1. doc.: IEEE 802.11-xxx Bob Beach Symbol Technologies
July 2001
doc.: IEEE xxx
July 2001
ESN Conformance
Bob Beach
Symbol Technologies
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

2. Background Several comments dealt with the issue of ESN conformance
July 2001
Background
Several comments dealt with the issue of ESN conformance
The specification does not explicitly deal with conformance issues
Only exception is authentication algorithm (“mandatory to implement”)
In the past the spirit of the committee has been that an ESN is an all or nothing thing.
Comments on written draft and discussions among committee members suggest the situation is more complex
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

3. Reasons for Levels of ESN Conformance
July 2001
Reasons for Levels of ESN Conformance
Systems may wish to use only some elements of ESN
E.g. Identifying 40/128 bit WEP key operation
Use of 802.1x
WEP+
Authentication suite for key distribution
Multiple Options within ESN model itself
AES/WEP+
IEEE 802.1x level authentication suite selection
Multiple authentication algorithms
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

4. July 2001
ESN Options
The current proposal contains a collection of services that are quite independent of one another
Security feature advertisement/discovery
Security feature negotiation/selection
Upper layer authentication (I.e. not at MAC layer)
802.1x/EAP
WEP+ (whatever it turns out to be)
AES
Kerberos authentication/key distribution
Other authentication suites
IBSS Operation
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

5. Two Models of ESN Conformance
July 2001
Two Models of ESN Conformance
There are two obvious models for defining ESN conformance
Service based
Environment or use based
Service based approach assigns a service or group of services an identifier (or level). Conformance level indicates which services are present
Environment or use base defines what services are present based on the end user environment or usage model.
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

6. Service Model Build up from basic services to more complex services.
July 2001
Service Model
Build up from basic services to more complex services.
Higher conformance levels include all services in lower conformance levels
Possible breakdown:
Level 0: security discovery/negotiation mechanism
Level 1: add 802.1x
Level 2a: add WEP+
Level 2b: add AES
Level 3: add Kerberos authentication suite
Level 4: add other authentication suites
Might want to assign names rather than numbers
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

7. Environment/Use Model
July 2001
Environment/Use Model
Define collections of services based upon end user environment.
More like operating profiles than conformance levels
For each profile, a set of required (and perhaps optional) services would be defined.
Different profiles could have different required services
Vendors would define supported profiles
Particular products (AP, NIC, integrated devices) could support multiple profiles
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

8. Proposed Environments
July 2001
Proposed Environments
Public Space
Enterprise
IBSS
Highly Mobile Devices
Consumer/Home
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

9. Discussion of Service Model
July 2001
Discussion of Service Model
Service based model
Is more obvious and generally follows the way the specification is written and the way the technology is implemented
At same time it is highly technical and would be meaningful only to knowledgeable users
Does not help users decide what is necessary for their environment
As higher conformance levels it suggests a “one size fits all” model that may be inappropriate for many sites
A matrix of all possible combinations gets messy
E.g. Level 0 and Level 2b but not Level 1
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

10. Discussion of Environment Model
July 2001
Discussion of Environment Model
More end user oriented with less emphasis on technical details
Fewer possible combinations makes implementation and testing easier
Allows different sets of mandatory services that can reflect different usage models or environments
Requires committee to define more things
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

11. July 2001
Recommendations
Define ESN conformance framework using the environment/usage model
Rename ESN to Enhanced Security Facilities (ESF)
Suggests framework rather than monolithic network
Add ESN conformance elements to beacon packets
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

12. July 2001
Proposed Motions
Proposed: The environment model of ESN comformance contained in this document be added to the Tgi baseline.
Proposed: Tgi instruct the author of this document to prepare text that defines the selected model for incorporation into the next revision of the Draft specification.
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies

13. July 2001
Issues
Bob Beach, Symbol Technologies