GENWiki

Premier IT Outsourcing and Support Services within the UK

User Tools

Site Tools


rfc:rfc3356

Network Working Group G. Fishman Request for Comments: 3356 Bell Laboratories Obsoletes: 2436 S. Bradner Category: Informational Harvard University

                                                           August 2002
         Internet Engineering Task Force and International
           Telecommunication Union - Telecommunications
          Standardization Sector Collaboration Guidelines

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This document provides guidance to aid in the understanding of
 collaboration on standards development between the International
 Telecommunication Union -- Telecommunication Standardization Sector
 (ITU-T) and the Internet Society (ISOC) / Internet Engineering Task
 Force (IETF).  It is an update of and obsoletes RFC 2436.  The
 updates reflect changes in the IETF and ITU-T since RFC 2436 was
 written.  The bulk of this document is common text with ITU-T
 Supplement 3 to the ITU-T A-Series Recommendations.
 Note:  This was approved by ITU-T TSAG on 30 November 2001 as a
 Supplement to the ITU-T A-Series of Recommendations (will be numbered
 as A-Series Supplement 3).

Table of Contents

 1.  Scope...........................................................2
 2.  Introduction ...................................................2
 3.  Guidance on collaboration.......................................3
 3.1 How to interact on ITU-T or IETF work items.....................3
 3.2 Representation..................................................4
 3.3 Document sharing................................................7
 3.4 Simple cross referencing........................................8
 3.5 Additional items................................................8
 4.  Security Considerations........................................10
 5.  Non-normative references.......................................10
 6.  Acknowledgements...............................................10

Fishman Informational [Page 1] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 7.  Changes since RFC 2436.........................................10
 8.  Author's addresses.............................................11
 9.  Full Copyright Statement.......................................12

1. Scope

 This document provides guidance to aid in the understanding of
 collaboration on standards development between the ITU-T and the
 Internet Society (ISOC) / Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
 In the IETF, work is done in Working Groups (WG), mostly through
 open, public mailing lists rather than face-to-face meetings.  WGs
 are organized into Areas, each Area being managed by two co-Area
 Directors.  Collectively, the Area Directors comprise the Internet
 Engineering Steering Group (IESG).
 In the ITU-T, work is defined by study Questions which are worked on
 mostly through meetings led by Rapporteurs.  Questions are generally
 grouped within Working Parties (WPs) led by a WP Chairman.  Working
 Parties report to a parent Study Group led by a SG Chairman.

2. Introduction

 The telecommunication industry is faced with an explosion in growth
 of the Internet and other IP (Internet Protocol) based networks.
 Operators, manufacturers and software/application providers alike are
 reconsidering their business directions and Standards Development
 Organizations and Forums and Consortia are facing an immense
 challenge to address this situation.
 These challenges were considered by TSAG in September 1998 and IETF
 shortly thereafter, when it was initially recognized that the ITU-T
 and ISOC/IETF were already collaborating in a number of areas, and
 that this collaboration must be strengthened within the context of
 changes in work emphasis and direction within the ITU-T on studies
 related to IP based networks.
 For example, many Study Groups already address aspects of IP based
 networks.  There are many topics of interest to ITU-T Study Groups in
 the IP area that should be investigated (e.g., signaling, routing,
 security, numbering & addressing, integrated management, performance,
 IP - telecom interworking, access).  Since many of these topics are
 also being investigated by the IETF, there is a requirement for close
 collaboration.

Fishman Informational [Page 2] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 The current level of cooperation between the ITU-T and the IETF
 should be built upon to ensure that the competence and experience of
 each organization is brought to bear in the most effective manner and
 in collaboration with the other.  This document provides guidelines
 for collaboration between the ITU-T and the IETF.

3. Guidance on Collaboration

 This section builds on existing collaborative processes and details
 some of the more important guidance points that each organization
 should be aware of for effective collaboration.

3.1 How to Interact on ITU-T or IETF Work Items

 Study Groups that have identified work topics that are IP-related
 should evaluate the relationship with topics defined in the IETF.
 Current IETF Working Groups and their charters (IETF definition of
 the scope of work) are listed in the IETF archives (see section 3.5).
 A Study Group may decide that development of a Recommendation on a
 particular topic may benefit from collaboration with the IETF.  The
 Study Group should identify this collaboration in its work plan
 (specifically in that of each Question involved), describing the goal
 of the collaboration and its expected outcome.
 An IETF Working Group should also evaluate and identify areas of
 relationship with the ITU-T and document the collaboration with the
 ITU-T Study Group in its charter.  The following sections outline a
 process that can be used to enable each group to learn about the
 other's new work items.

3.1.1 How the ITU-T Learns About Existing IETF Work Items

 The responsibility is on individual Study Groups to review the
 current IETF Working Groups to determine if there are any topics of
 mutual interest.  Should a Study Group believe that there is an
 opportunity for collaboration on a topic of mutual interest, it
 should contact both the IETF Working Group Chair and the Area
 Director(s) responsible.

3.1.2 How the ITU-T learns about proposed new IETF work items

 The IETF maintains a mailing list for the distribution of proposed
 new work items among standards development organizations.  The IETF
 forwards draft charters for all new and revised Working Groups and
 Birds Of a Feather session announcements to the IETF NewWork mailing
 list.  An ITU-T mail exploder is subscribed to this list.  It is
 recommended that each Study Group subscribe to this ITU-T exploder,

Fishman Informational [Page 3] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 which is maintained by the TSB.  Members of the SG-specific listname
 may include the SG Chairman, SG Vice Chairmen, Working Party
 Chairmen, concerned Rapporteurs, other experts designated by the SG
 and the SG Counselor.  This will enable the SGs to monitor the new
 work items for possible overlap or interest to their Study Group.  It
 is expected that this mailing list will see a few messages per month.
 Each SG Chairman, or designated representative, may provide comments
 on these charters by responding to the IESG mailing list at
 iesg@ietf.org clearly indicating their ITU-T position and the nature
 of their concern.  Plain-text email is preferred on the IESG mailing
 list.
 It should be noted that the IETF turnaround time for new Working
 Group charters is two weeks.  As a result, the mailing list should be
 consistently monitored.

3.1.3 How the IETF Learns About ITU-T Work Items

 The ITU-T work programme is documented in the Questions of each Study
 Group.  These can be found on the ITU-T web site.
 Study Groups should send updates to the IETF NewWork mailing list as
 they occur.  Area Directors or WG Chairs should provide comments to
 the relevant SG Chairman in cases of possible overlap or interest.

3.2 Representation

 ISOC, including its standards body IETF, is a Sector Member of the
 ITU-T.  As a result, ISOC delegates are therefore afforded the same
 rights as other ITU-T Sector Members (see 3.2.1).  Conversely, ITU-T
 delegates may participate in the work of the IETF as representatives
 of the ITU-T (see 3.2.2).  To promote collaboration it is useful to
 facilitate communication between the organizations as further
 described below.

3.2.1 IETF Recognition at ITU-T

 Participants from the IETF may participate in ITU-T meetings as ISOC
 delegates if the appropriate IETF Working Group (or Area) has
 approved their attendance.  This approval will be communicated to the
 TSB in the form of a registration for a particular ITU-T meeting by
 the IAB Chair.

3.2.2 ITU-T Recognition at ISOC/IETF

 ITU-T Study Group Chairmen can authorize one or more members to
 attend an IETF meeting as an official ITU-T delegate speaking
 authoritatively on behalf of the activities of the Study Group (or a

Fishman Informational [Page 4] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 particular Rapporteur Group).  The Study Group Chairman sends the
 ITU-T list of delegates by email to the Working Group chair, with a
 copy to the Area Directors, and also to the Study Group.  Note that,
 according to IETF process, opinions expressed by any such delegate
 are given equal weight with opinions expressed by other working group
 participants.

3.2.3 Communication Contacts

 To foster ongoing communication between the ITU-T and IETF, it is
 important to identify and establish contact points within each
 organization.  Contact points may include:
 1) ITU-T Study Group Chairman and IETF Area Director
    An IETF Area Director is the individual responsible for overseeing
    a major focus of activity with a scope similar to that of an ITU-T
    Study Group Chairman.  These positions are both relatively long-
    term (of several years) and offer the stability of contact points
    between the two organizations for a given topic.
 2) ITU-T Rapporteur and IETF Working Group Chair
    An IETF Working Group Chair is an individual who is assigned to
    lead the work on a specific task within one particular Area with a
    scope similar to that of an ITU-T Rapporteur.  These positions are
    working positions (of a year or more) that typically end when the
    work on a specific topic ends.  Collaboration here is very
    beneficial to ensure the actual work gets done.
 3) Other Contact Points
    It may be beneficial to establish additional contact points for
    specific topics of mutual interest.  These contact points should
    be established early in the work effort, and in some cases the
    contact point identified by each organization may be the same
    individual.
 Note that the current IETF Area Directors and Working Group Chairs
 can be found in the IETF Working Group charters.  The current ITU-T
 Study Group Chairmen and Rapporteurs are listed on the ITU-T web
 page.

3.2.4 Communication

 Informal communication between contact points and experts of both
 organizations is encouraged.  However, note that formal communication
 from an ITU-T Study Group, Working Party or Rapporteur to an

Fishman Informational [Page 5] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 associated IETF contact point must be explicitly approved and
 identified as coming from the Study Group, Working Party or
 Rapporteur Group, respectively.  Formal communication from the ITU-T
 to the IETF should be addressed to the appropriate Working Group
 Chairs and Area Directors with a copy to the email address
 "statements@ietf.org."  These communications are placed by the IETF
 onto a liaison statements web page at
 http://www.ietf.org/IESG/liaison.html.  An individual at the IETF is
 assigned responsibility for dealing with each communication that is
 received.  The name and contact information of the responsible person
 is listed with the links to the communications on this web page.
 Conversely, formal communication from an IETF Working Group or Area
 Director must also be explicitly approved and identified before
 forwarding to any ITU-T contact.  This approval is indicated in IETF
 communication by copying the appropriate Working Group Chairs and
 Area Directors.  Formal communication is intended to allow the
 sharing of positions between the IETF and the ITU-T outside of actual
 documents (as described in 3.3).  This would cover such things as
 comments on documents and requests for input.  The approved
 communication is simply emailed from one body contact to another (the
 appropriate mailing lists, as described in 3.2.5 may be copied).

3.2.5 Mailing Lists

 All IETF Working Groups and all ITU-T Study Group Questions have
 associated mailing lists.
 In the IETF, the mailing list is the primary vehicle for discussion
 and decision-making.  It is recommended that the ITU-T experts
 interested in particular IETF Working Group topics subscribe to and
 participate in these lists.  IETF WG mailing lists are open to all
 subscribers.  The IETF Working Group mailing list subscription and
 archive information are noted in each Working Group's charter.  In
 the ITU-T, the TSB has set up formal mailing lists for Questions,
 Working Parties and other topics within Study Groups (more detail can
 be found on the ITU website).  These mailing lists are typically used
 for discussion of ITU-T contributions.  Note that individual
 subscribers to this list must be affiliated with an ITU-T member (at
 this time, there is no blanket inclusion of all IETF participants as
 members, however, as a member, ISOC may designate representatives to
 subscribe).  Alternatively, ITU-T members operate personal mailing
 lists on various topics with no restrictions on membership (e.g.,
 IETF participants are welcome).

Fishman Informational [Page 6] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

3.3 Document Sharing

 During the course of ITU-T and IETF collaboration it is important to
 share working drafts and documents among the technical working
 groups.  Initially proposed concepts and specifications typically can
 be circulated by email (often just repeating the concept and not
 including the details of the specification) on both the IETF and
 ITU-T mailing lists.  In addition, working texts (or URLs) of draft
 Recommendations, Internet Drafts or RFCs may also be sent between the
 organizations as described below.
 Internet Drafts are available on the IETF web site.  The ITU-T can
 make selected ITU-T documents available in a common FTP area on the
 ITU-T web site.  Although a communication can point to a URL where a
 non-ASCII document (e.g., Word) can be downloaded, Word attachments
 to an IETF mailing list are discouraged.  It should also be
 recognized that the official version of all IETF documents are in
 ASCII.

3.3.1 IETF to ITU-T

 IETF documents (e.g., Internet Drafts) can be submitted to a Study
 Group as a Contribution from ISOC.  In order to ensure that the IETF
 has properly authorized this, the IETF Working Group must agree that
 the specific drafts are of mutual interest, that there is a benefit
 in forwarding them to the ITU-T for review, comment and potential use
 and that the document status is accurately represented in the cover
 letter.  Once agreed, the appropriate Area Directors would review the
 Working Group request and give approval.  The contributions would
 then be forwarded (with the noted approval) to the TSB for
 circulation as a Study Group Contribution (see 3.2.4).

3.3.2 ITU-T to IETF

 A Study Group or Working Party may send texts of draft new or revised
 Recommendations, clearly indicating their status, to the IETF as
 contributions in the form of Internet Drafts.  Internet Drafts are
 IETF temporary documents that expire six months after being
 published.  The Study Group or Working Party must decide that there
 is a benefit in forwarding them to the IETF for review, comment and
 potential use.  Terms of reference for Rapporteur Group meetings may
 authorize Rapporteur Groups to send working documents, in the form of
 Internet Drafts, to the IETF.
 In these cases, the document editor would be instructed to prepare
 the contribution in Internet Draft format (in ASCII and optionally
 postscript format as per [RFC2223]) and submit it to the Internet
 Draft editor (email internet-drafts@ietf.org).  Alternatively, the

Fishman Informational [Page 7] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 Study Group, Working Party or Rapporteur Group could agree to post
 the document on a web site and merely document its existence with a
 short Internet Draft that contains a summary and the document URL.
 The URL can point to a Word document as long as it is publicly
 available and with the understanding that it will not be eligible for
 publication as an RFC in that format.
 Both the Rapporteur and the Document Editor should be identified as
 contacts in the contribution.  The contribution must also clearly
 indicate that the Internet Draft is a working document of a
 particular ITU-T Study Group.

3.3.3 ITU-T & IETF

 It is envisaged that the processes of 3.3.1 & 3.3.2 will often be
 used simultaneously by both an IETF Working Group and an ITU-T Study
 Group to collaborate on a topic of mutual interest.
 It is also envisaged that the outcome of the collaboration will be
 the documentation in full by one body and its referencing by the
 other (see section 3.4 for details).  That is, common or joint text
 is discouraged because of the current differences in procedures for
 document approval and revision.  Where complementary work is being
 undertaken in both organizations that will result in Recommendations
 or RFCs, due allowance should be given to the differing perspectives,
 working methods, and procedures of the two organizations.  That is,
 each organization should understand the other organization's
 procedures and strive to respect them in the collaboration.

3.4 Simple Cross Referencing

 ITU-T Recommendation A.5 describes the process for including
 references to documents of other organizations in ITU-T
 Recommendations.  Information specific to referencing IETF RFCs is
 found at http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/sdo/ref-a.5/isocietf.html.
 IETF RFC2026, specifically section 7.1.1, describes the process for
 referencing other open standards (like ITU-T Recommendations) in IETF
 RFCs.

3.5 Additional Items

3.5.1 Several URLs to IETF procedures are provided here for information:

 RFC2223  - Instructions to RFC Authors, October 1997
    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2223.txt

Fishman Informational [Page 8] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 RFC2026  - The Internet Standards Process Revision 3, October 1996
    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2026.txt
 RFC2418 - IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures, September
    1998 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2418.txt
 Current list and status of all IETF RFCs:
    ftp://ftp.ietf.org/rfc/rfc-index.txt
 Current list and description of all IETF Internet Drafts:
    ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/1id-abstracts.txt
 Current list of IETF Working Groups and their Charters: (includes
    Area Directors and Chair contacts, Mailing list information, etc.)
    http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/wg-dir.html
 RFC Editor pages about publishing RFCs:
    http://www.rfc-editor.org/howtopub.html
 Current list of liaison statements:
    http://www.ietf.org/IESG/liaison.html
 IETF Intellectual Property Rights Notices:
    http://www.ietf.org/ipr.html

3.5.2 Current ITU-T information can be found on the ITU website:

    (includes contacts, organization, Recommendations for purchase,
    mailing list info, etc.)
 ITU-T Main page: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T
 List of all ITU-T Recommendations:
    http://www.itu.int/publibase/itu-t/
 ITU-T Study Group main page for Study Group NN (where NN is the
    2-digit SG number):
    http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/comNN/index.html
 ITU-T Special Study Group on IMT-2000 and beyond:
    http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/ssg/index.html
 Intellectual Property policies, forms and databases:
    http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/dbase/patent/index.html

Fishman Informational [Page 9] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 ITU-T operational matters including:
    Recommendation A.1 - Study Group work methods
    Recommendation A.2 - Preparation of written contributions
    Recommendation A.4 - Communication process between ITU-T and
    forums and consortia
    Recommendation A.5 - Include reference to documents of other
    organizations in ITU-T Recs
    Recommendation A.8 - Alternative Approval Process for
    Recommendations: http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/rec/A
 ITU T Procedures including:
    Resolution 1 - Rules of Procedure for ITU-T
    Resolution 2 - Study Group responsibility and mandates
    http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/wtsa-res/index.html
 Authors Guide for drafting ITU-T Recommendations:
    http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/guide/64657.html
 Templates for contributions:
    http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/com2/template/w2000tem/index.html

4. Security Considerations

 Documents that describe cooperation procedures, like this one does,
 have no direct Internet security implications.

5. Non-normative references

 [RFC2026] Bradner. S, " The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
           3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
 [RFC2223] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "Instructions to RFC Authors",
           RFC 2223, October 1997.
 [RFC2436] Brett, R., Bradner, S. and G. Parsons, "Collaboration
           between ISOC/IETF and ITU-T", RFC 2436, October 1998.

6. Acknowledgements

 This document is based on the text from RFC 2436 and benefited
 greatly from discussions during the November 2001 ITU-T TSAG meeting.

7. Changes since RFC 2436

 The wording has been cleaned up in a number of places, a few
 additional references have been provided, and the details of the
 cooperation process have been modified slightly.

Fishman Informational [Page 10] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

 Sec 3.2.1 - Registration for IETF representatives to ITU-T meetings
    is now done by IAB Chair instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
 Sec 3.2.2 - Notice of ITU-T delegates to IETF Working Group meetings
    is now sent to the Working Group chairs and appropriate Area
    Directors instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
 Sec 3.2.4 - Official communications from the ITU-T to the IETF now
    are sent to the appropriate Working Group Chairs and Area
    Directors with a copy to the email address "statements@ietf.org"
    instead of to the ISOC VP for Standards.  A description of the new
    IETF liaison statements web page was added.  Official approval of
    messages from the IETF to the ITU-T is now indicated by having the
    appropriate Working Group Chairs and Area Directors copied on the
    message.
 Sec 3.3 - A description of the new ITU-T common FTP area was added.
 Sec 3.3.1 - The appropriate Area Directors now review documents to be
    sent to the ITU-T instead of the ISOC VP for Standards.
 Annex A was removed as unneeded.

8. Author's addresses

 Gary Fishman
 Bell Laboratories
 101 Crawfords Corner Road
 Room 4D-605B
 Holmdel, NJ 07733-3030
 USA
 +1 732 949 3401
 EMail: garyfishman@lucent.com
 Scott Bradner
 Harvard University
 29 Oxford St.
 Cambridge MA 02138
 USA
 +1 617 495 3864
 EMail: sob@Harvard.edu

Fishman Informational [Page 11] RFC 3356 IETF and ITU-T Collaboration Guidelines August 2002

9. Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.
 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.
 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Fishman Informational [Page 12]

/data/webs/external/dokuwiki/data/pages/rfc/rfc3356.txt · Last modified: 2002/08/14 19:40 by 127.0.0.1

Donate Powered by PHP Valid HTML5 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki