Network Working Group Stefan Hans
Internet-Draft April 5, 2017
Intended status: Experimental
Expires: October 7, 2017
Concepts of Contextinformation Routing Networks (CRNs)
CRN_Concepts
Abstract
Contextinformation Routing Network (CRN) is a communication framework
enabling a universal service to join matching contextinformation or
its communication partners respectively. This document describes the
concepts of CRNs by explaining its main components, which are
o Contextinformation (CI)
o Contextinformation Coding (CIC)
o Contextinformation Packet (CIP)
o Contextinformation Routing (CIR)
This document does not cover concrete specifications or requirements
in detail.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on October 7, 2017.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Contextinformation Coding (CIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Internal Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1. CIC-Brick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.2. CIC-Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.3. CIC-Spam and CIC-Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Boolean Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3. Types of CIC-Rulesets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4. Deployment of CIC-Rulesets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Contextinformation Packet (CIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.1. Header Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2. Contextinformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3. Application Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Contextinformation Routing (CIR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.1. Universal Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.1.1. Overlay Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.1.2. Encoded CI as Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.1.3. Conception as Reactive System . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5.2. Different Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.1. Application's CI Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.2. Application's Network Address Updates . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.3. CIC-Ruleset Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.4. Storage and Data Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.2.5. Metadata and Internal Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6. Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. Emergence and Future Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Appendix A. CRN's Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Appendix B. CRN's Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1. Introduction
It started with thinking about context-aware services. Here,
context-awareness shouldn't be limited to location-based aspects, but
it should cover any kind of context. Concepts for an open,
unrestricted and flexible structure to support context-aware services
had to be developed. It should not only be applicable for
established services but also ready for the emergence of new ones.
For this purpose the following questions had to be answered:
How can a framework connect communication partners with matching
communication interests and context?
How can it be open for all types of interests and context?
How can it be open for presently unknown extensions?
How can it be organized to maximize the availability of the
service?
How can it be organized to minimize the customizing effort for
applications using the service?
Let me now introduce the main concepts:
Contextinformation (CI)
Contextinformation (CI) refers mainly to the known terms
information and context. Due to the lack of a useful clear
distinction between the two, CI is defined here as
information within its described context, i.e. context
becomes part of CI by describing it. Another aspect of CI
is the accuracy with regard to possible matches with other
CI. All of these has to be converted into a general
format, in which the actual meaning is not relevant to find
matching CI.
Contextinformation Coding (CIC)
Contextinformation Coding (CIC) is the conversion of CI
into a binary format and vice versa. CIC means both, the
conversion rules (CIC-Ruleset) for a particular type of CI
and a concrete piece of encoded CI. Every CIC has an
identifier, called CIC-Number. A CIC-Ruleset and all its
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encoded CI are linked by this CIC-Number. Encoded CI has
the form of two parallel bit strings of equal length. This
pair consists of CIC-Content, an instance of the CIC-
Ruleset, and CI-Mask, which is used to define the accuracy
of the searched match. Then it is sufficient for a bitwise
match of two pieces of CI if both CIC-Contents are equal or
both CI-Masks mark them as non-relevant.
Let me illustrate this with an example. Offer and Request
are two communication roles, and Location is a type of CI.
Offer says "I'm available for any Request with matching CI
to contact me" and Request says "I'm searching for any
Offer with matching CI". Both have an exact information
about their location and can define a surrounding area
where Offer is available respectively Request is searching.
CIC-Content, as the encoded location, together with CI-Mask
defines the surrounding area by marking bits of CIC-Content
as true in any case concerning the match. Here the CI of
Offer and Request are matching if the location of one is in
the surrounding area of the other and vice versa.
Contextinformation Packet (CIP)
Encoded CI is encapsulated in a data structure named
Contextinformation Packet (CIP). A CIP is divided into
three parts:
* Header Data
* Contextinformation
* Application Data
All information which has to be transferred inside CRNs has
to be encapsulated within CIPs.
Contextinformation Routing (CIR)
Contextinformation Routing (CIR) takes place in an overlay
network built normally on top of the TCP/IP layer. It is
organized basically by using CIC-Content as an index. It
is oriented towards known concepts of network routing,
peer-to-peer and others network principles and B-tree like
data structures.
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2. Motivation
The motivation for this document is mainly the publication to prevent
proprietary rights of third parties hindering the general
availability of its described concepts. Another additional
motivation is the exchange with interested experts. This draft is
the first step towards a possible formal recognition as an Internet
Standard in the future.
3. Contextinformation Coding (CIC)
Contextinformation Coding (CIC), i.e. a CIC-Ruleset, defines an
injective function between a set of CIC-Contents and a set of
permutations of a binary string with a fixed byte length, i.e. there
is exactly one bit string for every described content of the CIC-
Ruleset. CI-Mask, the second binary string, is not defined
individually by the CIC-Ruleset. CI-Masks are not part of the CIC-
Ruleset, but is part of the encoded CI.
3.1. Internal Structure
The internal structure of CIC is self-referential. This means an
encoded CI can be part of other encoded CI and can contain other
encoded CI. Likewise, a CIC-Ruleset can be part of other CIC-
Rulesets and can contain other CIC-Rulesets. A CIC, not containing
other CICs, is called CIC-Module. The outermost CIC is called a
Root-CIC. A Root-CIC can be part of another CIC. There it is no
longer a Root-CIC. Every CIC needs at least one CIC-Number. A CIC
can even be interchangeable internally and in which case it needs one
CIC-Number for each possible CIC.
3.1.1. CIC-Brick
Encoded CI consists of a pair of bit strings with its length rounded
up to the next byte. One of these byte pairs is called a CIC-Brick.
One byte string is named CIC-Content and the other is named CI-Mask.
CIC-Content stands either for encoded CI or for a CIC-Number. One
CIC-Brick can contain more than one items, i.e. encoded CI and CIC-
Numbers. The Root-CIC must have a length rounded up to the next byte
lately.
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Figure 1 shows the structure of a CIC-Brick.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
+ ----+---- +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| CIC-Content |
+ ----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| CI-Mask |
+ ----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
The calculation of a match between two CIC-Bricks uses the following
function or bitwise expression respectively:
match(Offer, Request) = ( NOT ( Offer-Content XOR Request-Content ) )
OR ( Offer-Mask AND Request-Mask )
3.1.2. CIC-Number
Each CIC-Ruleset and all its encoded CI have an individual CIC-Number
in common. In general, a CIC-Number can be well-known or temporary.
The CIC-Numbers of the Root-CICs must be well-known and they are part
of the Contextinformation Packet specification (CIP-Specification).
3.1.3. CIC-Spam and CIC-Padding
CIC-Spam describes bits of a CIC which have no meaning. Every
encoded CI of the same CIC-Number must have the same length. If
encoded CI does not have the agreed length of its CIC-Ruleset, it
will be filled with CIC-Spam (0-bits resp. NULL values). This is
called CIC-Padding.
3.2. Boolean Operations
Boolean operations are not applicable to CICs directly, but to their
result sets. I.e. instead to use boolean operations on encoded CI,
set operations have to be used on result sets.
Boolean conjunction (AND) equates to set intersection (INTERSECT)
Boolean disjunction (OR) equates to set union (UNION)
Boolean negation (NOT) equates to set difference (MINUS)
These set operations are executed normally outside the CRNs.
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3.3. Types of CIC-Rulesets
It is neither specified how CIC-Rulesets should look like nor exist
any regulations how they should interact with applications.
3.4. Deployment of CIC-Rulesets
CRNs provide an infrastructure for CIC-Rulesets. This can, but must
not, be used for distributing CIC-Rulesets. Any other way is
possible according to the intended availability.
4. Contextinformation Packet (CIP)
For the concepts of the CIP's main parts see the following sections.
For detailed CIP specification see Internet-Draft "Contextinformation
Paket (CIP) Specification for Contextinformation Routing Networks
(CRNs)" [CIP_Spec].
4.1. Header Data
The header data concern all metadata not directly related to CIC.
The header data starts with a part of fixed size and static structure
followed by a dynamic part. The static part defines the dynamic
part's type and its length.
4.2. Contextinformation
The Contextinformation starts with a part of fixed size and static
structure followed by a dynamic part. The static part defines the
dynamic part's type and its length. The dynamic part consists of
CIC-Bricks only.
4.3. Application Data
The application data starts with a part with fixed size and static
structure followed by a dynamic part. The static part only defines
the dynamic part's type and its length.
5. Contextinformation Routing (CIR)
For the main concepts of the CIR see the following sections. For
detailed CIR specification see Internet-Draft "Contextinformation
Routing (CIR) Specification for Contextinformation Routing Networks
(CRNs)" [CIR_Spec].
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5.1. Universal Aspects
Within CRNs, and according to client-server model, the client aspects
of CIR are referred to as CIR-Client(s) and the server aspects as
CIR_Server(s) analogously. Independent of the purpose, the following
aspects of CIR are universal:
5.1.1. Overlay Network
CIR can be built on top of any digital network, especially on top of
the TCP/IP layer over the internet, intranets and (mobile) ad-hoc
networks.
5.1.2. Encoded CI as Index
The structural factor of CIR is the encoded CI itself. CIC-Content
is used like an index and CI-Mask marks the branchings. The lowest
number of branchings of a routing responsibility (CIR-Node)
corresponds to the permutations of a byte of encoded CI, i.e. 256
(cf. CIC-Brick). Thus CIR structure can be described as a tree data
structure (CIR-Tree) with that particular degree of 256.
5.1.3. Conception as Reactive System
According to "The Reactive Manifesto" [ReactiveManifesto] CIR is
oriented towards the following conceptual specifications:
Responsive
The CIR-Servers use a heartbeat functionality to ensure
that the system reacts in a timely manner.
Resilient
CRNs, and CIR-Servers in particular avoid any single point
of failure by replicating relevant information and
delegating isolated tasks according to current availability
of services within the CRN.
Elastic
As part of a CRN, every hardware device has a role as CIR-
Server soever, and provides resources accordingly. In the
case of an impending partial overload appropriate
procedures distribute proactively the load among suitable
CIR-Servers.
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Message Driven
To avoid having resources blocked while waiting for
response CIR sends a message without relying on the
response. In other words, it doesn't matter for recipients
who send this message.
5.2. Different Purposes
Apart from the very varied end use of applications, there are the
following intrinsic purposes of CIR:
5.2.1. Application's CI Match
This routing is oriented on the CIC-Bricks using CIC-Content as an
index. If a bit of CI-Mask is true, the routing will be split to
follow both paths of the indexing.
5.2.2. Application's Network Address Updates
To optimize the availability of the applications in volatile
networks, e.g. mobile devices in the internet, CRNs have a procedure
to check the applications' address information and the applications
have a procedure to update these.
5.2.3. CIC-Ruleset Requests
Similar to the encoded CI routing CRNs provide an infrastructure to
store and retrieve CIC-Rulesets.
5.2.4. Storage and Data Analytics
Similar to the encoded CI routing CRNs provide an infrastructure to
store and retrieve CIC-Rulesets.
5.2.5. Metadata and Internal Usage
CRNs communicate aggregations and other metadata, if asked for or if
the result set of matching CI is too large.
6. Limitations
Contextinformation Packet (CIP) defines a maximum number of CIC-
Bricks. But a CIC can use an unlimited number of CIPs in a row.
Here, related to one CIP, the end point of the Contextinformation
Routing (CIR), i.e. the matching communication partner, is the start
point for the next CIR, related to the next CIP, and so on. Seen
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from another perspective, every CIP lives in its own
Contextinformation Routing Network (CRN) with its own CICs. There
the CIC finds its route through these CRNs.
7. Emergence and Future Use
Due to the simple basic principles, the broad applicability and the
unrestricted length of CI, the resulting codings and the applications
using them can not be foreseen, provided that CRNs will be used
numerously. The resulting emergence is probably the key aspect of
CRNs. Even the main application principles of today are possibly not
complete or major relevant ones are missing still. Therefore the
specifications leave room for future use.
8. Security Considerations
The use of contextinformation routing networks described in this memo
has no direct impact on the security of the Internet.
9. Informative References
[CIP_Spec]
Hans, S., "Contextinformation Paket (CIP) Specification
for Contextinformation Routing Networks (CRNs)", April
2017, <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stefanhans/
golang-contexting/master/RFC/CIP_Specification.txt>.
[CIR_Spec]
Hans, S., "Contextinformation Routing (CIR) Specification
for Contextinformation Routing Networks (CRNs)", April
2017, <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stefanhans/
golang-contexting/master/RFC/CIR_Specification.txt>.
[ReactiveManifesto]
Boner, J., Farley, D., Kuhn, R., and M. Thompson, "The
Reactive Manifesto", September 2016,
<http://www.reactivemanifesto.org>.
Appendix A. CRN's Glossary
Contextinformation (CI)
Information within its described context.
Contextinformation Coding (CIC)
The CIC-Ruleset for a particular type of CI and a
concrete piece of encoded CI.
Contextinformation Packet (CIP)
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Data structure encapsulating encoded CI.
Contextinformation Routing (CIR)
Overlay network routing using CIC-Content as an
address.
CIC-Brick
One byte of encoded CI consisting of CIC-Content and
CIC-Mask as a pair of bit strings.
CIC-Content
The definite part of encoded CI.
CIC-Mask
The undefining part of encoded CI.
CIC-Module
A CIC, not containing other CICs.
CIC-Number
Linking CIC-Ruleset and all its encoded CI.
CIC-Padding
Filling a shorter as required encoded CI with CIC-
Spam.
CIC-Ruleset
Set of CIC-Modules.
CIC-Spam
Bits of a CIC which have no meaning.
CIR-Client
Client aspects of CIR.
CIR-Index
CIC-Content as an index of the CIR-Tree.
CIR-Node
Routing responsibility of the lowest byte of the CRN-
Address.
CIR-Server
Server aspects of CIR.
CIR-Tree
B-tree describing the CIR data structure.
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CRN-Address
CIC-Content as overlay network address.
Root-CIC
The outermost CIC and the CIC-Brick identifying it.
Appendix B. CRN's Abbreviations
+--------------+------------------------------------+
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
+--------------+------------------------------------+
| CI | Contextinformation |
| CIC | Contextinformation Coding |
| CIP | Contextinformation Packet |
| CIR | Contextinformation Routing |
| CRN | Contextinformation Routing Network |
| RZV | Reserved Zero Value |
+--------------+------------------------------------+
Author's Address
Stefan Hans
Rotwandstr.
Baldham 85598
Germany
Email: uni@stefan-hans.de
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