to come to some
conclusions about what IETF might or might not do to help address the
problem.

READING LIST:

Lightweight Access Point Protocol

http://www.airespace.com/ftp/draft-calhoun-seamoby-lwapp-03.txt

Proposed Solutions:
TBD

Proposed WG Charter:
TBD