1. P802.11aq Pre-Association Service Discovery Summary
March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
P802.11aq Pre-Association Service Discovery Summary
Date:
Authors:
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

2. March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
Purpose
The P802.11aq amendment enables delivery of pre-association Service Discovery information by IEEE stations (STAs).
Pre-association protocol designed to discover services on a WLAN
Printer discovery in a hotel
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, Blackberry

3. March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
Technical Highlights
Container MAC protocol to carry queries based on upper layer service discovery protocols (e.g. UPnP, mDNS)
Provisioning and configuration of services in the access point
Service Transaction Proxy is a logical element connected to the access point
Universal identification of services
Using a hash name
Provide service attributes (e.g. 3D printer capability or point of sale service)
Stephen McCann, Blackberry

4. March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
So why does P802.11aq help?
Discover services without having to connect to the network:
Information about services that can be accessed/reached IF STA 1 subsequently chooses to connect to STA 2.
This is the first pre-association mechanism to use STA specific information in a request (uplink).
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

5. WLAN Device Configuration (General)*
March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
WLAN Device Configuration (General)*
STAs require configuration to connect to an AP and operate in a LAN.
An example is the configuration of “saved networks” on a mobile device.
Device configuration (including any local administration policy) is applied ‘out of band’. Most devices have multiple saved networks.
Examples of Provisioning for Public networks mechanisms:
Captive Portal or Passpoint
Examples of Provisioning for Enterprise networks:
Provisioning via USB connection to a PC or cellular network
Mobile device management (MDM) platforms
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

6. Pre-association Privacy
March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
Pre-association Privacy
Fixed MAC addresses can be tracked
Some countries have a legal requirement to provide privacy of device addresses
“It's a real issue because stores can buy Wi-Fi equipment that logs smartphones' MAC addresses, so that shoppers are recognized by their handheld when they next walk in, or walk into affiliate shop with the same creepy system present. This could be used to alert assistants, or to follow people from department to department, store to store, and then sell that data to marketers and ad companies.
Public wireless hotspots can do the same. Transport for London in the UK, for instance, used these techniques to study Tube passengers.
Regularly changing a device's MAC address is supposed to defeat this tracking.”
[The Register]
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

7. March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1565r3
March 2018
IEEE aq and IEEE 802c-2017*
MAC address selection shall conform to IEEE and IEEE 802c-2017
Pre-association:
MAC address follows IEEE format
MAC behaviour when MAC address privacy is enabled:
Shall select a random MAC address in the local address space in accordance with IEEE and IEEE 802c-2017
The STA discovers and selects a network based on its saved network configuration(s):
The STA sets its MAC address in accordance with the policy of the network it is configured to connect. (implies privacy is disabled when the device connects to the selected network).
When privacy is enabled, the STA selects a network to associate it checks dot11LocallyAdministeredMACConfig to config its MAC address according to the network its associating with.
dot11LocallyAdministeredMACConfig and privacy are configured for a saved network by the local administrator.
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry

8. Other Information March 2018
doc.: IEEE /1704r11
March 2018
Other Information
The P802.11aq BRC agrees with the IEEE RAC that there was an issue with P802.11aq D12.0 (September 2017), as the draft was explicitly specifying the number of bits for MAC address randomization.
This requirement was removed in P802.11aq D13.0 (October 2017) and replaced with references to IEEE and IEEE 802c The revised P802.11aq D13.0 text states:
“To construct a random MAC address the STA shall select a randomized MAC address according to IEEE Std and IEEE Std 802c-2017.”
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry
Stephen McCann, BlackBerry