OSI Upper-Layer Communications for Applications (skinstak)
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 Charter
 Last Modified: 08/18/1993

 Current Status: Concluded Working Group

 Chair(s):
     Peter Furniss  <p.furniss@ulcc.ac.uk>

 Transport Area Director(s):
     Scott Bradner  <sob@harvard.edu>
     Allison Mankin  <mankin@isi.edu>

 Transport Area Advisor:
     Scott Bradner  <sob@harvard.edu>

 Mailing Lists: 
     General Discussion:skinstak@ulcc.ac.uk
     To Subscribe:      skinstak-request@ulcc.ac.uk
     Archive:           ulcc/skinstak@ulcc.ac.uk

Description of Working Group:

Application protocols originally designed for use over TCP can
effectively use the upper-layers of OSI, that is the ACSE (Association
Control Service Element), Presentation and Session protocols as their
``transport'' mechanism. The IPS application protocol is thus migrated
to be another OSI protocol, and could subsequently be integrated with
other OSI application protocols. The communication requirements of
such application protocols are essentially connect, read and write.
This can be met by the OSI upper-layer protocols, using only their
basic features. However, for such a migration there need to be a) a
specification of the use of various OSI parameters and fields for this
purpose, b) interfaces to OSI that are as close as possible to those
for original supporting IPS protocols, and c) OSI implementations of
reasonable efficiency

Item a) is essential for interworking at all, b) is needed to reduce the
conversion effort, and c) to make the migrated application usable.  The
``skinny stack'' approach, where the OSI implementation provides only
those features needed by the application is a possible solution to c).

The intent of the group is to identify the requirements for a) and
develop the specifications for b). Other groups are also planning to
consider different aspects of these.

For a), the North American OSI implementors workshop (OIW) intend
developing profiles for basic communications using the upper-layers, but
there are important addressing and other questions that are specific to
TCP to OSI migration.

For b), it is intended that the IETF working group should consider
specification of the use of the socket interface to access the OSI upper-
layers. This will define representations of those OSI protocol fields that
need to be available to the programmer and specify values for those
that can be fixed.

Although the initial work will concentrate on ex-TCP migrants,
consideration will also be given to ex-UDP migrants and, especially for
the interface aspects, to further extending the interface to provide
access to other OSI parameters/fields. This would allow new application
protocols, specified initially for use over OSI, to be built using the
socket interface.

Although the mapping will be supportable using ``skinny stacks''
(minimal functionality implementations), it will define conformant use of
the OSI protocols and so can be achieved by general-purpose OSI
implementations.

No special remote management issues are expected - remote
management will be by the usual methods for the environment.

Security issues will include whether ACSE-authentication should be
accessible.

 Goals and Milestones:

   NOV 92       First meeting of the Working Group. Review and Approve the 
                chater. 

   MAR 93       Second meeting of the Working Group to refine the 
                proposals. 

   APR 93       Post an Internet Draft describing the Skinny Stack profile 
                for migratory applications. 

   SEP 93       Submit the OSI skinny stack specification for migatory 
                applications to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed 
                Standard. 


 Internet-Drafts:

  No Current Internet-Drafts.

 Request For Comments:

  None to date.