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X3S3.3/90-86R
20 April, 1990
ACCREDITED STANDARDS COMMITTEE
X3 - INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEMS
Proposed
Standards Development Project
for
INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP)
SECRETARIAT:
Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (CBEMA)
Page 2
1 IDENTIFICATION OF PROPOSED PROJECT
1.1 Title: INTERNET PROTOCOL
1.2 Proposer: Task Group X3S3.3 (Network and Transport Layers)
A. Lyman Chapin, Chairman
Data General Corporation
4400 Computer Drive
Westborough, MA 01580
(508) 870-6056
1.3 Date Submitted: 20 April, 1990
Page 3
2 JUSTIFICATION OF PROPOSED STANDARD
2.1 Needs
The evolution of the Internet Protocol (universally referred to as
"IP") began with the publication of the first version of the
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) in Request for Comment (RFC)
number 675 by Vinton Cerf in 1974, the result of work that Cerf and
Robert Kahn performed in 1973 as part of Kahn's Internet program at
the DARPA Information Processing Techniques Office. In its ori-
ginal form, TCP version 1 included the functions of both an
end-to-end transport protocol and a connectionless internetwork
protocol. Version 2 was published as Internet Experimental Note
(IEN) 5 in 1977; Version 3 separated the transport and internetwork
functions, retaining the transport functions in TCP and moving the
internetwork functions to a new protocol, the Internet Protocol
(IP). The IP Internet Standard was published as RFC 791 in 1981,
and the US Department of Defense Military Standard for IP,
MIL-STD-1777, was published in August 1983.
The widespread availability of IP after its incorporation into the
University of California/Berkeley version of the Unix operating
system in 1983 (release 4.2 of the Berkeley Software Distribution,
commonly referred to as "4.2bsd") encouraged the development of
many implementation improvements to IP. Current IP implementations
represent a combination of the basic (RFC 791) internet standard,
some or all of the extensions that have been documented since 1983
(in, for example, RFCs 877, 894, 919, 922, 950, 1042, 1044, 1051,
1055, 1088, and 1103), and a set of agreements and conventions
concerning the "best" way to implement IP functions and algorithms,
now documented in RFC 1122, "Requirements for Internet Hosts",
which consolidates in a single document the implementation practi-
ces of the Internet community.
The need for an American National Standard for IP is based on the
widespread market penetration and growing commercial importance of
computer systems that use IP for host and network interconnection.
Users and vendors would benefit greatly from a consolidated speci-
fication of IP, drawn from the existing Internet Request for
Comments (RFC) documentation, which could be used to evaluate the
conformance of products that implement it and to place IP in a
formal context in which its relationship to other standard proto-
cols may be clearly established.
Page 4
2.2 Recommended Scope of Standard
The proposed standard will specify IP as it is currently understood
within the Internet engineering community. The scope of the
proposed standards development project does not include the speci-
fication of any function or feature that has not been accepted
within the community that is currently implementing, deploying, and
using IP.
2.3 Existing Practice in Area of Proposed Standard
The proposed standard will formalize accepted existing practice,
based on existing documentation, in which IP is used as the inter-
network protocol in conjunction with other protocols that are
generally referred to as the "TCP/IP protocol suite".
2.4 Expected Stability of Proposed Standard
Technological advance in the area of internetwork protocols has
been, and is expected to continue to be, very rapid. However, the
architecture of IP and the closely-related Transmission Control
Protocol is well understood and stable. New architectures for
internetworking are likely to generate entirely new sets of
standards, rather than destabilize the standard for IP.
3 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT
3.1 Type of Document
The proposed development project will produce an American National
Standard for Internet Protocol.
3.2 Definitions of Concepts and Special Terms
Page 5
3.3 Expected Relationship with Approved X3 Reference Models
The proposed standard will define a protocol that supports the
internetworking (routing and relaying) functions and capabilities
associated with the Network layer of the Open Systems Interconnec-
tion Reference Model (ISO 7498) architecture. It will not,
however, define an "OSI Network Layer Protocol".
3.4 Recommended Program of Work
The program of work will consist of the preparation, from existing
documentation concerning IP, of a document that captures all of the
currently accepted IP practice, in a form that is as close to the
existing internet documentation as the rules for the presentation
of American National Standards permit.
3.5 Resources
The resources of Task Group X3S3.3, Network and Transport Layers,
are expected to be available to carry out the program of work.
X3S3.3 has 26 voting members, representing a broad spectrum of
users and suppliers of computer and communications equipment and
services. The resources of the Internet Activities Board, which
administers the internet standards that apply to the operation of
the internet, and of the Internet Engineering Task Force, which is
responsible for the technical specification of IP (and the other
internet protocols), are also expected to be available.
3.6 Recommended X3 Development Technical Committee
It is recommended that the proposed project, if approved, be
assigned to Task Group X3S3.3, Network and Transport Layers, of X3
Technical Committee X3S3, Data Communications. The proposed
project is closely related, both technically and administratively,
to projects 365 and 627, which have previously been assigned to
X3S3.3.
3.7 Anticipated Frequency and Duration of Meetings
If the proposed project is pursued by task group X3S3.3, as recom-
mended above, it is anticipated that the equivalent of half a day
during each of the task group's 6 five-day meetings each year will
Page 6
be devoted to work on the project.
3.8 Target Date for dpANS to X3
A draft proposal for an American National Standard Internet Proto-
col could be conveyed to X3 by October 1, 1990.
3.9 Estimated Useful Life of Standard
The useful life of the proposed standard coincides with the useful
life of the set of internet standards that comprise the "TCP/IP
protocol suite". This lifetime is expected to be very long,
spanning at least several decades.
4 IMPLEMENTATION IMPACTS
4.1 Impact on Existing User Practices and Investments
The proposed standard will formalize existing user practice in the
area without modification. The impact of the proposed standard
will therefore be limited to the salutary regularization of the
documentation and points of reference for IP.
4.2 Impact on Supplier Products and Support
As above; with the additional benefit that suppliers of products
that implement or use IP will be able to focus their evaluation of
IP standard compliance requirements on a single reference point.
4.3 Techniques and Costs for Compliance Verification
Verification of compliance with the proposed standard will require
the development of test purposes and test suites in accordance with
ISO 9646, "OSI Conformance Testing Methodology and Framework". The
cost of conformance testing is expected to be similar to the costs
associated with OSI Internetwork protocol (ISO 8473) conformance
testing.
Page 7
4.4 Legal Considerations
No special legal issues are raised by the proposed project, which
covers material that is non-proprietary and freely distributed.
5 CLOSELY RELATED STANDARDS ACTIVITIES
5.1 Existing Standards
The proposed project will formalize the existing internet standard
for IP, for which the basic references are RFCs 791, 922, 950,
1112, and 1122.
5.2 X3 Standards Development Projects
The proposed project is closely related to the work on the OSI
internetwork protocol under X3 projects 365 and 627.
5.3 X3/SPARC Study Groups
The proposed project has no relationship to any existing X3/SPARC
Study Group.
5.4 Other Related Domestic Standards Efforts
The internet standards effort pursued by the Internet Engineering
Task Force and its parent organization, the Internet Activities
Board, is and will continue to be the source of technical input to
the process of developing an American National Standard for IP.
5.5 ISO Standards Development Projects
There is no related ISO standards development project, and it is
not anticipated that the proposed project will result in the
initiation of any new work in ISO.
Page 8
5.6 Other Related International Standards Development Projects
As above.
5.7 Recommendations for Coordinating Liaison
None.
5.8 Recommendations for Close Liaison
Close liaison, in the form of joint development work and/or joint
meetings, with the Internet Activities Board and the Internet
Engineering Task Force (and/or its appropriate working groups) will
be essential.