GENWiki

Premier IT Outsourcing and Support Services within the UK

User Tools

Site Tools


rfc:rfc6550

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) T. Winter, Ed. Request for Comments: 6550 Category: Standards Track P. Thubert, Ed. ISSN: 2070-1721 Cisco Systems

                                                             A. Brandt
                                                         Sigma Designs
                                                                J. Hui
                                                 Arch Rock Corporation
                                                             R. Kelsey
                                                     Ember Corporation
                                                              P. Levis
                                                   Stanford University
                                                             K. Pister
                                                         Dust Networks
                                                             R. Struik
                                           Struik Security Consultancy
                                                           JP. Vasseur
                                                         Cisco Systems
                                                          R. Alexander
                                                  Cooper Power Systems
                                                            March 2012
    RPL: IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks

Abstract

 Low-Power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) are a class of network in which
 both the routers and their interconnect are constrained.  LLN routers
 typically operate with constraints on processing power, memory, and
 energy (battery power).  Their interconnects are characterized by
 high loss rates, low data rates, and instability.  LLNs are comprised
 of anything from a few dozen to thousands of routers.  Supported
 traffic flows include point-to-point (between devices inside the
 LLN), point-to-multipoint (from a central control point to a subset
 of devices inside the LLN), and multipoint-to-point (from devices
 inside the LLN towards a central control point).  This document
 specifies the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks
 (RPL), which provides a mechanism whereby multipoint-to-point traffic
 from devices inside the LLN towards a central control point as well
 as point-to-multipoint traffic from the central control point to the
 devices inside the LLN are supported.  Support for point-to-point
 traffic is also available.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

Status of This Memo

 This is an Internet Standards Track document.
 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
 Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6550.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
 document authors.  All rights reserved.
 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
 publication of this document.  Please review these documents
 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
 to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction ....................................................8
    1.1. Design Principles ..........................................8
    1.2. Expectations of Link-Layer Type ...........................10
 2. Terminology ....................................................10
 3. Protocol Overview ..............................................13
    3.1. Topologies ................................................13
         3.1.1. Constructing Topologies ............................13
         3.1.2. RPL Identifiers ....................................14
         3.1.3. Instances, DODAGs, and DODAG Versions ..............14
    3.2. Upward Routes and DODAG Construction ......................16
         3.2.1. Objective Function (OF) ............................17
         3.2.2. DODAG Repair .......................................17
         3.2.3. Security ...........................................17
         3.2.4. Grounded and Floating DODAGs .......................18
         3.2.5. Local DODAGs .......................................18
         3.2.6. Administrative Preference ..........................18
         3.2.7. Data-Path Validation and Loop Detection ............18
         3.2.8. Distributed Algorithm Operation ....................19
    3.3. Downward Routes and Destination Advertisement .............19
    3.4. Local DODAGs Route Discovery ..............................20
    3.5. Rank Properties ...........................................20
         3.5.1. Rank Comparison (DAGRank()) ........................21
         3.5.2. Rank Relationships .................................22
    3.6. Routing Metrics and Constraints Used by RPL ...............23
    3.7. Loop Avoidance ............................................24
         3.7.1. Greediness and Instability .........................24
         3.7.2. DODAG Loops ........................................26
         3.7.3. DAO Loops ..........................................27
 4. Traffic Flows Supported by RPL .................................27
    4.1. Multipoint-to-Point Traffic ...............................27
    4.2. Point-to-Multipoint Traffic ...............................27
    4.3. Point-to-Point Traffic ....................................27
 5. RPL Instance ...................................................28
    5.1. RPL Instance ID ...........................................29
 6. ICMPv6 RPL Control Message .....................................30
    6.1. RPL Security Fields .......................................32
    6.2. DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS) ......................38
         6.2.1. Format of the DIS Base Object ......................38
         6.2.2. Secure DIS .........................................38
         6.2.3. DIS Options ........................................38
    6.3. DODAG Information Object (DIO) ............................38
         6.3.1. Format of the DIO Base Object ......................39
         6.3.2. Secure DIO .........................................41
         6.3.3. DIO Options ........................................41
    6.4. Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) ....................41
         6.4.1. Format of the DAO Base Object ......................42

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

         6.4.2. Secure DAO .........................................43
         6.4.3. DAO Options ........................................43
    6.5. Destination Advertisement Object Acknowledgement
         (DAO-ACK) .................................................43
         6.5.1. Format of the DAO-ACK Base Object ..................44
         6.5.2. Secure DAO-ACK .....................................45
         6.5.3. DAO-ACK Options ....................................45
    6.6. Consistency Check (CC) ....................................45
         6.6.1. Format of the CC Base Object .......................46
         6.6.2. CC Options .........................................47
    6.7. RPL Control Message Options ...............................47
         6.7.1. RPL Control Message Option Generic Format ..........47
         6.7.2. Pad1 ...............................................48
         6.7.3. PadN ...............................................48
         6.7.4. DAG Metric Container ...............................49
         6.7.5. Route Information ..................................50
         6.7.6. DODAG Configuration ................................52
         6.7.7. RPL Target .........................................54
         6.7.8. Transit Information ................................55
         6.7.9. Solicited Information ..............................58
         6.7.10. Prefix Information ................................59
         6.7.11. RPL Target Descriptor .............................63
 7. Sequence Counters ..............................................63
    7.1. Sequence Counter Overview .................................63
    7.2. Sequence Counter Operation ................................64
 8. Upward Routes ..................................................66
    8.1. DIO Base Rules ............................................67
    8.2. Upward Route Discovery and Maintenance ....................67
         8.2.1. Neighbors and Parents within a DODAG Version .......67
         8.2.2. Neighbors and Parents across DODAG Versions ........68
         8.2.3. DIO Message Communication ..........................73
    8.3. DIO Transmission ..........................................74
         8.3.1. Trickle Parameters .................................75
    8.4. DODAG Selection ...........................................75
    8.5. Operation as a Leaf Node ..................................75
    8.6. Administrative Rank .......................................76
 9. Downward Routes ................................................77
    9.1. Destination Advertisement Parents .........................77
    9.2. Downward Route Discovery and Maintenance ..................78
         9.2.1. Maintenance of Path Sequence .......................79
         9.2.2. Generation of DAO Messages .........................79
    9.3. DAO Base Rules ............................................80
    9.4. Structure of DAO Messages .................................80
    9.5. DAO Transmission Scheduling ...............................83
    9.6. Triggering DAO Messages ...................................83
    9.7. Non-Storing Mode ..........................................84
    9.8. Storing Mode ..............................................85
    9.9. Path Control ..............................................86

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

         9.9.1. Path Control Example ...............................88
    9.10. Multicast Destination Advertisement Messages .............89
 10. Security Mechanisms ...........................................90
    10.1. Security Overview ........................................90
    10.2. Joining a Secure Network .................................91
    10.3. Installing Keys ..........................................92
    10.4. Consistency Checks .......................................93
    10.5. Counters .................................................93
    10.6. Transmission of Outgoing Packets .........................94
    10.7. Reception of Incoming Packets ............................95
         10.7.1. Timestamp Key Checks ..............................97
    10.8. Coverage of Integrity and Confidentiality ................97
    10.9. Cryptographic Mode of Operation ..........................98
         10.9.1. CCM Nonce .........................................98
         10.9.2. Signatures ........................................99
 11. Packet Forwarding and Loop Avoidance/Detection ................99
    11.1. Suggestions for Packet Forwarding ........................99
    11.2. Loop Avoidance and Detection ............................101
         11.2.1. Source Node Operation ............................102
         11.2.2. Router Operation .................................102
 12. Multicast Operation ..........................................104
 13. Maintenance of Routing Adjacency .............................105
 14. Guidelines for Objective Functions ...........................106
    14.1. Objective Function Behavior .............................106
 15. Suggestions for Interoperation with Neighbor Discovery .......108
 16. Summary of Requirements for Interoperable Implementations ....109
    16.1. Common Requirements .....................................109
    16.2. Operation as a RPL Leaf Node (Only) .....................110
    16.3. Operation as a RPL Router ...............................110
         16.3.1. Support for Upward Routes (Only) .................110
         16.3.2. Support for Upward Routes and Downward
                 Routes in Non-Storing ............................110
         16.3.3. Support for Upward Routes and Downward
                 Routes in Storing Mode ...........................111
    16.4. Items for Future Specification ..........................111
 17. RPL Constants and Variables ..................................112
 18. Manageability Considerations .................................113
    18.1. Introduction ............................................114
    18.2. Configuration Management ................................115
         18.2.1. Initialization Mode ..............................115
         18.2.2. DIO and DAO Base Message and Options
                 Configuration ....................................115
         18.2.3. Protocol Parameters to Be Configured on
                 Every Router in the LLN ..........................116
         18.2.4. Protocol Parameters to Be Configured on
                 Every Non-DODAG-Root .............................117
         18.2.5. Parameters to Be Configured on the DODAG Root ....117

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

         18.2.6. Configuration of RPL Parameters Related
                 to DAO-Based Mechanisms ..........................118
         18.2.7. Configuration of RPL Parameters Related
                 to Security Mechanisms ...........................119
         18.2.8. Default Values ...................................119
    18.3. Monitoring of RPL Operation .............................120
         18.3.1. Monitoring a DODAG Parameters ....................120
         18.3.2. Monitoring a DODAG Inconsistencies and
                 Loop Detection ...................................121
    18.4. Monitoring of the RPL Data Structures ...................121
         18.4.1. Candidate Neighbor Data Structure ................121
         18.4.2. Destination-Oriented Directed Acyclic
                 Graph (DODAG) Table ..............................122
         18.4.3. Routing Table and DAO Routing Entries ............122
    18.5. Fault Management ........................................123
    18.6. Policy ..................................................124
    18.7. Fault Isolation .........................................125
    18.8. Impact on Other Protocols ...............................125
    18.9. Performance Management ..................................126
    18.10. Diagnostics ............................................126
 19. Security Considerations ......................................126
    19.1. Overview ................................................126
 20. IANA Considerations ..........................................128
    20.1. RPL Control Message .....................................128
    20.2. New Registry for RPL Control Codes ......................128
    20.3. New Registry for the Mode of Operation (MOP) ............129
    20.4. RPL Control Message Option ..............................130
    20.5. Objective Code Point (OCP) Registry .....................131
    20.6. New Registry for the Security Section Algorithm .........131
    20.7. New Registry for the Security Section Flags .............132
    20.8. New Registry for Per-KIM Security Levels ................132
    20.9. New Registry for DODAG Informational
          Solicitation (DIS) Flags ................................133
    20.10. New Registry for the DODAG Information Object
           (DIO) Flags ............................................134
    20.11. New Registry for the Destination Advertisement
           Object (DAO) Flags .....................................134
    20.12. New Registry for the Destination Advertisement
           Object (DAO) Flags .....................................135
    20.13. New Registry for the Consistency Check (CC) Flags ......135
    20.14. New Registry for the DODAG Configuration Option Flags ..136
    20.15. New Registry for the RPL Target Option Flags ...........136
    20.16. New Registry for the Transit Information Option Flags ..137
    20.17. New Registry for the Solicited Information
           Option Flags ...........................................137
    20.18. ICMPv6: Error in Source Routing Header .................138
    20.19. Link-Local Scope Multicast Address .....................138
 21. Acknowledgements .............................................138

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 22. Contributors .................................................139
 23. References ...................................................139
    23.1. Normative References ....................................139
    23.2. Informative References ..................................140
 Appendix A. Example Operation ....................................143
    A.1. Example Operation in Storing Mode with Node-Owned
         Prefixes .................................................143
         A.1.1. DIO Messages and PIO ..............................144
         A.1.2. DAO Messages ......................................145
         A.1.3. Routing Information Base ..........................145
    A.2. Example Operation in Storing Mode with Subnet-Wide
         Prefix ...................................................146
         A.2.1. DIO Messages and PIO ..............................147
         A.2.2. DAO Messages ......................................148
         A.2.3. Routing Information Base ..........................148
    A.3. Example Operation in Non-Storing Mode with Node-Owned
         Prefixes .................................................149
         A.3.1. DIO Messages and PIO ..............................150
         A.3.2. DAO Messages ......................................150
         A.3.3. Routing Information Base ..........................151
    A.4. Example Operation in Non-Storing Mode with
         Subnet-Wide Prefix .......................................151
         A.4.1. DIO Messages and PIO ..............................152
         A.4.2. DAO Messages ......................................153
         A.4.3. Routing Information Base ..........................153
    A.5. Example with External Prefixes ...........................154

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

1. Introduction

 Low-power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) consist largely of constrained
 nodes (with limited processing power, memory, and sometimes energy
 when they are battery operated or energy scavenging).  These routers
 are interconnected by lossy links, typically supporting only low data
 rates, that are usually unstable with relatively low packet delivery
 rates.  Another characteristic of such networks is that the traffic
 patterns are not simply point-to-point, but in many cases point-to-
 multipoint or multipoint-to-point.  Furthermore, such networks may
 potentially comprise up to thousands of nodes.  These characteristics
 offer unique challenges to a routing solution: the IETF ROLL working
 group has defined application-specific routing requirements for a
 Low-power and Lossy Network (LLN) routing protocol, specified in
 [RFC5867], [RFC5826], [RFC5673], and [RFC5548].
 This document specifies the IPv6 Routing Protocol for LLNs (RPL).
 Note that although RPL was specified according to the requirements
 set forth in the aforementioned requirement documents, its use is in
 no way limited to these applications.

1.1. Design Principles

 RPL was designed with the objective to meet the requirements spelled
 out in [RFC5867], [RFC5826], [RFC5673], and [RFC5548].
 A network may run multiple instances of RPL concurrently.  Each such
 instance may serve different and potentially antagonistic constraints
 or performance criteria.  This document defines how a single instance
 operates.
 In order to be useful in a wide range of LLN application domains, RPL
 separates packet processing and forwarding from the routing
 optimization objective.  Examples of such objectives include
 minimizing energy, minimizing latency, or satisfying constraints.
 This document describes the mode of operation of RPL.  Other
 companion documents specify routing Objective Functions.  A RPL
 implementation, in support of a particular LLN application, will
 include the necessary Objective Function(s) as required by the
 application.
 RPL operations require bidirectional links.  In some LLN scenarios,
 those links may exhibit asymmetric properties.  It is required that
 the reachability of a router be verified before the router can be
 used as a parent.  RPL expects an external mechanism to be triggered
 during the parent selection phase in order to verify link properties
 and neighbor reachability.  Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD)
 is such a mechanism, but alternates are possible, including

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) [RFC5881] and hints from
 lower layers via Layer 2 (L2) triggers like [RFC5184].  In a general
 fashion, a detection mechanism that is reactive to traffic is favored
 in order to minimize the cost of monitoring links that are not being
 used.
 RPL also expects an external mechanism to access and transport some
 control information, referred to as the "RPL Packet Information", in
 data packets.  The RPL Packet Information is defined in Section 11.2
 and enables the association of a data packet with a RPL Instance and
 the validation of RPL routing states.  The RPL option [RFC6553] is an
 example of such mechanism.  The mechanism is required for all packets
 except when strict source routing is used (that is for packets going
 Downward in Non-Storing mode as detailed further in Section 9), which
 by nature prevents endless loops and alleviates the need for the RPL
 Packet Information.  Future companion specifications may propose
 alternate ways to carry the RPL Packet Information in the IPv6
 packets and may extend the RPL Packet Information to support
 additional features.
 RPL provides a mechanism to disseminate information over the
 dynamically formed network topology.  This dissemination enables
 minimal configuration in the nodes, allowing nodes to operate mostly
 autonomously.  This mechanism uses Trickle [RFC6206] to optimize the
 dissemination as described in Section 8.3.
 In some applications, RPL assembles topologies of routers that own
 independent prefixes.  Those prefixes may or may not be aggregatable
 depending on the origin of the routers.  A prefix that is owned by a
 router is advertised as on-link.
 RPL also introduces the capability to bind a subnet together with a
 common prefix and to route within that subnet.  A source can inject
 information about the subnet to be disseminated by RPL, and that
 source is authoritative for that subnet.  Because many LLN links have
 non-transitive properties, a common prefix that RPL disseminates over
 the subnet must not be advertised as on-link.
 In particular, RPL may disseminate IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND)
 information such as the [RFC4861] Prefix Information Option (PIO) and
 the [RFC4191] Route Information Option (RIO).  ND information that is
 disseminated by RPL conserves all its original semantics for router
 to host, with limited extensions for router to router, though it is
 not to be confused with routing advertisements and it is never to be
 directly redistributed in another routing protocol.  A RPL node often
 combines host and router behaviors.  As a host, it will process the
 options as specified in [RFC4191], [RFC4861], [RFC4862], and
 [RFC6275].  As a router, the RPL node may advertise the information

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 from the options as required for the specific link, for instance, in
 an ND Router Advertisement (RA) message, though the exact operation
 is out of scope.
 A set of companion documents to this specification will provide
 further guidance in the form of applicability statements specifying a
 set of operating points appropriate to the Building Automation, Home
 Automation, Industrial, and Urban application scenarios.

1.2. Expectations of Link-Layer Type

 In compliance with the layered architecture of IP, RPL does not rely
 on any particular features of a specific link-layer technology.  RPL
 is designed to be able to operate over a variety of different link
 layers, including ones that are constrained, potentially lossy, or
 typically utilized in conjunction with highly constrained host or
 router devices, such as but not limited to, low-power wireless or PLC
 (Power Line Communication) technologies.
 Implementers may find [RFC3819] a useful reference when designing a
 link-layer interface between RPL and a particular link-layer
 technology.

2. Terminology

 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
 "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC
 2119 [RFC2119].
 Additionally, this document uses terminology from [ROLL-TERMS], and
 introduces the following terminology:
 DAG: Directed Acyclic Graph.  A directed graph having the property
       that all edges are oriented in such a way that no cycles exist.
       All edges are contained in paths oriented toward and
       terminating at one or more root nodes.
 DAG root: A DAG root is a node within the DAG that has no outgoing
       edge.  Because the graph is acyclic, by definition, all DAGs
       must have at least one DAG root and all paths terminate at a
       DAG root.
 Destination-Oriented DAG (DODAG): A DAG rooted at a single
       destination, i.e., at a single DAG root (the DODAG root) with
       no outgoing edges.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 DODAG root: A DODAG root is the DAG root of a DODAG.  The DODAG root
       may act as a border router for the DODAG; in particular, it may
       aggregate routes in the DODAG and may redistribute DODAG routes
       into other routing protocols.
 Virtual DODAG root: A Virtual DODAG root is the result of two or more
       RPL routers, for instance, 6LoWPAN Border Routers (6LBRs),
       coordinating to synchronize DODAG state and act in concert as
       if they are a single DODAG root (with multiple interfaces),
       with respect to the LLN.  The coordination most likely occurs
       between powered devices over a reliable transit link, and the
       details of that scheme are out of scope for this specification
       (to be defined in future companion specifications).
 Up:  Up refers to the direction from leaf nodes towards DODAG roots,
       following DODAG edges.  This follows the common terminology
       used in graphs and depth-first-search, where vertices further
       from the root are "deeper" or "down" and vertices closer to the
       root are "shallower" or "up".
 Down: Down refers to the direction from DODAG roots towards leaf
       nodes, in the reverse direction of DODAG edges.  This follows
       the common terminology used in graphs and depth-first-search,
       where vertices further from the root are "deeper" or "down" and
       vertices closer to the root are "shallower" or "up".
 Rank: A node's Rank defines the node's individual position relative
       to other nodes with respect to a DODAG root.  Rank strictly
       increases in the Down direction and strictly decreases in the
       Up direction.  The exact way Rank is computed depends on the
       DAG's Objective Function (OF).  The Rank may analogously track
       a simple topological distance, may be calculated as a function
       of link metrics, and may consider other properties such as
       constraints.
 Objective Function (OF): An OF defines how routing metrics,
       optimization objectives, and related functions are used to
       compute Rank.  Furthermore, the OF dictates how parents in the
       DODAG are selected and, thus, the DODAG formation.
 Objective Code Point (OCP): An OCP is an identifier that indicates
       which Objective Function the DODAG uses.
 RPLInstanceID: A RPLInstanceID is a unique identifier within a
       network.  DODAGs with the same RPLInstanceID share the same
       Objective Function.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 11] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 RPL Instance: A RPL Instance is a set of one or more DODAGs that
       share a RPLInstanceID.  At most, a RPL node can belong to one
       DODAG in a RPL Instance.  Each RPL Instance operates
       independently of other RPL Instances.  This document describes
       operation within a single RPL Instance.
 DODAGID: A DODAGID is the identifier of a DODAG root.  The DODAGID is
       unique within the scope of a RPL Instance in the LLN.  The
       tuple (RPLInstanceID, DODAGID) uniquely identifies a DODAG.
 DODAG Version: A DODAG Version is a specific iteration ("Version") of
       a DODAG with a given DODAGID.
 DODAGVersionNumber: A DODAGVersionNumber is a sequential counter that
       is incremented by the root to form a new Version of a DODAG.  A
       DODAG Version is identified uniquely by the (RPLInstanceID,
       DODAGID, DODAGVersionNumber) tuple.
 Goal: The Goal is an application-specific goal that is defined
       outside the scope of RPL.  Any node that roots a DODAG will
       need to know about this Goal to decide whether or not the Goal
       can be satisfied.  A typical Goal is to construct the DODAG
       according to a specific Objective Function and to keep
       connectivity to a set of hosts (e.g., to use an Objective
       Function that minimizes a metric and is connected to a specific
       database host to store the collected data).
 Grounded: A DODAG is grounded when the DODAG root can satisfy the
       Goal.
 Floating: A DODAG is floating if it is not grounded.  A floating
       DODAG is not expected to have the properties required to
       satisfy the goal.  It may, however, provide connectivity to
       other nodes within the DODAG.
 DODAG parent: A parent of a node within a DODAG is one of the
       immediate successors of the node on a path towards the DODAG
       root.  A DODAG parent's Rank is lower than the node's.  (See
       Section 3.5.1).
 Sub-DODAG: The sub-DODAG of a node is the set of other nodes whose
       paths to the DODAG root pass through that node.  Nodes in the
       sub-DODAG of a node have a greater Rank than that node.  (See
       Section 3.5.1).
 Local DODAG: Local DODAGs contain one and only one root node, and
       they allow that single root node to allocate and manage a RPL
       Instance, identified by a local RPLInstanceID, without

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 12] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

       coordination with other nodes.  Typically, this is done in
       order to optimize routes to a destination within the LLN.  (See
       Section 5).
 Global DODAG: A Global DODAG uses a global RPLInstanceID that may be
       coordinated among several other nodes.  (See Section 5).
 DIO: DODAG Information Object (see Section 6.3)
 DAO: Destination Advertisement Object (see Section 6.4)
 DIS: DODAG Information Solicitation (see Section 6.2)
 CC: Consistency Check (see Section 6.6)
 As they form networks, LLN devices often mix the roles of host and
 router when compared to traditional IP networks.  In this document,
 "host" refers to an LLN device that can generate but does not forward
 RPL traffic; "router" refers to an LLN device that can forward as
 well as generate RPL traffic; and "node" refers to any RPL device,
 either a host or a router.

3. Protocol Overview

 The aim of this section is to describe RPL in the spirit of
 [RFC4101].  Protocol details can be found in further sections.

3.1. Topologies

 This section describes the basic RPL topologies that may be formed,
 and the rules by which these are constructed, i.e., the rules
 governing DODAG formation.

3.1.1. Constructing Topologies

 LLNs, such as Radio Networks, do not typically have predefined
 topologies, for example, those imposed by point-to-point wires, so
 RPL has to discover links and then select peers sparingly.
 In many cases, because Layer 2 ranges overlap only partially, RPL
 forms non-transitive / Non-Broadcast Multi-Access (NBMA) network
 topologies upon which it computes routes.
 RPL routes are optimized for traffic to or from one or more roots
 that act as sinks for the topology.  As a result, RPL organizes a
 topology as a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) that is partitioned into

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 13] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 one or more Destination Oriented DAGs (DODAGs), one DODAG per sink.
 If the DAG has multiple roots, then it is expected that the roots are
 federated by a common backbone, such as a transit link.

3.1.2. RPL Identifiers

 RPL uses four values to identify and maintain a topology:
 o  The first is a RPLInstanceID.  A RPLInstanceID identifies a set of
    one or more Destination Oriented DAGs (DODAGs).  A network may
    have multiple RPLInstanceIDs, each of which defines an independent
    set of DODAGs, which may be optimized for different Objective
    Functions (OFs) and/or applications.  The set of DODAGs identified
    by a RPLInstanceID is called a RPL Instance.  All DODAGs in the
    same RPL Instance use the same OF.
 o  The second is a DODAGID.  The scope of a DODAGID is a RPL
    Instance.  The combination of RPLInstanceID and DODAGID uniquely
    identifies a single DODAG in the network.  A RPL Instance may have
    multiple DODAGs, each of which has an unique DODAGID.
 o  The third is a DODAGVersionNumber.  The scope of a
    DODAGVersionNumber is a DODAG.  A DODAG is sometimes reconstructed
    from the DODAG root, by incrementing the DODAGVersionNumber.  The
    combination of RPLInstanceID, DODAGID, and DODAGVersionNumber
    uniquely identifies a DODAG Version.
 o  The fourth is Rank.  The scope of Rank is a DODAG Version.  Rank
    establishes a partial order over a DODAG Version, defining
    individual node positions with respect to the DODAG root.

3.1.3. Instances, DODAGs, and DODAG Versions

 A RPL Instance contains one or more DODAG roots.  A RPL Instance may
 provide routes to certain destination prefixes, reachable via the
 DODAG roots or alternate paths within the DODAG.  These roots may
 operate independently, or they may coordinate over a network that is
 not necessarily as constrained as an LLN.
 A RPL Instance may comprise:
 o  a single DODAG with a single root
  • For example, a DODAG optimized to minimize latency rooted at a

single centralized lighting controller in a Home Automation

       application.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 14] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  multiple uncoordinated DODAGs with independent roots (differing
    DODAGIDs)
  • For example, multiple data collection points in an urban data

collection application that do not have suitable connectivity

       to coordinate with each other or that use the formation of
       multiple DODAGs as a means to dynamically and autonomously
       partition the network.
 o  a single DODAG with a virtual root that coordinates LLN sinks
    (with the same DODAGID) over a backbone network.
  • For example, multiple border routers operating with a reliable

transit link, e.g., in support of an IPv6 Low-Power Wireless

       Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) application, that are capable
       of acting as logically equivalent interfaces to the sink of the
       same DODAG.
 o  a combination of the above as suited to some application scenario.
 Each RPL packet is associated with a particular RPLInstanceID (see
 Section 11.2) and, therefore, RPL Instance (Section 5).  The
 provisioning or automated discovery of a mapping between a
 RPLInstanceID and a type or service of application traffic is out of
 scope for this specification (to be defined in future companion
 specifications).
 Figure 1 depicts an example of a RPL Instance comprising three DODAGs
 with DODAG roots R1, R2, and R3.  Each of these DODAG roots
 advertises the same RPLInstanceID.  The lines depict connectivity
 between parents and children.
 Figure 2 depicts how a DODAGVersionNumber increment leads to a new
 DODAG Version.  This depiction illustrates a DODAGVersionNumber
 increment that results in a different DODAG topology.  Note that a
 new DODAG Version does not always imply a different DODAG topology.
 To accommodate certain topology changes requires a new DODAG Version,
 as described later in this specification.
 In the following examples, please note that tree-like structures are
 depicted for simplicity, although the DODAG structure allows for each
 node to have multiple parents when the connectivity supports it.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 15] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

   +----------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                                |
   | +--------------+                                               |
   | |              |                                               |
   | |     (R1)     |            (R2)                   (R3)        |
   | |     /  \     |            /| \                  / |  \       |
   | |    /    \    |           / |  \                /  |   \      |
   | |  (A)    (B)  |         (C) |  (D)     ...    (F) (G)  (H)    |
   | |  /|\     |\  |         /   | / |\             |\  |    |     |
   | | : : :    : : |        :   (E)  : :            :  `:    :     |
   | |              |            / \                                |
   | +--------------+           :   :                               |
   |      DODAG                                                     |
   |                                                                |
   +----------------------------------------------------------------+
                              RPL Instance
                        Figure 1: RPL Instance
          +----------------+                +----------------+
          |                |                |                |
          |      (R1)      |                |      (R1)      |
          |      /  \      |                |      /         |
          |     /    \     |                |     /          |
          |   (A)    (B)   |         \      |   (A)          |
          |   /|\   / |\   |    ------\     |   /|\          |
          |  : : (C)  : :  |           \    |  : : (C)       |
          |                |           /    |        \       |
          |                |    ------/     |         \      |
          |                |         /      |         (B)    |
          |                |                |          |\    |
          |                |                |          : :   |
          |                |                |                |
          +----------------+                +----------------+
              Version N                        Version N+1
                        Figure 2: DODAG Version

3.2. Upward Routes and DODAG Construction

 RPL provisions routes Up towards DODAG roots, forming a DODAG
 optimized according to an Objective Function (OF).  RPL nodes
 construct and maintain these DODAGs through DODAG Information Object
 (DIO) messages.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 16] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

3.2.1. Objective Function (OF)

 The Objective Function (OF) defines how RPL nodes select and optimize
 routes within a RPL Instance.  The OF is identified by an Objective
 Code Point (OCP) within the DIO Configuration option.  An OF defines
 how nodes translate one or more metrics and constraints, which are
 themselves defined in [RFC6551], into a value called Rank, which
 approximates the node's distance from a DODAG root.  An OF also
 defines how nodes select parents.  Further details may be found in
 Section 14, [RFC6551], [RFC6552], and related companion
 specifications.

3.2.2. DODAG Repair

 A DODAG root institutes a global repair operation by incrementing the
 DODAGVersionNumber.  This initiates a new DODAG Version.  Nodes in
 the new DODAG Version can choose a new position whose Rank is not
 constrained by their Rank within the old DODAG Version.
 RPL also supports mechanisms that may be used for local repair within
 the DODAG Version.  The DIO message specifies the necessary
 parameters as configured from and controlled by policy at the DODAG
 root.

3.2.3. Security

 RPL supports message confidentiality and integrity.  It is designed
 such that link-layer mechanisms can be used when available and
 appropriate; yet, in their absence, RPL can use its own mechanisms.
 RPL has three basic security modes.
 In the first, called "unsecured", RPL control messages are sent
 without any additional security mechanisms.  Unsecured mode does not
 imply that the RPL network is unsecure: it could be using other
 present security primitives (e.g., link-layer security) to meet
 application security requirements.
 In the second, called "preinstalled", nodes joining a RPL Instance
 have preinstalled keys that enable them to process and generate
 secured RPL messages.
 The third mode is called "authenticated".  In authenticated mode,
 nodes have preinstalled keys as in preinstalled mode, but the
 preinstalled key may only be used to join a RPL Instance as a leaf.
 Joining an authenticated RPL Instance as a router requires obtaining
 a key from an authentication authority.  The process by which this
 key is obtained is out of scope for this specification.  Note that
 this specification alone does not provide sufficient detail for a RPL

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 17] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 implementation to securely operate in authenticated mode.  For a RPL
 implementation to operate securely in authenticated mode, it is
 necessary for a future companion specification to detail the
 mechanisms by which a node obtains/requests the authentication
 material (e.g., key, certificate) and to determine from where that
 material should be obtained.  See also Section 10.3.

3.2.4. Grounded and Floating DODAGs

 DODAGs can be grounded or floating: the DODAG root advertises which
 is the case.  A grounded DODAG offers connectivity to hosts that are
 required for satisfying the application-defined goal.  A floating
 DODAG is not expected to satisfy the goal; in most cases, it only
 provides routes to nodes within the DODAG.  Floating DODAGs may be
 used, for example, to preserve interconnectivity during repair.

3.2.5. Local DODAGs

 RPL nodes can optimize routes to a destination within an LLN by
 forming a Local DODAG whose DODAG root is the desired destination.
 Unlike global DAGs, which can consist of multiple DODAGs, local DAGs
 have one and only one DODAG and therefore one DODAG root.  Local
 DODAGs can be constructed on demand.

3.2.6. Administrative Preference

 An implementation/deployment may specify that some DODAG roots should
 be used over others through an administrative preference.
 Administrative preference offers a way to control traffic and
 engineer DODAG formation in order to better support application
 requirements or needs.

3.2.7. Data-Path Validation and Loop Detection

 The low-power and lossy nature of LLNs motivates RPL's use of on-
 demand loop detection using data packets.  Because data traffic can
 be infrequent, maintaining a routing topology that is constantly up
 to date with the physical topology can waste energy.  Typical LLNs
 exhibit variations in physical connectivity that are transient and
 innocuous to traffic, but that would be costly to track closely from
 the control plane.  Transient and infrequent changes in connectivity
 need not be addressed by RPL until there is data to send.  This
 aspect of RPL's design draws from existing, highly used LLN protocols
 as well as extensive experimental and deployment evidence on its
 efficacy.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 18] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The RPL Packet Information that is transported with data packets
 includes the Rank of the transmitter.  An inconsistency between the
 routing decision for a packet (Upward or Downward) and the Rank
 relationship between the two nodes indicates a possible loop.  On
 receiving such a packet, a node institutes a local repair operation.
 For example, if a node receives a packet flagged as moving in the
 Upward direction, and if that packet records that the transmitter is
 of a lower (lesser) Rank than the receiving node, then the receiving
 node is able to conclude that the packet has not progressed in the
 Upward direction and that the DODAG is inconsistent.

3.2.8. Distributed Algorithm Operation

 A high-level overview of the distributed algorithm, which constructs
 the DODAG, is as follows:
 o  Some nodes are configured to be DODAG roots, with associated DODAG
    configurations.
 o  Nodes advertise their presence, affiliation with a DODAG, routing
    cost, and related metrics by sending link-local multicast DIO
    messages to all-RPL-nodes.
 o  Nodes listen for DIOs and use their information to join a new
    DODAG (thus, selecting DODAG parents), or to maintain an existing
    DODAG, according to the specified Objective Function and Rank of
    their neighbors.
 o  Nodes provision routing table entries, for the destinations
    specified by the DIO message, via their DODAG parents in the DODAG
    Version.  Nodes that decide to join a DODAG can provision one or
    more DODAG parents as the next hop for the default route and a
    number of other external routes for the associated instance.

3.3. Downward Routes and Destination Advertisement

 RPL uses Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) messages to establish
 Downward routes.  DAO messages are an optional feature for
 applications that require point-to-multipoint (P2MP) or point-to-
 point (P2P) traffic.  RPL supports two modes of Downward traffic:
 Storing (fully stateful) or Non-Storing (fully source routed); see
 Section 9.  Any given RPL Instance is either storing or non-storing.
 In both cases, P2P packets travel Up toward a DODAG root then Down to
 the final destination (unless the destination is on the Upward
 route).  In the Non-Storing case, the packet will travel all the way
 to a DODAG root before traveling Down.  In the Storing case, the

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 19] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 packet may be directed Down towards the destination by a common
 ancestor of the source and the destination prior to reaching a DODAG
 root.
 As of the writing of this specification, no implementation is
 expected to support both Storing and Non-Storing modes of operation.
 Most implementations are expected to support either no Downward
 routes, Non-Storing mode only, or Storing mode only.  Other modes of
 operation, such as a hybrid mix of Storing and Non-Storing mode, are
 out of scope for this specification and may be described in other
 companion specifications.
 This specification describes a basic mode of operation in support of
 P2P traffic.  Note that more optimized P2P solutions may be described
 in companion specifications.

3.4. Local DODAGs Route Discovery

 Optionally, a RPL network can support on-demand discovery of DODAGs
 to specific destinations within an LLN.  Such Local DODAGs behave
 slightly differently than Global DODAGs: they are uniquely defined by
 the combination of DODAGID and RPLInstanceID.  The RPLInstanceID
 denotes whether a DODAG is a Local DODAG.

3.5. Rank Properties

 The Rank of a node is a scalar representation of the location of that
 node within a DODAG Version.  The Rank is used to avoid and detect
 loops and, as such, must demonstrate certain properties.  The exact
 calculation of the Rank is left to the Objective Function.  Even
 though the specific computation of the Rank is left to the Objective
 Function, the Rank must implement generic properties regardless of
 the Objective Function.
 In particular, the Rank of the nodes must monotonically decrease as
 the DODAG Version is followed towards the DODAG destination.  In that
 regard, the Rank can be considered a scalar representation of the
 location or radius of a node within a DODAG Version.
 The details of how the Objective Function computes Rank are out of
 scope for this specification, although that computation may depend,
 for example, on parents, link metrics, node metrics, and the node
 configuration and policies.  See Section 14 for more information.
 The Rank is not a path cost, although its value can be derived from
 and influenced by path metrics.  The Rank has properties of its own
 that are not necessarily those of all metrics:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 20] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Type: The Rank is an abstract numeric value.
 Function: The Rank is the expression of a relative position within a
       DODAG Version with regard to neighbors, and it is not
       necessarily a good indication or a proper expression of a
       distance or a path cost to the root.
 Stability: The stability of the Rank determines the stability of the
       routing topology.  Some dampening or filtering is RECOMMENDED
       to keep the topology stable; thus, the Rank does not
       necessarily change as fast as some link or node metrics would.
       A new DODAG Version would be a good opportunity to reconcile
       the discrepancies that might form over time between metrics and
       Ranks within a DODAG Version.
 Properties: The Rank is incremented in a strictly monotonic fashion,
       and it can be used to validate a progression from or towards
       the root.  A metric, like bandwidth or jitter, does not
       necessarily exhibit this property.
 Abstract: The Rank does not have a physical unit, but rather a range
       of increment per hop, where the assignment of each increment is
       to be determined by the Objective Function.
 The Rank value feeds into DODAG parent selection, according to the
 RPL loop-avoidance strategy.  Once a parent has been added, and a
 Rank value for the node within the DODAG has been advertised, the
 node's further options with regard to DODAG parent selection and
 movement within the DODAG are restricted in favor of loop avoidance.

3.5.1. Rank Comparison (DAGRank())

 Rank may be thought of as a fixed-point number, where the position of
 the radix point between the integer part and the fractional part is
 determined by MinHopRankIncrease.  MinHopRankIncrease is the minimum
 increase in Rank between a node and any of its DODAG parents.  A
 DODAG root provisions MinHopRankIncrease.  MinHopRankIncrease creates
 a trade-off between hop cost precision and the maximum number of hops
 a network can support.  A very large MinHopRankIncrease, for example,
 allows precise characterization of a given hop's effect on Rank but
 cannot support many hops.
 When an Objective Function computes Rank, the Objective Function
 operates on the entire (i.e., 16-bit) Rank quantity.  When Rank is
 compared, e.g., for determination of parent relationships or loop
 detection, the integer portion of the Rank is to be used.  The

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 21] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 integer portion of the Rank is computed by the DAGRank() macro as
 follows, where floor(x) is the function that evaluates to the
 greatest integer less than or equal to x:
            DAGRank(rank) = floor(rank/MinHopRankIncrease)
 For example, if a 16-bit Rank quantity is decimal 27, and the
 MinHopRankIncrease is decimal 16, then DAGRank(27) = floor(1.6875) =
 1.  The integer part of the Rank is 1 and the fractional part is
 11/16.
 Following the conventions in this document, using the macro
 DAGRank(node) may be interpreted as DAGRank(node.rank), where
 node.rank is the Rank value as maintained by the node.
 A Node A has a Rank less than the Rank of a Node B if DAGRank(A) is
 less than DAGRank(B).
 A Node A has a Rank equal to the Rank of a Node B if DAGRank(A) is
 equal to DAGRank(B).
 A Node A has a Rank greater than the Rank of a Node B if DAGRank(A)
 is greater than DAGRank(B).

3.5.2. Rank Relationships

 Rank computations maintain the following properties for any nodes M
 and N that are neighbors in the LLN:
 DAGRank(M) is less than DAGRank(N):
    In this case, the position of M is closer to the DODAG root than
    the position of N.  Node M may safely be a DODAG parent for Node N
    without risk of creating a loop.  Further, for a Node N, all
    parents in the DODAG parent set must be of a Rank less than
    DAGRank(N).  In other words, the Rank presented by a Node N MUST
    be greater than that presented by any of its parents.
 DAGRank(M) equals DAGRank(N):
    In this case, the positions of M and N within the DODAG and with
    respect to the DODAG root are similar or identical.  Routing
    through a node with equal Rank may cause a routing loop (i.e., if
    that node chooses to route through a node with equal Rank as
    well).

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 22] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 DAGRank(M) is greater than DAGRank(N):
    In this case, the position of M is farther from the DODAG root
    than the position of N.  Further, Node M may in fact be in the
    sub-DODAG of Node N.  If Node N selects Node M as DODAG parent,
    there is a risk of creating a loop.
 As an example, the Rank could be computed in such a way so as to
 closely track ETX (expected transmission count, a fairly common
 routing metric used in LLN and defined in [RFC6551]) when the metric
 that an Objective Function minimizes is ETX, or latency, or in a more
 complicated way as appropriate to the Objective Function being used
 within the DODAG.

3.6. Routing Metrics and Constraints Used by RPL

 Routing metrics are used by routing protocols to compute shortest
 paths.  Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs) such as IS-IS ([RFC5120])
 and OSPF ([RFC4915]) use static link metrics.  Such link metrics can
 simply reflect the bandwidth or can also be computed according to a
 polynomial function of several metrics defining different link
 characteristics.  Some routing protocols support more than one
 metric: in the vast majority of the cases, one metric is used per
 (sub-)topology.  Less often, a second metric may be used as a
 tiebreaker in the presence of Equal Cost Multiple Paths (ECMPs).  The
 optimization of multiple metrics is known as an NP-complete problem
 and is sometimes supported by some centralized path computation
 engine.
 In contrast, LLNs do require the support of both static and dynamic
 metrics.  Furthermore, both link and node metrics are required.  In
 the case of RPL, it is virtually impossible to define one metric, or
 even a composite metric, that will satisfy all use cases.
 In addition, RPL supports constraint-based routing where constraints
 may be applied to both link and nodes.  If a link or a node does not
 satisfy a required constraint, it is "pruned" from the candidate
 neighbor set, thus leading to a constrained shortest path.
 An Objective Function specifies the objectives used to compute the
 (constrained) path.  Furthermore, nodes are configured to support a
 set of metrics and constraints and select their parents in the DODAG
 according to the metrics and constraints advertised in the DIO
 messages.  Upstream and Downstream metrics may be merged or
 advertised separately depending on the OF and the metrics.  When they
 are advertised separately, it may happen that the set of DIO parents

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 23] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 is different from the set of DAO parents (a DAO parent is a node to
 which unicast DAO messages are sent).  Yet, all are DODAG parents
 with regard to the rules for Rank computation.
 The Objective Function is decoupled from the routing metrics and
 constraints used by RPL.  Whereas the OF dictates rules such as DODAG
 parent selection, load balancing, and so on, the set of metrics
 and/or constraints used, and thus those that determine the preferred
 path, are based on the information carried within the DAG container
 option in DIO messages.
 The set of supported link/node constraints and metrics is specified
 in [RFC6551].
 Example 1: Shortest path: path offering the shortest end-to-end
            delay.
 Example 2: Shortest Constrained path: the path that does not traverse
            any battery-operated node and that optimizes the path
            reliability.

3.7. Loop Avoidance

 RPL tries to avoid creating loops when undergoing topology changes
 and includes Rank-based data-path validation mechanisms for detecting
 loops when they do occur (see Section 11 for more details).  In
 practice, this means that RPL guarantees neither loop-free path
 selection nor tight delay convergence times, but it can detect and
 repair a loop as soon as it is used.  RPL uses this loop detection to
 ensure that packets make forward progress within the DODAG Version
 and trigger repairs when necessary.

3.7.1. Greediness and Instability

 A node is greedy if it attempts to move deeper (increase Rank) in the
 DODAG Version in order to increase the size of the parent set or
 improve some other metric.  Once a node has joined a DODAG Version,
 RPL disallows certain behaviors, including greediness, in order to
 prevent resulting instabilities in the DODAG Version.
 Suppose a node is willing to receive and process a DIO message from a
 node in its own sub-DODAG and, in general, a node deeper than itself.
 In this case, a possibility exists that a feedback loop is created,
 wherein two or more nodes continue to try and move in the DODAG
 Version while attempting to optimize against each other.  In some
 cases, this will result in instability.  It is for this reason that
 RPL limits the cases where a node may process DIO messages from
 deeper nodes to some form of local repair.  This approach creates an

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 24] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 "event horizon", whereby a node cannot be influenced beyond some
 limit into an instability by the action of nodes that may be in its
 own sub-DODAG.

3.7.1.1. Example: Greedy Parent Selection and Instability

       (A)                    (A)                    (A)
        |\                     |\                     |\
        | `-----.              | `-----.              | `-----.
        |        \             |        \             |        \
       (B)       (C)          (B)        \            |        (C)
                                \        |            |        /
                                 `-----. |            | .-----'
                                        \|            |/
                                        (C)          (B)
  1. 1- -2- -3-
                Figure 3: Greedy DODAG Parent Selection
 Figure 3 depicts a DODAG in three different configurations.  A usable
 link between (B) and (C) exists in all three configurations.  In
 Figure 3-1, Node (A) is a DODAG parent for Nodes (B) and (C).  In
 Figure 3-2, Node (A) is a DODAG parent for Nodes (B) and (C), and
 Node (B) is also a DODAG parent for Node (C).  In Figure 3-3, Node
 (A) is a DODAG parent for Nodes (B) and (C), and Node (C) is also a
 DODAG parent for Node (B).
 If a RPL node is too greedy, in that it attempts to optimize for an
 additional number of parents beyond its most preferred parents, then
 an instability can result.  Consider the DODAG illustrated in
 Figure 3-1.  In this example, Nodes (B) and (C) may most prefer Node
 (A) as a DODAG parent, but we will consider the case when they are
 operating under the greedy condition that will try to optimize for
 two parents.
 o  Let Figure 3-1 be the initial condition.
 o  Suppose Node (C) first is able to leave the DODAG and rejoin at a
    lower Rank, taking both Nodes (A) and (B) as DODAG parents as
    depicted in Figure 3-2.  Now Node (C) is deeper than both Nodes
    (A) and (B), and Node (C) is satisfied to have two DODAG parents.
 o  Suppose Node (B), in its greediness, is willing to receive and
    process a DIO message from Node (C) (against the rules of RPL),
    and then Node (B) leaves the DODAG and rejoins at a lower Rank,

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 25] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

    taking both Nodes (A) and (C) as DODAG parents.  Now Node (B) is
    deeper than both Nodes (A) and (C) and is satisfied with two DAG
    parents.
 o  Then, Node (C), because it is also greedy, will leave and rejoin
    deeper, to again get two parents and have a lower Rank then both
    of them.
 o  Next, Node (B) will again leave and rejoin deeper, to again get
    two parents.
 o  Again, Node (C) leaves and rejoins deeper.
 o  The process will repeat, and the DODAG will oscillate between
    Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3 until the nodes count to infinity and
    restart the cycle again.
 o  This cycle can be averted through mechanisms in RPL:
  • Nodes (B) and (C) stay at a Rank sufficient to attach to their

most preferred parent (A) and don't go for any deeper (worse)

       alternate parents (Nodes are not greedy).
  • Nodes (B) and (C) do not process DIO messages from nodes deeper

than themselves (because such nodes are possibly in their own

       sub-DODAGs).
 These mechanisms are further described in Section 8.2.2.4.

3.7.2. DODAG Loops

 A DODAG loop may occur when a node detaches from the DODAG and
 reattaches to a device in its prior sub-DODAG.  In particular, this
 may happen when DIO messages are missed.  Strict use of the
 DODAGVersionNumber can eliminate this type of loop, but this type of
 loop may possibly be encountered when using some local repair
 mechanisms.
 For example, consider the local repair mechanism that allows a node
 to detach from the DODAG, advertise a Rank of INFINITE_RANK (in order
 to poison its routes / inform its sub-DODAG), and then reattach to
 the DODAG.  In some of these cases, the node may reattach to its own
 prior-sub-DODAG, causing a DODAG loop, because the poisoning may fail
 if the INFINITE_RANK advertisements are lost in the LLN environment.
 (In this case, the Rank-based data-path validation mechanisms would
 eventually detect and trigger correction of the loop).

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 26] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

3.7.3. DAO Loops

 A DAO loop may occur when the parent has a route installed upon
 receiving and processing a DAO message from a child, but the child
 has subsequently cleaned up the related DAO state.  This loop happens
 when a No-Path (a DAO message that invalidates a previously announced
 prefix, see Section 6.4.3) was missed and persists until all state
 has been cleaned up.  RPL includes an optional mechanism to
 acknowledge DAO messages, which may mitigate the impact of a single
 DAO message being missed.  RPL includes loop detection mechanisms
 that mitigate the impact of DAO loops and trigger their repair.  (See
 Section 11.2.2.3.)

4. Traffic Flows Supported by RPL

 RPL supports three basic traffic flows: multipoint-to-point (MP2P),
 point-to-multipoint (P2MP), and point-to-point (P2P).

4.1. Multipoint-to-Point Traffic

 Multipoint-to-point (MP2P) is a dominant traffic flow in many LLN
 applications ([RFC5867], [RFC5826], [RFC5673], and [RFC5548]).  The
 destinations of MP2P flows are designated nodes that have some
 application significance, such as providing connectivity to the
 larger Internet or core private IP network.  RPL supports MP2P
 traffic by allowing MP2P destinations to be reached via DODAG roots.

4.2. Point-to-Multipoint Traffic

 Point-to-multipoint (P2MP) is a traffic pattern required by several
 LLN applications ([RFC5867], [RFC5826], [RFC5673], and [RFC5548]).
 RPL supports P2MP traffic by using a destination advertisement
 mechanism that provisions Down routes toward destinations (prefixes,
 addresses, or multicast groups), and away from roots.  Destination
 advertisements can update routing tables as the underlying DODAG
 topology changes.

4.3. Point-to-Point Traffic

 RPL DODAGs provide a basic structure for point-to-point (P2P)
 traffic.  For a RPL network to support P2P traffic, a root must be
 able to route packets to a destination.  Nodes within the network may
 also have routing tables to destinations.  A packet flows towards a
 root until it reaches an ancestor that has a known route to the
 destination.  As pointed out later in this document, in the most
 constrained case (when nodes cannot store routes), that common
 ancestor may be the DODAG root.  In other cases, it may be a node
 closer to both the source and destination.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 27] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 RPL also supports the case where a P2P destination is a 'one-hop'
 neighbor.
 RPL neither specifies nor precludes additional mechanisms for
 computing and installing potentially more optimal routes to support
 arbitrary P2P traffic.

5. RPL Instance

 Within a given LLN, there may be multiple, logically independent RPL
 Instances.  A RPL node may belong to multiple RPL Instances, and it
 may act as a router in some and as a leaf in others.  This document
 describes how a single instance behaves.
 There are two types of RPL Instances: Local and Global.  RPL divides
 the RPLInstanceID space between Global and Local instances to allow
 for both coordinated and unilateral allocation of RPLInstanceIDs.
 Global RPL Instances are coordinated, have one or more DODAGs, and
 are typically long-lived.  Local RPL Instances are always a single
 DODAG whose singular root owns the corresponding DODAGID and
 allocates the local RPLInstanceID in a unilateral manner.  Local RPL
 Instances can be used, for example, for constructing DODAGs in
 support of a future on-demand routing solution.  The mode of
 operation of Local RPL Instances is out of scope for this
 specification and may be described in other companion specifications.
 The definition and provisioning of RPL Instances are out of scope for
 this specification.  Guidelines may be application and implementation
 specific, and they are expected to be elaborated in future companion
 specifications.  Those operations are expected to be such that data
 packets coming from the outside of the RPL network can unambiguously
 be associated to at least one RPL Instance and be safely routed over
 any instance that would match the packet.
 Control and data packets within RPL network are tagged to
 unambiguously identify of which RPL Instance they are a part.
 Every RPL control message has a RPLInstanceID field.  Some RPL
 control messages, when referring to a local RPLInstanceID as defined
 below, may also include a DODAGID.
 Data packets that flow within the RPL network expose the
 RPLInstanceID as part of the RPL Packet Information that RPL
 requires, as further described in Section 11.2.  For data packets
 coming from outside the RPL network, the ingress router determines
 the RPLInstanceID and places it into the resulting packet that it
 injects into the RPL network.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 28] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

5.1. RPL Instance ID

 A global RPLInstanceID MUST be unique to the whole LLN.  Mechanisms
 for allocating and provisioning global RPLInstanceID are out of scope
 for this specification.  There can be up to 128 Global instance in
 the whole network.  Local instances are always used in conjunction
 with a DODAGID (which is either given explicitly or implicitly in
 some cases), and up 64 Local instances per DODAGID can be supported.
 Local instances are allocated and managed by the node that owns the
 DODAGID, without any explicit coordination with other nodes, as
 further detailed below.
 A global RPLInstanceID is encoded in a RPLInstanceID field as
 follows:
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |0|     ID      |  Global RPLInstanceID in 0..127
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       Figure 4: RPLInstanceID Field Format for Global Instances
 A local RPLInstanceID is autoconfigured by the node that owns the
 DODAGID and it MUST be unique for that DODAGID.  The DODAGID used to
 configure the local RPLInstanceID MUST be a reachable IPv6 address of
 the node, and it MUST be used as an endpoint of all communications
 within that Local instance.
 A local RPLInstanceID is encoded in a RPLInstanceID field as follows:
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |1|D|   ID      |  Local RPLInstanceID in 0..63
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       Figure 5: RPLInstanceID Field Format for Local Instances
 The 'D' flag in a local RPLInstanceID is always set to 0 in RPL
 control messages.  It is used in data packets to indicate whether the
 DODAGID is the source or the destination of the packet.  If the 'D'
 flag is set to 1, then the destination address of the IPv6 packet
 MUST be the DODAGID.  If the 'D' flag is cleared, then the source
 address of the IPv6 packet MUST be the DODAGID.
 For example, consider a Node A that is the DODAG root of a Local RPL
 Instance, and has allocated a local RPLInstanceID.  By definition,
 all traffic traversing that Local RPL Instance will either originate
 or terminate at Node A.  In this case, the DODAGID will be the

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 29] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 reachable IPv6 address of Node A.  All traffic will contain the
 address of Node A, and thus the DODAGID, in either the source or
 destination address.  Thus, the local RPLInstanceID may indicate that
 the DODAGID is equivalent to either the source address or the
 destination address by setting the 'D' flag appropriately.

6. ICMPv6 RPL Control Message

 This document defines the RPL control message, a new ICMPv6 [RFC4443]
 message.  A RPL control message is identified by a code and composed
 of a base that depends on the code (and a series of options).
 Most RPL control messages have the scope of a link.  The only
 exception is for the DAO / DAO-ACK messages in Non-Storing mode,
 which are exchanged using a unicast address over multiple hops and
 thus uses global or unique-local addresses for both the source and
 destination addresses.  For all other RPL control messages, the
 source address is a link-local address, and the destination address
 is either the all-RPL-nodes multicast address or a link-local unicast
 address of the destination.  The all-RPL-nodes multicast address is a
 new address with a value of ff02::1a.
 In accordance with [RFC4443], the RPL Control Message consists of an
 ICMPv6 header followed by a message body.  The message body is
 comprised of a message base and possibly a number of options as
 illustrated in Figure 6.
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |     Type      |     Code      |          Checksum             |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                             Base                              .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                           Option(s)                           .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     Figure 6: RPL Control Message
 The RPL control message is an ICMPv6 information message with a Type
 of 155.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 30] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The Code field identifies the type of RPL control message.  This
 document defines codes for the following RPL control message types
 (see Section 20.2)):
 o  0x00: DODAG Information Solicitation (Section 6.2)
 o  0x01: DODAG Information Object (Section 6.3)
 o  0x02: Destination Advertisement Object (Section 6.4)
 o  0x03: Destination Advertisement Object Acknowledgment
    (Section 6.5)
 o  0x80: Secure DODAG Information Solicitation (Section 6.2.2)
 o  0x81: Secure DODAG Information Object (Section 6.3.2)
 o  0x82: Secure Destination Advertisement Object (Section 6.4.2)
 o  0x83: Secure Destination Advertisement Object Acknowledgment
    (Section 6.5.2)
 o  0x8A: Consistency Check (Section 6.6)
 If a node receives a RPL control message with an unknown Code field,
 the node MUST discard the message without any further processing, MAY
 raise a management alert, and MUST NOT send any messages in response.
 The checksum is computed as specified in [RFC4443].  It is set to
 zero for the RPL security operations specified below and computed
 once the rest of the content of the RPL message including the
 security fields is all set.
 The high order bit (0x80) of the code denotes whether the RPL message
 has security enabled.  Secure RPL messages have a format to support
 confidentiality and integrity, illustrated in Figure 7.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 31] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |     Type      |     Code      |          Checksum             |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                           Security                            .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                             Base                              .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                           Option(s)                           .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                 Figure 7: Secure RPL Control Message
 The remainder of this section describes the currently defined RPL
 control message Base formats followed by the currently defined RPL
 Control Message options.

6.1. RPL Security Fields

 Each RPL message has a secure variant.  The secure variants provide
 integrity and replay protection as well as optional confidentiality
 and delay protection.  Because security covers the base message as
 well as options, in secured messages the security information lies
 between the checksum and base, as shown in Figure 7.
 The level of security and the algorithms in use are indicated in the
 protocol messages as described below:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 32] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |T|  Reserved   |   Algorithm   |KIM|Resvd| LVL |     Flags     |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                            Counter                            |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                        Key Identifier                         .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                      Figure 8: Security Section
 Message Authentication Codes (MACs) and signatures provide
 authentication over the entire unsecured ICMPv6 RPL control message,
 including the Security section with all fields defined, but with the
 ICMPv6 checksum temporarily set to zero.  Encryption provides
 confidentiality of the secured RPL ICMPv6 message starting at the
 first byte after the Security section and continuing to the last byte
 of the packet.  The security transformation yields a secured ICMPv6
 RPL message with the inclusion of the cryptographic fields (MAC,
 signature, etc.).  In other words, the security transformation itself
 (e.g., the Signature and/or Algorithm in use) will detail how to
 incorporate the cryptographic fields into the secured packet.  The
 Security section itself does not explicitly carry those cryptographic
 fields.  Use of the Security section is further detailed in Sections
 19 and 10.
 Counter is Time (T): If the counter's Time flag is set, then the
       Counter field is a timestamp.  If the flag is cleared, then the
       counter is an incrementing counter.  Section 10.5 describes the
       details of the 'T' flag and Counter field.
 Reserved: 7-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero
       by the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Security Algorithm (Algorithm): The Security Algorithm field
       specifies the encryption, MAC, and signature scheme the network
       uses.  Supported values of this field are as follows:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 33] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

       +-----------+-------------------+------------------------+
       | Algorithm |  Encryption/MAC   |        Signature       |
       +-----------+-------------------+------------------------+
       |     0     | CCM with AES-128  |      RSA with SHA-256  |
       |   1-255   |    Unassigned     |        Unassigned      |
       +-----------+-------------------+------------------------+
           Figure 9: Security Algorithm (Algorithm) Encoding
 Section 10.9 describes the algorithms in greater detail.
 Key Identifier Mode (KIM): The Key Identifier Mode is a 2-bit field
       that indicates whether the key used for packet protection is
       determined implicitly or explicitly and indicates the
       particular representation of the Key Identifier field.  The Key
       Identifier Mode is set one of the values from the table below:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 34] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
        | Mode | KIM |           Meaning           |    Key     |
        |      |     |                             | Identifier |
        |      |     |                             |   Length   |
        |      |     |                             |  (octets)  |
        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
        |  0   | 00  | Group key used.             |     1      |
        |      |     | Key determined by Key Index |            |
        |      |     | field.                      |            |
        |      |     |                             |            |
        |      |     | Key Source is not present.  |            |
        |      |     | Key Index is present.       |            |
        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
        |  1   | 01  | Per-pair key used.          |     0      |
        |      |     | Key determined by source    |            |
        |      |     | and destination of packet.  |            |
        |      |     |                             |            |
        |      |     | Key Source is not present.  |            |
        |      |     | Key Index is not present.   |            |
        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
        |  2   | 10  | Group key used.             |     9      |
        |      |     | Key determined by Key Index |            |
        |      |     | and Key Source Identifier.  |            |
        |      |     |                             |            |
        |      |     | Key Source is present.      |            |
        |      |     | Key Index is present.       |            |
        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
        |  3   | 11  | Node's signature key used.  |    0/9     |
        |      |     | If packet is encrypted,     |
        |      |     | it uses a group key, Key    |            |
        |      |     | Index and Key Source        |            |
        |      |     | specify key.                |            |
        |      |     |                             |            |
        |      |     | Key Source may be present.  |            |
        |      |     | Key Index may be present.   |            |
        +------+-----+-----------------------------+------------+
             Figure 10: Key Identifier Mode (KIM) Encoding
 In Mode 3 (KIM=11), the presence or absence of the Key Source and Key
 Identifier depends on the Security Level (LVL) described below.  If
 the Security Level indicates there is encryption, then the fields are
 present; if it indicates there is no encryption, then the fields are
 not present.
 Resvd: 3-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by
       the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 35] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Security Level (LVL):  The Security Level is a 3-bit field that
       indicates the provided packet protection.  This value can be
       adapted on a per-packet basis and allows for varying levels of
       data authenticity and, optionally, for data confidentiality.
       The KIM field indicates whether signatures are used and the
       meaning of the Level field.  Note that the assigned values of
       Security Level are not necessarily ordered -- a higher value of
       LVL does not necessarily equate to increased security.  The
       Security Level is set to one of the values in the tables below:
                    +---------------------------+
                    |         KIM=0,1,2         |
            +-------+--------------------+------+
            |  LVL  |     Attributes     | MAC  |
            |       |                    | Len  |
            +-------+--------------------+------+
            |   0   |       MAC-32       |  4   |
            |   1   |     ENC-MAC-32     |  4   |
            |   2   |       MAC-64       |  8   |
            |   3   |     ENC-MAC-64     |  8   |
            |  4-7  |     Unassigned     | N/A  |
            +-------+--------------------+------+
                          +---------------------+
                          |        KIM=3        |
                  +-------+---------------+-----+
                  |  LVL  |  Attributes   | Sig |
                  |       |               | Len |
                  +-------+---------------+-----+
                  |   0   |   Sign-3072   | 384 |
                  |   1   | ENC-Sign-3072 | 384 |
                  |   2   |   Sign-2048   | 256 |
                  |   3   | ENC-Sign-2048 | 256 |
                  |  4-7  |  Unassigned   | N/A |
                  +-------+---------------+-----+
               Figure 11: Security Level (LVL) Encoding
 The MAC attribute indicates that the message has a MAC of the
 specified length.  The ENC attribute indicates that the message is
 encrypted.  The Sign attribute indicates that the message has a
 signature of the specified length.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 36] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Flags: 8-bit unused field reserved for flags.  The field MUST be
       initialized to zero by the sender and MUST be ignored by the
       receiver.
 Counter: The Counter field indicates the non-repeating 4-octet value
       used to construct the cryptographic mechanism that implements
       packet protection and allows for the provision of semantic
       security.  See Section 10.9.1.
 Key Identifier: The Key Identifier field indicates which key was used
       to protect the packet.  This field provides various levels of
       granularity of packet protection, including peer-to-peer keys,
       group keys, and signature keys.  This field is represented as
       indicated by the Key Identifier Mode field and is formatted as
       follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                          Key Source                           .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                           Key Index                           .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                       Figure 12: Key Identifier
 Key Source: The Key Source field, when present, indicates the logical
       identifier of the originator of a group key.  When present,
       this field is 8 bytes in length.
 Key Index: The Key Index field, when present, allows unique
       identification of different keys with the same originator.  It
       is the responsibility of each key originator to make sure that
       actively used keys that it issues have distinct key indices and
       that all key indices have a value unequal to 0x00.  Value 0x00
       is reserved for a preinstalled, shared key.  When present this
       field is 1 byte in length.
 Unassigned bits of the Security section are reserved.  They MUST be
 set to zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 37] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.2. DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS)

 The DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS) message may be used to
 solicit a DODAG Information Object from a RPL node.  Its use is
 analogous to that of a Router Solicitation as specified in IPv6
 Neighbor Discovery; a node may use DIS to probe its neighborhood for
 nearby DODAGs.  Section 8.3 describes how nodes respond to a DIS.

6.2.1. Format of the DIS Base Object

      0                   1                   2
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |     Flags     |   Reserved    |   Option(s)...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                    Figure 13: The DIS Base Object
 Flags: 8-bit unused field reserved for flags.  The field MUST be
       initialized to zero by the sender and MUST be ignored by the
       receiver.
 Reserved: 8-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero
       by the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Unassigned bits of the DIS Base are reserved.  They MUST be set to
 zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

6.2.2. Secure DIS

 A Secure DIS message follows the format in Figure 7, where the base
 format is the DIS message shown in Figure 13.

6.2.3. DIS Options

 The DIS message MAY carry valid options.
 This specification allows for the DIS message to carry the following
 options:
    0x00 Pad1
    0x01 PadN
    0x07 Solicited Information

6.3. DODAG Information Object (DIO)

 The DODAG Information Object carries information that allows a node
 to discover a RPL Instance, learn its configuration parameters,

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 38] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 select a DODAG parent set, and maintain the DODAG.

6.3.1. Format of the DIO Base Object

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     | RPLInstanceID |Version Number |             Rank              |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |G|0| MOP | Prf |     DTSN      |     Flags     |   Reserved    |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            DODAGID                            +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Option(s)...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                    Figure 14: The DIO Base Object
 Grounded (G): The Grounded 'G' flag indicates whether the DODAG
       advertised can satisfy the application-defined goal.  If the
       flag is set, the DODAG is grounded.  If the flag is cleared,
       the DODAG is floating.
 Mode of Operation (MOP): The Mode of Operation (MOP) field identifies
       the mode of operation of the RPL Instance as administratively
       provisioned at and distributed by the DODAG root.  All nodes
       who join the DODAG must be able to honor the MOP in order to
       fully participate as a router, or else they must only join as a
       leaf.  MOP is encoded as in the figure below:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 39] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

         +-----+-----------------------------------------------------+
         | MOP | Description                                         |
         +-----+-----------------------------------------------------+
         |  0  | No Downward routes maintained by RPL                |
         |  1  | Non-Storing Mode of Operation                       |
         |  2  | Storing Mode of Operation with no multicast support |
         |  3  | Storing Mode of Operation with multicast support    |
         |     |                                                     |
         |     | All other values are unassigned                     |
         +-----+-----------------------------------------------------+
 A value of 0 indicates that destination advertisement messages are
 disabled and the DODAG maintains only Upward routes.
              Figure 15: Mode of Operation (MOP) Encoding
 DODAGPreference (Prf): A 3-bit unsigned integer that defines how
       preferable the root of this DODAG is compared to other DODAG
       roots within the instance.  DAGPreference ranges from 0x00
       (least preferred) to 0x07 (most preferred).  The default is 0
       (least preferred).  Section 8.2 describes how DAGPreference
       affects DIO processing.
 Version Number: 8-bit unsigned integer set by the DODAG root to the
       DODAGVersionNumber.  Section 8.2 describes the rules for
       DODAGVersionNumbers and how they affect DIO processing.
 Rank: 16-bit unsigned integer indicating the DODAG Rank of the node
       sending the DIO message.  Section 8.2 describes how Rank is set
       and how it affects DIO processing.
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit field set by the DODAG root that indicates of
       which RPL Instance the DODAG is a part.
 Destination Advertisement Trigger Sequence Number (DTSN): 8-bit
       unsigned integer set by the node issuing the DIO message.  The
       Destination Advertisement Trigger Sequence Number (DTSN) flag
       is used as part of the procedure to maintain Downward routes.
       The details of this process are described in Section 9.
 Flags: 8-bit unused field reserved for flags.  The field MUST be
       initialized to zero by the sender and MUST be ignored by the
       receiver.
 Reserved: 8-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero
       by the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 40] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 DODAGID: 128-bit IPv6 address set by a DODAG root that uniquely
       identifies a DODAG.  The DODAGID MUST be a routable IPv6
       address belonging to the DODAG root.
 Unassigned bits of the DIO Base are reserved.  They MUST be set to
 zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

6.3.2. Secure DIO

 A Secure DIO message follows the format in Figure 7, where the base
 format is the DIO message shown in Figure 14.

6.3.3. DIO Options

 The DIO message MAY carry valid options.
 This specification allows for the DIO message to carry the following
 options:
    0x00 Pad1
    0x01 PadN
    0x02 DAG Metric Container
    0x03 Routing Information
    0x04 DODAG Configuration
    0x08 Prefix Information

6.4. Destination Advertisement Object (DAO)

 The Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) is used to propagate
 destination information Upward along the DODAG.  In Storing mode, the
 DAO message is unicast by the child to the selected parent(s).  In
 Non-Storing mode, the DAO message is unicast to the DODAG root.  The
 DAO message may optionally, upon explicit request or error, be
 acknowledged by its destination with a Destination Advertisement
 Acknowledgement (DAO-ACK) message back to the sender of the DAO.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 41] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.4.1. Format of the DAO Base Object

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     | RPLInstanceID |K|D|   Flags   |   Reserved    | DAOSequence   |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            DODAGID*                           +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Option(s)...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The '*' denotes that the DODAGID is not always present, as described
 below.
                    Figure 16: The DAO Base Object
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit field indicating the topology instance
       associated with the DODAG, as learned from the DIO.
 K: The 'K' flag indicates that the recipient is expected to send a
       DAO-ACK back.  (See Section 9.3.)
 D: The 'D' flag indicates that the DODAGID field is present.  This
       flag MUST be set when a local RPLInstanceID is used.
 Flags: The 6 bits remaining unused in the Flags field are reserved
       for flags.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by the sender
       and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Reserved: 8-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero
       by the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 DAOSequence: Incremented at each unique DAO message from a node and
       echoed in the DAO-ACK message.
 DODAGID (optional): 128-bit unsigned integer set by a DODAG root that
       uniquely identifies a DODAG.  This field is only present when
       the 'D' flag is set.  This field is typically only present when
       a local RPLInstanceID is in use, in order to identify the
       DODAGID that is associated with the RPLInstanceID.  When a
       global RPLInstanceID is in use, this field need not be present.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 42] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Unassigned bits of the DAO Base are reserved.  They MUST be set to
 zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

6.4.2. Secure DAO

 A Secure DAO message follows the format in Figure 7, where the base
 format is the DAO message shown in Figure 16.

6.4.3. DAO Options

 The DAO message MAY carry valid options.
 This specification allows for the DAO message to carry the following
 options:
    0x00 Pad1
    0x01 PadN
    0x05 RPL Target
    0x06 Transit Information
    0x09 RPL Target Descriptor
 A special case of the DAO message, termed a No-Path, is used in
 Storing mode to clear Downward routing state that has been
 provisioned through DAO operation.  The No-Path carries a Target
 option and an associated Transit Information option with a lifetime
 of 0x00000000 to indicate a loss of reachability to that Target.

6.5. Destination Advertisement Object Acknowledgement (DAO-ACK)

 The DAO-ACK message is sent as a unicast packet by a DAO recipient (a
 DAO parent or DODAG root) in response to a unicast DAO message.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 43] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.5.1. Format of the DAO-ACK Base Object

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     | RPLInstanceID |D|  Reserved   |  DAOSequence  |    Status     |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            DODAGID*                           +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Option(s)...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The '*' denotes that the DODAGID is not always present, as described
 below.
                  Figure 17: The DAO ACK Base Object
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit field indicating the topology instance
       associated with the DODAG, as learned from the DIO.
 D: The 'D' flag indicates that the DODAGID field is present.  This
       would typically only be set when a local RPLInstanceID is used.
 Reserved: The 7-bit field, reserved for flags.
 DAOSequence: Incremented at each DAO message from a node, and echoed
       in the DAO-ACK by the recipient.  The DAOSequence is used to
       correlate a DAO message and a DAO ACK message and is not to be
       confused with the Transit Information option Path Sequence that
       is associated to a given Target Down the DODAG.
 Status: Indicates the completion.  Status 0 is defined as unqualified
       acceptance in this specification.  The remaining status values
       are reserved as rejection codes.  No rejection status codes are
       defined in this specification, although status codes SHOULD be
       allocated according to the following guidelines in future
       specifications:
         0:  Unqualified acceptance (i.e., the node receiving the
             DAO-ACK is not rejected).

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 44] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

     1-127:  Not an outright rejection; the node sending the DAO-ACK
             is willing to act as a parent, but the receiving node is
             suggested to find and use an alternate parent instead.
   127-255:  Rejection; the node sending the DAO-ACK is unwilling to
             act as a parent.
 DODAGID (optional): 128-bit unsigned integer set by a DODAG root that
             uniquely identifies a DODAG.  This field is only present
             when the 'D' flag is set.  Typically, this field is only
             present when a local RPLInstanceID is in use in order to
             identify the DODAGID that is associated with the
             RPLInstanceID.  When a global RPLInstanceID is in use,
             this field need not be present.
 Unassigned bits of the DAO-ACK Base are reserved.  They MUST be set
 to zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

6.5.2. Secure DAO-ACK

 A Secure DAO-ACK message follows the format in Figure 7, where the
 base format is the DAO-ACK message shown in Figure 17.

6.5.3. DAO-ACK Options

 This specification does not define any options to be carried by the
 DAO-ACK message.

6.6. Consistency Check (CC)

 The CC message is used to check secure message counters and issue
 challenge-responses.  A CC message MUST be sent as a secured RPL
 message.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 45] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.6.1. Format of the CC Base Object

      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     | RPLInstanceID |R|    Flags    |           CC Nonce            |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            DODAGID                            +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                      Destination Counter                      |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Option(s)...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     Figure 18: The CC Base Object
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit field indicating the topology instance
       associated with the DODAG, as learned from the DIO.
 R: The 'R' flag indicates whether the CC message is a response.  A
       message with the 'R' flag cleared is a request; a message with
       the 'R' flag set is a response.
 Flags: The 7 bits remaining unused in the Flags field are reserved
       for flags.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by the sender
       and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 CC Nonce: 16-bit unsigned integer set by a CC request.  The
       corresponding CC response includes the same CC nonce value as
       the request.
 DODAGID: 128-bit field, contains the identifier of the DODAG root.
 Destination Counter: 32-bit unsigned integer value indicating the
       sender's estimate of the destination's current security counter
       value.  If the sender does not have an estimate, it SHOULD set
       the Destination Counter field to zero.
 Unassigned bits of the CC Base are reserved.  They MUST be set to
 zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 46] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The Destination Counter value allows new or recovered nodes to
 resynchronize through CC message exchanges.  This is important to
 ensure that a Counter value is not repeated for a given security key
 even in the event of devices recovering from a failure that created a
 loss of Counter state.  For example, where a CC request or other RPL
 message is received with an initialized counter within the message
 Security section, the provision of the Incoming Counter within the CC
 response message allows the requesting node to reset its Outgoing
 Counter to a value greater than the last value received by the
 responding node; the Incoming Counter will also be updated from the
 received CC response.

6.6.2. CC Options

 This specification allows for the CC message to carry the following
 options:
    0x00 Pad1
    0x01 PadN

6.7. RPL Control Message Options

6.7.1. RPL Control Message Option Generic Format

 RPL Control Message options all follow this format:
      0                   1                   2
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
     |  Option Type  | Option Length | Option Data
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
                 Figure 19: RPL Option Generic Format
 Option Type: 8-bit identifier of the type of option.  The Option Type
       values are assigned by IANA (see Section 20.4.)
 Option Length: 8-bit unsigned integer, representing the length in
       octets of the option, not including the Option Type and Length
       fields.
 Option Data: A variable length field that contains data specific to
       the option.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 47] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 When processing a RPL message containing an option for which the
 Option Type value is not recognized by the receiver, the receiver
 MUST silently ignore the unrecognized option and continue to process
 the following option, correctly handling any remaining options in the
 message.
 RPL message options may have alignment requirements.  Following the
 convention in IPv6, options with alignment requirements are aligned
 in a packet such that multi-octet values within the Option Data field
 of each option fall on natural boundaries (i.e., fields of width n
 octets are placed at an integer multiple of n octets from the start
 of the header, for n = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

6.7.2. Pad1

 The Pad1 option MAY be present in DIS, DIO, DAO, DAO-ACK, and CC
 messages, and its format is as follows:
      0
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x00 |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                 Figure 20: Format of the Pad1 Option
 The Pad1 option is used to insert a single octet of padding into the
 message to enable options alignment.  If more than one octet of
 padding is required, the PadN option should be used rather than
 multiple Pad1 options.
 NOTE!  The format of the Pad1 option is a special case -- it has
 neither Option Length nor Option Data fields.

6.7.3. PadN

 The PadN option MAY be present in DIS, DIO, DAO, DAO-ACK, and CC
 messages, and its format is as follows:
      0                   1                   2
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
     |   Type = 0x01 | Option Length | 0x00 Padding...
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
                 Figure 21: Format of the Pad N Option

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 48] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The PadN option is used to insert two or more octets of padding into
 the message to enable options alignment.  PadN option data MUST be
 ignored by the receiver.
 Option Type: 0x01
 Option Length: For N octets of padding, where 2 <= N <= 7, the Option
       Length field contains the value N-2.  An Option Length of 0
       indicates a total padding of 2 octets.  An Option Length of 5
       indicates a total padding of 7 octets, which is the maximum
       padding size allowed with the PadN option.
 Option Data: For N (N > 1) octets of padding, the Option Data
       consists of N-2 zero-valued octets.

6.7.4. DAG Metric Container

 The DAG Metric Container option MAY be present in DIO or DAO
 messages, and its format is as follows:
      0                   1                   2
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
     |   Type = 0x02 | Option Length | Metric Data
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - -
         Figure 22: Format of the DAG Metric Container Option
 The DAG Metric Container is used to report metrics along the DODAG.
 The DAG Metric Container may contain a number of discrete node, link,
 and aggregate path metrics and constraints specified in [RFC6551] as
 chosen by the implementer.
 The DAG Metric Container MAY appear more than once in the same RPL
 control message, for example, to accommodate a use case where the
 Metric Data is longer than 256 bytes.  More information is in
 [RFC6551].
 The processing and propagation of the DAG Metric Container is
 governed by implementation specific policy functions.
 Option Type: 0x02
 Option Length: The Option Length field contains the length in octets
       of the Metric Data.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 49] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Metric Data: The order, content, and coding of the DAG Metric
       Container data is as specified in [RFC6551].

6.7.5. Route Information

 The Route Information Option (RIO) MAY be present in DIO messages,
 and it carries the same information as the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
 (ND) RIO as defined in [RFC4191].  The root of a DODAG is
 authoritative for setting that information and the information is
 unchanged as propagated down the DODAG.  A RPL router may trivially
 transform it back into an ND option to advertise in its own RAs so a
 node attached to the RPL router will end up using the DODAG for which
 the root has the best preference for the destination of a packet.  In
 addition to the existing ND semantics, it is possible for an
 Objective Function to use this information to favor a DODAG whose
 root is most preferred for a specific destination.  The format of the
 option is modified slightly (Type, Length, Prefix) in order to be
 carried as a RPL option as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x03 | Option Length | Prefix Length |Resvd|Prf|Resvd|
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                        Route Lifetime                         |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     .                   Prefix (Variable Length)                    .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           Figure 23: Format of the Route Information Option
 The RIO is used to indicate that connectivity to the specified
 destination prefix is available from the DODAG root.
 In the event that a RPL control message may need to specify
 connectivity to more than one destination, the RIO may be repeated.
 [RFC4191] should be consulted as the authoritative reference with
 respect to the RIO.  The field descriptions are transcribed here for
 convenience:
 Option Type: 0x03

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 50] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Option Length: Variable, length of the option in octets excluding the
       Type and Length fields.  Note that this length is expressed in
       units of single octets, unlike in IPv6 ND.
 Prefix Length: 8-bit unsigned integer.  The number of leading bits in
       the prefix that are valid.  The value ranges from 0 to 128.
       The Prefix field has the number of bytes inferred from the
       Option Length field, that must be at least the Prefix Length.
       Note that in RPL, this means that the Prefix field may have
       lengths other than 0, 8, or 16.
 Prf: 2-bit signed integer.  The Route Preference indicates whether to
       prefer the router associated with this prefix over others, when
       multiple identical prefixes (for different routers) have been
       received.  If the Reserved (10) value is received, the RIO MUST
       be ignored.  Per [RFC4191], the Reserved (10) value MUST NOT be
       sent.  ([RFC4191] restricts the Preference to just three values
       to reinforce that it is not a metric.)
 Resvd: Two 3-bit unused fields.  They MUST be initialized to zero by
       the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Route Lifetime: 32-bit unsigned integer.  The length of time in
       seconds (relative to the time the packet is sent) that the
       prefix is valid for route determination.  A value of all one
       bits (0xFFFFFFFF) represents infinity.
 Prefix: Variable-length field containing an IP address or a prefix of
       an IPv6 address.  The Prefix Length field contains the number
       of valid leading bits in the prefix.  The bits in the prefix
       after the prefix length (if any) are reserved and MUST be
       initialized to zero by the sender and ignored by the receiver.
       Note that in RPL, this field may have lengths other than 0, 8,
       or 16.
 Unassigned bits of the RIO are reserved.  They MUST be set to zero on
 transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 51] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.7.6. DODAG Configuration

 The DODAG Configuration option MAY be present in DIO messages, and
 its format is as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x04 |Opt Length = 14| Flags |A| PCS | DIOIntDoubl.  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |  DIOIntMin.   |   DIORedun.   |        MaxRankIncrease        |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |      MinHopRankIncrease       |              OCP              |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Reserved    | Def. Lifetime |      Lifetime Unit            |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
          Figure 24: Format of the DODAG Configuration Option
 The DODAG Configuration option is used to distribute configuration
 information for DODAG Operation through the DODAG.
 The information communicated in this option is generally static and
 unchanging within the DODAG, therefore it is not necessary to include
 in every DIO.  This information is configured at the DODAG root and
 distributed throughout the DODAG with the DODAG Configuration option.
 Nodes other than the DODAG root MUST NOT modify this information when
 propagating the DODAG Configuration option.  This option MAY be
 included occasionally by the DODAG root (as determined by the DODAG
 root), and MUST be included in response to a unicast request, e.g. a
 unicast DODAG Information Solicitation (DIS) message.
 Option Type: 0x04
 Option Length: 14
 Flags: The 4-bits remaining unused in the Flags field are reserved
       for flags.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by the sender
       and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Authentication Enabled (A): 1-bit flag describing the security mode
       of the network.  The bit describes whether a node must
       authenticate with a key authority before joining the network as
       a router.  If the DIO is not a secure DIO, the 'A' bit MUST be
       zero.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 52] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Path Control Size (PCS): 3-bit unsigned integer used to configure the
       number of bits that may be allocated to the Path Control field
       (see Section 9.9).  Note that when PCS is consulted to
       determine the width of the Path Control field, a value of 1 is
       added, i.e., a PCS value of 0 results in 1 active bit in the
       Path Control field.  The default value of PCS is
       DEFAULT_PATH_CONTROL_SIZE.
 DIOIntervalDoublings: 8-bit unsigned integer used to configure Imax
       of the DIO Trickle timer (see Section 8.3.1).  The default
       value of DIOIntervalDoublings is
       DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS.
 DIOIntervalMin: 8-bit unsigned integer used to configure Imin of the
       DIO Trickle timer (see Section 8.3.1).  The default value of
       DIOIntervalMin is DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_MIN.
 DIORedundancyConstant: 8-bit unsigned integer used to configure k of
       the DIO Trickle timer (see Section 8.3.1).  The default value
       of DIORedundancyConstant is DEFAULT_DIO_REDUNDANCY_CONSTANT.
 MaxRankIncrease: 16-bit unsigned integer used to configure
       DAGMaxRankIncrease, the allowable increase in Rank in support
       of local repair.  If DAGMaxRankIncrease is 0, then this
       mechanism is disabled.
 MinHopRankIncrease: 16-bit unsigned integer used to configure
       MinHopRankIncrease as described in Section 3.5.1.  The default
       value of MinHopRankInc is DEFAULT_MIN_HOP_RANK_INCREASE.
 Objective Code Point (OCP): 16-bit unsigned integer.  The OCP field
       identifies the OF and is managed by the IANA.
 Reserved: 7-bit unused field.  The field MUST be initialized to zero
       by the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Default Lifetime: 8-bit unsigned integer.  This is the lifetime that
       is used as default for all RPL routes.  It is expressed in
       units of Lifetime Units, e.g., the default lifetime in seconds
       is (Default Lifetime) * (Lifetime Unit).
 Lifetime Unit: 16-bit unsigned integer.  Provides the unit in seconds
       that is used to express route lifetimes in RPL.  For very
       stable networks, it can be hours to days.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 53] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.7.7. RPL Target

 The RPL Target option MAY be present in DAO messages, and its format
 is as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x05 | Option Length |     Flags     | Prefix Length |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                Target Prefix (Variable Length)                |
     .                                                               .
     .                                                               .
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
              Figure 25: Format of the RPL Target Option
 The RPL Target option is used to indicate a Target IPv6 address,
 prefix, or multicast group that is reachable or queried along the
 DODAG.  In a DAO, the RPL Target option indicates reachability.
 A RPL Target option MAY optionally be paired with a RPL Target
 Descriptor option (Figure 30) that qualifies the target.
 A set of one or more Transit Information options (Section 6.7.8) MAY
 directly follow a set of one or more Target options in a DAO message
 (where each Target option MAY be paired with a RPL Target Descriptor
 option as above).  The structure of the DAO message, detailing how
 Target options are used in conjunction with Transit Information
 options is further described in Section 9.4.
 The RPL Target option may be repeated as necessary to indicate
 multiple targets.
 Option Type: 0x05
 Option Length: Variable, length of the option in octets excluding the
       Type and Length fields.
 Flags: 8-bit unused field reserved for flags.  The field MUST be
       initialized to zero by the sender and MUST be ignored by the
       receiver.
 Prefix Length: 8-bit unsigned integer.  Number of valid leading bits
       in the IPv6 Prefix.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 54] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Target Prefix: Variable-length field identifying an IPv6 destination
       address, prefix, or multicast group.  The Prefix Length field
       contains the number of valid leading bits in the prefix.  The
       bits in the prefix after the prefix length (if any) are
       reserved and MUST be set to zero on transmission and MUST be
       ignored on receipt.

6.7.8. Transit Information

 The Transit Information option MAY be present in DAO messages, and
 its format is as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x06 | Option Length |E|    Flags    | Path Control  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     | Path Sequence | Path Lifetime |                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                        Parent Address*                        +
     |                                                               |
     +                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 The '*' denotes that the DODAG Parent Address subfield is not always
 present, as described below.
          Figure 26: Format of the Transit Information Option
 The Transit Information option is used for a node to indicate
 attributes for a path to one or more destinations.  The destinations
 are indicated by one or more Target options that immediately precede
 the Transit Information option(s).
 The Transit Information option can be used for a node to indicate its
 DODAG parents to an ancestor that is collecting DODAG routing
 information, typically, for the purpose of constructing source
 routes.  In the Non-Storing mode of operation, this ancestor will be
 the DODAG root, and this option is carried by the DAO message.  In
 the Storing mode of operation, the DODAG Parent Address subfield is
 not needed, since the DAO message is sent directly to the parent.
 The option length is used to determine whether or not the DODAG
 Parent Address subfield is present.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 55] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 A non-storing node that has more than one DAO parent MAY include a
 Transit Information option for each DAO parent as part of the non-
 storing destination advertisement operation.  The node may distribute
 the bits in the Path Control field among different groups of DAO
 parents in order to signal a preference among parents.  That
 preference may influence the decision of the DODAG root when
 selecting among the alternate parents/paths for constructing Downward
 routes.
 One or more Transit Information options MUST be preceded by one or
 more RPL Target options.  In this manner, the RPL Target option
 indicates the child node, and the Transit Information option(s)
 enumerates the DODAG parents.  The structure of the DAO message,
 further detailing how Target options are used in conjunction with
 Transit Information options, is further described in Section 9.4.
 A typical non-storing node will use multiple Transit Information
 options, and it will send the DAO message thus formed directly to the
 root.  A typical storing node will use one Transit Information option
 with no parent field and will send the DAO message thus formed, with
 additional adjustments, to Path Control as detailed later, to one or
 multiple parents.
 For example, in a Non-Storing mode of operation let Tgt(T) denote a
 Target option for a Target T.  Let Trnst(P) denote a Transit
 Information option that contains a parent address P.  Consider the
 case of a non-storing Node N that advertises the self-owned targets
 N1 and N2 and has parents P1, P2, and P3.  In that case, the DAO
 message would be expected to contain the sequence ((Tgt(N1),
 Tgt(N2)), (Trnst(P1), Trnst(P2), Trnst(P3))), such that the group of
 Target options {N1, N2} is described by the Transit Information
 options as having the parents {P1, P2, P3}.  The non-storing node
 would then address that DAO message directly to the DODAG root and
 forward that DAO message through one of the DODAG parents: P1, P2, or
 P3.
 Option Type: 0x06
 Option Length: Variable, depending on whether or not the DODAG Parent
       Address subfield is present.
 External (E): 1-bit flag.  The 'E' flag is set to indicate that the
       parent router redistributes external targets into the RPL
       network.  An external Target is a Target that has been learned
       through an alternate protocol.  The external targets are listed
       in the Target options that immediately precede the Transit
       Information option.  An external Target is not expected to
       support RPL messages and options.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 56] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Flags: The 7 bits remaining unused in the Flags field are reserved
       for flags.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by the sender
       and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Path Control: 8-bit bit field.  The Path Control field limits the
       number of DAO parents to which a DAO message advertising
       connectivity to a specific destination may be sent, as well as
       providing some indication of relative preference.  The limit
       provides some bound on overall DAO message fan-out in the LLN.
       The assignment and ordering of the bits in the Path Control
       also serves to communicate preference.  Not all of these bits
       may be enabled as according to the PCS in the DODAG
       Configuration.  The Path Control field is divided into four
       subfields that contain two bits each: PC1, PC2, PC3, and PC4,
       as illustrated in Figure 27.  The subfields are ordered by
       preference, with PC1 being the most preferred and PC4 being the
       least preferred.  Within a subfield, there is no order of
       preference.  By grouping the parents (as in ECMP) and ordering
       them, the parents may be associated with specific bits in the
       Path Control field in a way that communicates preference.
                               0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
                              +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                              |PC1|PC2|PC3|PC4|
                              +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
        Figure 27: Path Control Preference Subfield Encoding
 Path Sequence: 8-bit unsigned integer.  When a RPL Target option is
       issued by the node that owns the Target prefix (i.e., in a DAO
       message), that node sets the Path Sequence and increments the
       Path Sequence each time it issues a RPL Target option with
       updated information.
 Path Lifetime: 8-bit unsigned integer.  The length of time in
       Lifetime Units (obtained from the Configuration option) that
       the prefix is valid for route determination.  The period starts
       when a new Path Sequence is seen.  A value of all one bits
       (0xFF) represents infinity.  A value of all zero bits (0x00)
       indicates a loss of reachability.  A DAO message that contains
       a Transit Information option with a Path Lifetime of 0x00 for a
       Target is referred as a No-Path (for that Target) in this
       document.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 57] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Parent Address (optional): IPv6 address of the DODAG parent of the
       node originally issuing the Transit Information option.  This
       field may not be present, as according to the DODAG Mode of
       Operation (Storing or Non-Storing) and indicated by the Transit
       Information option length.
 Unassigned bits of the Transit Information option are reserved.  They
 MUST be set to zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

6.7.9. Solicited Information

 The Solicited Information option MAY be present in DIS messages, and
 its format is as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x07 |Opt Length = 19| RPLInstanceID |V|I|D|  Flags  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            DODAGID                            +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |Version Number |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         Figure 28: Format of the Solicited Information Option
 The Solicited Information option is used for a node to request DIO
 messages from a subset of neighboring nodes.  The Solicited
 Information option may specify a number of predicate criteria to be
 matched by a receiving node.  This is used by the requester to limit
 the number of replies from "non-interesting" nodes.  These predicates
 affect whether a node resets its DIO Trickle timer, as described in
 Section 8.3.
 The Solicited Information option contains flags that indicate which
 predicates a node should check when deciding whether to reset its
 Trickle timer.  A node resets its Trickle timer when all predicates
 are true.  If a flag is set, then the RPL node MUST check the
 associated predicate.  If a flag is cleared, then the RPL node MUST
 NOT check the associated predicate.  (If a flag is cleared, the RPL
 node assumes that the associated predicate is true.)

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 58] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Option Type: 0x07
 Option Length: 19
 V: The 'V' flag is the Version predicate.  The Version predicate is
       true if the receiver's DODAGVersionNumber matches the requested
       Version Number.  If the 'V' flag is cleared, then the Version
       field is not valid and the Version field MUST be set to zero on
       transmission and ignored upon receipt.
 I: The 'I' flag is the InstanceID predicate.  The InstanceID
       predicate is true when the RPL node's current RPLInstanceID
       matches the requested RPLInstanceID.  If the 'I' flag is
       cleared, then the RPLInstanceID field is not valid and the
       RPLInstanceID field MUST be set to zero on transmission and
       ignored upon receipt.
 D: The 'D' flag is the DODAGID predicate.  The DODAGID predicate is
       true if the RPL node's parent set has the same DODAGID as the
       DODAGID field.  If the 'D' flag is cleared, then the DODAGID
       field is not valid and the DODAGID field MUST be set to zero on
       transmission and ignored upon receipt.
 Flags: The 5 bits remaining unused in the Flags field are reserved
       for flags.  The field MUST be initialized to zero by the sender
       and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Version Number: 8-bit unsigned integer containing the value of
       DODAGVersionNumber that is being solicited when valid.
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit unsigned integer containing the RPLInstanceID
       that is being solicited when valid.
 DODAGID: 128-bit unsigned integer containing the DODAGID that is
       being solicited when valid.
 Unassigned bits of the Solicited Information option are reserved.
 They MUST be set to zero on transmission and MUST be ignored on
 reception.

6.7.10. Prefix Information

 The Prefix Information Option (PIO) MAY be present in DIO messages,
 and carries the information that is specified for the IPv6 ND Prefix
 Information option in [RFC4861], [RFC4862], and [RFC6275] for use by
 RPL nodes and IPv6 hosts.  In particular, a RPL node may use this
 option for the purpose of Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (SLAAC)
 from a prefix advertised by a parent as specified in [RFC4862], and

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 59] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 advertise its own address as specified in [RFC6275].  The root of a
 DODAG is authoritative for setting that information.  The information
 is propagated down the DODAG unchanged, with the exception that a RPL
 router may overwrite the Interface ID if the 'R' flag is set to
 indicate its full address in the PIO.  The format of the option is
 modified (Type, Length, Prefix) in order to be carried as a RPL
 option as follows:
 If the only desired effect of a received PIO in a DIO is to provide
 the global address of the parent node to the receiving node, then the
 sender resets the 'A' and 'L' bits and sets the 'R' bit.  Upon
 receipt, the RPL will not autoconfigure an address or a connected
 route from the prefix [RFC4862].  As in all cases, when the 'L' bit
 is not set, the RPL node MAY include the prefix in PIOs it sends to
 its children.
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x08 |Opt Length = 30| Prefix Length |L|A|R|Reserved1|
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                         Valid Lifetime                        |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                       Preferred Lifetime                      |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                           Reserved2                           |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +                            Prefix                             +
     |                                                               |
     +                                                               +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
          Figure 29: Format of the Prefix Information Option
 The PIO may be used to distribute the prefix in use inside the DODAG,
 e.g., for address autoconfiguration.
 [RFC4861] and [RFC6275] should be consulted as the authoritative
 reference with respect to the PIO.  The field descriptions are
 transcribed here for convenience:
 Option Type: 0x08

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 60] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Option Length: 30.  Note that this length is expressed in units of
       single octets, unlike in IPv6 ND.
 Prefix Length: 8-bit unsigned integer.  The number of leading bits in
       the Prefix field that are valid.  The value ranges from 0 to
       128.  The Prefix Length field provides necessary information
       for on-link determination (when combined with the 'L' flag in
       the PIO).  It also assists with address autoconfiguration as
       specified in [RFC4862], for which there may be more
       restrictions on the prefix length.
 L:    1-bit on-link flag.  When set, it indicates that this prefix
       can be used for on-link determination.  When not set, the
       advertisement makes no statement about on-link or off-link
       properties of the prefix.  In other words, if the 'L' flag is
       not set, a RPL node MUST NOT conclude that an address derived
       from the prefix is off-link.  That is, it MUST NOT update a
       previous indication that the address is on-link.  A RPL node
       acting as a router MUST NOT propagate a PIO with the 'L' flag
       set.  A RPL node acting as a router MAY propagate a PIO with
       the 'L' flag not set.
 A:    1-bit autonomous address-configuration flag.  When set, it
       indicates that this prefix can be used for stateless address
       configuration as specified in [RFC4862].  When both protocols
       (ND RAs and RPL DIOs) are used to carry PIOs on the same link,
       it is possible to use either one for SLAAC by a RPL node.  It
       is also possible to make either protocol ineligible for SLAAC
       operation by forcing the 'A' flag to 0 for PIOs carried in that
       protocol.
 R:    1-bit router address flag.  When set, it indicates that the
       Prefix field contains a complete IPv6 address assigned to the
       sending router that can be used as parent in a target option.
       The indicated prefix is the first prefix length bits of the
       Prefix field.  The router IPv6 address has the same scope and
       conforms to the same lifetime values as the advertised prefix.
       This use of the Prefix field is compatible with its use in
       advertising the prefix itself, since Prefix Advertisement uses
       only the leading bits.  Interpretation of this flag bit is thus
       independent of the processing required for the on-link (L) and
       autonomous address-configuration (A) flag bits.
 Reserved1: 5-bit unused field.  It MUST be initialized to zero by the
       sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 61] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Valid Lifetime: 32-bit unsigned integer.  The length of time in
       seconds (relative to the time the packet is sent) that the
       prefix is valid for the purpose of on-link determination.  A
       value of all one bits (0xFFFFFFFF) represents infinity.  The
       Valid Lifetime is also used by [RFC4862].
 Preferred Lifetime: 32-bit unsigned integer.  The length of time in
       seconds (relative to the time the packet is sent) that
       addresses generated from the prefix via stateless address
       autoconfiguration remain preferred [RFC4862].  A value of all
       one bits (0xFFFFFFFF) represents infinity.  See [RFC4862].
       Note that the value of this field MUST NOT exceed the Valid
       Lifetime field to avoid preferring addresses that are no longer
       valid.
 Reserved2: This field is unused.  It MUST be initialized to zero by
       the sender and MUST be ignored by the receiver.
 Prefix: An IPv6 address or a prefix of an IPv6 address.  The Prefix
       Length field contains the number of valid leading bits in the
       prefix.  The bits in the prefix after the prefix length are
       reserved and MUST be initialized to zero by the sender and
       ignored by the receiver.  A router SHOULD NOT send a prefix
       option for the link-local prefix, and a host SHOULD ignore such
       a prefix option.  A non-storing node SHOULD refrain from
       advertising a prefix till it owns an address of that prefix,
       and then it SHOULD advertise its full address in this field,
       with the 'R' flag set.  The children of a node that so
       advertises a full address with the 'R' flag set may then use
       that address to determine the content of the DODAG Parent
       Address subfield of the Transit Information option.
 Unassigned bits of the PIO are reserved.  They MUST be set to zero on
 transmission and MUST be ignored on reception.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 62] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

6.7.11. RPL Target Descriptor

 The RPL Target option MAY be immediately followed by one opaque
 descriptor that qualifies that specific target.
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Type = 0x09 |Opt Length = 4 |           Descriptor
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
            Descriptor (cont.)       |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
         Figure 30: Format of the RPL Target Descriptor Option
 The RPL Target Descriptor option is used to qualify a target,
 something that is sometimes called "tagging".
 At most, there can be one descriptor per target.  The descriptor is
 set by the node that injects the Target in the RPL network.  It MUST
 be copied but not modified by routers that propagate the Target Up
 the DODAG in DAO messages.
 Option Type: 0x09
 Option Length: 4
 Descriptor: 32-bit unsigned integer.  Opaque.

7. Sequence Counters

 This section describes the general scheme for bootstrap and operation
 of sequence counters in RPL, such as the DODAGVersionNumber in the
 DIO message, the DAOSequence in the DAO message, and the Path
 Sequence in the Transit Information option.

7.1. Sequence Counter Overview

 This specification utilizes three different sequence numbers to
 validate the freshness and the synchronization of protocol
 information:
 DODAGVersionNumber: This sequence counter is present in the DIO Base
       to indicate the Version of the DODAG being formed.  The
       DODAGVersionNumber is monotonically incremented by the root
       each time the root decides to form a new Version of the DODAG
       in order to revalidate the integrity and allow a global repair
       to occur.  The DODAGVersionNumber is propagated unchanged Down

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 63] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

       the DODAG as routers join the new DODAG Version.  The
       DODAGVersionNumber is globally significant in a DODAG and
       indicates the Version of the DODAG in which a router is
       operating.  An older (lesser) value indicates that the
       originating router has not migrated to the new DODAG Version
       and cannot be used as a parent once the receiving node has
       migrated to the newer DODAG Version.
 DAOSequence: This sequence counter is present in the DAO Base to
       correlate a DAO message and a DAO ACK message.  The DAOSequence
       number is locally significant to the node that issues a DAO
       message for its own consumption to detect the loss of a DAO
       message and enable retries.
 Path Sequence: This sequence counter is present in the Transit
       Information option in a DAO message.  The purpose of this
       counter is to differentiate a movement where a newer route
       supersedes a stale one from a route redundancy scenario where
       multiple routes exist in parallel for the same target.  The
       Path Sequence is globally significant in a DODAG and indicates
       the freshness of the route to the associated target.  An older
       (lesser) value received from an originating router indicates
       that the originating router holds stale routing states and the
       originating router should not be considered anymore as a
       potential next hop for the target.  The Path Sequence is
       computed by the node that advertises the target, that is the
       Target itself or a router that advertises a Target on behalf of
       a host, and is unchanged as the DAO content is propagated
       towards the root by parent routers.  If a host does not pass a
       counter to its router, then the router is in charge of
       computing the Path Sequence on behalf of the host and the host
       can only register to one router for that purpose.  If a DAO
       message containing the same Target is issued to multiple
       parents at a given point in time for the purpose of route
       redundancy, then the Path Sequence is the same in all the DAO
       messages for that same target.

7.2. Sequence Counter Operation

 RPL sequence counters are subdivided in a 'lollipop' fashion
 [Perlman83], where the values from 128 and greater are used as a
 linear sequence to indicate a restart and bootstrap the counter, and
 the values less than or equal to 127 used as a circular sequence
 number space of size 128 as in [RFC1982].  Consideration is given to
 the mode of operation when transitioning from the linear region to
 the circular region.  Finally, when operating in the circular region,
 if sequence numbers are detected to be too far apart, then they are
 not comparable, as detailed below.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 64] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 A window of comparison, SEQUENCE_WINDOW = 16, is configured based on
 a value of 2^N, where N is defined to be 4 in this specification.
 For a given sequence counter:
 1.  The sequence counter SHOULD be initialized to an implementation
     defined value, which is 128 or greater prior to use.  A
     recommended value is 240 (256 - SEQUENCE_WINDOW).
 2.  When a sequence counter increment would cause the sequence
     counter to increment beyond its maximum value, the sequence
     counter MUST wrap back to zero.  When incrementing a sequence
     counter greater than or equal to 128, the maximum value is 255.
     When incrementing a sequence counter less than 128, the maximum
     value is 127.
 3.  When comparing two sequence counters, the following rules MUST be
     applied:
     1.  When a first sequence counter A is in the interval [128..255]
         and a second sequence counter B is in [0..127]:
         1.  If (256 + B - A) is less than or equal to
             SEQUENCE_WINDOW, then B is greater than A, A is less than
             B, and the two are not equal.
         2.  If (256 + B - A) is greater than SEQUENCE_WINDOW, then A
             is greater than B, B is less than A, and the two are not
             equal.
         For example, if A is 240, and B is 5, then (256 + 5 - 240) is
         21. 21 is greater than SEQUENCE_WINDOW (16); thus, 240 is
         greater than 5.  As another example, if A is 250 and B is 5,
         then (256 + 5 - 250) is 11. 11 is less than SEQUENCE_WINDOW
         (16); thus, 250 is less than 5.
     2.  In the case where both sequence counters to be compared are
         less than or equal to 127, and in the case where both
         sequence counters to be compared are greater than or equal to
         128:
         1.  If the absolute magnitude of difference between the two
             sequence counters is less than or equal to
             SEQUENCE_WINDOW, then a comparison as described in
             [RFC1982] is used to determine the relationships greater
             than, less than, and equal.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 65] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

         2.  If the absolute magnitude of difference of the two
             sequence counters is greater than SEQUENCE_WINDOW, then a
             desynchronization has occurred and the two sequence
             numbers are not comparable.
 4.  If two sequence numbers are determined not to be comparable,
     i.e., the results of the comparison are not defined, then a node
     should consider the comparison as if it has evaluated in such a
     way so as to give precedence to the sequence number that has most
     recently been observed to increment.  Failing this, the node
     should consider the comparison as if it has evaluated in such a
     way so as to minimize the resulting changes to its own state.

8. Upward Routes

 This section describes how RPL discovers and maintains Upward routes.
 It describes the use of DODAG Information Objects (DIOs), the
 messages used to discover and maintain these routes.  It specifies
 how RPL generates and responds to DIOs.  It also describes DODAG
 Information Solicitation (DIS) messages, which are used to trigger
 DIO transmissions.
 As mentioned in Section 3.2.8, nodes that decide to join a DODAG MUST
 provision at least one DODAG parent as a default route for the
 associated instance.  This default route enables a packet to be
 forwarded Upward until it eventually hits a common ancestor from
 which it will be routed Downward to the destination.  If the
 destination is not in the DODAG, then the DODAG root may be able to
 forward the packet using connectivity to the outside of the DODAG; if
 it cannot forward the packet outside, then the DODAG root has to drop
 it.
 A DIO message can also transport explicit routing information:
 DODAGID: The DODAGID is a Global or Unique Local IPv6 address of the
       root.  A node that joins a DODAG SHOULD provision a host route
       via a DODAG parent to the address used by the root as the
       DODAGID.
 RIO Prefix: The root MAY place one or more Route Information options
       in a DIO message.  The RIO is used to advertise an external
       route that is reachable via the root, associated with a
       preference, as presented in Section 6.7.5, which incorporates
       the RIO from [RFC4191].  It is interpreted as a capability of
       the root as opposed to a routing advertisement, and it MUST NOT
       be redistributed in another routing protocol though it SHOULD
       be used by an ingress RPL router to select a DODAG when a
       packet is injected in a RPL domain from a node attached to that

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 66] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

       RPL router.  An Objective Function MAY use the routes
       advertised in RIO or the preference for those routes in order
       to favor a DODAG versus another one for the same instance.

8.1. DIO Base Rules

 1.  For the following DIO Base fields, a node that is not a DODAG
     root MUST advertise the same values as its preferred DODAG parent
     (defined in Section 8.2.1).  In this way, these values will
     propagate Down the DODAG unchanged and advertised by every node
     that has a route to that DODAG root.  These fields are as
     follows:
     1.  Grounded (G)
     2.  Mode of Operation (MOP)
     3.  DAGPreference (Prf)
     4.  Version
     5.  RPLInstanceID
     6.  DODAGID
 2.  A node MAY update the following fields at each hop:
     1.  Rank
     2.  DTSN
 3.  The DODAGID field each root sets MUST be unique within the RPL
     Instance and MUST be a routable IPv6 address belonging to the
     root.

8.2. Upward Route Discovery and Maintenance

 Upward route discovery allows a node to join a DODAG by discovering
 neighbors that are members of the DODAG of interest and identifying a
 set of parents.  The exact policies for selecting neighbors and
 parents is implementation dependent and driven by the OF.  This
 section specifies the set of rules those policies must follow for
 interoperability.

8.2.1. Neighbors and Parents within a DODAG Version

 RPL's Upward route discovery algorithms and processing are in terms
 of three logical sets of link-local nodes.  First, the candidate
 neighbor set is a subset of the nodes that can be reached via link-
 local multicast.  The selection of this set is implementation and OF
 dependent.  Second, the parent set is a restricted subset of the
 candidate neighbor set.  Finally, the preferred parent is a member of
 the parent set that is the preferred next hop in Upward routes.
 Conceptually, the preferred parent is a single parent; although, it
 may be a set of multiple parents if those parents are equally
 preferred and have identical Rank.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 67] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 More precisely:
 1.  The DODAG parent set MUST be a subset of the candidate neighbor
     set.
 2.  A DODAG root MUST have a DODAG parent set of size zero.
 3.  A node that is not a DODAG root MAY maintain a DODAG parent set
     of size greater than or equal to one.
 4.  A node's preferred DODAG parent MUST be a member of its DODAG
     parent set.
 5.  A node's Rank MUST be greater than all elements of its DODAG
     parent set.
 6.  When Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD) [RFC4861], or an
     equivalent mechanism, determines that a neighbor is no longer
     reachable, a RPL node MUST NOT consider this node in the
     candidate neighbor set when calculating and advertising routes
     until it determines that it is again reachable.  Routes through
     an unreachable neighbor MUST be removed from the routing table.
 These rules ensure that there is a consistent partial order on nodes
 within the DODAG.  As long as node Ranks do not change, following the
 above rules ensures that every node's route to a DODAG root is loop-
 free, as Rank decreases on each hop to the root.
 The OF can guide candidate neighbor set and parent set selection, as
 discussed in [RFC6552].

8.2.2. Neighbors and Parents across DODAG Versions

 The above rules govern a single DODAG Version.  The rules in this
 section define how RPL operates when there are multiple DODAG
 Versions.

8.2.2.1. DODAG Version

 1.  The tuple (RPLInstanceID, DODAGID, DODAGVersionNumber) uniquely
     defines a DODAG Version.  Every element of a node's DODAG parent
     set, as conveyed by the last heard DIO message from each DODAG
     parent, MUST belong to the same DODAG Version.  Elements of a
     node's candidate neighbor set MAY belong to different DODAG
     Versions.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 68] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 2.  A node is a member of a DODAG Version if every element of its
     DODAG parent set belongs to that DODAG Version, or if that node
     is the root of the corresponding DODAG.
 3.  A node MUST NOT send DIOs for DODAG Versions of which it is not a
     member.
 4.  DODAG roots MAY increment the DODAGVersionNumber that they
     advertise and thus move to a new DODAG Version.  When a DODAG
     root increments its DODAGVersionNumber, it MUST follow the
     conventions of Serial Number Arithmetic as described in
     Section 7.  Events triggering the increment of the
     DODAGVersionNumber are described later in this section and in
     Section 18.
 5.  Within a given DODAG, a node that is a not a root MUST NOT
     advertise a DODAGVersionNumber higher than the highest
     DODAGVersionNumber it has heard.  Higher is defined as the
     greater-than operator in Section 7.
 6.  Once a node has advertised a DODAG Version by sending a DIO, it
     MUST NOT be a member of a previous DODAG Version of the same
     DODAG (i.e., with the same RPLInstanceID, the same DODAGID, and a
     lower DODAGVersionNumber).  Lower is defined as the less-than
     operator in Section 7.
 When the DODAG parent set becomes empty on a node that is not a root,
 (i.e., the last parent has been removed, causing the node no longer
 to be associated with that DODAG), then the DODAG information should
 not be suppressed until after the expiration of an implementation-
 specific local timer.  During the interval prior to suppression of
 the "old" DODAG state, the node will be able to observe if the
 DODAGVersionNumber has been incremented should any new parents
 appear.  This will help protect against the possibility of loops that
 may occur if that node were to inadvertently rejoin the old DODAG
 Version in its own prior sub-DODAG.
 As the DODAGVersionNumber is incremented, a new DODAG Version spreads
 outward from the DODAG root.  A parent that advertises the new
 DODAGVersionNumber cannot belong to the sub-DODAG of a node
 advertising an older DODAGVersionNumber.  Therefore, a node can
 safely add a parent of any Rank with a newer DODAGVersionNumber
 without forming a loop.
 For example, suppose that a node has left a DODAG with
 DODAGVersionNumber N.  Suppose that a node had a sub-DODAG and did
 attempt to poison that sub-DODAG by advertising a Rank of
 INFINITE_RANK, but those advertisements may have become lost in the

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 69] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 LLN.  Then, if the node did observe a candidate neighbor advertising
 a position in that original DODAG at DODAGVersionNumber N, that
 candidate neighbor could possibly have been in the node's former sub-
 DODAG, and there is a possible case where adding that candidate
 neighbor as a parent could cause a loop.  In this case, if that
 candidate neighbor is observed to advertise a DODAGVersionNumber N+1,
 then that candidate neighbor is certain to be safe, since it is
 certain not to be in that original node's sub-DODAG, as it has been
 able to increment the DODAGVersionNumber by hearing from the DODAG
 root while that original node was detached.  For this reason, it is
 useful for the detached node to remember the original DODAG
 information, including the DODAGVersionNumber N.
 Exactly when a DODAG root increments the DODAGVersionNumber is
 implementation dependent and out of scope for this specification.
 Examples include incrementing the DODAGVersionNumber periodically,
 upon administrative intervention, or on application-level detection
 of lost connectivity or DODAG inefficiency.
 After a node transitions to and advertises a new DODAG Version, the
 rules above make it unable to advertise the previous DODAG Version
 (prior DODAGVersionNumber) once it has committed to advertising the
 new DODAG Version.

8.2.2.2. DODAG Roots

 1.  A DODAG root without possibility to satisfy the application-
     defined goal MUST NOT set the Grounded bit.
 2.  A DODAG root MUST advertise a Rank of ROOT_RANK.
 3.  A node whose DODAG parent set is empty MAY become the DODAG root
     of a floating DODAG.  It MAY also set its DAGPreference such that
     it is less preferred.
 In a deployment that uses non-LLN links to federate a number of LLN
 roots, it is possible to run RPL over those non-RPL links and use one
 router as a "backbone root".  The backbone root is the virtual root
 of the DODAG and exposes a Rank of BASE_RANK over the backbone.  All
 the LLN roots that are parented to that backbone root, including the
 backbone root if it also serves as the LLN root itself, expose a Rank
 of ROOT_RANK to the LLN.  These virtual roots are part of the same
 DODAG and advertise the same DODAGID.  They coordinate
 DODAGVersionNumbers and other DODAG parameters with the virtual root
 over the backbone.  The method of coordination is out of scope for
 this specification (to be defined in future companion
 specifications).

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 70] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

8.2.2.3. DODAG Selection

 The Objective Function and the set of advertised routing metrics and
 constraints of a DAG determine how a node selects its neighbor set,
 parent set, and preferred parents.  This selection implicitly also
 determines the DODAG within a DAG.  Such selection can include
 administrative preference (Prf) as well as metrics or other
 considerations.
 If a node has the option to join a more preferred DODAG while still
 meeting other optimization objectives, then the node will generally
 seek to join the more preferred DODAG as determined by the OF.  All
 else being equal, it is left to the implementation to determine which
 DODAG is most preferred (since, as a reminder, a node must only join
 one DODAG per RPL Instance).

8.2.2.4. Rank and Movement within a DODAG Version

 1.  A node MUST NOT advertise a Rank less than or equal to any member
     of its parent set within the DODAG Version.
 2.  A node MAY advertise a Rank lower than its prior advertisement
     within the DODAG Version.
 3.  Let L be the lowest Rank within a DODAG Version that a given node
     has advertised.  Within the same DODAG Version, that node MUST
     NOT advertise an effective Rank higher than L +
     DAGMaxRankIncrease.  INFINITE_RANK is an exception to this rule:
     a node MAY advertise an INFINITE_RANK within a DODAG Version
     without restriction.  If a node's Rank were to be higher than
     allowed by L + DAGMaxRankIncrease, when it advertises Rank, it
     MUST advertise its Rank as INFINITE_RANK.
 4.  A node MAY, at any time, choose to join a different DODAG within
     a RPL Instance.  Such a join has no Rank restrictions, unless
     that different DODAG is a DODAG Version of which this node has
     previously been a member; in which case, the rule of the previous
     bullet (3) must be observed.  Until a node transmits a DIO
     indicating its new DODAG membership, it MUST forward packets
     along the previous DODAG.
 5.  A node MAY, at any time after hearing the next DODAGVersionNumber
     advertised from suitable DODAG parents, choose to migrate to the
     next DODAG Version within the DODAG.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 71] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Conceptually, an implementation is maintaining a DODAG parent set
 within the DODAG Version.  Movement entails changes to the DODAG
 parent set.  Moving Up does not present the risk to create a loop but
 moving Down might, so that operation is subject to additional
 constraints.
 When a node migrates to the next DODAG Version, the DODAG parent set
 needs to be rebuilt for the new Version.  An implementation could
 defer to migrate for some reasonable amount of time, to see if some
 other neighbors with potentially better metrics but higher Rank
 announce themselves.  Similarly, when a node jumps into a new DODAG,
 it needs to construct a new DODAG parent set for this new DODAG.
 If a node needs to move Down a DODAG that it is attached to,
 increasing its Rank, then it MAY poison its routes and delay before
 moving as described in Section 8.2.2.5.
 A node is allowed to join any DODAG Version that it has never been a
 prior member of without any restrictions, but if the node has been a
 prior member of the DODAG Version, then it must continue to observe
 the rule that it may not advertise a Rank higher than
 L+DAGMaxRankIncrease at any point in the life of the DODAG Version.
 This rule must be observed so as not to create a loophole that would
 allow the node to effectively increment its Rank all the way to
 INFINITE_RANK, which may have impact on other nodes and create a
 resource-wasting count-to-infinity scenario.

8.2.2.5. Poisoning

 1.  A node poisons routes by advertising a Rank of INFINITE_RANK.
 2.  A node MUST NOT have any nodes with a Rank of INFINITE_RANK in
     its parent set.
 Although an implementation may advertise INFINITE_RANK for the
 purposes of poisoning, doing so is not the same as setting Rank to
 INFINITE_RANK.  For example, a node may continue to send data packets
 whose RPL Packet Information includes a Rank that is not
 INFINITE_RANK, yet still advertise INFINITE_RANK in its DIOs.
 When a (former) parent is observed to advertise a Rank of
 INFINITE_RANK, that (former) parent has detached from the DODAG and
 is no longer able to act as a parent, nor is there any way that
 another node may be considered to have a Rank greater-than
 INFINITE_RANK.  Therefore, that (former) parent cannot act as a
 parent any longer and is removed from the parent set.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 72] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

8.2.2.6. Detaching

 1.  A node unable to stay connected to a DODAG within a given DODAG
     Version, i.e., that cannot retain non-empty parent set without
     violating the rules of this specification, MAY detach from this
     DODAG Version.  A node that detaches becomes the root of its own
     floating DODAG and SHOULD immediately advertise this new
     situation in a DIO as an alternate to poisoning.

8.2.2.7. Following a Parent

 1.  If a node receives a DIO from one of its DODAG parents,
     indicating that the parent has left the DODAG, that node SHOULD
     stay in its current DODAG through an alternative DODAG parent, if
     possible.  It MAY follow the leaving parent.
 A DODAG parent may have moved, migrated to the next DODAG Version, or
 jumped to a different DODAG.  A node ought to give some preference to
 remaining in the current DODAG, if possible via an alternate parent,
 but ought to follow the parent if there are no other options.

8.2.3. DIO Message Communication

 When a DIO message is received, the receiving node must first
 determine whether or not the DIO message should be accepted for
 further processing, and subsequently present the DIO message for
 further processing if eligible.
 1.  If the DIO message is malformed, then the DIO message is not
     eligible for further processing and a node MUST silently discard
     it.  (See Section 18 for error logging).
 2.  If the sender of the DIO message is a member of the candidate
     neighbor set and the DIO message is not malformed, the node MUST
     process the DIO.

8.2.3.1. DIO Message Processing

 As DIO messages are received from candidate neighbors, the neighbors
 may be promoted to DODAG parents by following the rules of DODAG
 discovery as described in Section 8.2.  When a node places a neighbor
 into the DODAG parent set, the node becomes attached to the DODAG
 through the new DODAG parent node.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 73] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The most preferred parent should be used to restrict which other
 nodes may become DODAG parents.  Some nodes in the DODAG parent set
 may be of a Rank less than or equal to the most preferred DODAG
 parent.  (This case may occur, for example, if an energy-constrained
 device is at a lesser Rank but should be avoided per an optimization
 objective, resulting in a more preferred parent at a greater Rank.)

8.3. DIO Transmission

 RPL nodes transmit DIOs using a Trickle timer [RFC6206].  A DIO from
 a sender with a lesser DAGRank that causes no changes to the
 recipient's parent set, preferred parent, or Rank SHOULD be
 considered consistent with respect to the Trickle timer.
 The following packets and events MUST be considered inconsistencies
 with respect to the Trickle timer, and cause the Trickle timer to
 reset:
 o  When a node detects an inconsistency when forwarding a packet, as
    detailed in Section 11.2.
 o  When a node receives a multicast DIS message without a Solicited
    Information option, unless a DIS flag restricts this behavior.
 o  When a node receives a multicast DIS with a Solicited Information
    option and the node matches all of the predicates in the Solicited
    Information option, unless a DIS flag restricts this behavior.
 o  When a node joins a new DODAG Version (e.g., by updating its
    DODAGVersionNumber, joining a new RPL Instance, etc.).
 Note that this list is not exhaustive, and an implementation MAY
 consider other messages or events to be inconsistencies.
 A node SHOULD NOT reset its DIO Trickle timer in response to unicast
 DIS messages.  When a node receives a unicast DIS without a Solicited
 Information option, it MUST unicast a DIO to the sender in response.
 This DIO MUST include a DODAG Configuration option.  When a node
 receives a unicast DIS message with a Solicited Information option
 and matches the predicates of that Solicited Information option, it
 MUST unicast a DIO to the sender in response.  This unicast DIO MUST
 include a DODAG Configuration option.  Thus, a node MAY transmit a
 unicast DIS message to a potential DODAG parent in order to probe for
 DODAG Configuration and other parameters.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 74] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

8.3.1. Trickle Parameters

 The configuration parameters of the Trickle timer are specified as
 follows:
 Imin: learned from the DIO message as (2^DIOIntervalMin) ms.  The
       default value of DIOIntervalMin is DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_MIN.
 Imax: learned from the DIO message as DIOIntervalDoublings.  The
       default value of DIOIntervalDoublings is
       DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS.
 k:    learned from the DIO message as DIORedundancyConstant.  The
       default value of DIORedundancyConstant is
       DEFAULT_DIO_REDUNDANCY_CONSTANT.  In RPL, when k has the value
       of 0x00, this is to be treated as a redundancy constant of
       infinity in RPL, i.e., Trickle never suppresses messages.

8.4. DODAG Selection

 The DODAG selection is implementation and OF dependent.  In order to
 limit erratic movements, and all metrics being equal, nodes SHOULD
 keep their previous selection.  Also, nodes SHOULD provide a means to
 filter out a parent whose availability is detected as fluctuating, at
 least when more stable choices are available.
 When connection to a grounded DODAG is not possible or preferable for
 security or other reasons, scattered DODAGs MAY aggregate as much as
 possible into larger DODAGs in order to allow connectivity within the
 LLN.
 A node SHOULD verify that bidirectional connectivity and adequate
 link quality is available with a candidate neighbor before it
 considers that candidate as a DODAG parent.

8.5. Operation as a Leaf Node

 In some cases, a RPL node may attach to a DODAG as a leaf node only.
 One example of such a case is when a node does not understand or does
 not support (policy) the RPL Instance's OF or advertised metric/
 constraint.  As specified in Section 18.6, related to policy
 function, the node may either join the DODAG as a leaf node or may
 not join the DODAG.  As mentioned in Section 18.5, it is then
 recommended to log a fault.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 75] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 A leaf node does not extend DODAG connectivity; however, in some
 cases, the leaf node may still need to transmit DIOs on occasion, in
 particular, when the leaf node may not have always been acting as a
 leaf node and an inconsistency is detected.
 A node operating as a leaf node must obey the following rules:
 1.  It MUST NOT transmit DIOs containing the DAG Metric Container.
 2.  Its DIOs MUST advertise a DAGRank of INFINITE_RANK.
 3.  It MAY suppress DIO transmission, unless the DIO transmission has
     been triggered due to detection of inconsistency when a packet is
     being forwarded or in response to a unicast DIS message, in which
     case the DIO transmission MUST NOT be suppressed.
 4.  It MAY transmit unicast DAOs as described in Section 9.2.
 5.  It MAY transmit multicast DAOs to the '1 hop' neighborhood as
     described in Section 9.10.
 A particular case that requires a leaf node to send a DIO is if that
 leaf node was a prior member of another DODAG and another node
 forwards a message assuming the old topology, triggering an
 inconsistency.  The leaf node needs to transmit a DIO in order to
 repair the inconsistency.  Note that due to the lossy nature of LLNs,
 even though the leaf node may have optimistically poisoned its routes
 by advertising a Rank of INFINITE_RANK in the old DODAG prior to
 becoming a leaf node, that advertisement may have become lost and a
 leaf node must be capable to send a DIO later in order to repair the
 inconsistency.
 In the general case, the leaf node MUST NOT advertise itself as a
 router (i.e., send DIOs).

8.6. Administrative Rank

 In some cases, it might be beneficial to adjust the Rank advertised
 by a node beyond that computed by the OF based on some
 implementation-specific policy and properties of the node.  For
 example, a node that has a limited battery should be a leaf unless
 there is no other choice, and may then augment the Rank computation
 specified by the OF in order to expose an exaggerated Rank.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 76] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

9. Downward Routes

 This section describes how RPL discovers and maintains Downward
 routes.  RPL constructs and maintains Downward routes with
 Destination Advertisement Object (DAO) messages.  Downward routes
 support P2MP flows, from the DODAG roots toward the leaves.  Downward
 routes also support P2P flows: P2P messages can flow toward a DODAG
 root (or a common ancestor) through an Upward route, then away from
 the DODAG root to a destination through a Downward route.
 This specification describes the two modes a RPL Instance may choose
 from for maintaining Downward routes.  In the first mode, called
 "Storing", nodes store Downward routing tables for their sub-DODAG.
 Each hop on a Downward route in a storing network examines its
 routing table to decide on the next hop.  In the second mode, called
 "Non-Storing", nodes do not store Downward routing tables.  Downward
 packets are routed with source routes populated by a DODAG root
 [RFC6554].
 RPL allows a simple one-hop P2P optimization for both storing and
 non-storing networks.  A node may send a P2P packet destined to a
 one-hop neighbor directly to that node.

9.1. Destination Advertisement Parents

 To establish Downward routes, RPL nodes send DAO messages Upward.
 The next-hop destinations of these DAO messages are called "DAO
 parents".  The collection of a node's DAO parents is called the "DAO
 parent set".
 1.  A node MAY send DAO messages using the all-RPL-nodes multicast
     address, which is an optimization to provision one-hop routing.
     The 'K' bit MUST be cleared on transmission of the multicast DAO.
 2.  A node's DAO parent set MUST be a subset of its DODAG parent set.
 3.  In Storing mode operation, a node MUST NOT address unicast DAO
     messages to nodes that are not DAO parents.
 4.  In Storing mode operation, the IPv6 source and destination
     addresses of a DAO message MUST be link-local addresses.
 5.  In Non-Storing mode operation, a node MUST NOT address unicast
     DAO messages to nodes that are not DODAG roots.
 6.  In Non-Storing mode operation, the IPv6 source and destination
     addresses of a DAO message MUST be a unique-local or a global
     address.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 77] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The selection of DAO parents is implementation and Objective Function
 specific.

9.2. Downward Route Discovery and Maintenance

 Destination Advertisement may be configured to be entirely disabled,
 or operate in either a Storing or Non-Storing mode, as reported in
 the MOP in the DIO message.
 1.  All nodes who join a DODAG MUST abide by the MOP setting from the
     root.  Nodes that do not have the capability to fully participate
     as a router, e.g., that do not match the advertised MOP, MAY join
     the DODAG as a leaf.
 2.  If the MOP is 0, indicating no Downward routing, nodes MUST NOT
     transmit DAO messages and MAY ignore DAO messages.
 3.  In Non-Storing mode, the DODAG root SHOULD store source routing
     table entries for destinations learned from DAOs.  The DODAG root
     MUST be able to generate source routes for those destinations
     learned from DAOs that were stored.
 4.  In Storing mode, all non-root, non-leaf nodes MUST store routing
     table entries for destinations learned from DAOs.
 A DODAG can have one of several possible modes of operation, as
 defined by the MOP field.  Either it does not support Downward
 routes, it supports Downward routes through source routing from DODAG
 roots, or it supports Downward routes through in-network routing
 tables.
 When Downward routes are supported through source routing from DODAG
 roots, it is generally expected that the DODAG root has stored the
 source routing information learned from DAOs in order to construct
 the source routes.  If the DODAG root fails to store some
 information, then some destinations may be unreachable.
 When Downward routes are supported through in-network routing tables,
 the multicast operation defined in this specification may or may not
 be supported, also as indicated by the MOP field.
 When Downward routes are supported through in-network routing tables,
 as described in this specification, it is expected that nodes acting
 as routers have been provisioned sufficiently to hold the required
 routing table state.  If a node acting as a router is unable to hold
 the full routing table state then the routing state is not complete,

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 78] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 messages may be dropped as a consequence, and a fault may be logged
 (Section 18.5).  Future extensions to RPL may elaborate on refined
 actions/behaviors to manage this case.
 As of the writing of this specification, RPL does not support mixed-
 mode operation, where some nodes source route and other store routing
 tables: future extensions to RPL may support this mode of operation.

9.2.1. Maintenance of Path Sequence

 For each Target that is associated with (owned by) a node, that node
 is responsible to emit DAO messages in order to provision the
 Downward routes.  The Target+Transit information contained in those
 DAO messages subsequently propagates Up the DODAG.  The Path Sequence
 counter in the Transit information option is used to indicate
 freshness and update stale Downward routing information as described
 in Section 7.
 For a Target that is associated with (owned by) a node, that node
 MUST increment the Path Sequence counter, and generate a new DAO
 message, when:
 1.  the Path Lifetime is to be updated (e.g., a refresh or a no-
     Path).
 2.  the DODAG Parent Address subfield list is to be changed.
 For a Target that is associated with (owned by) a node, that node MAY
 increment the Path Sequence counter, and generate a new DAO message,
 on occasion in order to refresh the Downward routing information.  In
 Storing mode, the node generates such a DAO to each of its DAO
 parents in order to enable multipath.  All DAOs generated at the same
 time for the same Target MUST be sent with the same Path Sequence in
 the Transit Information.

9.2.2. Generation of DAO Messages

 A node might send DAO messages when it receives DAO messages, as a
 result of changes in its DAO parent set, or in response to another
 event such as the expiry of a related prefix lifetime.  In the case
 of receiving DAOs, it matters whether the DAO message is "new" or
 contains new information.  In Non-Storing mode, every DAO message a
 node receives is "new".  In Storing mode, a DAO message is "new" if
 it satisfies any of these criteria for a contained Target:
 1.  it has a newer Path Sequence number,
 2.  it has additional Path Control bits, or

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 79] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 3.  it is a No-Path DAO message that removes the last Downward route
     to a prefix.
 A node that receives a DAO message from its sub-DODAG MAY suppress
 scheduling a DAO message transmission if that DAO message is not new.

9.3. DAO Base Rules

 1.  If a node sends a DAO message with newer or different information
     than the prior DAO message transmission, it MUST increment the
     DAOSequence field by at least one.  A DAO message transmission
     that is identical to the prior DAO message transmission MAY
     increment the DAOSequence field.
 2.  The RPLInstanceID and DODAGID fields of a DAO message MUST be the
     same value as the members of the node's parent set and the DIOs
     it transmits.
 3.  A node MAY set the 'K' flag in a unicast DAO message to solicit a
     unicast DAO-ACK in response in order to confirm the attempt.
 4.  A node receiving a unicast DAO message with the 'K' flag set
     SHOULD respond with a DAO-ACK.  A node receiving a DAO message
     without the 'K' flag set MAY respond with a DAO-ACK, especially
     to report an error condition.
 5.  A node that sets the 'K' flag in a unicast DAO message but does
     not receive a DAO-ACK in response MAY reschedule the DAO message
     transmission for another attempt, up until an implementation-
     specific number of retries.
 6.  Nodes SHOULD ignore DAOs without newer sequence numbers and MUST
     NOT process them further.
 Unlike the Version field of a DIO, which is incremented only by a
 DODAG root and repeated unchanged by other nodes, DAOSequence values
 are unique to each node.  The sequence number space for unicast and
 multicast DAO messages can be either the same or distinct.  It is
 RECOMMENDED to use the same sequence number space.

9.4. Structure of DAO Messages

 DAOs follow a common structure in both storing and non-storing
 networks.  In the most general form, a DAO message may include
 several groups of options, where each group consists of one or more
 Target options followed by one or more Transit Information options.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 80] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The entire group of Transit Information options applies to the entire
 group of Target options.  Later sections describe further details for
 each mode of operation.
 1.  RPL nodes MUST include one or more RPL Target options in each DAO
     message they transmit.  One RPL Target option MUST have a prefix
     that includes the node's IPv6 address if that node needs the
     DODAG to provision Downward routes to that node.  The RPL Target
     option MAY be immediately followed by an opaque RPL Target
     Descriptor option that qualifies it.
 2.  When a node updates the information in a Transit Information
     option for a Target option that covers one of its addresses, it
     MUST increment the Path Sequence number in that Transit
     Information option.  The Path Sequence number MAY be incremented
     occasionally to cause a refresh to the Downward routes.
 3.  One or more RPL Target options in a unicast DAO message MUST be
     followed by one or more Transit Information options.  All the
     transit options apply to all the Target options that immediately
     precede them.
 4.  Multicast DAOs MUST NOT include the DODAG Parent Address subfield
     in Transit Information options.
 5.  A node that receives and processes a DAO message containing
     information for a specific Target, and that has prior information
     for that Target, MUST use the Path Sequence number in the Transit
     Information option associated with that Target in order to
     determine whether or not the DAO message contains updated
     information per Section 7.
 6.  If a node receives a DAO message that does not follow the above
     rules, it MUST discard the DAO message without further
     processing.
 In Non-Storing mode, the root builds a strict source routing header,
 hop-by-hop, by recursively looking up one-hop information that ties a
 Target (address or prefix) and a transit address together.  In some
 cases, when a child address is derived from a prefix that is owned
 and advertised by a parent, that parent-child relationship may be
 inferred by the root for the purpose of constructing the source
 routing header.  In all other cases, it is necessary to inform the
 root of the transit-Target relationship from a reachable target, so
 as to later enable the recursive construction of the routing header.
 An address that is advertised as a Target in a DAO message MUST be
 collocated in the same router, or reachable on-link by the router

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 81] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 that owns the address that is indicated in the associated Transit
 Information.  The following additional rules apply to ensure the
 continuity of the end-to-end source route path:
 1.  The address of a parent used in the transit option MUST be taken
     from a PIO from that parent with the 'R' flag set.  The 'R' flag
     in a PIO indicates that the prefix field actually contains the
     full parent address but the child SHOULD NOT assume that the
     parent address is on-link.
 2.  A PIO with an 'A' flag set indicates that the RPL child node may
     use the prefix to autoconfigure an address.  A parent that
     advertises a prefix in a PIO with the 'A' flag set MUST ensure
     that the address or the whole prefix in the PIO is reachable from
     the root by advertising it as a DAO target.  If the parent also
     sets the 'L' flag indicating that the prefix is on-link, then it
     MUST advertise the whole prefix as Target in a DAO message.  If
     the 'L' flag is cleared and the 'R' flag is set, indicating that
     the parent provides its own address in the PIO, then the parent
     MUST advertise that address as a DAO target.
 3.  An address that is advertised as Target in a DAO message MUST be
     collocated in the same router or reachable on-link by the router
     that owns the address that is indicated in the associated Transit
     Information.
 4.  In order to enable an optimum compression of the routing header,
     the parent SHOULD set the 'R' flag in all PIOs with the 'A' flag
     set and the 'L' flag cleared, and the child SHOULD prefer to use
     as transit the address of the parent that is found in the PIO
     that is used to autoconfigure the address that is advertised as
     Target in the DAO message.
 5.  A router might have targets that are not known to be on-link for
     a parent, either because they are addresses located on an
     alternate interface or because they belong to nodes that are
     external to RPL, for instance connected hosts.  In order to
     inject such a Target in the RPL network, the router MUST
     advertise itself as the DODAG Parent Address subfield in the
     Transit Information option for that target, using an address that
     is on-link for that nodes DAO parent.  If the Target belongs to
     an external node, then the router MUST set the External 'E' flag
     in the Transit Information.
 A child node that has autoconfigured an address from a parent PIO
 with the 'L' flag set does not need to advertise that address as a
 DAO Target since the parent ensures that the whole prefix is already
 reachable from the root.  However, if the 'L' flag is not set, then

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 82] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 it is necessary, in Non-Storing mode, for the child node to inform
 the root of the parent-child relationship, using a reachable address
 of the parent, so as to enable the recursive construction of the
 routing header.  This is done by associating an address of the parent
 as transit with the address of the child as Target in a DAO message.

9.5. DAO Transmission Scheduling

 Because DAOs flow Upward, receiving a unicast DAO can trigger sending
 a unicast DAO to a DAO parent.
 1.  On receiving a unicast DAO message with updated information, such
     as containing a Transit Information option with a new Path
     Sequence, a node SHOULD send a DAO.  It SHOULD NOT send this DAO
     message immediately.  It SHOULD delay sending the DAO message in
     order to aggregate DAO information from other nodes for which it
     is a DAO parent.
 2.  A node SHOULD delay sending a DAO message with a timer
     (DelayDAO).  Receiving a DAO message starts the DelayDAO timer.
     DAO messages received while the DelayDAO timer is active do not
     reset the timer.  When the DelayDAO timer expires, the node sends
     a DAO.
 3.  When a node adds a node to its DAO parent set, it SHOULD schedule
     a DAO message transmission.
 DelayDAO's value and calculation is implementation dependent.  A
 default value of DEFAULT_DAO_DELAY is defined in this specification.

9.6. Triggering DAO Messages

 Nodes can trigger their sub-DODAG to send DAO messages.  Each node
 maintains a DAO Trigger Sequence Number (DTSN), which it communicates
 through DIO messages.
 1.  If a node hears one of its DAO parents increment its DTSN, the
     node MUST schedule a DAO message transmission using rules in
     Sections 9.3 and 9.5.
 2.  In Non-Storing mode, if a node hears one of its DAO parents
     increment its DTSN, the node MUST increment its own DTSN.
 In a Storing mode of operation, as part of routine routing table
 updates and maintenance, a storing node MAY increment DTSN in order
 to reliably trigger a set of DAO updates from its immediate children.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 83] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 In a Storing mode of operation, it is not necessary to trigger DAO
 updates from the entire sub-DODAG, since that state information will
 propagate hop-by-hop Up the DODAG.
 In a Non-Storing mode of operation, a DTSN increment will also cause
 the immediate children of a node to increment their DTSN in turn,
 triggering a set of DAO updates from the entire sub-DODAG.
 Typically, in a Non-Storing mode of operation, only the root would
 independently increment the DTSN when a DAO refresh is needed but a
 global repair (such as by incrementing DODAGVersionNumber) is not
 desired.  Typically, in a Non-Storing mode of operation, all non-root
 nodes would increment their DTSN only when their parent(s) are
 observed to do so.
 In general, a node may trigger DAO updates according to
 implementation-specific logic, such as based on the detection of a
 Downward route inconsistency or occasionally based upon an internal
 timer.
 In a storing network, selecting a proper DelayDAO for triggered DAOs
 can greatly reduce the number of DAOs transmitted.  The trigger flows
 Down the DODAG; in the best case, the DAOs flow Up the DODAG such
 that leaves send DAOs first, with each node sending a DAO message
 only once.  Such a scheduling could be approximated by setting
 DelayDAO inversely proportional to Rank.  Note that this suggestion
 is intended as an optimization to allow efficient aggregation (it is
 not required for correct operation in the general case).

9.7. Non-Storing Mode

 In Non-Storing mode, RPL routes messages Downward using IP source
 routing.  The following rule applies to nodes that are in Non-Storing
 mode.  Storing mode has a separate set of rules, described in
 Section 9.8.
 1.  The DODAG Parent Address subfield of a Transit Information option
     MUST contain one or more addresses.  All of these addresses MUST
     be addresses of DAO parents of the sender.
 2.  DAOs are sent directly to the root along a default route
     installed as part of the parent selection.
 3.  When a node removes a node from its DAO parent set, it MAY
     generate a new DAO message with an updated Transit Information
     option.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 84] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 In Non-Storing mode, a node uses DAOs to report its DAO parents to
 the DODAG root.  The DODAG root can piece together a Downward route
 to a node by using DAO parent sets from each node in the route.  The
 Path Sequence information may be used to detect stale DAO
 information.  The purpose of this per-hop route calculation is to
 minimize traffic when DAO parents change.  If nodes reported complete
 source routes, then on a DAO parent change, the entire sub-DODAG
 would have to send new DAOs to the DODAG root.  Therefore, in Non-
 Storing mode, a node can send a single DAO, although it might choose
 to send more than one DAO message to each of multiple DAO parents.
 Nodes pack DAOs by sending a single DAO message with multiple RPL
 Target options.  Each RPL Target option has its own, immediately
 following, Transit Information options.

9.8. Storing Mode

 In Storing mode, RPL routes messages Downward by the IPv6 destination
 address.  The following rules apply to nodes that are in Storing
 mode:
 1.  The DODAG Parent Address subfield of a Transmit Information
     option MUST be empty.
 2.  On receiving a unicast DAO, a node MUST compute if the DAO would
     change the set of prefixes that the node itself advertises.  This
     computation SHOULD include consultation of the Path Sequence
     information in the Transit Information options associated with
     the DAO, to determine if the DAO message contains newer
     information that supersedes the information already stored at the
     node.  If so, the node MUST generate a new DAO message and
     transmit it, following the rules in Section 9.5.  Such a change
     includes receiving a No-Path DAO.
 3.  When a node generates a new DAO, it SHOULD unicast it to each of
     its DAO parents.  It MUST NOT unicast the DAO message to nodes
     that are not DAO parents.
 4.  When a node removes a node from its DAO parent set, it SHOULD
     send a No-Path DAO message (Section 6.4.3) to that removed DAO
     parent to invalidate the existing route.
 5.  If messages to an advertised Downward address suffer from a
     forwarding error, Neighbor Unreachable Detection (NUD), or
     similar failure, a node MAY mark the address as unreachable and
     generate an appropriate No-Path DAO.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 85] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 DAOs advertise to which destination addresses and prefixes a node has
 routes.  Unlike in Non-Storing mode, these DAOs do not communicate
 information about the routes themselves: that information is stored
 within the network and is implicit from the IPv6 source address.
 When a storing node generates a DAO, it uses the stored state of DAOs
 it has received to produce a set of RPL Target options and their
 associated Transmit Information options.
 Because this information is stored within each node's routing tables,
 in Storing mode, DAOs are communicated directly to DAO parents, who
 store this information.

9.9. Path Control

 A DAO message from a node contains one or more Target options.  Each
 Target option specifies either a prefix advertised by the node, a
 prefix of addresses reachable outside the LLN, the address of a
 destination in the node's sub-DODAG, or a multicast group to which a
 node in the sub-DODAG is listening.  The Path Control field of the
 Transit Information option allows nodes to request or allow for
 multiple Downward routes.  A node constructs the Path Control field
 of a Transit Information option as follows:
 1.  The bit width of the Path Control field MUST be equal to the
     value (PCS + 1), where PCS is specified in the control field of
     the DODAG Configuration option.  Bits greater than or equal to
     the value (PCS + 1) MUST be cleared on transmission and MUST be
     ignored on reception.  Bits below that value are considered
     "active" bits.
 2.  The node MUST logically construct groupings of its DAO parents
     while populating the Path Control field, where each group
     consists of DAO parents of equal preference.  Those groups MUST
     then be ordered according to preference, which allows for a
     logical mapping of DAO parents onto Path Control subfields (see
     Figure 27).  Groups MAY be repeated in order to extend over the
     entire bit width of the patch control field, but the order,
     including repeated groups, MUST be retained so that preference is
     properly communicated.
 3.  For a RPL Target option describing a node's own address or a
     prefix outside the LLN, at least one active bit of the Path
     Control field MUST be set.  More active bits of the Path Control
     field MAY be set.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 86] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 4.  If a node receives multiple DAOs with the same RPL Target option,
     it MUST bitwise-OR the Path Control fields it receives.  This
     aggregated bitwise-OR represents the number of Downward routes
     the prefix requests.
 5.  When a node sends a DAO message to one of its DAO parents, it
     MUST select one or more of the bits that are set active in the
     subfield that is mapped to the group containing that DAO parent
     from the aggregated Path Control field.  A given bit can only be
     presented as active to one parent.  The DAO message it transmits
     to its parent MUST have these active bits set and all other
     active bits cleared.
 6.  For the RPL Target option and DAOSequence number, the DAOs a node
     sends to different DAO parents MUST have disjoint sets of active
     Path Control bits.  A node MUST NOT set the same active bit on
     DAOs to two different DAO parents.
 7.  Path Control bits SHOULD be allocated according to the preference
     mapping of DAO parents onto Path Control subfields, such that the
     active Path Control bits, or groupings of bits, that belong to a
     particular Path Control subfield are allocated to DAO parents
     within the group that was mapped to that subfield.
 8.  In a Non-Storing mode of operation, a node MAY pass DAOs through
     without performing any further processing on the Path Control
     field.
 9.  A node MUST NOT unicast a DAO message that has no active bits in
     the Path Control field set.  It is possible that, for a given
     Target option, a node does not have enough aggregate Path Control
     bits to send a DAO message containing that Target to each of its
     DAO parents, in which case those least preferred DAO Parents may
     not get a DAO message for that Target.
 The Path Control field allows a node to bound how many Downward
 routes will be generated to it.  It sets a number of bits in the Path
 Control field equal to the maximum number of Downward routes it
 prefers.  At most, each bit is sent to one DAO parent; clusters of
 bits can be sent to a single DAO parent for it to divide among its
 own DAO parents.
 A node that provisions a DAO route for a Target that has an
 associated Path Control field SHOULD use the content of that Path
 Control field in order to determine an order of preference among
 multiple alternative DAO routes for that Target.  The Path Control
 field assignment is derived from preference (of the DAO parents), as
 determined on the basis of this node's best knowledge of the "end-to-

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 87] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 end" aggregated metrics in the Downward direction as per the
 Objective Function.  In Non-Storing mode the root can determine the
 Downward route by aggregating the information from each received DAO,
 which includes the Path Control indications of preferred DAO parents.

9.9.1. Path Control Example

 Suppose that there is an LLN operating in Storing mode that contains
 a Node N with four parents, P1, P2, P3, and P4.  Let N have three
 children, C1, C2, and C3 in its sub-DODAG.  Let PCS be 7, such that
 there will be 8 active bits in the Path Control field: 11111111b.
 Consider the following example:
 The Path Control field is split into four subfields, PC1 (11000000b),
 PC2 (00110000b), PC3 (00001100b), and PC4 (00000011b), such that
 those four subfields represent four different levels of preference
 per Figure 27.  The implementation at Node N, in this example, groups
 {P1, P2} to be of equal preference to each other and the most
 preferred group overall. {P3} is less preferred to {P1, P2}, and more
 preferred to {P4}.  Let Node N then perform its Path Control mapping
 such that:
            {P1, P2} -> PC1 (11000000b) in the Path Control field
            {P3}     -> PC2 (00110000b) in the Path Control field
            {P4}     -> PC3 (00001100b) in the Path Control field
            {P4}     -> PC4 (00000011b) in the Path Control field
 Note that the implementation repeated {P4} in order to get complete
 coverage of the Path Control field.
 1.   Let C1 send a DAO containing a Target T with a Path Control
      10000000b.  Node N stores an entry associating 10000000b with
      the Path Control field for C1 and Target T.
 2.   Let C2 send a DAO containing a Target T with a Path Control
      00010000b.  Node N stores an entry associating 00010000b with
      the Path Control field for C1 and Target T.
 3.   Let C3 send a DAO containing a Target T with a Path Control
      00001100b.  Node N stores an entry associating 00001100b with
      the Path Control field for C1 and Target T.
 4.   At some later time, Node N generates a DAO for Target T.  Node N
      will construct an aggregate Path Control field by ORing together
      the contribution from each of its children that have given a DAO
      for Target T.  Thus, the aggregate Path Control field has the
      active bits set as: 10011100b.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 88] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 5.   Node N then distributes the aggregate Path Control bits among
      its parents P1, P2, P3, and P4 in order to prepare the DAO
      messages.
 6.   P1 and P2 are eligible to receive active bits from the most
      preferred subfield (11000000b).  Those bits are 10000000b in the
      aggregate Path Control field.  Node N must set the bit to one of
      the two parents only.  In this case, Node P1 is allocated the
      bit and gets the Path Control field 10000000b for its DAO.
      There are no bits left to allocate to Node P2; thus, Node P2
      would have a Path Control field of 00000000b and a DAO cannot be
      generated to Node P2 since there are no active bits.
 7.   The second-most preferred subfield (00110000b) has the active
      bits 00010000b.  Node N has mapped P3 to this subfield.  Node N
      may allocates the active bit to P3, constructing a DAO for P3
      containing Target T with a Path Control of 00010000b.
 8.   The third-most preferred subfield (00001100b) has the active
      bits 00001100b.  Node N has mapped P4 to this subfield.  Node N
      may allocate both bits to P4, constructing a DAO for P4
      containing Target T with a Path Control of 00001100b.
 9.   The least preferred subfield (00000011b) has no active bits.
      Had there been active bits, those bits would have been added to
      the Path Control field of the DAO constructed for P4.
 10.  The process of populating the DAO messages destined for P1, P2,
      P3, P4 with other targets (other than T) proceeds according to
      the aggregate Path Control fields collected for those targets.

9.10. Multicast Destination Advertisement Messages

 A special case of DAO operation, distinct from unicast DAO operation,
 is multicast DAO operation that may be used to populate '1-hop'
 routing table entries.
 1.  A node MAY multicast a DAO message to the link-local scope all-
     RPL-nodes multicast address.
 2.  A multicast DAO message MUST be used only to advertise
     information about the node itself, i.e., prefixes directly
     connected to or owned by the node, such as a multicast group that
     the node is subscribed to or a global address owned by the node.
 3.  A multicast DAO message MUST NOT be used to relay connectivity
     information learned (e.g., through unicast DAO) from another
     node.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 89] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 4.  A node MUST NOT perform any other DAO-related processing on a
     received multicast DAO message; in particular, a node MUST NOT
     perform the actions of a DAO parent upon receipt of a multicast
     DAO.
 o  The multicast DAO may be used to enable direct P2P communication,
    without needing the DODAG to relay the packets.

10. Security Mechanisms

 This section describes the generation and processing of secure RPL
 messages.  The high-order bit of the RPL message code identifies
 whether or not a RPL message is secure.  In addition to secure
 versions of basic control messages (DIS, DIO, DAO, DAO-ACK), RPL has
 several messages that are relevant only in networks that are security
 enabled.
 Implementation complexity and size is a core concern for LLNs such
 that it may be economically or physically impossible to include
 sophisticated security provisions in a RPL implementation.
 Furthermore, many deployments can utilize link-layer or other
 security mechanisms to meet their security requirements without
 requiring the use of security in RPL.
 Therefore, the security features described in this document are
 OPTIONAL to implement.  A given implementation MAY support a subset
 (including the empty set) of the described security features, for
 example, it could support integrity and confidentiality, but not
 signatures.  An implementation SHOULD clearly specify which security
 mechanisms are supported, and it is RECOMMENDED that implementers
 carefully consider security requirements and the availability of
 security mechanisms in their network.

10.1. Security Overview

 RPL supports three security modes:
 o  Unsecured.  In this security mode, RPL uses basic DIS, DIO, DAO,
    and DAO-ACK messages, which do not have Security sections.  As a
    network could be using other security mechanisms, such as link-
    layer security, unsecured mode does not imply all messages are
    sent without any protection.
 o  Preinstalled.  In this security mode, RPL uses secure messages.
    To join a RPL Instance, a node must have a preinstalled key.
    Nodes use this to provide message confidentiality, integrity, and
    authenticity.  A node may, using this preinstalled key, join the
    RPL network as either a host or a router.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 90] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Authenticated.  In this security mode, RPL uses secure messages.
    To join a RPL Instance, a node must have a preinstalled key.
    Nodes use this key to provide message confidentiality, integrity,
    and authenticity.  Using this preinstalled key, a node may join
    the network as a host only.  To join the network as a router, a
    node must obtain a second key from a key authority.  This key
    authority can authenticate that the requester is allowed to be a
    router before providing it with the second key.  Authenticated
    mode cannot be supported by symmetric algorithms.  As of the
    writing of this specification, RPL supports only symmetric
    algorithms: authenticated mode is included for the benefit of
    potential future cryptographic primitives.  See Section 10.3.
 Whether or not the RPL Instance uses unsecured mode is signaled by
 whether it uses secure RPL messages.  Whether a secured network uses
 the preinstalled or authenticated mode is signaled by the 'A' bit of
 the DAG Configuration option.
 This specification specifies CCM -- Counter with CBC-MAC (Cipher
 Block Chaining - Message Authentication Code) -- as the cryptographic
 basis for RPL security [RFC3610].  In this specification, CCM uses
 AES-128 as its underlying cryptographic algorithm.  There are bits
 reserved in the Security section to specify other algorithms in the
 future.
 All secured RPL messages have either a MAC or a signature.
 Optionally, secured RPL messages also have encryption protection for
 confidentiality.  Secured RPL message formats support both integrated
 encryption/authentication schemes (e.g., CCM) as well as schemes that
 separately encrypt and authenticate packets.

10.2. Joining a Secure Network

 RPL security assumes that a node wishing to join a secured network
 has been pre-configured with a shared key for communicating with
 neighbors and the RPL root.  To join a secure RPL network, a node
 either listens for secure DIOs or triggers secure DIOs by sending a
 secure DIS.  In addition to the DIO/DIS rules in Section 8, secure
 DIO and DIS messages have these rules:
 1.  If sent, this initial secure DIS MUST set the Key Identifier Mode
     field to 0 (00) and MUST set the Security Level field to 1 (001).
     The key used MUST be the pre-configured group key (Key Index
     0x00).
 2.  When a node resets its Trickle timer in response to a secure DIS
     (Section 8.3), the next DIO it transmits MUST be a secure DIO
     with the same security configuration as the secure DIS.  If a

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 91] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

     node receives multiple secure DIS messages before it transmits a
     DIO, the secure DIO MUST have the same security configuration as
     the last DIS to which it is responding.
 3.  When a node sends a DIO in response to a unicast secure DIS
     (Section 8.3), the DIO MUST be a secure DIO.
 The above rules allow a node to join a secured RPL Instance using the
 pre-configured shared key.  Once a node has joined the DODAG using
 the pre-configured shared key, the 'A' bit of the Configuration
 option determines its capabilities.  If the 'A' bit of the
 Configuration option is cleared, then nodes can use this
 preinstalled, shared key to exchange messages normally: it can issue
 DIOs, DAOs, etc.
 If the 'A' bit of the Configuration option is set and the RPL
 Instance is operating in authenticated mode:
 1.  A node MUST NOT advertise a Rank besides INFINITE_RANK in secure
     DIOs secured with Key Index 0x00.  When processing DIO messages
     secured with Key Index 0x00, a processing node MUST consider the
     advertised Rank to be INFINITE_RANK.  Any other value results in
     the message being discarded.
 2.  Secure DAOs using a Key Index 0x00 MUST NOT have a RPL Target
     option with a prefix besides the node's address.  If a node
     receives a secured DAO message using the preinstalled, shared key
     where the RPL Target option does not match the IPv6 source
     address, it MUST discard the secured DAO message without further
     processing.
 The above rules mean that in RPL Instances where the 'A' bit is set,
 using Key Index 0x00, a node can join the RPL Instance as a host but
 not a router.  A node must communicate with a key authority to obtain
 a key that will enable it to act as a router.

10.3. Installing Keys

 Authenticated mode requires a would-be router to dynamically install
 new keys once they have joined a network as a host.  Having joined as
 a host, the node uses standard IP messaging to communicate with an
 authorization server, which can provide new keys.
 The protocol to obtain such keys is out of scope for this
 specification and to be elaborated in future specifications.  That
 elaboration is required for RPL to securely operate in authenticated
 mode.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 92] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

10.4. Consistency Checks

 RPL nodes send Consistency Check (CC) messages to protect against
 replay attacks and synchronize counters.
 1.  If a node receives a unicast CC message with the 'R' bit cleared,
     and it is a member of or is in the process of joining the
     associated DODAG, it SHOULD respond with a unicast CC message to
     the sender.  This response MUST have the 'R' bit set, and it MUST
     have the same CC nonce, RPLInstanceID, and DODAGID fields as the
     message it received.
 2.  If a node receives a multicast CC message, it MUST discard the
     message with no further processing.
 Consistency Check messages allow nodes to issue a challenge-response
 to validate a node's current counter value.  Because the CC nonce is
 generated by the challenger, an adversary replaying messages is
 unlikely to be able to generate a correct response.  The counter in
 the Consistency Check response allows the challenger to validate the
 counter values it hears.

10.5. Counters

 In the simplest case, the counter value is an unsigned integer that a
 node increments by one or more on each secured RPL transmission.  The
 counter MAY represent a timestamp that has the following properties:
 1.  The timestamp MUST be at least six octets long.
 2.  The timestamp MUST be in 1024 Hz (binary millisecond)
     granularity.
 3.  The timestamp start time MUST be January 1, 1970, 12:00:00AM UTC.
 4.  If the counter represents a timestamp, the counter value MUST be
     a value computed as follows.  Let T be the timestamp, S be the
     start time of the key in use, and E be the end time of the key in
     use.  Both S and E are represented using the same three rules as
     the timestamp described above.  If E > T < S, then the counter is
     invalid and a node MUST NOT generate a packet.  Otherwise, the
     counter value is equal to T-S.
 5.  If the counter represents such a timestamp, a node MAY set the
     'T' flag of the Security section of secured RPL packets.
 6.  If the Counter field does not present such a timestamp, then a
     node MUST NOT set the 'T' flag.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 93] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 7.  If a node does not have a local timestamp that satisfies the
     above requirements, it MUST ignore the 'T' flag.
 If a node supports such timestamps and it receives a message with the
 'T' flag set, it MAY apply the temporal check on the received message
 described in Section 10.7.1.  If a node receives a message without
 the 'T' flag set, it MUST NOT apply this temporal check.  A node's
 security policy MAY, for application reasons, include rejecting all
 messages without the 'T' flag set.
 The 'T' flag is present because many LLNs today already maintain
 global time synchronization at sub-millisecond granularity for
 security, application, and other reasons.  Allowing RPL to leverage
 this existing functionality when present greatly simplifies solutions
 to some security problems, such as delay protection.

10.6. Transmission of Outgoing Packets

 Given an outgoing RPL control packet and the required security
 protection, this section describes how RPL generates the secured
 packet to transmit.  It also describes the order of cryptographic
 operations to provide the required protection.
 The requirement for security protection and the level of security to
 be applied to an outgoing RPL packet shall be determined by the
 node's security policy database.  The configuration of this security
 policy database for outgoing packet processing is implementation
 specific.
 Where secured RPL messages are to be transmitted, a RPL node MUST set
 the Security section (T, Sec, KIM, and LVL) in the outgoing RPL
 packet to describe the protection level and security settings that
 are applied (see Section 6.1).  The Security subfield bit of the RPL
 Message Code field MUST be set to indicate the secure RPL message.
 The counter value used in constructing the AES-128 CCM nonce
 (Figure 31) to secure the outgoing packet MUST be an increment of the
 last counter transmitted to the particular destination address.
 Where security policy specifies the application of delay protection,
 the Timestamp counter used in constructing the CCM nonce to secure
 the outgoing packet MUST be incremented according to the rules in
 Section 10.5.  Where a Timestamp counter is applied (indicated with
 the 'T' flag set), the locally maintained Timestamp counter MUST be
 included as part of the transmitted secured RPL message.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 94] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The cryptographic algorithm used in securing the outgoing packet
 shall be specified by the node's security policy database and MUST be
 indicated in the value of the Sec field set within the outgoing
 message.
 The security policy for the outgoing packet shall determine the
 applicable KIM and Key Identifier specifying the security key to be
 used for the cryptographic packet processing, including the optional
 use of signature keys (see Section 6.1).  The security policy will
 also specify the algorithm (Algorithm) and level of protection
 (Level) in the form of authentication or authentication and
 encryption, and potential use of signatures that shall apply to the
 outgoing packet.
 Where encryption is applied, a node MUST replace the original packet
 payload with that payload encrypted using the security protection,
 key, and CCM nonce specified in the Security section of the packet.
 All secured RPL messages include integrity protection.  In
 conjunction with the security algorithm processing, a node derives
 either a MAC or signature that MUST be included as part of the
 outgoing secured RPL packet.

10.7. Reception of Incoming Packets

 This section describes the reception and processing of a secured RPL
 packet.  Given an incoming secured RPL packet, where the Security
 subfield bit of the RPL Message Code field is set, this section
 describes how RPL generates an unencrypted variant of the packet and
 validates its integrity.
 The receiver uses the RPL security control fields to determine the
 necessary packet security processing.  If the described level of
 security for the message type and originator is unknown or does not
 meet locally maintained security policies, a node MUST discard the
 packet without further processing, MAY raise a management alert, and
 MUST NOT send any messages in response.  These policies can include
 security levels, keys used, source identifiers, or the lack of
 timestamp-based counters (as indicated by the 'T' flag).  The
 configuration of the security policy database for incoming packet
 processing is out of scope for this specification (it may, for
 example, be defined through DIO Configuration or through out-of-band
 administrative router configuration).
 Where the message Security Level (LVL) indicates an encrypted RPL
 message, the node uses the key information identified through the KIM
 field as well as the CCM nonce as input to the message payload
 decryption processing.  The CCM nonce shall be derived from the

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 95] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 message Counter field and other received and locally maintained
 information (see Section 10.9.1).  The plaintext message contents
 shall be obtained by invoking the inverse cryptographic mode of
 operation specified by the Sec field of the received packet.
 The receiver shall use the CCM nonce and identified key information
 to check the integrity of the incoming packet.  If the integrity
 check fails against the received MAC, a node MUST discard the packet.
 If the received message has an initialized (zero value) counter value
 and the receiver has an incoming counter currently maintained for the
 originator of the message, the receiver MUST initiate a counter
 resynchronization by sending a Consistency Check response message
 (see Section 6.6) to the message source.  The Consistency Check
 response message shall be protected with the current full outgoing
 counter maintained for the particular node address.  That outgoing
 counter will be included within the security section of the message
 while the incoming counter will be included within the Consistency
 Check message payload.
 Based on the specified security policy, a node MAY apply replay
 protection for a received RPL message.  The replay check SHOULD be
 performed before the authentication of the received packet.  The
 counter, as obtained from the incoming packet, shall be compared
 against the watermark of the incoming counter maintained for the
 given origination node address.  If the received message counter
 value is non-zero and less than the maintained incoming counter
 watermark, a potential packet replay is indicated and the node MUST
 discard the incoming packet.
 If delay protection is specified as part of the incoming packet
 security policy checks, the Timestamp counter is used to validate the
 timeliness of the received RPL message.  If the incoming message
 Timestamp counter value indicates a message transmission time prior
 to the locally maintained transmission time counter for the
 originator address, a replay violation is indicated and the node MUST
 discard the incoming packet.  If the received Timestamp counter value
 indicates a message transmission time that is earlier than the
 Current time less the acceptable packet delay, a delay violation is
 indicated and the node MUST discard the incoming packet.
 Once a message has been decrypted, where applicable, and has
 successfully passed its integrity check, replay check, and optionally
 delay-protection checks, the node can update its local security
 information, such as the source's expected counter value for replay
 comparison.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 96] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 A node MUST NOT update its security information on receipt of a
 message that fails security policy checks or other applied integrity,
 replay, or delay checks.

10.7.1. Timestamp Key Checks

 If the 'T' flag of a message is set and a node has a local timestamp
 that follows the requirements in Section 10.5, then a node MAY check
 the temporal consistency of the message.  The node computes the
 transmit time of the message by adding the counter value to the start
 time of the associated key.  If this transmit time is past the end
 time of the key, the node MAY discard the message without further
 processing.  If the transmit time is too far in the past or future
 compared to the local time on the receiver, it MAY discard the
 message without further processing.

10.8. Coverage of Integrity and Confidentiality

 For a RPL ICMPv6 message, the entire packet is within the scope of
 RPL security.
 MACs and signatures are calculated over the entire unsecured IPv6
 packet.  When computing MACs and signatures, mutable IPv6 fields are
 considered to be filled with zeroes, following the rules in Section
 3.3.3.1 of [RFC4302] (IPsec Authenticated Header).  MAC and signature
 calculations are performed before any compression that lower layers
 may apply.
 When a RPL ICMPv6 message is encrypted, encryption starts at the
 first byte after the Security section and continues to the last byte
 of the packet.  The IPv6 header, ICMPv6 header, and RPL message up to
 the end of the Security section are not encrypted, as they are needed
 to correctly decrypt the packet.
 For example, a node sending a message with LVL=1, KIM=0, and
 Algorithm=0 uses the CCM algorithm [RFC3610] to create a packet with
 attributes ENC-MAC-32: it encrypts the packet and appends a 32-bit
 MAC.  The block cipher key is determined by the Key Index.  The CCM
 nonce is computed as described in Section 10.9.1; the message to
 authenticate and encrypt is the RPL message starting at the first
 byte after the Security section and ends with the last byte of the
 packet.  The additional authentication data starts with the beginning
 of the IPv6 header and ends with the last byte of the RPL Security
 section.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 97] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

10.9. Cryptographic Mode of Operation

 The cryptographic mode of operation described in this specification
 (Algorithm = 0) is based on CCM and the block-cipher AES-128
 [RFC3610].  This mode of operation is widely supported by existing
 implementations.  CCM mode requires a nonce (CCM nonce).

10.9.1. CCM Nonce

 A RPL node constructs a CCM nonce as follows:
      0                   1                   2                   3
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +                       Source Identifier                       +
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                            Counter                            |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |KIM|Resvd| LVL |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                         Figure 31: CCM Nonce
 Source Identifier: 8 bytes.  Source Identifier is set to the logical
       identifier of the originator of the protected packet.
 Counter: 4 bytes.  Counter is set to the (uncompressed) value of the
       corresponding field in the Security option of the RPL control
       message.
 Key Identifier Mode (KIM): 2 bits.  KIM is set to the value of the
       corresponding field in the Security option of the RPL control
       message.
 Security Level (LVL): 3 bits.  Security Level is set to the value of
       the corresponding field in the Security option of the RPL
       control message.
 Unassigned bits of the CCM nonce are reserved.  They MUST be set to
 zero when constructing the CCM nonce.
 All fields of the CCM nonce are represented in most significant octet
 and most significant bit first order.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 98] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

10.9.2. Signatures

 If the KIM indicates the use of signatures (a value of 3), then a
 node appends a signature to the data payload of the packet.  The
 Security Level (LVL) field describes the length of this signature.
 The signature scheme in RPL for Security Mode 3 is an instantiation
 of the RSA algorithm (RSASSA-PSS) as defined in Section 8.1 of
 [RFC3447].  As public key, it uses the pair (n,e), where n is a
 2048-bit or 3072-bit RSA modulus and where e=2^{16}+1.  It uses CCM
 mode [RFC3610] as the encryption scheme with M=0 (as a stream-
 cipher).  Note that although [RFC3610] disallows the CCM mode with
 M=0, RPL explicitly allows the CCM mode with M=0 when used in
 conjunction with a signature, because the signature provides
 sufficient data authentication.  Here, the CCM mode with M=0 is
 specified as in [RFC3610], but where the M' field in Section 2.2 MUST
 be set to 0.  It uses the SHA-256 hash function specified in Section
 6.2 of [FIPS180].  It uses the message encoding rules of Section 8.1
 of [RFC3447].
 Let 'a' be a concatenation of a 6-byte representation of counter and
 the message header.  The packet payload is the right-concatenation of
 packet data 'm' and the signature 's'.  This signature scheme is
 invoked with the right-concatenation of the message parts a and m,
 whereas the signature verification is invoked with the right-
 concatenation of the message parts a and m and with signature s.
 RSA signatures of this form provide sufficient protection for RPL
 networks.  If needed, alternative signature schemes that produce more
 concise signatures is out of scope for this specification and may be
 the subject of a future specification.
 An implementation that supports RSA signing with either 2048-bit or
 3072-bit signatures SHOULD support verification of both 2048-bit and
 3072-bit RSA signatures.  This is in consideration of providing an
 upgrade path for a RPL deployment.

11. Packet Forwarding and Loop Avoidance/Detection

11.1. Suggestions for Packet Forwarding

 This document specifies a routing protocol.  These non-normative
 suggestions are provided to aid in the design of a forwarding
 implementation by illustrating how such an implementation could work
 with RPL.
 When forwarding a packet to a destination, precedence is given to
 selection of a next-hop successor as follows:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 99] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 1.  This specification only covers how a successor is selected from
     the DODAG Version that matches the RPLInstanceID marked in the
     IPv6 header of the packet being forwarded.  Routing outside the
     instance can be done as long as additional rules are put in place
     such as strict ordering of instances and routing protocols to
     protect against loops.  Such rules may be defined in a separate
     document.
 2.  If a local administrative preference favors a route that has been
     learned from a different routing protocol than RPL, then use that
     successor.
 3.  If the packet header specifies a source route by including an RH4
     header as specified in [RFC6554], then use that route.  If the
     node fails to forward the packet with that specified source
     route, then that packet should be dropped.  The node MAY log an
     error.  The node may send an ICMPv6 error in Source Routing
     Header message to the source of the packet (see Section 20.18).
 4.  If there is an entry in the routing table matching the
     destination that has been learned from a multicast destination
     advertisement (e.g., the destination is a one-hop neighbor), then
     use that successor.
 5.  If there is an entry in the routing table matching the
     destination that has been learned from a unicast destination
     advertisement (e.g., the destination is located Down the sub-
     DODAG), then use that successor.  If there are DAO Path Control
     bits associated with multiple successors, then consult the Path
     Control bits to order the successors by preference when choosing.
     If, for a given DAO Path Control bit, multiple successors are
     recorded as having asserted that bit, precedence should be given
     to the successor who most recently asserted that bit.
 6.  If there is a DODAG Version offering a route to a prefix matching
     the destination, then select one of those DODAG parents as a
     successor according to the OF and routing metrics.
 7.  Any other as-yet-unattempted DODAG parent may be chosen for the
     next attempt to forward a unicast packet when no better match
     exists.
 8.  Finally, the packet is dropped.  ICMP Destination Unreachable MAY
     be invoked (an inconsistency is detected).
 Hop Limit MUST be decremented when forwarding per [RFC2460].

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 100] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Note that the chosen successor MUST NOT be the neighbor that was the
 predecessor of the packet (split horizon), except in the case where
 it is intended for the packet to change from an Upward to a Downward
 direction, as determined by the routing table of the node making the
 change, such as switching from DIO routes to DAO routes as the
 destination is neared in order to continue traveling toward the
 destination.

11.2. Loop Avoidance and Detection

 RPL loop avoidance mechanisms are kept simple and designed to
 minimize churn and states.  Loops may form for a number of reasons,
 e.g., control packet loss.  RPL includes a reactive loop detection
 technique that protects from meltdown and triggers repair of broken
 paths.
 RPL loop detection uses RPL Packet Information that is transported
 within the data packets, relying on an external mechanism such as
 [RFC6553] that places in the RPL Packet Information in an IPv6 Hop-
 by-Hop option header.
 The content of RPL Packet Information is defined as follows:
 Down 'O': 1-bit flag indicating whether the packet is expected to
       progress Up or Down.  A router sets the 'O' flag when the
       packet is expected to progress Down (using DAO routes), and
       clears it when forwarding toward the DODAG root (to a node with
       a lower Rank).  A host or RPL leaf node MUST set the 'O' flag
       to 0.
 Rank-Error 'R': 1-bit flag indicating whether a Rank error was
       detected.  A Rank error is detected when there is a mismatch in
       the relative Ranks and the direction as indicated in the 'O'
       bit.  A host or RPL leaf node MUST set the 'R' bit to 0.
 Forwarding-Error 'F': 1-bit flag indicating that this node cannot
       forward the packet further towards the destination.  The 'F'
       bit might be set by a child node that does not have a route to
       destination for a packet with the Down 'O' bit set.  A host or
       RPL leaf node MUST set the 'F' bit to 0.
 RPLInstanceID: 8-bit field indicating the DODAG instance along which
       the packet is sent.
 SenderRank: 16-bit field set to zero by the source and to
       DAGRank(rank) by a router that forwards inside the RPL network.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 101] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

11.2.1. Source Node Operation

 If the source is aware of the RPLInstanceID that is preferred for the
 packet, then it MUST set the RPLInstanceID field associated with the
 packet accordingly; otherwise, it MUST set it to the
 RPL_DEFAULT_INSTANCE.

11.2.2. Router Operation

11.2.2.1. Instance Forwarding

 The RPLInstanceID is associated by the source with the packet.  This
 RPLInstanceID MUST match the RPL Instance onto which the packet is
 placed by any node, be it a host or router.  The RPLInstanceID is
 part of the RPL Packet Information.
 A RPL router that forwards a packet in the RPL network MUST check if
 the packet includes the RPL Packet Information.  If not, then the RPL
 router MUST insert the RPL Packet Information.  If the router is an
 ingress router that injects the packet into the RPL network, the
 router MUST set the RPLInstanceID field in the RPL Packet
 Information.  The details of how that router determines the mapping
 to a RPLInstanceID are out of scope for this specification and left
 to future specification.
 A router that forwards a packet outside the RPL network MUST remove
 the RPL Packet Information.
 When a router receives a packet that specifies a given RPLInstanceID
 and the node can forward the packet along the DODAG associated to
 that instance, then the router MUST do so and leave the RPLInstanceID
 value unchanged.
 If any node cannot forward a packet along the DODAG associated with
 the RPLInstanceID, then the node SHOULD discard the packet and send
 an ICMP error message.

11.2.2.2. DAG Inconsistency Loop Detection

 The DODAG is inconsistent if the direction of a packet does not match
 the Rank relationship.  A receiver detects an inconsistency if it
 receives a packet with either:
    the 'O' bit set (to Down) from a node of a higher Rank.
    the 'O' bit cleared (for Up) from a node of a lower Rank.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 102] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 When the DODAG root increments the DODAGVersionNumber, a temporary
 Rank discontinuity may form between the next DODAG Version and the
 prior DODAG Version, in particular, if nodes are adjusting their Rank
 in the next DODAG Version and deferring their migration into the next
 DODAG Version.  A router that is still a member of the prior DODAG
 Version may choose to forward a packet to a (future) parent that is
 in the next DODAG Version.  In some cases, this could cause the
 parent to detect an inconsistency because the Rank-ordering in the
 prior DODAG Version is not necessarily the same as in the next DODAG
 Version, and the packet may be judged not to be making forward
 progress.  If the sending router is aware that the chosen successor
 has already joined the next DODAG Version, then the sending router
 MUST update the SenderRank to INFINITE_RANK as it forwards the
 packets across the discontinuity into the next DODAG Version in order
 to avoid a false detection of Rank inconsistency.
 One inconsistency along the path is not considered a critical error
 and the packet may continue.  However, a second detection along the
 path of the same packet should not occur and the packet MUST be
 dropped.
 This process is controlled by the Rank-Error bit associated with the
 packet.  When an inconsistency is detected on a packet, if the Rank-
 Error bit was not set, then the Rank-Error bit is set.  If it was set
 the packet MUST be discarded and the Trickle timer MUST be reset.

11.2.2.3. DAO Inconsistency Detection and Recovery

 DAO inconsistency loop recovery is a mechanism that applies to
 Storing mode of operation only.
 In Non-Storing mode, the packets are source routed to the
 destination, and DAO inconsistencies are not corrected locally.
 Instead, an ICMP error with a new code "Error in Source Routing
 Header" is sent back to the root.  The "Error in Source Routing
 Header" message has the same format as the "Destination Unreachable
 Message", as specified in [RFC4443].  The portion of the invoking
 packet that is sent back in the ICMP message should record at least
 up to the routing header, and the routing header should be consumed
 by this node so that the destination in the IPv6 header is the next
 hop that this node could not reach.
 A DAO inconsistency happens when a router has a Downward route that
 was previously learned from a DAO message via a child, but that
 Downward route is not longer valid in the child, e.g., because that
 related state in the child has been cleaned up.  With DAO
 inconsistency loop recovery, a packet can be used to recursively
 explore and clean up the obsolete DAO states along a sub-DODAG.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 103] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 In a general manner, a packet that goes Down should never go Up
 again.  If DAO inconsistency loop recovery is applied, then the
 router SHOULD send the packet back to the parent that passed it with
 the Forwarding-Error 'F' bit set and the 'O' bit left untouched.
 Otherwise, the router MUST silently discard the packet.
 Upon receiving a packet with a Forwarding-Error bit set, the node
 MUST remove the routing states that caused forwarding to that
 neighbor, clear the Forwarding-Error bit, and attempt to send the
 packet again.  The packet may be sent to an alternate neighbor, after
 the expiration of a user-configurable implementation-specific timer.
 If that alternate neighbor still has an inconsistent DAO state via
 this node, the process will recurse, this node will set the
 Forwarding-Error 'F' bit, and the routing state in the alternate
 neighbor will be cleaned up as well.

12. Multicast Operation

 This section describes a multicast routing operation over an IPv6 RPL
 network and, specifically, how unicast DAOs can be used to relay
 group registrations.  The same DODAG construct can be used to forward
 unicast and multicast traffic.  This section is limited to a
 description of how group registrations may be exchanged and how the
 forwarding infrastructure operates.  It does not provide a full
 description of multicast within an LLN and, in particular, does not
 describe the generation of DODAGs specifically targeted at multicast
 or the details of operating RPL for multicast -- that will be the
 subject of further specifications.
 The multicast group registration uses DAO messages that are identical
 to unicast except for the type of address that is transported.  The
 main difference is that the multicast traffic going down is copied to
 all the children that have registered with the multicast group,
 whereas unicast traffic is passed to one child only.
 Nodes that support the RPL Storing mode of operation SHOULD also
 support multicast DAO operations as described below.  Nodes that only
 support the Non-Storing mode of operation are not expected to support
 this section.
 The multicast operation is controlled by the MOP field in the DIO.
 o  If the MOP field requires multicast support, then a node that
    joins the RPL network as a router must operate as described in
    this section for multicast signaling and forwarding within the RPL
    network.  A node that does not support the multicast operation
    required by the MOP field can only join as a leaf.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 104] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  If the MOP field does not require multicast support, then
    multicast is handled by some other way that is out of scope for
    this specification.  (Examples may include a series of unicast
    copies or limited-scope flooding).
 A router might select to pass a listener registration DAO message to
 its preferred parent only; in which case, multicast packets coming
 back might be lost for all of its sub-DODAGs if the transmission
 fails over that link.  Alternatively, the router might select copying
 additional parents as it would do for DAO messages advertising
 unicast destinations; in which case, there might be duplicates that
 the router will need to prune.
 As a result, multicast routing states are installed in each router on
 the way from the listeners to the DODAG root, enabling the root to
 copy a multicast packet to all its children routers that had issued a
 DAO message including a Target option for that multicast group.
 For a multicast packet sourced from inside the DODAG, the packet is
 passed to the preferred parents, and if that fails, then to the
 alternates in the DODAG.  The packet is also copied to all the
 registered children, except for the one that passed the packet.
 Finally, if there is a listener in the external infrastructure, then
 the DODAG root has to further propagate the packet into the external
 infrastructure.
 As a result, the DODAG root acts as an automatic proxy Rendezvous
 Point for the RPL network and as source towards the non-RPL domain
 for all multicast flows started in the RPL domain.  So, regardless of
 whether the root is actually attached to a non-RPL domain, and
 regardless of whether the DODAG is grounded or floating, the root can
 serve inner multicast streams at all times.

13. Maintenance of Routing Adjacency

 The selection of successors, along the default paths Up along the
 DODAG, or along the paths learned from destination advertisements
 Down along the DODAG, leads to the formation of routing adjacencies
 that require maintenance.
 In IGPs, such as OSPF [RFC4915] or IS-IS [RFC5120], the maintenance
 of a routing adjacency involves the use of keepalive mechanisms
 (Hellos) or other protocols such as the Bidirectional Forwarding
 Detection (BFD) [RFC5881] and the MANET Neighborhood Discovery
 Protocol (NHDP) [RFC6130].  Unfortunately, such a proactive approach
 is often not desirable in constrained environments where it would
 lead to excessive control traffic in light of the data traffic with a
 negative impact on both link loads and nodes resources.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 105] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 By contrast with those routing protocols, RPL does not define any
 keepalive mechanisms to detect routing adjacency failures: this is
 because in many cases, such a mechanism would be too expensive in
 terms of bandwidth and, even more importantly, energy (a battery-
 operated device could not afford to send periodic keepalives).  Still
 RPL requires an external mechanisms to detect that a neighbor is no
 longer reachable.  Such a mechanism should preferably be reactive to
 traffic in order to minimize the overhead to maintain the routing
 adjacency and focus on links that are actually being used.
 Example reactive mechanisms that can be used include:
    The Neighbor Unreachability Detection [RFC4861] mechanism.
    Layer 2 triggers [RFC5184] derived from events such as association
    states and L2 acknowledgements.

14. Guidelines for Objective Functions

 An Objective Function (OF), in conjunction with routing metrics and
 constraints, allows for the selection of a DODAG to join, and a
 number of peers in that DODAG as parents.  The OF is used to compute
 an ordered list of parents.  The OF is also responsible to compute
 the Rank of the device within the DODAG Version.
 The Objective Function is indicated in the DIO message using an
 Objective Code Point (OCP), and it indicates the method that must be
 used to construct the DODAG.  The Objective Code Points are specified
 in [RFC6552] and related companion specifications.

14.1. Objective Function Behavior

 Most Objective Functions are expected to follow the same abstract
 behavior at a node:
 o  The parent selection is triggered each time an event indicates
    that a potential next-hop information is updated.  This might
    happen upon the reception of a DIO message, a timer elapse, all
    DODAG parents are unavailable, or a trigger indicating that the
    state of a candidate neighbor has changed.
 o  An OF scans all the interfaces on the node.  Although, there may
    typically be only one interface in most application scenarios,
    there might be multiple of them and an interface might be
    configured to be usable or not for RPL operation.  An interface
    can also be configured with a preference or dynamically learned to
    be better than another by some heuristics that might be link-layer
    dependent and are out of scope for this specification.  Finally,

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 106] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

    an interface might or might not match a required criterion for an
    Objective Function, for instance, a degree of security.  As a
    result, some interfaces might be completely excluded from the
    computation, for example, if those interfaces cannot satisfy some
    advertised constraints, while others might be more or less
    preferred.
 o  An OF scans all the candidate neighbors on the possible interfaces
    to check whether they can act as a router for a DODAG.  There
    might be many of them and a candidate neighbor might need to pass
    some validation tests before it can be used.  In particular, some
    link layers require experience on the activity with a router to
    enable the router as a next hop.
 o  An OF computes Rank of a node for comparison by adding to the Rank
    of the candidate a value representing the relative locations of
    the node and the candidate in the DODAG Version.
  • The increase in Rank must be at least MinHopRankIncrease.
  • To keep loop avoidance and metric optimization in alignment,

the increase in Rank should reflect any increase in the metric

       value.  For example, with a purely additive metric, such as
       ETX, the increase in Rank can be made proportional to the
       increase in the metric.
  • Candidate neighbors that would cause the Rank of the node to

increase are not considered for parent selection.

 o  Candidate neighbors that advertise an OF incompatible with the set
    of OFs specified by the policy functions are ignored.
 o  As it scans all the candidate neighbors, the OF keeps the current
    best parent and compares its capabilities with the current
    candidate neighbor.  The OF defines a number of tests that are
    critical to reach the objective.  A test between the routers
    determines an order relation.
  • If the routers are equal for that relation, then the next test

is attempted between the routers,

  • Else the best of the two routers becomes the current best

parent, and the scan continues with the next candidate

       neighbor.
  • Some OFs may include a test to compare the Ranks that would

result if the node joined either router.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 107] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  When the scan is complete, the preferred parent is elected and the
    node's Rank is computed as the preferred parent Rank plus the step
    in Rank with that parent.
 o  Other rounds of scans might be necessary to elect alternate
    parents.  In the next rounds:
  • Candidate neighbors that are not in the same DODAG are ignored.
  • Candidate neighbors that are of greater Rank than the node are

ignored.

  • Candidate neighbors of an equal Rank to the node are ignored

for parent selection.

  • Candidate neighbors of a lesser Rank than the node are

preferred.

15. Suggestions for Interoperation with Neighbor Discovery

 This specification directly borrows the Prefix Information Option
 (PIO) and the Route Information Option (RIO) from IPv6 ND.  It is
 envisioned that, as future specifications build on this base, there
 may be additional cause to leverage parts of IPv6 ND.  This section
 provides some suggestions for future specifications.
 First and foremost, RPL is a routing protocol.  One should take great
 care to preserve architecture when mapping functionalities between
 RPL and ND.  RPL is for routing only.  That said, there may be
 persuading technical reasons to allow for sharing options between RPL
 and IPv6 ND in a particular implementation/deployment.
 In general, the following guidelines apply:
 o  RPL Type codes must be allocated from the RPL Control Message
    Options registry.
 o  RPL Length fields must be expressed in units of single octets, as
    opposed to ND Length fields, which are expressed in units of 8
    octets.
 o  RPL options are generally not required to be aligned to 8-octet
    boundaries.
 o  When mapping/transposing an IPv6 ND option for redistribution as a
    RPL option, any padding octets should be removed when possible.
    For example, the Prefix Length field in the PIO is sufficient to
    describe the length of the Prefix field.  When mapping/transposing

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 108] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

    a RPL option for redistribution as an IPv6 ND option, any such
    padding octets should be restored.  This procedure must be
    unambiguous.

16. Summary of Requirements for Interoperable Implementations

 This section summarizes basic interoperability and references
 normative text for RPL implementations operating in one of three
 major modes.  Implementations are expected to support either no
 Downward routes, Non-Storing mode only, or Storing mode only.  A
 fourth mode, operation as a leaf, is also possible.
 Implementations conforming to this specification may contain
 different subsets of capabilities as appropriate to the application
 scenario.  It is important for the implementer to support a level of
 interoperability consistent with that required by the application
 scenario.  To this end, further guidance may be provided beyond this
 specification (e.g., as applicability statements), and it is
 understood that in some cases such further guidance may override
 portions of this specification.

16.1. Common Requirements

 In a general case, the greatest level of interoperability may be
 achieved when all of the nodes in a RPL LLN are cooperating to use
 the same MOP, OF, metrics, and constraints, and are thus able to act
 as RPL routers.  When a node is not capable of being a RPL router, it
 may be possible to interoperate in a more limited manner as a RPL
 leaf.
 All RPL implementations need to support the use of RPL Packet
 Information transported within data packets (Section 11.2).  One such
 mechanism is described in [RFC6553].
 RPL implementations will need to support the use of Neighbor
 Unreachability Detection (NUD), or an equivalent mechanism, to
 maintain the reachability of neighboring RPL nodes (Section 8.2.1).
 Alternate mechanisms may be optimized to the constrained capabilities
 of the implementation, such as hints from the link layer.
 This specification provides means to obtain a PIO and thus form an
 IPv6 address.  When that mechanism is used, it may be necessary to
 perform address resolution and duplicate address detection through an
 external process, such as IPv6 ND [RFC4861] or 6LoWPAN ND
 [6LOWPAN-ND].

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 109] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

16.2. Operation as a RPL Leaf Node (Only)

 o  An implementation of a leaf node (only) does not ever participate
    as a RPL router.  Interoperable implementations of leaf nodes
    behave as summarized in Section 8.5.
 o  Support of a particular MOP encoding is not required, although if
    the leaf node sends DAO messages to set up Downward routes, the
    leaf node should do so in a manner consistent with the mode of
    operation indicated by the MOP.
 o  Support of a particular OF is not required.
 o  In summary, a leaf node does not generally issue DIO messages, it
    may issue DAO and DIS messages.  A leaf node accepts DIO messages
    though it generally ignores DAO and DIS messages.

16.3. Operation as a RPL Router

 If further guidance is not available then a RPL router implementation
 MUST at least support the metric-less OF0 [RFC6552].
 For consistent operation a RPL router implementation needs to support
 the MOP in use by the DODAG.
 All RPL routers will need to implement Trickle [RFC6206].

16.3.1. Support for Upward Routes (Only)

 An implementation of a RPL router that supports only Upward routes
 supports the following:
 o  Upward routes (Section 8)
 o  MOP encoding 0 (Section 20.3)
 o  In summary, DIO and DIS messages are issued, and DAO messages are
    not issued.  DIO and DIS messages are accepted, and DAO messages
    are ignored.

16.3.2. Support for Upward Routes and Downward Routes in Non-Storing

       Mode
 An implementation of a RPL router that supports Upward routes and
 Downward routes in Non-Storing mode supports the following:
 o  Upward routes (Section 8)

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 110] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Downward routes (Non-Storing) (Section 9)
 o  MOP encoding 1 (Section 20.3)
 o  Source-routed Downward traffic ([RFC6554])
 o  In summary, DIO and DIS messages are issued, and DAO messages are
    issued to the DODAG root.  DIO and DIS messages are accepted, and
    DAO messages are ignored by nodes other than DODAG roots.
    Multicast is not supported through the means described in this
    specification, though it may be supported through some alternate
    means.

16.3.3. Support for Upward Routes and Downward Routes in Storing Mode

 An implementation of a RPL router that supports Upward routes and
 Downward routes in Storing mode supports the following:
 o  Upward routes (Section 8)
 o  Downward routes (Storing) (Section 9)
 o  MOP encoding 2 (Section 20.3)
 o  In summary, DIO, DIS, and DAO messages are issued.  DIO, DIS, and
    DAO messages are accepted.  Multicast is not supported through the
    means described in this specification, though it may be supported
    through some alternate means.

16.3.3.1. Optional Support for Basic Multicast Scheme

 A Storing mode implementation may be enhanced with basic multicast
 support through the following additions:
 o  Basic Multicast Support (Section 12)
 o  MOP encoding 3 (Section 20.3)

16.4. Items for Future Specification

 A number of items are left to future specification, including but not
 limited to the following:
 o  How to attach a non-RPL node such as an IPv6 host, e.g., to
    consistently distribute at least PIO material to the attached
    node.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 111] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  How to obtain authentication material in support if authenticated
    mode is used (Section 10.3).
 o  Details of operation over multiple simultaneous instances.
 o  Advanced configuration mechanisms, such as the provisioning of
    RPLInstanceIDs, parameterization of Objective Functions, and
    parameters to control security.  (It is expected that such
    mechanisms might extend the DIO as a means to disseminate
    information across the DODAG).

17. RPL Constants and Variables

 The following is a summary of RPL constants and variables:
 BASE_RANK: This is the Rank for a virtual root that might be used to
       coordinate multiple roots.  BASE_RANK has a value of 0.
 ROOT_RANK: This is the Rank for a DODAG root.  ROOT_RANK has a value
       of MinHopRankIncrease (as advertised by the DODAG root), such
       that DAGRank(ROOT_RANK) is 1.
 INFINITE_RANK: This is the constant maximum for the Rank.
       INFINITE_RANK has a value of 0xFFFF.
 RPL_DEFAULT_INSTANCE: This is the RPLInstanceID that is used by this
       protocol by a node without any overriding policy.
       RPL_DEFAULT_INSTANCE has a value of 0.
 DEFAULT_PATH_CONTROL_SIZE: This is the default value used to
       configure PCS in the DODAG Configuration option, which dictates
       the number of significant bits in the Path Control field of the
       Transit Information option.  DEFAULT_PATH_CONTROL_SIZE has a
       value of 0.  This configures the simplest case limiting the
       fan-out to 1 and limiting a node to send a DAO message to only
       one parent.
 DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_MIN: This is the default value used to configure
       Imin for the DIO Trickle timer.  DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_MIN has a
       value of 3.  This configuration results in Imin of 8 ms.
 DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS: This is the default value used to
       configure Imax for the DIO Trickle timer.
       DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS has a value of 20.  This
       configuration results in a maximum interval of 2.3 hours.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 112] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 DEFAULT_DIO_REDUNDANCY_CONSTANT: This is the default value used to
       configure k for the DIO Trickle timer.
       DEFAULT_DIO_REDUNDANCY_CONSTANT has a value of 10.  This
       configuration is a conservative value for Trickle suppression
       mechanism.
 DEFAULT_MIN_HOP_RANK_INCREASE: This is the default value of
       MinHopRankIncrease.  DEFAULT_MIN_HOP_RANK_INCREASE has a value
       of 256.  This configuration results in an 8-bit wide integer
       part of Rank.
 DEFAULT_DAO_DELAY: This is the default value for the DelayDAO Timer.
       DEFAULT_DAO_DELAY has a value of 1 second.  See Section 9.5.
 DIO Timer: One instance per DODAG of which a node is a member.
       Expiry triggers DIO message transmission.  A Trickle timer with
       variable interval in [0,
       DIOIntervalMin..2^DIOIntervalDoublings].  See Section 8.3.1
 DAG Version Increment Timer: Up to one instance per DODAG of which
       the node is acting as DODAG root.  May not be supported in all
       implementations.  Expiry triggers increment of
       DODAGVersionNumber, causing a new series of updated DIO message
       to be sent.  Interval should be chosen appropriate to
       propagation time of DODAG and as appropriate to application
       requirements (e.g., response time versus overhead).
 DelayDAO Timer: Up to one timer per DAO parent (the subset of DODAG
       parents chosen to receive destination advertisements) per
       DODAG.  Expiry triggers sending of DAO message to the DAO
       parent.  See Section 9.5
 RemoveTimer: Up to one timer per DAO entry per neighbor (i.e., those
       neighbors that have given DAO messages to this node as a DODAG
       parent).  Expiry may trigger No-Path advertisements or
       immediately deallocate the DAO entry if there are no DAO
       parents.

18. Manageability Considerations

 The aim of this section is to give consideration to the manageability
 of RPL, and how RPL will be operated in an LLN.  The scope of this
 section is to consider the following aspects of manageability:
 configuration, monitoring, fault management, accounting, and
 performance of the protocol in light of the recommendations set forth
 in [RFC5706].

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 113] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

18.1. Introduction

 Most of the existing IETF management standards are MIB modules (data
 models based on the Structure of Management Information (SMI)) to
 monitor and manage networking devices.
 For a number of protocols, the IETF community has used the IETF
 Standard Management Framework, including the Simple Network
 Management Protocol [RFC3410], the Structure of Management
 Information [RFC2578], and MIB data models for managing new
 protocols.
 As pointed out in [RFC5706], the common policy in terms of operation
 and management has been expanded to a policy that is more open to a
 set of tools and management protocols rather than strictly relying on
 a single protocol such as SNMP.
 In 2003, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) held a workshop on
 Network Management [RFC3535] that discussed the strengths and
 weaknesses of some IETF network management protocols and compared
 them to operational needs, especially configuration.
 One issue discussed was the user-unfriendliness of the binary format
 of SNMP [RFC3410].  In the case of LLNs, it must be noted that at the
 time of writing, the CoRE working group is actively working on
 resource management of devices in LLNs.  Still, it is felt that this
 section provides important guidance on how RPL should be deployed,
 operated, and managed.
 As stated in [RFC5706]:
    A management information model should include a discussion of what
    is manageable, which aspects of the protocol need to be
    configured, what types of operations are allowed, what protocol-
    specific events might occur, which events can be counted, and for
    which events an operator should be notified.
 These aspects are discussed in detail in the following sections.
 RPL will be used on a variety of devices that may have resources such
 as memory varying from a few kilobytes to several hundreds of
 kilobytes and even megabytes.  When memory is highly constrained, it
 may not be possible to satisfy all the requirements listed in this
 section.  Still it is worth listing all of these in an exhaustive
 fashion, and implementers will then determine which of these
 requirements could be satisfied according to the available resources
 on the device.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 114] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

18.2. Configuration Management

 This section discusses the configuration management, listing the
 protocol parameters for which configuration management is relevant.
 Some of the RPL parameters are optional.  The requirements for
 configuration are only applicable for the options that are used.

18.2.1. Initialization Mode

 "Architectural Principles of the Internet" [RFC1958], Section 3.8,
 states: "Avoid options and parameters whenever possible.  Any options
 and parameters should be configured or negotiated dynamically rather
 than manually".  This is especially true in LLNs where the number of
 devices may be large and manual configuration is infeasible.  This
 has been taken into account in the design of RPL whereby the DODAG
 root provides a number of parameters to the devices joining the
 DODAG, thus avoiding cumbersome configuration on the routers and
 potential sources of misconfiguration (e.g., values of Trickle
 timers, etc.).  Still, there are additional RPL parameters that a RPL
 implementation should allow to be configured, which are discussed in
 this section.

18.2.1.1. DIS Mode of Operation upon Boot-Up

 When a node is first powered up:
 1.  The node may decide to stay silent, waiting to receive DIO
     messages from DODAG of interest (advertising a supported OF and
     metrics/constraints) and not send any multicast DIO messages
     until it has joined a DODAG.
 2.  The node may decide to send one or more DIS messages (optionally,
     requesting DIO for a specific DODAG) as an initial probe for
     nearby DODAGs, and in the absence of DIO messages in reply after
     some configurable period of time, the node may decide to root a
     floating DODAG and start sending multicast DIO messages.
 A RPL implementation SHOULD allow configuring the preferred mode of
 operation listed above along with the required parameters (in the
 second mode: the number of DIS messages and related timer).

18.2.2. DIO and DAO Base Message and Options Configuration

 RPL specifies a number of protocol parameters considering the large
 spectrum of applications where it will be used.  That said,
 particular attention has been given to limiting the number of these
 parameters that must be configured on each RPL router.  Instead, a

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 115] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 number of the default values can be used, and when required these
 parameters can be provided by the DODAG root thus allowing for
 dynamic parameter setting.
 A RPL implementation SHOULD allow configuring the following routing
 protocol parameters.  As pointed out above, note that a large set of
 parameters is configured on the DODAG root.

18.2.3. Protocol Parameters to Be Configured on Every Router in the LLN

 A RPL implementation MUST allow configuring the following RPL
 parameters:
 o  RPLInstanceID [DIO message, in DIO Base message].  Although the
    RPLInstanceID must be configured on the DODAG root, it must also
    be configured as a policy on every node in order to determine
    whether or not the node should join a particular DODAG.  Note that
    a second RPLInstanceID can be configured on the node, should it
    become root of a floating DODAG.
 o  List of supported Objective Code Points (OCPs)
 o  List of supported metrics: [RFC6551] specifies a number of metrics
    and constraints used for the DODAG formation.  Thus, a RPL
    implementation should allow configuring the list of metrics that a
    node can accept and understand.  If a DIO is received with a
    metric and/or constraint that is not understood or supported, as
    specified in Section 8.5, the node would join as a leaf node.
 o  Prefix Information, along with valid and preferred lifetime and
    the 'L' and 'A' flags.  [DIO message, Prefix Information Option].
    A RPL implementation SHOULD allow configuring if the Prefix
    Information option must be carried with the DIO message to
    distribute the Prefix Information for autoconfiguration.  In that
    case, the RPL implementation MUST allow the list of prefixes to be
    advertised in the PIO along with the corresponding flags.
 o  Solicited Information [DIS message, in Solicited Information
    option].  Note that a RPL implementation SHOULD allow configuring
    when such messages should be sent and under which circumstances,
    along with the value of the RPLInstance ID, 'V'/'I'/'D' flags.
 o  'K' flag: when a node should set the 'K' flag in a DAO message
    [DAO message, in DAO Base message].
 o  MOP (Mode of Operation) [DIO message, in DIO Base message].

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 116] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Route Information (and preference) [DIO message, in Route
    Information option]

18.2.4. Protocol Parameters to Be Configured on Every Non-DODAG-Root

       Router in the LLN
 A RPL implementation MUST allow configuring the Target prefix [DAO
 message, in RPL Target option].
 Furthermore, there are circumstances where a node may want to
 designate a Target to allow for specific processing of the Target
 (prioritization, etc.).  Such processing rules are out of scope for
 this specification.  When used, a RPL implementation SHOULD allow
 configuring the Target Descriptor on a per-Target basis (for example,
 using access lists).
 A node whose DODAG parent set is empty may become the DODAG root of a
 floating DODAG.  It may also set its DAGPreference such that it is
 less preferred.  Thus, a RPL implementation MUST allow configuring
 the set of actions that the node should initiate in this case:
 o  Start its own (floating) DODAG: the new DODAGID must be configured
    in addition to its DAGPreference.
 o  Poison the broken path (see procedure in Section 8.2.2.5).
 o  Trigger a local repair.

18.2.5. Parameters to Be Configured on the DODAG Root

 In addition, several other parameters are configured only on the
 DODAG root and advertised in options carried in DIO messages.
 As specified in Section 8.3, a RPL implementation makes use of
 Trickle timers to govern the sending of DIO messages.  The operation
 of the Trickle algorithm is determined by a set of configurable
 parameters, which MUST be configurable and that are then advertised
 by the DODAG root along the DODAG in DIO messages.
 o  DIOIntervalDoublings [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 o  DIOIntervalMin [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 o  DIORedundancyConstant [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 In addition, a RPL implementation SHOULD allow for configuring the
 following set of RPL parameters:

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 117] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Path Control Size [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 o  MinHopRankIncrease [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 o  The DODAGPreference field [DIO message, DIO Base object]
 o  DODAGID [DIO message, in DIO Base option] and [DAO message, when
    the 'D' flag of the DAO message is set]
 DAG root behavior: in some cases, a node may not want to permanently
 act as a floating DODAG root if it cannot join a grounded DODAG.  For
 example, a battery-operated node may not want to act as a floating
 DODAG root for a long period of time.  Thus, a RPL implementation MAY
 support the ability to configure whether or not a node could act as a
 floating DODAG root for a configured period of time.
 DAG Version Number Increment: a RPL implementation may allow, by
 configuration at the DODAG root, refreshing the DODAG states by
 updating the DODAGVersionNumber.  A RPL implementation SHOULD allow
 configuring whether or not periodic or event triggered mechanisms are
 used by the DODAG root to control DODAGVersionNumber change (which
 triggers a global repair as specified in Section 3.2.2).

18.2.6. Configuration of RPL Parameters Related to DAO-Based Mechanisms

 DAO messages are optional and used in DODAGs that require Downward
 routing operation.  This section deals with the set of parameters
 related to DAO messages and provides recommendations on their
 configuration.
 As stated in Section 9.5, it is recommended to delay the sending of
 DAO message to DAO parents in order to maximize the chances to
 perform route aggregation.  Upon receiving a DAO message, the node
 should thus start a DelayDAO timer.  The default value is
 DEFAULT_DAO_DELAY.  A RPL implementation MAY allow for configuring
 the DelayDAO timer.
 In a Storing mode of operation, a storing node may increment DTSN in
 order to reliably trigger a set of DAO updates from its immediate
 children, as part of routine routing table updates and maintenance.
 A RPL implementation MAY allow for configuring a set of rules
 specifying the triggers for DTSN increment (manual or event-based).
 When a DAO entry times out or is invalidated, a node SHOULD make a
 reasonable attempt to report a No-Path to each of the DAO parents.
 That number of attempts MAY be configurable.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 118] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 An implementation should support rate-limiting the sending of DAO
 messages.  The related parameters MAY be configurable.

18.2.7. Configuration of RPL Parameters Related to Security Mechanisms

 As described in Section 10, the security features described in this
 document are optional to implement and a given implementation may
 support a subset (including the empty set) of the described security
 features.
 To this end, an implementation supporting described security features
 may conceptually implement a security policy database.  In support of
 the security mechanisms, a RPL implementation SHOULD allow for
 configuring a subset of the following parameters:
 o  Security Modes accepted [Unsecured mode, Preinstalled mode,
    Authenticated mode]
 o  KIM values accepted [Secure RPL control messages, in Security
    section]
 o  Level values accepted [Secure RPL control messages, in Security
    section]
 o  Algorithm values accepted [Secure RPL control messages, in
    Security section]
 o  Key material in support of Authenticated or Preinstalled key
    modes.
 In addition, a RPL implementation SHOULD allow for configuring a
 DODAG root with a subset of the following parameters:
 o  Level values advertised [Secure DIO message, in Security section]
 o  KIM value advertised [Secure DIO message, in Security section]
 o  Algorithm value advertised [Secure DIO message, in Security
    section]

18.2.8. Default Values

 This document specifies default values for the following set of RPL
 variables:
    DEFAULT_PATH_CONTROL_SIZE
    DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_MIN
    DEFAULT_DIO_INTERVAL_DOUBLINGS
    DEFAULT_DIO_REDUNDANCY_CONSTANT

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 119] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

    DEFAULT_MIN_HOP_RANK_INCREASE
    DEFAULT_DAO_DELAY
 It is recommended to specify default values in protocols; that being
 said, as discussed in [RFC5706], default values may make less and
 less sense.  RPL is a routing protocol that is expected to be used in
 a number of contexts where network characteristics such as the number
 of nodes and link and node types are expected to vary significantly.
 Thus, these default values are likely to change with the context and
 as the technology evolves.  Indeed, LLNs' related technology (e.g.,
 hardware, link layers) have been evolving dramatically over the past
 few years and such technologies are expected to change and evolve
 considerably in the coming years.
 The proposed values are not based on extensive best current practices
 and are considered to be conservative.

18.3. Monitoring of RPL Operation

 Several RPL parameters should be monitored to verify the correct
 operation of the routing protocol and the network itself.  This
 section lists the set of monitoring parameters of interest.

18.3.1. Monitoring a DODAG Parameters

 A RPL implementation SHOULD provide information about the following
 parameters:
 o  DODAG Version number [DIO message, in DIO Base message]
 o  Status of the 'G' flag [DIO message, in DIO Base message]
 o  Status of the MOP field [DIO message, in DIO Base message]
 o  Value of the DTSN [DIO message, in DIO Base message]
 o  Value of the Rank [DIO message, in DIO Base message]
 o  DAOSequence: Incremented at each unique DAO message, echoed in the
    DAO-ACK message [DAO and DAO-ACK messages]
 o  Route Information [DIO message, Route Information Option] (list of
    IPv6 prefixes per parent along with lifetime and preference]
 o  Trickle parameters:
  • DIOIntervalDoublings [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration

option]

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 120] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

  • DIOIntervalMin [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
  • DIORedundancyConstant [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration

option]

 o  Path Control Size [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 o  MinHopRankIncrease [DIO message, in DODAG Configuration option]
 Values that may be monitored only on the DODAG root:
 o  Transit Information [DAO, Transit Information option]: A RPL
    implementation SHOULD allow configuring whether the set of
    received Transit Information options should be displayed on the
    DODAG root.  In this case, the RPL database of received Transit
    Information should also contain the Path Sequence, Path Control,
    Path Lifetime, and Parent Address.

18.3.2. Monitoring a DODAG Inconsistencies and Loop Detection

 Detection of DODAG inconsistencies is particularly critical in RPL
 networks.  Thus, it is recommended for a RPL implementation to
 provide appropriate monitoring tools.  A RPL implementation SHOULD
 provide a counter reporting the number of a times the node has
 detected an inconsistency with respect to a DODAG parent, e.g., if
 the DODAGID has changed.
 When possible more granular information about inconsistency detection
 should be provided.  A RPL implementation MAY provide counters
 reporting the number of following inconsistencies:
 o  Packets received with 'O' bit set (to Down) from a node with a
    higher Rank
 o  Packets received with 'O' bit cleared (to Up) from a node with a
    lower Rank
 o  Number of packets with the 'F' bit set
 o  Number of packets with the 'R' bit set

18.4. Monitoring of the RPL Data Structures

18.4.1. Candidate Neighbor Data Structure

 A node in the candidate neighbor list is a node discovered by the
 same means and qualified to potentially become a parent (with high
 enough local confidence).  A RPL implementation SHOULD provide a way

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 121] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 to allow for the candidate neighbor list to be monitored with some
 metric reflecting local confidence (the degree of stability of the
 neighbors) as measured by some metrics.
 A RPL implementation MAY provide a counter reporting the number of
 times a candidate neighbor has been ignored, should the number of
 candidate neighbors exceed the maximum authorized value.

18.4.2. Destination-Oriented Directed Acyclic Graph (DODAG) Table

 For each DODAG, a RPL implementation is expected to keep track of the
 following DODAG table values:
 o  RPLInstanceID
 o  DODAGID
 o  DODAGVersionNumber
 o  Rank
 o  Objective Code Point
 o  A set of DODAG parents
 o  A set of prefixes offered Upward along the DODAG
 o  Trickle timers used to govern the sending of DIO messages for the
    DODAG
 o  List of DAO parents
 o  DTSN
 o  Node status (router versus leaf)
 A RPL implementation SHOULD allow for monitoring the set of
 parameters listed above.

18.4.3. Routing Table and DAO Routing Entries

 A RPL implementation maintains several information elements related
 to the DODAG and the DAO entries (for storing nodes).  In the case of
 a non-storing node, a limited amount of information is maintained
 (the routing table is mostly reduced to a set of DODAG parents along
 with characteristics of the DODAG as mentioned above); whereas in the
 case of storing nodes, this information is augmented with routing
 entries.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 122] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 A RPL implementation SHOULD allow for the following parameters to be
 monitored:
 o  Next Hop (DODAG parent)
 o  Next Hop Interface
 o  Path metrics value for each DODAG parent
 A DAO Routing Table entry conceptually contains the following
 elements (for storing nodes only):
 o  Advertising Neighbor Information
 o  IPv6 address
 o  Interface ID to which DAO parents has this entry been reported
 o  Retry counter
 o  Logical equivalent of DAO Content:
  • DAO-Sequence
  • Path Sequence
  • DAO Lifetime
  • DAO Path Control
 o  Destination Prefix (or address or Mcast Group)
 A RPL implementation SHOULD provide information about the state of
 each DAO Routing Table entry states.

18.5. Fault Management

 Fault management is a critical component used for troubleshooting,
 verification of the correct mode of operation of the protocol, and
 network design; also, it is a key component of network performance
 monitoring.  A RPL implementation SHOULD allow the provision of the
 following information related to fault managements:
 o  Memory overflow along with the cause (e.g., routing tables
    overflow, etc.)
 o  Number of times a packet could not be sent to a DODAG parent
    flagged as valid

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 123] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Number of times a packet has been received for which the router
    did not have a corresponding RPLInstanceID
 o  Number of times a local repair procedure was triggered
 o  Number of times a global repair was triggered by the DODAG root
 o  Number of received malformed messages
 o  Number of seconds with packets to forward and no next hop (DODAG
    parent)
 o  Number of seconds without next hop (DODAG parent)
 o  Number of times a node has joined a DODAG as a leaf because it
    received a DIO with a metric/constraint that was not understood
    and it was configured to join as a leaf node in this case (see
    Section 18.6)
 It is RECOMMENDED to report faults via at least error log messages.
 Other protocols may be used to report such faults.

18.6. Policy

 Policy rules can be used by a RPL implementation to determine whether
 or not the node is allowed to join a particular DODAG advertised by a
 neighbor by means of DIO messages.
 This document specifies operation within a single DODAG.  A DODAG is
 characterized by the following tuple (RPLInstanceID, DODAGID).
 Furthermore, as pointed out above, DIO messages are used to advertise
 other DODAG characteristics such as the routing metrics and
 constraints used to build to the DODAG and the Objective Function in
 use (specified by OCP).
 The first policy rules consist of specifying the following conditions
 that a RPL node must satisfy to join a DODAG:
 o  RPLInstanceID
 o  List of supported routing metrics and constraints
 o  Objective Function (OCP values)
 A RPL implementation MUST allow configuring these parameters and
 SHOULD specify whether the node must simply ignore the DIO if the
 advertised DODAG is not compliant with the local policy or whether
 the node should join as the leaf node if only the list of supported

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 124] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 routing metrics and constraints, and the OF is not supported.
 Additionally, a RPL implementation SHOULD allow for the addition of
 the DODAGID as part of the policy.
 A RPL implementation SHOULD allow configuring the set of acceptable
 or preferred Objective Functions (OFs) referenced by their Objective
 Code Points (OCPs) for a node to join a DODAG, and what action should
 be taken if none of a node's candidate neighbors advertise one of the
 configured allowable Objective Functions, or if the advertised
 metrics/constraint is not understood/supported.  Two actions can be
 taken in this case:
 o  The node joins the DODAG as a leaf node as specified in
    Section 8.5.
 o  The node does not join the DODAG.
 A node in an LLN may learn routing information from different routing
 protocols including RPL.  In this case, it is desirable to control,
 via administrative preference, which route should be favored.  An
 implementation SHOULD allow for the specification of an
 administrative preference for the routing protocol from which the
 route was learned.
 Internal Data Structures: some RPL implementations may limit the size
 of the candidate neighbor list in order to bound the memory usage; in
 which case, some otherwise viable candidate neighbors may not be
 considered and simply dropped from the candidate neighbor list.
 A RPL implementation MAY provide an indicator on the size of the
 candidate neighbor list.

18.7. Fault Isolation

 It is RECOMMENDED to quarantine neighbors that start emitting
 malformed messages at unacceptable rates.

18.8. Impact on Other Protocols

 RPL has very limited impact on other protocols.  Where more than one
 routing protocol is required on a router, such as an LBR, it is
 expected for the device to support routing redistribution functions
 between the routing protocols to allow for reachability between the
 two routing domains.  Such redistribution SHOULD be governed by the
 use of user configurable policy.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 125] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 With regard to the impact in terms of traffic on the network, RPL has
 been designed to limit the control traffic thanks to mechanisms such
 as Trickle timers (Section 8.3).  Thus, the impact of RPL on other
 protocols should be extremely limited.

18.9. Performance Management

 Performance management is always an important aspect of a protocol,
 and RPL is not an exception.  Several metrics of interest have been
 specified by the IP Performance Monitoring (IPPM) working group: that
 being said, they will be hardly applicable to LLN considering the
 cost of monitoring these metrics in terms of resources on the devices
 and required bandwidth.  Still, RPL implementations MAY support some
 of these, and other parameters of interest are listed below:
 o  Number of repairs and time to repair in seconds (average,
    variance)
 o  Number of times and time period during which a devices could not
    forward a packet because of a lack of a reachable neighbor in its
    routing table
 o  Monitoring of resources consumption by RPL in terms of bandwidth
    and required memory
 o  Number of RPL control messages sent and received

18.10. Diagnostics

 There may be situations where a node should be placed in "verbose"
 mode to improve diagnostics.  Thus, a RPL implementation SHOULD
 provide the ability to place a node in and out of verbose mode in
 order to get additional diagnostic information.

19. Security Considerations

19.1. Overview

 From a security perspective, RPL networks are no different from any
 other network.  They are vulnerable to passive eavesdropping attacks
 and, potentially, even active tampering when physical access to a
 wire is not required to participate in communications.  The very
 nature of ad hoc networks and their cost objectives impose additional
 security constraints, which perhaps make these networks the most
 difficult environments to secure.  Devices are low-cost and have
 limited capabilities in terms of computing power, available storage,
 and power drain; it cannot always be assumed they have a trusted
 computing base or a high-quality random number generator aboard.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 126] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Communications cannot rely on the online availability of a fixed
 infrastructure and might involve short-term relationships between
 devices that may never have communicated before.  These constraints
 might severely limit the choice of cryptographic algorithms and
 protocols and influence the design of the security architecture
 because the establishment and maintenance of trust relationships
 between devices need to be addressed with care.  In addition, battery
 lifetime and cost constraints put severe limits on the security
 overhead these networks can tolerate, something that is of far less
 concern with higher bandwidth networks.  Most of these security
 architectural elements can be implemented at higher layers and may,
 therefore, be considered to be out of scope for this specification.
 Special care, however, needs to be exercised with respect to
 interfaces to these higher layers.
 The security mechanisms in this standard are based on symmetric-key
 and public-key cryptography and use keys that are to be provided by
 higher-layer processes.  The establishment and maintenance of these
 keys are out of scope for this specification.  The mechanisms assume
 a secure implementation of cryptographic operations and secure and
 authentic storage of keying material.
 The security mechanisms specified provide particular combinations of
 the following security services:
 Data confidentiality: Assurance that transmitted information is only
       disclosed to parties for which it is intended.
 Data authenticity: Assurance of the source of transmitted information
       (and, hereby, that information was not modified in transit).
 Replay protection: Assurance that a duplicate of transmitted
       information is detected.
 Timeliness (delay protection):  Assurance that transmitted
       information was received in a timely manner.
 The actual protection provided can be adapted on a per-packet basis
 and allows for varying levels of data authenticity (to minimize
 security overhead in transmitted packets where required) and for
 optional data confidentiality.  When nontrivial protection is
 required, replay protection is always provided.
 Replay protection is provided via the use of a non-repeating value
 (CCM nonce) in the packet protection process and storage of some
 status information (originating device and the CCM nonce counter last
 received from that device), which allows detection of whether this
 particular CCM nonce value was used previously by the originating

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 127] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 device.  In addition, so-called delay protection is provided amongst
 those devices that have a loosely synchronized clock on board.  The
 acceptable time delay can be adapted on a per-packet basis and allows
 for varying latencies (to facilitate longer latencies in packets
 transmitted over a multi-hop communication path).
 Cryptographic protection may use a key shared between two peer
 devices (link key) or a key shared among a group of devices (group
 key), thus allowing some flexibility and application-specific trade-
 offs between key storage and key maintenance costs versus the
 cryptographic protection provided.  If a group key is used for peer-
 to-peer communication, protection is provided only against outsider
 devices and not against potential malicious devices in the key-
 sharing group.
 Data authenticity may be provided using symmetric-key-based or
 public-key-based techniques.  With public-key-based techniques (via
 signatures), one corroborates evidence as to the unique originator of
 transmitted information, whereas with symmetric-key-based techniques,
 data authenticity is only provided relative to devices in a key-
 sharing group.  Thus, public-key-based authentication may be useful
 in scenarios that require a more fine-grained authentication than can
 be provided with symmetric-key-based authentication techniques alone,
 such as with group communications (broadcast, multicast) or in
 scenarios that require non-repudiation.

20. IANA Considerations

20.1. RPL Control Message

 The RPL control message is an ICMP information message type that is
 to be used carry DODAG Information Objects, DODAG Information
 Solicitations, and Destination Advertisement Objects in support of
 RPL operation.
 IANA has defined an ICMPv6 Type Number Registry.  The type value for
 the RPL control message is 155.

20.2. New Registry for RPL Control Codes

 IANA has created a registry, RPL Control Codes, for the Code field of
 the ICMPv6 RPL control message.
 New codes may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each code is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Code

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 128] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Description
 o  Defining RFC
 The following codes are currently defined:
 +------+----------------------------------------------+-------------+
 | Code | Description                                  | Reference   |
 +------+----------------------------------------------+-------------+
 | 0x00 | DODAG Information Solicitation               | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x01 | DODAG Information Object                     | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x02 | Destination Advertisement Object             | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x03 | Destination Advertisement Object             | This        |
 |      | Acknowledgment                               | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x80 | Secure DODAG Information Solicitation        | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x81 | Secure DODAG Information Object              | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x82 | Secure Destination Advertisement Object      | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x83 | Secure Destination Advertisement Object      | This        |
 |      | Acknowledgment                               | document    |
 |      |                                              |             |
 | 0x8A | Consistency Check                            | This        |
 |      |                                              | document    |
 +------+----------------------------------------------+-------------+
                           RPL Control Codes

20.3. New Registry for the Mode of Operation (MOP)

 IANA has created a registry for the 3-bit Mode of Operation (MOP),
 which is contained in the DIO Base.
 New values may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each value is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Mode of Operation Value

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 129] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 Four values are currently defined:
 +----------+------------------------------------------+-------------+
 |    MOP   | Description                              | Reference   |
 |   value  |                                          |             |
 +----------+------------------------------------------+-------------+
 |     0    | No Downward routes maintained by RPL     | This        |
 |          |                                          | document    |
 |          |                                          |             |
 |     1    | Non-Storing Mode of Operation            | This        |
 |          |                                          | document    |
 |          |                                          |             |
 |     2    | Storing Mode of Operation with no        | This        |
 |          | multicast support                        | document    |
 |          |                                          |             |
 |     3    | Storing Mode of Operation with multicast | This        |
 |          | support                                  | document    |
 +----------+------------------------------------------+-------------+
                         DIO Mode of Operation
 The rest of the range, decimal 4 to 7, is currently unassigned.

20.4. RPL Control Message Options

 IANA has created a registry for the RPL Control Message Options.
 New values may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each value is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Value
 o  Meaning
 o  Defining RFC

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 130] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

           +-------+-----------------------+---------------+
           | Value | Meaning               | Reference     |
           +-------+-----------------------+---------------+
           |  0x00 | Pad1                  | This document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x01 | PadN                  | This document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x02 | DAG Metric Container  | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x03 | Routing Information   | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x04 | DODAG Configuration   | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x05 | RPL Target            | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x06 | Transit Information   | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x07 | Solicited Information | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x08 | Prefix Information    | This Document |
           |       |                       |               |
           |  0x09 | Target Descriptor     | This Document |
           +-------+-----------------------+---------------+
                      RPL Control Message Options

20.5. Objective Code Point (OCP) Registry

 IANA has created a registry to manage the codespace of the Objective
 Code Point (OCP) field.
 No OCPs are defined in this specification.
 New codes may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each code is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Code
 o  Description
 o  Defining RFC

20.6. New Registry for the Security Section Algorithm

 IANA has created a registry for the values of the 8-bit Algorithm
 field in the Security section.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 131] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 New values may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each value is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Value
 o  Encryption/MAC
 o  Signature
 o  Defining RFC
 The following value is currently defined:
    +-------+------------------+------------------+---------------+
    | Value | Encryption/MAC   | Signature        | Reference     |
    +-------+------------------+------------------+---------------+
    |   0   | CCM with AES-128 | RSA with SHA-256 | This document |
    +-------+------------------+------------------+---------------+
                      Security Section Algorithm

20.7. New Registry for the Security Section Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Security Section Flags
 field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 No bit is currently defined for the Security Section Flags field.

20.8. New Registry for Per-KIM Security Levels

 IANA has created one registry for the 3-bit Security Level (LVL)
 field per allocated KIM value.
 For a given KIM value, new levels may be allocated only by an IETF
 Review.  Each level is tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Level
 o  KIM value

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 132] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Description
 o  Defining RFC
 The following levels per KIM value are currently defined:
         +-------+-----------+---------------+---------------+
         | Level | KIM value | Description   | Reference     |
         +-------+-----------+---------------+---------------+
         |   0   |     0     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   1   |     0     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   2   |     0     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   3   |     0     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   0   |     1     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   1   |     1     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   2   |     1     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   3   |     1     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   0   |     2     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   1   |     2     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   2   |     2     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   3   |     2     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   0   |     3     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   1   |     3     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   2   |     3     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         |       |           |               |               |
         |   3   |     3     | See Figure 11 | This document |
         +-------+-----------+---------------+---------------+
                        Per-KIM Security Levels

20.9. New Registry for DODAG Informational Solicitation (DIS) Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the DIS (DODAG Informational
 Solicitation) Flags field.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 133] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 No bit is currently defined for the DIS (DODAG Informational
 Solicitation) Flags field.

20.10. New Registry for the DODAG Information Object (DIO) Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit DODAG Information Object
 (DIO) Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 No bit is currently defined for the DIS (DODAG Informational
 Solicitation) Flags.

20.11. New Registry for the Destination Advertisement Object (DAO)

      Flags
 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Destination Advertisement
 Object (DAO) Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 134] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The following bits are currently defined:
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
     | Bit number | Description                  | Reference     |
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
     |      0     | DAO-ACK request (K)          | This document |
     |            |                              |               |
     |      1     | DODAGID field is present (D) | This document |
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
                            DAO Base Flags

20.12. New Registry for the Destination Advertisement Object (DAO)

      Acknowledgement Flags
 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Destination Advertisement
 Object (DAO) Acknowledgement Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 The following bit is currently defined:
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
     | Bit number | Description                  | Reference     |
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
     |      0     | DODAGID field is present (D) | This document |
     +------------+------------------------------+---------------+
                          DAO-ACK Base Flags

20.13. New Registry for the Consistency Check (CC) Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Consistency Check (CC)
 Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 135] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Defining RFC
 The following bit is currently defined:
           +------------+-----------------+---------------+
           | Bit number | Description     | Reference     |
           +------------+-----------------+---------------+
           |      0     | CC Response (R) | This document |
           +------------+-----------------+---------------+
                     Consistency Check Base Flags

20.14. New Registry for the DODAG Configuration Option Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit DODAG Configuration Option
 Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 The following bits are currently defined:
      +------------+----------------------------+---------------+
      | Bit number | Description                | Reference     |
      +------------+----------------------------+---------------+
      |      4     | Authentication Enabled (A) | This document |
      |     5-7    | Path Control Size (PCS)    | This document |
      +------------+----------------------------+---------------+
                   DODAG Configuration Option Flags

20.15. New Registry for the RPL Target Option Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit RPL Target Option Flags
 field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 136] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 o  Defining RFC
 No bit is currently defined for the RPL Target Option Flags.

20.16. New Registry for the Transit Information Option Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Transit Information Option
 (TIO) Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC
 The following bits are currently defined:
             +------------+--------------+---------------+
             | Bit number | Description  | Reference     |
             +------------+--------------+---------------+
             |      0     | External (E) | This document |
             +------------+--------------+---------------+
                   Transit Information Option Flags

20.17. New Registry for the Solicited Information Option Flags

 IANA has created a registry for the 8-bit Solicited Information
 Option (SIO) Flags field.
 New bit numbers may be allocated only by an IETF Review.  Each bit is
 tracked with the following qualities:
 o  Bit number (counting from bit 0 as the most significant bit)
 o  Capability description
 o  Defining RFC

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 137] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The following bits are currently defined:
    +------------+--------------------------------+---------------+
    | Bit number | Description                    | Reference     |
    +------------+--------------------------------+---------------+
    |      0     | Version Predicate match (V)    | This document |
    |            |                                |               |
    |      1     | InstanceID Predicate match (I) | This document |
    |            |                                |               |
    |      2     | DODAGID Predicate match (D)    | This document |
    +------------+--------------------------------+---------------+
                  Solicited Information Option Flags

20.18. ICMPv6: Error in Source Routing Header

 In some cases RPL will return an ICMPv6 error message when a message
 cannot be delivered as specified by its source routing header.  This
 ICMPv6 error message is "Error in Source Routing Header".
 IANA has defined an ICMPv6 "Code" Fields Registry for ICMPv6 Message
 Types.  ICMPv6 Message Type 1 describes "Destination Unreachable"
 codes.  The "Error in Source Routing Header" code is has been
 allocated from the ICMPv6 Code Fields Registry for ICMPv6 Message
 Type 1, with a code value of 7.

20.19. Link-Local Scope Multicast Address

 The rules for assigning new IPv6 multicast addresses are defined in
 [RFC3307].  This specification requires the allocation of a new
 permanent multicast address with a link-local scope for RPL nodes
 called all-RPL-nodes, with a value of ff02::1a.

21. Acknowledgements

 The authors would like to acknowledge the review, feedback, and
 comments from Emmanuel Baccelli, Dominique Barthel, Yusuf Bashir,
 Yoav Ben-Yehezkel, Phoebus Chen, Quynh Dang, Mischa Dohler, Mathilde
 Durvy, Joakim Eriksson, Omprakash Gnawali, Manhar Goindi, Mukul
 Goyal, Ulrich Herberg, Anders Jagd, JeongGil (John) Ko, Ajay Kumar,
 Quentin Lampin, Jerry Martocci, Matteo Paris, Alexandru Petrescu,
 Joseph Reddy, Michael Richardson, Don Sturek, Joydeep Tripathi, and
 Nicolas Tsiftes.
 The authors would like to acknowledge the guidance and input provided
 by the ROLL Chairs, David Culler and JP. Vasseur, and the Area
 Director, Adrian Farrel.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 138] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 The authors would like to acknowledge prior contributions of Robert
 Assimiti, Mischa Dohler, Julien Abeille, Ryuji Wakikawa, Teco Boot,
 Patrick Wetterwald, Bryan Mclaughlin, Carlos J. Bernardos, Thomas
 Watteyne, Zach Shelby, Caroline Bontoux, Marco Molteni, Billy Moon,
 Jim Bound, Yanick Pouffary, Henning Rogge, and Arsalan Tavakoli, who
 have provided useful design considerations to RPL.
 RPL Security Design, found in Section 10, Section 19, and elsewhere
 throughout the document, is primarily the contribution of the
 Security Design Team: Tzeta Tsao, Roger Alexander, Dave Ward, Philip
 Levis, Kris Pister, Rene Struik, and Adrian Farrel.
 Thanks also to Jari Arkko and Ralph Droms for their attentive
 reviews, especially with respect to interoperability considerations
 and integration with other IETF specifications.

22. Contributors

 Stephen Dawson-Haggerty
 UC Berkeley
 Soda Hall
 Berkeley, CA  94720
 USA
 EMail: stevedh@cs.berkeley.edu

23. References

23.1. Normative References

 [RFC2119]     Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
               Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
 [RFC2460]     Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version
               6 (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.
 [RFC3447]     Jonsson, J. and B. Kaliski, "Public-Key Cryptography
               Standards (PKCS) #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications
               Version 2.1", RFC 3447, February 2003.
 [RFC4191]     Draves, R. and D. Thaler, "Default Router Preferences
               and More-Specific Routes", RFC 4191, November 2005.
 [RFC4302]     Kent, S., "IP Authentication Header", RFC 4302,
               December 2005.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 139] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 [RFC4443]     Conta, A., Deering, S., and M. Gupta, "Internet Control
               Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol
               Version 6 (IPv6) Specification", RFC 4443, March 2006.
 [RFC4861]     Narten, T., Nordmark, E., Simpson, W., and H. Soliman,
               "Neighbor Discovery for IP version 6 (IPv6)", RFC 4861,
               September 2007.
 [RFC4862]     Thomson, S., Narten, T., and T. Jinmei, "IPv6 Stateless
               Address Autoconfiguration", RFC 4862, September 2007.
 [RFC6206]     Levis, P., Clausen, T., Hui, J., Gnawali, O., and J.
               Ko, "The Trickle Algorithm", RFC 6206, March 2011.
 [RFC6275]     Perkins, C., Johnson, D., and J. Arkko, "Mobility
               Support in IPv6", RFC 6275, July 2011.
 [RFC6551]     Vasseur, JP., Ed., Kim, M., Ed., Pister, K., Dejean,
               N., and D. Barthel, "Routing Metrics Used for Path
               Calculation in Low-Power and Lossy Networks", RFC 6551,
               March 2012.
 [RFC6552]     Thubert, P., Ed., "Objective Function Zero for the
               Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks
               (RPL)", RFC 6552, March 2012.
 [RFC6553]     Hui, J. and JP. Vasseur, "The Routing Protocol for Low-
               Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) Option for Carrying RPL
               Information in Data-Plane Datagrams", RFC 6553,
               March 2012.
 [RFC6554]     Hui, J., Vasseur, JP., Culler, D., and V. Manral, "An
               IPv6 Routing Header for Source Routes with the Routing
               Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL)",
               RFC 6554, March 2012.

23.2. Informative References

 [6LOWPAN-ND]  Shelby, Z., Ed., Chakrabarti, S., and E. Nordmark,
               "Neighbor Discovery Optimization for Low Power and
               Lossy Networks (6LoWPAN)", Work in Progress,
               October 2011.
 [FIPS180]     National Institute of Standards and Technology, "FIPS
               Pub 180-3, Secure Hash Standard (SHS)", US Department
               of Commerce , February 2008,
               <http://www.nist.gov/itl/upload/fips180-3_final.pdf>.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 140] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 [Perlman83]   Perlman, R., "Fault-Tolerant Broadcast of Routing
               Information", North-Holland Computer Networks,
               Vol.7: p. 395-405, December 1983.
 [RFC1958]     Carpenter, B., "Architectural Principles of the
               Internet", RFC 1958, June 1996.
 [RFC1982]     Elz, R. and R. Bush, "Serial Number Arithmetic",
               RFC 1982, August 1996.
 [RFC2578]     McCloghrie, K., Ed., Perkins, D., Ed., and J.
               Schoenwaelder, Ed., "Structure of Management
               Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC 2578,
               April 1999.
 [RFC3307]     Haberman, B., "Allocation Guidelines for IPv6 Multicast
               Addresses", RFC 3307, August 2002.
 [RFC3410]     Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D., and B. Stewart,
               "Introduction and Applicability Statements for
               Internet-Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410,
               December 2002.
 [RFC3535]     Schoenwaelder, J., "Overview of the 2002 IAB Network
               Management Workshop", RFC 3535, May 2003.
 [RFC3610]     Whiting, D., Housley, R., and N. Ferguson, "Counter
               with CBC-MAC (CCM)", RFC 3610, September 2003.
 [RFC3819]     Karn, P., Bormann, C., Fairhurst, G., Grossman, D.,
               Ludwig, R., Mahdavi, J., Montenegro, G., Touch, J., and
               L. Wood, "Advice for Internet Subnetwork Designers",
               BCP 89, RFC 3819, July 2004.
 [RFC4101]     Rescorla, E. and IAB, "Writing Protocol Models",
               RFC 4101, June 2005.
 [RFC4915]     Psenak, P., Mirtorabi, S., Roy, A., Nguyen, L., and P.
               Pillay-Esnault, "Multi-Topology (MT) Routing in OSPF",
               RFC 4915, June 2007.
 [RFC5120]     Przygienda, T., Shen, N., and N. Sheth, "M-ISIS: Multi
               Topology (MT) Routing in Intermediate System to
               Intermediate Systems (IS-ISs)", RFC 5120,
               February 2008.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 141] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 [RFC5184]     Teraoka, F., Gogo, K., Mitsuya, K., Shibui, R., and K.
               Mitani, "Unified Layer 2 (L2) Abstractions for Layer 3
               (L3)-Driven Fast Handover", RFC 5184, May 2008.
 [RFC5548]     Dohler, M., Watteyne, T., Winter, T., and D. Barthel,
               "Routing Requirements for Urban Low-Power and Lossy
               Networks", RFC 5548, May 2009.
 [RFC5673]     Pister, K., Thubert, P., Dwars, S., and T. Phinney,
               "Industrial Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy
               Networks", RFC 5673, October 2009.
 [RFC5706]     Harrington, D., "Guidelines for Considering Operations
               and Management of New Protocols and Protocol
               Extensions", RFC 5706, November 2009.
 [RFC5826]     Brandt, A., Buron, J., and G. Porcu, "Home Automation
               Routing Requirements in Low-Power and Lossy Networks",
               RFC 5826, April 2010.
 [RFC5867]     Martocci, J., De Mil, P., Riou, N., and W. Vermeylen,
               "Building Automation Routing Requirements in Low-Power
               and Lossy Networks", RFC 5867, June 2010.
 [RFC5881]     Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding
               Detection (BFD) for IPv4 and IPv6 (Single Hop)",
               RFC 5881, June 2010.
 [RFC6130]     Clausen, T., Dearlove, C., and J. Dean, "Mobile Ad Hoc
               Network (MANET) Neighborhood Discovery Protocol
               (NHDP)", RFC 6130, April 2011.
 [ROLL-TERMS]  Vasseur, J., "Terminology in Low power And Lossy
               Networks", Work in Progress, September 2011.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 142] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

Appendix A. Example Operation

 This appendix provides some examples to illustrate the dissemination
 of addressing information and prefixes with RPL.  The examples depict
 information being distributed with PIOs and RIOs and the use of DIO
 and DAO messages.  Note that this appendix is not normative, and that
 the specific details of a RPL addressing plan and autoconfiguration
 may vary according to specific implementations.  RPL merely provides
 a vehicle for disseminating information that may be built upon and
 used by other mechanisms.
 Note that these examples illustrate use of address autoconfiguration
 schemes supported by information distributed within RPL.  However, if
 an implementation includes another address autoconfiguration scheme,
 RPL nodes might be configured not to set the 'A' flag in PIO options,
 though the PIO can still be used to distribute prefix and addressing
 information.

A.1. Example Operation in Storing Mode with Node-Owned Prefixes

 Figure 32 illustrates the logical addressing architecture of a simple
 RPL network operating in Storing mode.  In this example, each Node,
 A, B, C, and D, owns its own prefix and makes that prefix available
 for address autoconfiguration by on-link devices.  (This is conveyed
 by setting the 'A' flag and the 'L' flag in the PIO of the DIO
 messages).  Node A owns the prefix A::/64, Node B owns B::/64, and so
 on.  Node B autoconfigures an on-link address with respect to Node A,
 A::B.  Nodes C and D similarly autoconfigure on-link addresses from
 Node B's prefix, B::C and B::D, respectively.  Nodes have the option
 of setting the 'R' flag and publishing their address within the
 Prefix field of the PIO.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 143] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

                            +-------------+
                            |    Root     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node A    |
                            |             |
                            |    A::A     |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                                   |
                            +------+------+
                            |    A::B     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node B    |
                            |             |
                            |    B::B     |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                    .--------------+--------------.
                   /                               \
                  /                                 \
          +------+------+                     +------+------+
          |    B::C     |                     |    B::D     |
          |             |                     |             |
          |   Node C    |                     |   Node D    |
          |             |                     |             |
          |    C::C     |                     |    D::D     |
          +-------------+                     +-------------+
           Figure 32: Storing Mode with Node-Owned Prefixes

A.1.1. DIO Messages and PIO

 Node A, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Set
 'R' flag:       Clear
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::
 Node B, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Set
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         B::B

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 144] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node C, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Set
 'R' flag:       Clear
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         C::
 Node D, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Set
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         D::D

A.1.2. DAO Messages

 Node B will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target B::/64
     o  Target C::/64
     o  Target D::/64
 Node C will send DAO messages to Node B with the following
 information:
     o  Target C::/64
 Node D will send DAO messages to Node B with the following
 information:
     o  Target D::/64

A.1.3. Routing Information Base

 Node A will conceptually collect the following information into its
 Routing Information Base (RIB):
     o  A::/64 connected
     o  B::/64 via B's link local
     o  C::/64 via B's link local
     o  D::/64 via B's link local
 Node B will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via A's link local
     o  B::/64 connected
     o  C::/64 via C's link local
     o  D::/64 via D's link local

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 145] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node C will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  C::/64 connected
 Node D will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  D::/64 connected

A.2. Example Operation in Storing Mode with Subnet-Wide Prefix

 Figure 33 illustrates the logical addressing architecture of a simple
 RPL network operating in Storing mode.  In this example, the root
 Node A sources a prefix that is used for address autoconfiguration
 over the entire RPL subnet.  (This is conveyed by setting the 'A'
 flag and clearing the 'L' flag in the PIO of the DIO messages.)
 Nodes A, B, C, and D all autoconfigure to the prefix A::/64.  Nodes
 have the option of setting the 'R' flag and publishing their address
 within the Prefix field of the PIO.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 146] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

                            +-------------+
                            |    Root     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node A    |
                            |    A::A     |
                            |             |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                                   |
                            +------+------+
                            |             |
                            |   Node B    |
                            |    A::B     |
                            |             |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                    .--------------+--------------.
                   /                               \
                  /                                 \
          +------+------+                     +------+------+
          |             |                     |             |
          |   Node C    |                     |   Node D    |
          |    A::C     |                     |    A::D     |
          |             |                     |             |
          +-------------+                     +-------------+
            Figure 33: Storing Mode with Subnet-Wide Prefix

A.2.1. DIO Messages and PIO

 Node A, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Clear
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::
 Node B, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::B

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 147] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node C, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Clear
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::
 Node D, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::D

A.2.2. DAO Messages

 Node B will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::B/128
     o  Target A::C/128
     o  Target A::D/128
 Node C will send DAO messages to Node B with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::C/128
 Node D will send DAO messages to Node B with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::D/128

A.2.3. Routing Information Base

 Node A will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  A::A/128 connected
     o  A::B/128 via B's link local
     o  A::C/128 via B's link local
     o  A::D/128 via B's link local
 Node B will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via A's link local
     o  A::B/128 connected
     o  A::C/128 via C's link local
     o  A::D/128 via D's link local

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 148] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node C will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  A::C/128 connected
 Node D will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  A::D/128 connected

A.3. Example Operation in Non-Storing Mode with Node-Owned Prefixes

 Figure 34 illustrates the logical addressing architecture of a simple
 RPL network operating in Non-Storing mode.  In this example, each
 Node, A, B, C, and D, owns its own prefix, and makes that prefix
 available for address autoconfiguration by on-link devices.  (This is
 conveyed by setting the 'A' flag and the 'L' flag in the PIO of the
 DIO messages.)  Node A owns the prefix A::/64, Node B owns B::/64,
 and so on.  Node B autoconfigures an on-link address with respect to
 Node A, A::B.  Nodes C and D similarly autoconfigure on-link
 addresses from Node B's prefix, B::C and B::D, respectively.  Nodes
 have the option of setting the 'R' flag and publishing their address
 within the Prefix field of the PIO.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 149] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

                            +-------------+
                            |    Root     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node A    |
                            |             |
                            |    A::A     |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                                   |
                            +------+------+
                            |    A::B     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node B    |
                            |             |
                            |    B::B     |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                    .--------------+--------------.
                   /                               \
                  /                                 \
          +------+------+                     +------+------+
          |    B::C     |                     |    B::D     |
          |             |                     |             |
          |   Node C    |                     |   Node D    |
          |             |                     |             |
          |    C::C     |                     |    D::D     |
          +-------------+                     +-------------+
         Figure 34: Non-Storing Mode with Node-Owned Prefixes

A.3.1. DIO Messages and PIO

 The PIO contained in the DIO messages in the Non-Storing mode with
 node-owned prefixes can be considered to be identical to those in the
 Storing mode with node-owned prefixes case (Appendix A.1.1).

A.3.2. DAO Messages

 Node B will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target B::/64, Transit A::B
 Node C will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target C::/64, Transit B::C

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 150] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node D will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target D::/64, Transit B::D

A.3.3. Routing Information Base

 Node A will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB.  Note that Node A has enough information to construct source
 routes by doing recursive lookups into the RIB:
     o  A::/64 connected
     o  B::/64 via A::B
     o  C::/64 via B::C
     o  D::/64 via B::D
 Node B will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via A's link local
     o  B::/64 connected
 Node C will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  C::/64 connected
 Node D will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  D::/64 connected

A.4. Example Operation in Non-Storing Mode with Subnet-Wide Prefix

 Figure 35 illustrates the logical addressing architecture of a simple
 RPL network operating in Non-Storing mode.  In this example, the root
 Node A sources a prefix that is used for address autoconfiguration
 over the entire RPL subnet.  (This is conveyed by setting the 'A'
 flag and clearing the 'L' flag in the PIO of the DIO messages.)
 Nodes A, B, C, and D all autoconfigure to the prefix A::/64.  Nodes
 must set the 'R' flag and publish their address within the Prefix
 field of the PIO, in order to inform their children which address to
 use in the transit option.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 151] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

                            +-------------+
                            |    Root     |
                            |             |
                            |   Node A    |
                            |    A::A     |
                            |             |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                                   |
                            +------+------+
                            |             |
                            |   Node B    |
                            |    A::B     |
                            |             |
                            +------+------+
                                   |
                                   |
                    .--------------+--------------.
                   /                               \
                  /                                 \
          +------+------+                     +------+------+
          |             |                     |             |
          |   Node C    |                     |   Node D    |
          |    A::C     |                     |    A::D     |
          |             |                     |             |
          +-------------+                     +-------------+
          Figure 35: Non-Storing Mode with Subnet-Wide Prefix

A.4.1. DIO Messages and PIO

 Node A, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::A
 Node B, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::B

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 152] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node C, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::C
 Node D, for example, will send DIO messages with a PIO as follows:
 'A' flag:       Set
 'L' flag:       Clear
 'R' flag:       Set
 Prefix Length:  64
 Prefix:         A::D

A.4.2. DAO Messages

 Node B will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::B/128, Transit A::A
 Node C will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::C/128, Transit A::B
 Node D will send DAO messages to Node A with the following
 information:
     o  Target A::D/128, Transit A::B

A.4.3. Routing Information Base

 Node A will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB.  Note that Node A has enough information to construct source
 routes by doing recursive lookups into the RIB:
     o  A::A/128 connected
     o  A::B/128 via A::A
     o  A::C/128 via A::B
     o  A::D/128 via A::B
 Node B will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via A's link local
     o  A::B/128 connected
 Node C will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  A::C/128 connected

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 153] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Node D will conceptually collect the following information into its
 RIB:
     o  ::/0 via B's link local
     o  A::D/128 connected

A.5. Example with External Prefixes

 Consider the simple network illustrated in Figure 36.  In this
 example, there are a group of routers participating in a RPL network:
 a DODAG root, Nodes A, Y, and Z.  The DODAG root and Node Z also have
 connectivity to different external network domains (i.e., external to
 the RPL network).  Note that those external networks could be RPL
 networks or another type of network altogether.
                        RPL Network        +-------------------+
                         RPL::/64          |                   |
                                           |     External      |
            [RPL::Root]    (Root)----------+      Prefix       |
                             |             |    EXT_1::/64     |
                             |             |                   |
                             |             +-------------------+
               [RPL::A]     (A)
                             :
                             :
                             :
               [RPL::Y]     (Y)
                             |             +-------------------+
                             |             |                   |
                             |             |     External      |
               [RPL::Z]     (Z)------------+      Prefix       |
                             :             |    EXT_2::/64     |
                             :             |                   |
                             :             +-------------------+
                   Figure 36: Simple Network Example
 In this example, the DODAG root makes a prefix available to the RPL
 subnet for address autoconfiguration.  Here, the entire RPL subnet
 uses that same prefix, RPL::/64, for address autoconfiguration,
 though in other implementations more complex/hybrid schemes could be
 employed.
 The DODAG root has connectivity to an external (with respect to that
 RPL network) prefix EXT_1::/64.  The DODAG root may have learned of
 connectivity to this prefix, for example, via explicit configuration
 or IPv6 ND on a non-RPL interface.  The DODAG root is configured to
 announce information on the connectivity to this prefix.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 154] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Similarly, Node Z has connectivity to an external prefix EXT_2::/64.
 Node Z also has a sub-DODAG underneath of it.
 1.  The DODAG root adds a RIO to its DIO messages.  The RIO contains
     the external prefix EXT_1::/64.  This information may be repeated
     in the DIO messages emitted by the other nodes within the DODAG.
     Thus, the reachability to the prefix EXT_1::/64 is disseminated
     down the DODAG.
 2.  Node Z may advertise reachability to the Target network
     EXT_2::/64 by sending DAO messages using EXT_2::/64 as a Target
     in the Target option and itself (Node Z) as a parent in the
     Transit Information option.  (In Storing mode, that Transit
     Information option does not need to contain the address of Node
     Z).  A non-storing root then becomes aware of the 1-hop link
     (Node Z -- EXT_2::/64) for use in constructing source routes.
     Node Z may additionally advertise its reachability to EXT_2::/64
     to nodes in its sub-DODAG by sending DIO messages with a PIO,
     with the 'A' flag cleared.

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 155] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

Authors' Addresses

 Tim Winter (editor)
 EMail: wintert@acm.org
 Pascal Thubert (editor)
 Cisco Systems
 Village d'Entreprises Green Side
 400, Avenue de Roumanille
 Batiment T3
 Biot - Sophia Antipolis  06410
 France
 Phone: +33 497 23 26 34
 EMail: pthubert@cisco.com
 Anders Brandt
 Sigma Designs
 Emdrupvej 26A, 1.
 Copenhagen  DK-2100
 Denmark
 EMail: abr@sdesigns.dk
 Jonathan W. Hui
 Arch Rock Corporation
 501 2nd St., Suite 410
 San Francisco, CA  94107
 USA
 EMail: jhui@archrock.com
 Richard Kelsey
 Ember Corporation
 Boston, MA
 USA
 Phone: +1 617 951 1225
 EMail: kelsey@ember.com

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 156] RFC 6550 RPL March 2012

 Philip Levis
 Stanford University
 358 Gates Hall, Stanford University
 Stanford, CA  94305-9030
 USA
 EMail: pal@cs.stanford.edu
 Kris Pister
 Dust Networks
 30695 Huntwood Ave.
 Hayward, CA  94544
 USA
 EMail: kpister@dustnetworks.com
 Rene Struik
 Struik Security Consultancy
 EMail: rstruik.ext@gmail.com
 JP. Vasseur
 Cisco Systems
 11, Rue Camille Desmoulins
 Issy Les Moulineaux  92782
 France
 EMail: jpv@cisco.com
 Roger K. Alexander
 Cooper Power Systems
 20201 Century Blvd., Suite 250
 Germantown, MD  20874
 USA
 Phone: +1 240 454 9817
 EMail: roger.alexander@cooperindustries.com

Winter, et al. Standards Track [Page 157]

/data/webs/external/dokuwiki/data/pages/rfc/rfc6550.txt · Last modified: 2012/03/26 10:41 by 127.0.0.1

Donate Powered by PHP Valid HTML5 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki