6LoWPAN Interoperability Jonathan Hui Zach Shelby David Culler 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG Motivation 6LoWPAN format doc approved as Proposed Standard Several 6LoWPAN implementations Had not yet seen independent implementations interoperating No excuse even if some protocols are TBD Demonstrating interoperability of the format doesn’t require them Pin down routing tables, manually assign configurations To elevate to Draft Standard, need to show independent implementations interoperating Need a framework to start thinking about interoperability 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG Format Complexity 6LoWPAN format takes many forms, cross-product of: Adaptation Layer Short vs. extended addresses Dispatch, Mesh, and Fragmentation header Escape values for dispatch and hop limit LOWPAN_HC1 Prefix compression (source and dest) Interface identifier compression (source and dest) Traffic Class and Flow Label LOWPAN_HC2 (HC_UDP) Port compression (source and dest) Length compression  Thousands of permutations! The same header can take multiple forms 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

Beginnings of Interop Testing Not all forms can be tested in all situations, so lets layer it Mesh, broadcast, and fragmentation still to be added Level 0 – Establish that we are talking IPv6 (uncompressed) Level 0.0 Link-local communication Extended source and destination 802.15.4 addresses No mesh or fragmentation header Level 0.1 Global communication Level 1 – Communication over LOWPAN_HC1 Level 1.0 Maximally compressed (no addresses in IP header) Level 1.1 Global Communication 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG A Long Ways to Go! A small step for the 6LoWPAN format Interoperability will eventually encompass other 6LoWPAN protocols as well: Configuration Routing Forwarding Multicast Some things to keep in mind as we move forward… 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

Interoperability between… Two embedded nodes in the same PAN? Two embedded nodes in different PANs? An embedded node and a gateway/router? An embedded node an any arbitrary IP device? Yes to all of these, of course 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

Interoperability over… IEEE 802.15.4 beacon mode or non-beacon mode? Basic CSMA without PAN coordinators? GTS? Other TDMA? Power management?  802.15.4 does not define power management in peer-to-peer 6LoWPAN is taking a non-traditional approach Tight integration with layer 2: assumes 802.15.4 headers The 6LoWPAN format is MAC/power management agnostic But, starting to making some suggestions/assumptions about the existence of beacons and PAN coordinators Should be careful when making assumptions about the underlying MAC 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG Summary 6LoWPAN interoperability testing considerations Embedded nature of nodes MAC layer options and settings can affect interoperability LoWPANs operating in isolation or as part of larger IP networks Future interoperability Format relies on 802.15.4 header, but can operate over different MAC configurations Next steps Extend interop levels to cover entire 6LoWPAN format Addition of test cases Release of example test code Encouragement of interop testing between implementations 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG

Interop Demo (after the meeting) End-to-end 802.15.4 Terminal 07/24/2007 69th IETF Meeting - 6LoWPAN WG