1. P802.11aq Waiver request regarding IEEE RAC comments
November 2017
doc.: IEEE /1704r1
November 2017
P802.11aq Waiver request regarding IEEE RAC comments
Date:
Authors:
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

2. November 2017
doc.: IEEE /1704r1
November 2017
Abstract
Waiver for not satisfying specific mandatory coordination comments received by IEEE RAC during the P802.11aq sponsor ballot
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

3. As described in <comment spreadsheet URL later this week>
November 2017
doc.: IEEE /1704r1
November 2017
The P802.11aq ballot resolution committee (BRC) has decided that satisfying specific mandatory coordination comments received from IEEE RAC impedes the utility of the P802.11aq amendment**
These specific comments from the P802.11aq sponsor ballot are as follows:
r03-8 (9008)
r04-8 (10008)
r04-9 (10009)
r04-12 (100012)
r05-5 (11005)
r05-6 (11006)
r05-7 (11007)
r06-9 (12009) (To be discussed this week)
As described in <comment spreadsheet URL later this week>
** IEEE-SA Sponsor Ballot operations manual: (Dec 2016) section
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

4. November 2017
doc.: IEEE /1704r1
November 2017
The following 9 slides summarise the specific comments. These summaries have been produced by the P802.11aq BRC to the best of their ability.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

5. November 2017
Comment r03-8 (9008)
“Random MAC address assignment would seem to be out-of-scope for the PAR”
Response:
Rejected
Randomizing the MAC address, as described in P802.11aq clause , is a perfectly reasonable part of the pre-association discovery scope. This avoids revealing privacy compromising information to STAs that are observing the aq traffic.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

6. November 2017
Comment r04-8 (10008)
“11aq specifies that devices select a 48-bit MAC address using 46 bits selected randomly (the other two set to indicate local unicast), whereas IEEE Std 802 (since the June 2017 approval of the amendment IEEE Std 802c) provides for four types of local addresses”
Response:
Revised
The draft behavior has been changed to allow a STA to conform to a local administered address space policy when it associates to a network
The full 46 bits of randomization for the MAC is required to address privacy issues associated with network discovery when the STA is in the unassociated state.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

7. November 2017
Comment r04-9 (10009)
“There is nothing in the project scope to inform interested parties that the amendment will include specifications that present potential interoperability problems with many other standards that use IEEE Std 802 specified addressing”
Response:
Revised
Recent draft changes include removal of any specification for behavior after discovery and selection. Privacy enhancements may be required to perform pre-association service discovery. The draft has been modified to minimize the addressing conflicts suggested by the comment.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

8. November 2017
Comment r04-12 (10012)
“The draft is incompatible with IEEE Std because it doesn't allow for the local administrator administering the local addresses”
Response:
Revised
Privacy enhancements may be required to perform pre-association service discovery. The draft has been modified to eliminate the addressing conflicts suggested by the comment and allow for the STA to be configured in a mode consistent with a locally administered address space policy.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

9. November 2017
Comment r05-5 (11005)
“The RAC is not satisfied with the response to Comment r04-9 (slide #7). However, considering the scope of the project, per the PAR, it seems apparent that specifying a new method to assign LAN data frame addresses is out of scope”
Response:
Rejected
Pre-association Service Discovery mechanisms specified in this amendment have the potential to leak privacy information. The privacy mechanisms incorporated into this amendment address privacy concerns with pre-association service discovery. Therefore it is the view of the BRC that privacy is within scope of the PAR.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

10. November 2017
Comment r05-6 (11006)
“The RAC is not satisfied with the response to Comment r04-8 (slide #6). During the discovery process, the draft still specifies that station adopts a 46-bit random address”
Response:
Rejected
In the discovery state, STAs are not operating on a LAN. The only communications is between STAs. Frames transmitted between a STA and an AP terminate at the AP and never reach the LAN. Security and duplication detection mechanisms prevent frames from a non-associated STA with a conflicting MAC address from affecting any traffic in the BSS.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

11. November 2017
Comment r05-7 (11007)
“The RAC is not satisfied with the response to Comment r04-12 (slide #8). The RAC would prefer a direct control functionality by which the network could specify a local address plan and policy. The current draft instead proposes a MIB-based solution without specifying any method to establish the relevant parameter”
Response:
Rejected
The draft has been modified to provide a means for using a randomized MAC address during pre-association. When the device selects and associates to a network using an IEEE 802 technology, the device will conform with an IEEE 802 MAC address, either an assigned globally unique MAC address or a locally administered MAC address conformant with IEEE and IEEE 802c-2017.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

12. November 2017
Comment r06-9 (12009)
“The RAC remains unsatisfied with the responses to unresolved RAC Mandatory Coordination comments. RAC believes all remaining Mandatory Coordination issues can best be satisfied by deleting all references and specifications in the draft to use of random MAC addresses”
To be discussed this week
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry