From acb318e1d702d6ea9ca79257abd09473c091fc9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Anders Svensson Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:50:41 +0100 Subject: Add RFC 6733 commentary to SoC chapter The commentary is not yet complete. It currently stops at chapter 4 of the RFC. --- lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc.xml | 6 +- lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc_rfc6733.xml | 8692 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ lib/diameter/doc/src/seealso.ent | 5 +- 3 files changed, 8699 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) create mode 100644 lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc_rfc6733.xml (limited to 'lib/diameter/doc/src') diff --git a/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc.xml b/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc.xml index 16f6b9d5bb..4f5419122f 100644 --- a/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc.xml +++ b/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc.xml @@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ %also; ]> - +
2011 -2012 +2013 Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved. @@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ just be unnecessary configuration of a value that it has no control over.

+ + diff --git a/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc_rfc6733.xml b/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc_rfc6733.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8d85569650 --- /dev/null +++ b/lib/diameter/doc/src/diameter_soc_rfc6733.xml @@ -0,0 +1,8692 @@ + + + + +gen_sctp(3)'> + gen_tcp(3)'> + service'> + capabilities'> + events'> + No comment.

'> + + %also; +]> + +
+Commentary + +

+A more detailed commentary on &the_rfc; follows. +Its purpose is to (hopefully) clarify not only what is supported but +how, given that semantics and features discussed in the RFC are not +solely the responsibility of the diameter application: +in many cases much depends on the configuration a user passes to +diameter, the implementation of &man_app; callback modules in +particular.

+ +

+Comments apply to all text following the preceding comment. +Be sure to distinguish between capitalized Diameter, the +protocol defined by the RFC, and lowercase diameter, the +Erlang application to which the commentary applies.

+ + +

+The commentary is not yet complete. +Comments currently stop at chapter 4.

+ + +
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 6]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+1.  Introduction
+
+   Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) protocols such as
+   TACACS [RFC1492] and RADIUS [RFC2865] were initially deployed to
+   provide dial-up PPP [RFC1661] and terminal server access.  Over time,
+   AAA support was needed on many new access technologies, the scale and
+   complexity of AAA networks grew, and AAA was also used on new
+   applications (such as voice over IP).  This led to new demands on AAA
+   protocols.
+
+ +

+Note that diameter implements the Diameter protocol as defined in +&the_rfc;. +It also supported the previous version of the protocol, as defined in +RFC 3588, when there are differences. +(Which will be noted below.) +It does not support RADIUS.

+ +
+
+   Network access requirements for AAA protocols are summarized in
+   Aboba, et al. [RFC2989].  These include:
+
+   Failover
+
+      [RFC2865] does not define failover mechanisms and, as a result,
+      failover behavior differs between implementations.  In order to
+      provide well-defined failover behavior, Diameter supports
+      application-layer acknowledgements and defines failover algorithms
+      and the associated state machine.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+   Transmission-level security
+
+      RADIUS [RFC2865] defines an application-layer authentication and
+      integrity scheme that is required only for use with response
+      packets.  While [RFC2869] defines an additional authentication and
+      integrity mechanism, use is only required during Extensible
+      Authentication Protocol (EAP) [RFC3748] sessions.  While attribute
+      hiding is supported, [RFC2865] does not provide support for per-
+      packet confidentiality.  In accounting, [RFC2866] assumes that
+      replay protection is provided by the backend billing server rather
+      than within the protocol itself.
+
+      While [RFC3162] defines the use of IPsec with RADIUS, support for
+      IPsec is not required.  In order to provide universal support for
+      transmission-level security, and enable both intra- and inter-
+      domain AAA deployments, Diameter provides support for TLS/TCP and
+      DTLS/SCTP.  Security is discussed in Section 13.
+
+ +

+Whether or not IPsec is used is transparent to diameter.

+ +

+The transport protocol used on a given peer connection is also +transparent to diameter in that transport to diameter is simply a +module that implements the transport protocol documented in +&man_transport;. +A diameter user configures this module as the &mod_transport_opt; +transport_module.

+ +

+While a user can implement their own transport modules, diameter +includes implementations for TCP and SCTP: +&man_tcp; based on &gen_tcp; and &man_sctp; based on &gen_sctp;. +The former supports TLS but the latter does not currently support +DTLS.

+ +
+
+   Reliable transport
+
+      RADIUS runs over UDP, and does not define retransmission behavior;
+      as a result, reliability varies between implementations.  As
+      described in [RFC2975], this is a major issue in accounting, where
+      packet loss may translate directly into revenue loss.  In order to
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 7]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      provide well-defined transport behavior, Diameter runs over
+      reliable transport mechanisms (TCP, Stream Control Transmission
+      Protocol (SCTP)) as defined in [RFC3539].
+
+   Agent support
+
+      RADIUS does not provide for explicit support for agents, including
+      proxies, redirects, and relays.  Since the expected behavior is
+      not defined, it varies between implementations.  Diameter defines
+      agent behavior explicitly; this is described in Section 2.8.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+   Server-initiated messages
+
+      While server-initiated messages are defined in RADIUS [RFC5176],
+      support is optional.  This makes it difficult to implement
+      features such as unsolicited disconnect or re-authentication/
+      re-authorization on demand across a heterogeneous deployment.  To
+      address this issue, support for server-initiated messages is
+      mandatory in Diameter.
+
+ +

+A diameter user can both send and receive messages.

+ +
+
+   Transition support
+
+      While Diameter does not share a common protocol data unit (PDU)
+      with RADIUS, considerable effort has been expended in enabling
+      backward compatibility with RADIUS so that the two protocols may
+      be deployed in the same network.  Initially, it is expected that
+      Diameter will be deployed within new network devices, as well as
+      within gateways enabling communication between legacy RADIUS
+      devices and Diameter agents.  This capability enables Diameter
+      support to be added to legacy networks, by addition of a gateway
+      or server speaking both RADIUS and Diameter.
+
+ +

+RADIUS Attributes can be redefined as Diameter AVP's using diameter's +&man_dict; interface but diameter provides no such definitions.

+ +
+
+   In addition to addressing the above requirements, Diameter also
+   provides support for the following:
+
+   Capability negotiation
+
+      RADIUS does not support error messages, capability negotiation, or
+      a mandatory/non-mandatory flag for attributes.  Since RADIUS
+      clients and servers are not aware of each other's capabilities,
+      they may not be able to successfully negotiate a mutually
+      acceptable service or, in some cases, even be aware of what
+      service has been implemented.  Diameter includes support for error
+      handling (Section 7), capability negotiation (Section 5.3), and
+      mandatory/non-mandatory Attribute-Value Pairs (AVPs)
+      (Section 4.1).
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 8]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Peer discovery and configuration
+
+      RADIUS implementations typically require that the name or address
+      of servers or clients be manually configured, along with the
+      corresponding shared secrets.  This results in a large
+      administrative burden and creates the temptation to reuse the
+      RADIUS shared secret, which can result in major security
+      vulnerabilities if the Request Authenticator is not globally and
+      temporally unique as required in [RFC2865].  Through DNS, Diameter
+      enables dynamic discovery of peers (see Section 5.2).  Derivation
+      of dynamic session keys is enabled via transmission-level
+      security.
+
+   Over time, the capabilities of Network Access Server (NAS) devices
+   have increased substantially.  As a result, while Diameter is a
+   considerably more sophisticated protocol than RADIUS, it remains
+   feasible to implement it within embedded devices.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+1.1.  Diameter Protocol
+
+   The Diameter base protocol provides the following facilities:
+
+   o  Ability to exchange messages and deliver AVPs
+
+ +

+There are two interfaces directly involved in message exchange when +using diameter: the function &mod_call; for sending outgoing requests, +and the application callback interface, documented in &man_app; for +receiving incoming request and answers.

+ +
+
+   o  Capabilities negotiation
+
+ +

+Capabilities negotiation is the responsibility of diameter: +a user configures a diameter service and/or transport with +&capabilities; to provide AVP values for CER and CEA messages but it +is diameter itself that sends these messages. +A user receives notification of a successful capabilities exchange by +way of &app_peer_up; callbacks.

+ +
+
+   o  Error notification
+
+ +

+A user can subscribe to &events;, using &mod_subscribe;, in order to +receive notification of various failures. +Errors in Diameter messaging are communicated via the application +callbacks &app_handle_request;, &app_handle_answer; and +&app_handle_error;.

+ + +
+
+   o  Extensibility, required in [RFC2989], through addition of new
+      applications, commands, and AVPs
+
+ +

+Support for applications, commands and AVP's is extensible using +diameter's dictionary interface, as documented in &man_dict;. +Dictionaries are compiled to Erlang encode/decode modules using +&man_compile; or &man_make;.

+ +
+
+   o  Basic services necessary for applications, such as the handling of
+      user sessions or accounting
+
+ +

+Compiled dictionaries are provided for the RFC 3588 and RFC 6733 +Diameter applications: common, base accounting and relay. +Dictionaries for a number of standardized +applications are provided in uncompiled form below the examples +subdirectory of the diameter application directory.

+ +
+
+   All data delivered by the protocol is in the form of AVPs.  Some of
+   these AVP values are used by the Diameter protocol itself, while
+   others deliver data associated with particular applications that
+   employ Diameter.  AVPs may be arbitrarily added to Diameter messages,
+   the only restriction being that the Command Code Format (CCF)
+   specification (Section 3.2) be satisfied.  AVPs are used by the base
+   Diameter protocol to support the following required features:
+
+   o  Transporting of user authentication information, for the purposes
+      of enabling the Diameter server to authenticate the user
+
+   o  Transporting of service-specific authorization information,
+      between client and servers, allowing the peers to decide whether a
+      user's access request should be granted
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                    [Page 9]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  Exchanging resource usage information, which may be used for
+      accounting purposes, capacity planning, etc.
+
+   o  Routing, relaying, proxying, and redirecting of Diameter messages
+      through a server hierarchy
+
+   The Diameter base protocol satisfies the minimum requirements for a
+   AAA protocol, as specified by [RFC2989].  The base protocol may be
+   used by itself for accounting purposes only, or it may be used with a
+   Diameter application, such as Mobile IPv4 [RFC4004], or network
+   access [RFC4005].  It is also possible for the base protocol to be
+   extended for use in new applications, via the addition of new
+   commands or AVPs.  The initial focus of Diameter was network access
+   and accounting applications.  A truly generic AAA protocol used by
+   many applications might provide functionality not provided by
+   Diameter.  Therefore, it is imperative that the designers of new
+   applications understand their requirements before using Diameter.
+   See Section 1.3.4 for more information on Diameter applications.
+
+   Any node can initiate a request.  In that sense, Diameter is a peer-
+   to-peer protocol.  In this document, a Diameter client is a device at
+   the edge of the network that performs access control, such as a
+   Network Access Server (NAS) or a Foreign Agent (FA).  A Diameter
+   client generates Diameter messages to request authentication,
+   authorization, and accounting services for the user.  A Diameter
+   agent is a node that does not provide local user authentication or
+   authorization services; agents include proxies, redirects, and relay
+   agents.  A Diameter server performs authentication and/or
+   authorization of the user.  A Diameter node may act as an agent for
+   certain requests while acting as a server for others.
+
+   The Diameter protocol also supports server-initiated messages, such
+   as a request to abort service to a particular user.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+1.1.1.  Description of the Document Set
+
+   The Diameter specification consists of an updated version of the base
+   protocol specification (this document) and the Transport Profile
+   [RFC3539].  This document obsoletes both RFC 3588 and RFC 5719.  A
+   summary of the base protocol updates included in this document can be
+   found in Section 1.1.3.
+
+   This document defines the base protocol specification for AAA, which
+   includes support for accounting.  There are also a myriad of
+   applications documents describing applications that use this base
+   specification for Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.
+   These application documents specify how to use the Diameter protocol
+   within the context of their application.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 10]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The Transport Profile document [RFC3539] discusses transport layer
+   issues that arise with AAA protocols and recommendations on how to
+   overcome these issues.  This document also defines the Diameter
+   failover algorithm and state machine.
+
+   "Clarifications on the Routing of Diameter Request Based on the
+   Username and the Realm" [RFC5729] defines specific behavior on how to
+   route requests based on the content of the User-Name AVP (Attribute
+   Value Pair).
+
+1.1.2.  Conventions Used in This Document
+
+   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
+   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
+   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+1.1.3.  Changes from RFC 3588
+
+   This document obsoletes RFC 3588 but is fully backward compatible
+   with that document.  The changes introduced in this document focus on
+   fixing issues that have surfaced during the implementation of
+   Diameter (RFC 3588).  An overview of some the major changes are given
+   below.
+
+ +

+RFC 6733 is not fully backwards compatible with RFC 3588. +(For example, in what values of Result-Code values are permissible with +the E-bit.) +The implications of incompatibilities for diameter are noted where +appropriate.

+ +
+
+   o  Deprecated the use of the Inband-Security AVP for negotiating
+      Transport Layer Security (TLS) [RFC5246].  It has been generally
+      considered that bootstrapping of TLS via Inband-Security AVP
+      creates certain security risks because it does not completely
+      protect the information carried in the CER/CEA (Capabilities-
+      Exchange-Request/Capabilities-Exchange-Answer).  This version of
+      Diameter adopts the common approach of defining a well-known
+      secured port that peers should use when communicating via TLS/TCP
+      and DTLS/SCTP.  This new approach augments the existing in-band
+      security negotiation, but it does not completely replace it.  The
+      old method is kept for backward compatibility reasons.
+
+ +

+&man_tcp; supports both methods of negotiating TLS: +bootstrapping via Inband-Security and directly following connection +establishment.

+ +
+
+   o  Deprecated the exchange of CER/CEA messages in the open state.
+      This feature was implied in the peer state machine table of RFC
+      3588, but it was not clearly defined anywhere else in that
+      document.  As work on this document progressed, it became clear
+      that the multiplicity of meaning and use of Application-Id AVPs in
+      the CER/CEA messages (and the messages themselves) is seen as an
+      abuse of the Diameter extensibility rules and thus required
+      simplification.  Capabilities exchange in the open state has been
+      re-introduced in a separate specification [RFC6737], which clearly
+      defines new commands for this feature.
+
+ +

+Capabilities exchange in the open state is not supported: an incoming +CER in the open state will cause diameter to ask the relevant +transport process to terminate, which implies the loss of the peer +connection in the case of &man_tcp; and &man_sctp;.

+ +

+Capabilities update, as defined by RFC 6737, is not yet supported. +Support will require diameter to handle CUR/CUA in the same way that +it handles CER/CEA.

+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 11]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  Simplified security requirements.  The use of a secured transport
+      for exchanging Diameter messages remains mandatory.  However, TLS/
+      TCP and DTLS/SCTP have become the primary methods of securing
+      Diameter with IPsec as a secondary alternative.  See Section 13
+      for details.  The support for the End-to-End security framework
+      (E2E-Sequence AVP and 'P'-bit in the AVP header) has also been
+      deprecated.
+
+ +

+The End-to-End security framework is not supported since it's use is +largely unspecified: diameter will set the P-bit in outgoing AVP's as +directed by the relevant dictionary and/or &app_prepare_request; or +&app_handle_request; callbacks, but whether or not the P-bit is set on +incoming AVP's has no consequence.

+ +

+As noted above, DTLS is not currently supported and whether or not +IPsec is used is transparent to diameter.

+ +
+
+   o  Changed Diameter extensibility.  This includes fixes to the
+      Diameter extensibility description (Section 1.3 and others) to
+      better aid Diameter application designers; in addition, the new
+      specification relaxes the policy with respect to the allocation of
+      Command Codes for vendor-specific uses.
+
+   o  Clarified Application Id usage.  Clarify the proper use of
+      Application Id information, which can be found in multiple places
+      within a Diameter message.  This includes correlating Application
+      Ids found in the message headers and AVPs.  These changes also
+      clearly specify the proper Application Id value to use for
+      specific base protocol messages (ASR/ASA, STR/STA) as well as
+      clarify the content and use of Vendor-Specific-Application-Id.
+
+   o  Clarified routing fixes.  This document more clearly specifies
+      what information (AVPs and Application Ids) can be used for making
+      general routing decisions.  A rule for the prioritization of
+      redirect routing criteria when multiple route entries are found
+      via redirects has also been added (see Section 6.13).
+
+   o  Simplified Diameter peer discovery.  The Diameter discovery
+      process now supports only widely used discovery schemes; the rest
+      have been deprecated (see Section 5.2 for details).
+
+ +

+Peer discover is not currently supported: peers to which a node should +connect must be configured. +Connection requests are accepted from arbitrary peers but a +&mod_transport_opt; capabilities_cb can be used to reject a +peer based on an incoming CER or CEA.

+ +
+
+   There are many other miscellaneous fixes that have been introduced in
+   this document that may not be considered significant, but they have
+   value nonetheless.  Examples are removal of obsolete types, fixes to
+   the state machine, clarification of the election process, message
+   validation, fixes to Failed-AVP and Result-Code AVP values, etc.  All
+   of the errata filed against RFC 3588 prior to the publication of this
+   document have been addressed.  A comprehensive list of changes is not
+   shown here for practical reasons.
+
+1.2.  Terminology
+
+   AAA
+
+      Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 12]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   ABNF
+
+      Augmented Backus-Naur Form [RFC5234].  A metalanguage with its own
+      formal syntax and rules.  It is based on the Backus-Naur Form and
+      is used to define message exchanges in a bi-directional
+      communications protocol.
+
+   Accounting
+
+      The act of collecting information on resource usage for the
+      purpose of capacity planning, auditing, billing, or cost
+      allocation.
+
+   Accounting Record
+
+      An accounting record represents a summary of the resource
+      consumption of a user over the entire session.  Accounting servers
+      creating the accounting record may do so by processing interim
+      accounting events or accounting events from several devices
+      serving the same user.
+
+   Authentication
+
+      The act of verifying the identity of an entity (subject).
+
+   Authorization
+
+      The act of determining whether a requesting entity (subject) will
+      be allowed access to a resource (object).
+
+   Attribute-Value Pair (AVP)
+
+      The Diameter protocol consists of a header followed by one or more
+      Attribute-Value-Pairs (AVPs).  An AVP includes a header and is
+      used to encapsulate protocol-specific data (e.g., routing
+      information) as well as authentication, authorization, or
+      accounting information.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+   Command Code Format (CCF)
+
+      A modified form of ABNF used to define Diameter commands (see
+      Section 3.2).
+
+ +

+The @messages section of the &man_dict; format has the CCF as +content.

+ +
+
+   Diameter Agent
+
+      A Diameter Agent is a Diameter node that provides relay, proxy,
+      redirect, or translation services.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 13]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Diameter Client
+
+      A Diameter client is a Diameter node that supports Diameter client
+      applications as well as the base protocol.  Diameter clients are
+      often implemented in devices situated at the edge of a network and
+      provide access control services for that network.  Typical
+      examples of Diameter clients include the Network Access Server
+      (NAS) and the Mobile IP Foreign Agent (FA).
+
+   Diameter Node
+
+      A Diameter node is a host process that implements the Diameter
+      protocol and acts as either a client, an agent, or a server.
+
+   Diameter Peer
+
+      Two Diameter nodes sharing a direct TCP or SCTP transport
+      connection are called Diameter peers.
+
+   Diameter Server
+
+      A Diameter server is a Diameter node that handles authentication,
+      authorization, and accounting requests for a particular realm.  By
+      its very nature, a Diameter server must support Diameter server
+      applications in addition to the base protocol.
+
+ +

+A Diameter Node is implemented by configuring a service +using &mod_start_service; and one or more transports using +&mod_add_transport;. +The service typically represents a Diameter Node but since +capabilities can be configured on individual transports it's more +accurate to say that the node is a collection of transports +advertising the same Origin-Host.

+ +

+The role of a node (agent, client or server) is not something that's +configured explicitly. +Transports are either connecting or listening, depending on whether +diameter should establish a peer connection and send CER or accept +connections and receive CER, but the role a node implements depends +largely on dictionary configuration and &man_app; callback +implementation.

+ +
+
+   Downstream
+
+      Downstream is used to identify the direction of a particular
+      Diameter message from the home server towards the Diameter client.
+
+   Home Realm
+
+      A Home Realm is the administrative domain with which the user
+      maintains an account relationship.
+
+   Home Server
+
+      A Diameter server that serves the Home Realm.
+
+   Interim Accounting
+
+      An interim accounting message provides a snapshot of usage during
+      a user's session.  Typically, it is implemented in order to
+      provide for partial accounting of a user's session in case a
+      device reboot or other network problem prevents the delivery of a
+      session summary message or session record.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 14]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Local Realm
+
+      A local realm is the administrative domain providing services to a
+      user.  An administrative domain may act as a local realm for
+      certain users while being a home realm for others.
+
+   Multi-session
+
+      A multi-session represents a logical linking of several sessions.
+      Multi-sessions are tracked by using the Acct-Multi-Session-Id.  An
+      example of a multi-session would be a Multi-link PPP bundle.  Each
+      leg of the bundle would be a session while the entire bundle would
+      be a multi-session.
+
+   Network Access Identifier
+
+      The Network Access Identifier, or NAI [RFC4282], is used in the
+      Diameter protocol to extract a user's identity and realm.  The
+      identity is used to identify the user during authentication and/or
+      authorization while the realm is used for message routing
+      purposes.
+
+   Proxy Agent or Proxy
+
+      In addition to forwarding requests and responses, proxies make
+      policy decisions relating to resource usage and provisioning.
+      Typically, this is accomplished by tracking the state of NAS
+      devices.  While proxies usually do not respond to client requests
+      prior to receiving a response from the server, they may originate
+      Reject messages in cases where policies are violated.  As a
+      result, proxies need to understand the semantics of the messages
+      passing through them, and they may not support all Diameter
+      applications.
+
+   Realm
+
+      The string in the NAI that immediately follows the '@' character.
+      NAI realm names are required to be unique and are piggybacked on
+      the administration of the DNS namespace.  Diameter makes use of
+      the realm, also loosely referred to as domain, to determine
+      whether messages can be satisfied locally or whether they must be
+      routed or redirected.  In RADIUS, realm names are not necessarily
+      piggybacked on the DNS namespace but may be independent of it.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 15]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Real-Time Accounting
+
+      Real-time accounting involves the processing of information on
+      resource usage within a defined time window.  Typically, time
+      constraints are imposed in order to limit financial risk.  The
+      Diameter Credit-Control Application [RFC4006] is an example of an
+      application that defines real-time accounting functionality.
+
+   Relay Agent or Relay
+
+      Relays forward requests and responses based on routing-related
+      AVPs and routing table entries.  Since relays do not make policy
+      decisions, they do not examine or alter non-routing AVPs.  As a
+      result, relays never originate messages, do not need to understand
+      the semantics of messages or non-routing AVPs, and are capable of
+      handling any Diameter application or message type.  Since relays
+      make decisions based on information in routing AVPs and realm
+      forwarding tables, they do not keep state on NAS resource usage or
+      sessions in progress.
+
+   Redirect Agent
+
+      Rather than forwarding requests and responses between clients and
+      servers, redirect agents refer clients to servers and allow them
+      to communicate directly.  Since redirect agents do not sit in the
+      forwarding path, they do not alter any AVPs transiting between
+      client and server.  Redirect agents do not originate messages and
+      are capable of handling any message type, although they may be
+      configured only to redirect messages of certain types, while
+      acting as relay or proxy agents for other types.  As with relay
+      agents, redirect agents do not keep state with respect to sessions
+      or NAS resources.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+   Session
+
+      A session is a related progression of events devoted to a
+      particular activity.  Diameter application documents provide
+      guidelines as to when a session begins and ends.  All Diameter
+      packets with the same Session-Id are considered to be part of the
+      same session.
+
+ +

+Sessions are not something that diameter is aware of. +The function &mod_session_id; can be used to construct appropriate +values for Session-Id AVP's but logic connecting events in the same +session is the responsibility of the diameter user.

+ +
+
+   Stateful Agent
+
+      A stateful agent is one that maintains session state information,
+      by keeping track of all authorized active sessions.  Each
+      authorized session is bound to a particular service, and its state
+      is considered active either until it is notified otherwise or
+      until expiration.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 16]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Sub-session
+
+      A sub-session represents a distinct service (e.g., QoS or data
+      characteristics) provided to a given session.  These services may
+      happen concurrently (e.g., simultaneous voice and data transfer
+      during the same session) or serially.  These changes in sessions
+      are tracked with the Accounting-Sub-Session-Id.
+
+   Transaction State
+
+      The Diameter protocol requires that agents maintain transaction
+      state, which is used for failover purposes.  Transaction state
+      implies that upon forwarding a request, the Hop-by-Hop Identifier
+      is saved; the field is replaced with a locally unique identifier,
+      which is restored to its original value when the corresponding
+      answer is received.  The request's state is released upon receipt
+      of the answer.  A stateless agent is one that only maintains
+      transaction state.
+
+   Translation Agent
+
+      A translation agent (TLA in Figure 4) is a stateful Diameter node
+      that performs protocol translation between Diameter and another
+      AAA protocol, such as RADIUS.
+
+   Upstream
+
+      Upstream is used to identify the direction of a particular
+      Diameter message from the Diameter client towards the home server.
+
+   User
+
+      The entity or device requesting or using some resource, in support
+      of which a Diameter client has generated a request.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+1.3.  Approach to Extensibility
+
+   The Diameter protocol is designed to be extensible, using several
+   mechanisms, including:
+
+   o  Defining new AVP values
+
+   o  Creating new AVPs
+
+   o  Creating new commands
+
+   o  Creating new applications
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 17]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   From the point of view of extensibility, Diameter authentication,
+   authorization, and accounting applications are treated in the same
+   way.
+
+ +

+Extensibility in diameter is by way of the dictionary interface +documented in &man_dict;: a diameter user creates applications, +commands and AVP's by implementing a new dictionary, +compiling the dictionary to a codec module using &man_compile; or +&man_make;, and configuring the resulting dictionary module on a +service. +The dictionary modules provided with diameter are all implemented in +this manner.

+ +
+   Note: Protocol designers should try to reuse existing functionality,
+   namely AVP values, AVPs, commands, and Diameter applications.  Reuse
+   simplifies standardization and implementation.  To avoid potential
+   interoperability issues, it is important to ensure that the semantics
+   of the reused features are well understood.  Given that Diameter can
+   also carry RADIUS attributes as Diameter AVPs, such reuse
+   considerations also apply to existing RADIUS attributes that may be
+   useful in a Diameter application.
+
+ +

+Reuse in dictionary files is achieved by way of the @inherits +section. +AVP's are inherited, commands are not.

+ +
+
+1.3.1.  Defining New AVP Values
+
+   In order to allocate a new AVP value for AVPs defined in the Diameter
+   base protocol, the IETF needs to approve a new RFC that describes the
+   AVP value.  IANA considerations for these AVP values are discussed in
+   Section 11.3.
+
+   The allocation of AVP values for other AVPs is guided by the IANA
+   considerations of the document that defines those AVPs.  Typically,
+   allocation of new values for an AVP defined in an RFC would require
+   IETF Review [RFC5226], whereas values for vendor-specific AVPs can be
+   allocated by the vendor.
+
+1.3.2.  Creating New AVPs
+
+   A new AVP being defined MUST use one of the data types listed in
+   Sections 4.2 or 4.3.  If an appropriate derived data type is already
+   defined, it SHOULD be used instead of a base data type to encourage
+   reusability and good design practice.
+
+   In the event that a logical grouping of AVPs is necessary, and
+   multiple "groups" are possible in a given command, it is recommended
+   that a Grouped AVP be used (see Section 4.4).
+
+   The creation of new AVPs can happen in various ways.  The recommended
+   approach is to define a new general-purpose AVP in a Standards Track
+   RFC approved by the IETF.  However, as described in Section 11.1.1,
+   there are other mechanisms.
+
+ +

+Creating new AVP's is an issue for the dictionary designer, not +diameter.

+ +
+
+1.3.3.  Creating New Commands
+
+   A new Command Code MUST be allocated when required AVPs (those
+   indicated as {AVP} in the CCF definition) are added to, deleted from,
+   or redefined in (for example, by changing a required AVP into an
+   optional one) an existing command.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 18]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Furthermore, if the transport characteristics of a command are
+   changed (for example, with respect to the number of round trips
+   required), a new Command Code MUST be registered.
+
+   A change to the CCF of a command, such as described above, MUST
+   result in the definition of a new Command Code.  This subsequently
+   leads to the need to define a new Diameter application for any
+   application that will use that new command.
+
+   The IANA considerations for Command Codes are discussed in
+   Section 3.1.
+
+ +

+Creating new commands is an issue for the dictionary designer, not +diameter.

+ +
+
+1.3.4.  Creating New Diameter Applications
+
+   Every Diameter application specification MUST have an IANA-assigned
+   Application Id (see Section 2.4).  The managed Application ID space
+   is flat, and there is no relationship between different Diameter
+   applications with respect to their Application Ids.  As such, there
+   is no versioning support provided by these Application Ids
+   themselves; every Diameter application is a standalone application.
+   If the application has a relationship with other Diameter
+   applications, such a relationship is not known to Diameter.
+
+ +

+Creating new applications is an issue for the dictionary designer, +not diameter.

+ +

+An application's Application Id is specified in the @id section +of a dictionary file.

+ +
+
+   Before describing the rules for creating new Diameter applications,
+   it is important to discuss the semantics of the AVP occurrences as
+   stated in the CCF and the M-bit flag (Section 4.1) for an AVP.  There
+   is no relationship imposed between the two; they are set
+   independently.
+
+   o  The CCF indicates what AVPs are placed into a Diameter command by
+      the sender of that command.  Often, since there are multiple modes
+      of protocol interactions, many of the AVPs are indicated as
+      optional.
+
+   o  The M-bit allows the sender to indicate to the receiver whether or
+      not understanding the semantics of an AVP and its content is
+      mandatory.  If the M-bit is set by the sender and the receiver
+      does not understand the AVP or the values carried within that AVP,
+      then a failure is generated (see Section 7).
+
+ +

+The M-bit is set on outgoing AVP's as directed by the relevant +dictionary. +For incoming AVP's, an M-bit set on an AVP that isn't +explicitly included in the definition of the command in question is +interpreted as a 5001 error, DIAMETER_AVP_UNSUPPORTED, the +consequences of which depend on the value of the &mod_application_opt; +answer_errors or request_errors.

+ +
+
+   It is the decision of the protocol designer when to develop a new
+   Diameter application rather than extending Diameter in other ways.
+   However, a new Diameter application MUST be created when one or more
+   of the following criteria are met:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 19]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   M-bit Setting
+
+      An AVP with the M-bit in the MUST column of the AVP flag table is
+      added to an existing Command/Application.  An AVP with the M-bit
+      in the MAY column of the AVP flag table is added to an existing
+      Command/Application.
+
+      Note: The M-bit setting for a given AVP is relevant to an
+      Application and each command within that application that includes
+      the AVP.  That is, if an AVP appears in two commands for
+      application Foo and the M-bit settings are different in each
+      command, then there should be two AVP flag tables describing when
+      to set the M-bit.
+
+   Commands
+
+      A new command is used within the existing application because
+      either an additional command is added, an existing command has
+      been modified so that a new Command Code had to be registered, or
+      a command has been deleted.
+
+   AVP Flag bits
+
+      If an existing application changes the meaning/semantics of its
+      AVP Flags or adds new flag bits, then a new Diameter application
+      MUST be created.
+
+   If the CCF definition of a command allows it, an implementation may
+   add arbitrary optional AVPs with the M-bit cleared (including vendor-
+   specific AVPs) to that command without needing to define a new
+   application.  Please refer to Section 11.1.1 for details.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.  Protocol Overview
+
+   The base Diameter protocol concerns itself with establishing
+   connections to peers, capabilities negotiation, how messages are sent
+   and routed through peers, and how the connections are eventually torn
+   down.  The base protocol also defines certain rules that apply to all
+   message exchanges between Diameter nodes.
+
+   Communication between Diameter peers begins with one peer sending a
+   message to another Diameter peer.  The set of AVPs included in the
+   message is determined by a particular Diameter application.  One AVP
+   that is included to reference a user's session is the Session-Id.
+
+   The initial request for authentication and/or authorization of a user
+   would include the Session-Id AVP.  The Session-Id is then used in all
+   subsequent messages to identify the user's session (see Section 8 for
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 20]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   more information).  The communicating party may accept the request or
+   reject it by returning an answer message with the Result-Code AVP set
+   to indicate that an error occurred.  The specific behavior of the
+   Diameter server or client receiving a request depends on the Diameter
+   application employed.
+
+   Session state (associated with a Session-Id) MUST be freed upon
+   receipt of the Session-Termination-Request, Session-Termination-
+   Answer, expiration of authorized service time in the Session-Timeout
+   AVP, and according to rules established in a particular Diameter
+   application.
+
+ +

+Like Session-Id, session state is maintained by the diameter user: +diameter has no session state of its own and does not interpret +STR/STA in any way.

+ +
+
+   The base Diameter protocol may be used by itself for accounting
+   applications.  For authentication and authorization, it is always
+   extended for a particular application.
+
+   Diameter clients MUST support the base protocol, which includes
+   accounting.  In addition, they MUST fully support each Diameter
+   application that is needed to implement the client's service, e.g.,
+   Network Access Server Requirements (NASREQ) [RFC2881] and/or Mobile
+   IPv4.  A Diameter client MUST be referred to as "Diameter X Client"
+   where X is the application that it supports and not a "Diameter
+   Client".
+
+   Diameter servers MUST support the base protocol, which includes
+   accounting.  In addition, they MUST fully support each Diameter
+   application that is needed to implement the intended service, e.g.,
+   NASREQ and/or Mobile IPv4.  A Diameter server MUST be referred to as
+   "Diameter X Server" where X is the application that it supports, and
+   not a "Diameter Server".
+
+   Diameter relays and redirect agents are transparent to the Diameter
+   applications, but they MUST support the Diameter base protocol, which
+   includes accounting, and all Diameter applications.
+
+   Diameter proxies MUST support the base protocol, which includes
+   accounting.  In addition, they MUST fully support each Diameter
+   application that is needed to implement proxied services, e.g.,
+   NASREQ and/or Mobile IPv4.  A Diameter proxy MUST be referred to as
+   "Diameter X Proxy" where X is the application which it supports, and
+   not a "Diameter Proxy".
+
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 21]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+2.1.  Transport
+
+   The Diameter Transport profile is defined in [RFC3539].
+
+   The base Diameter protocol is run on port 3868 for both TCP [RFC0793]
+   and SCTP [RFC4960].  For TLS [RFC5246] and Datagram Transport Layer
+   Security (DTLS) [RFC6347], a Diameter node that initiates a
+   connection prior to any message exchanges MUST run on port 5658.  It
+   is assumed that TLS is run on top of TCP when it is used, and DTLS is
+   run on top of SCTP when it is used.
+
+ +

+Which port a transport connects to or listens on is a matter of +configuration. +Both &man_tcp; and &man_sctp; will default to 3868 if no other value +is specified.

+ +
+
+   If the Diameter peer does not support receiving TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP
+   connections on port 5658 (i.e., the peer complies only with RFC
+   3588), then the initiator MAY revert to using TCP or SCTP on port
+   3868.  Note that this scheme is kept only for the purpose of backward
+   compatibility and that there are inherent security vulnerabilities
+   when the initial CER/CEA messages are sent unprotected (see
+   Section 5.6).
+
+   Diameter clients MUST support either TCP or SCTP; agents and servers
+   SHOULD support both.
+
+   A Diameter node MAY initiate connections from a source port other
+   than the one that it declares it accepts incoming connections on, and
+   it MUST always be prepared to receive connections on port 3868 for
+   TCP or SCTP and port 5658 for TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP connections.
+   When DNS-based peer discovery (Section 5.2) is used, the port numbers
+   received from SRV records take precedence over the default ports
+   (3868 and 5658).
+
+   A given Diameter instance of the peer state machine MUST NOT use more
+   than one transport connection to communicate with a given peer,
+   unless multiple instances exist on the peer, in which, case a
+   separate connection per process is allowed.
+
+ +

+The &mod_service_opt; restrict_connection controls to what +extent a diameter service allows multiple connections to the same +peer. +(As identified by the value of Origin-Host received from it +during capabilities exchange.)

+ +
+
+   When no transport connection exists with a peer, an attempt to
+   connect SHOULD be made periodically.  This behavior is handled via
+   the Tc timer (see Section 12 for details), whose recommended value is
+   30 seconds.  There are certain exceptions to this rule, such as when
+   a peer has terminated the transport connection stating that it does
+   not wish to communicate.
+
+
+ +

+The frequency of reconnection attempts is configured with the +&mod_transport_opt; reconnect_timer and +watchdog_timer.

+ +
+
+   When connecting to a peer and either zero or more transports are
+   specified, TLS SHOULD be tried first, followed by DTLS, then by TCP,
+   and finally by SCTP.  See Section 5.2 for more information on peer
+   discovery.
+
+ +

+The order in which different transports are attempted depends on the +order of &mod_transport_opt; transport_module and +transport_config tuples in transport configuration.

+ +
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 22]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Diameter implementations SHOULD be able to interpret ICMP protocol
+   port unreachable messages as explicit indications that the server is
+   not reachable, subject to security policy on trusting such messages.
+   Further guidance regarding the treatment of ICMP errors can be found
+   in [RFC5927] and [RFC5461].  Diameter implementations SHOULD also be
+   able to interpret a reset from the transport and timed-out connection
+   attempts.  If Diameter receives data from the lower layer that cannot
+   be parsed or identified as a Diameter error made by the peer, the
+   stream is compromised and cannot be recovered.  The transport
+   connection MUST be closed using a RESET call (send a TCP RST bit) or
+   an SCTP ABORT message (graceful closure is compromised).
+
+ +

+ICMP messages and other transport-level errors aren't directly +visible to diameter but transport implementations like &man_tcp; and +&man_sctp; propagate these as terminating transport processes.

+ +
+
+2.1.1.  SCTP Guidelines
+
+   Diameter messages SHOULD be mapped into SCTP streams in a way that
+   avoids head-of-the-line (HOL) blocking.  Among different ways of
+   performing the mapping that fulfill this requirement it is
+   RECOMMENDED that a Diameter node send every Diameter message (request
+   or response) over stream zero with the unordered flag set.  However,
+   Diameter nodes MAY select and implement other design alternatives for
+   avoiding HOL blocking such as using multiple streams with the
+   unordered flag cleared (as originally instructed in RFC 3588).  On
+   the receiving side, a Diameter entity MUST be ready to receive
+   Diameter messages over any stream, and it is free to return responses
+   over a different stream.  This way, both sides manage the available
+   streams in the sending direction, independently of the streams chosen
+   by the other side to send a particular Diameter message.  These
+   messages can be out-of-order and belong to different Diameter
+   sessions.
+
+ +

+&man_sctp; allows the sender to specify a stream number explicitly. +The stream on which an incoming message is received it passed to +&app_handle_request; and &app_handle_answer; callbacks as +transport_data in a #diameter_packet{}.

+ +

+Ordered or unordered delivery can be configured per transport.

+ +
+
+   Out-of-order delivery has special concerns during a connection
+   establishment and termination.  When a connection is established, the
+   responder side sends a CEA message and moves to R-Open state as
+   specified in Section 5.6.  If an application message is sent shortly
+   after the CEA and delivered out-of-order, the initiator side, still
+   in Wait-I-CEA state, will discard the application message and close
+   the connection.  In order to avoid this race condition, the receiver
+   side SHOULD NOT use out-of-order delivery methods until the first
+   message has been received from the initiator, proving that it has
+   moved to I-Open state.  To trigger such a message, the receiver side
+   could send a DWR immediately after sending a CEA.  Upon reception of
+   the corresponding DWA, the receiver side should start using out-of-
+   order delivery methods to counter the HOL blocking.
+
+ +

+&man_sctp; does not currently allow the user to switch between ordered +and unordered delivery, or to specify the manner of sending per +message: one or the other must be configured, the defaults being +ordered.

+ +
+
+   Another race condition may occur when DPR and DPA messages are used.
+   Both DPR and DPA are small in size; thus, they may be delivered to
+   the peer faster than application messages when an out-of-order
+   delivery mechanism is used.  Therefore, it is possible that a DPR/DPA
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 23]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   exchange completes while application messages are still in transit,
+   resulting in a loss of these messages.  An implementation could
+   mitigate this race condition, for example, using timers, and wait for
+   a short period of time for pending application level messages to
+   arrive before proceeding to disconnect the transport connection.
+   Eventually, lost messages are handled by the retransmission mechanism
+   described in Section 5.5.4.
+
+   A Diameter agent SHOULD use dedicated payload protocol identifiers
+   (PPIDs) for clear text and encrypted SCTP DATA chunks instead of only
+   using the unspecified payload protocol identifier (value 0).  For
+   this purpose, two PPID values are allocated: the PPID value 46 is for
+   Diameter messages in clear text SCTP DATA chunks, and the PPID value
+   47 is for Diameter messages in protected DTLS/SCTP DATA chunks.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.2.  Securing Diameter Messages
+
+   Connections between Diameter peers SHOULD be protected by TLS/TCP and
+   DTLS/SCTP.  All Diameter base protocol implementations MUST support
+   the use of TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP.  If desired, alternative security
+   mechanisms that are independent of Diameter, such as IPsec [RFC4301],
+   can be deployed to secure connections between peers.  The Diameter
+   protocol MUST NOT be used without one of TLS, DTLS, or IPsec.
+
+ +

+As noted above, DTLS is not currently supported and IPsec usage is +transparent to diameter. +Security is not enforced by diameter.

+ +
+
+2.3.  Diameter Application Compliance
+
+   Application Ids are advertised during the capabilities exchange phase
+   (see Section 5.3).  Advertising support of an application implies
+   that the sender supports the functionality specified in the
+   respective Diameter application specification.
+
+   Implementations MAY add arbitrary optional AVPs with the M-bit
+   cleared (including vendor-specific AVPs) to a command defined in an
+   application, but only if the command's CCF syntax specification
+   allows for it.  Please refer to Section 11.1.1 for details.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.4.  Application Identifiers
+
+   Each Diameter application MUST have an IANA-assigned Application ID.
+   The base protocol does not require an Application Id since its
+   support is mandatory.  During the capabilities exchange, Diameter
+   nodes inform their peers of locally supported applications.
+   Furthermore, all Diameter messages contain an Application Id, which
+   is used in the message forwarding process.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 24]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The following Application Id values are defined:
+
+         Diameter common message       0
+         Diameter base accounting      3
+         Relay                         0xffffffff
+
+ +

+These applications are implemented in the dictionary modules +diameter_gen_base_rfc6733, diameter_gen_acct_rfc6733 and +diameter_relay respectively. +There are also RFC 3588 versions or the common and accounting +dictionaries: diameter_gen_base_rfc3588 and +diameter_base_accounting. +(The inconsistent naming is historical.) +Dictionary modules are configured using the &mod_application_opt; +dictionary.

+ +
+   Relay and redirect agents MUST advertise the Relay Application ID,
+   while all other Diameter nodes MUST advertise locally supported
+   applications.  The receiver of a Capabilities Exchange message
+   advertising relay service MUST assume that the sender supports all
+   current and future applications.
+
+   Diameter relay and proxy agents are responsible for finding an
+   upstream server that supports the application of a particular
+   message.  If none can be found, an error message is returned with the
+   Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.5.  Connections vs. Sessions
+
+   This section attempts to provide the reader with an understanding of
+   the difference between "connection" and "session", which are terms
+   used extensively throughout this document.
+
+   A connection refers to a transport-level connection between two peers
+   that is used to send and receive Diameter messages.  A session is a
+   logical concept at the application layer that exists between the
+   Diameter client and the Diameter server; it is identified via the
+   Session-Id AVP.
+
+             +--------+          +-------+          +--------+
+             | Client |          | Relay |          | Server |
+             +--------+          +-------+          +--------+
+                      <---------->       <---------->
+                   peer connection A   peer connection B
+
+                      <----------------------------->
+                              User session x
+
+                Figure 1: Diameter Connections and Sessions
+
+   In the example provided in Figure 1, peer connection A is established
+   between the client and the relay.  Peer connection B is established
+   between the relay and the server.  User session X spans from the
+   client via the relay to the server.  Each "user" of a service causes
+   an auth request to be sent, with a unique session identifier.  Once
+   accepted by the server, both the client and the server are aware of
+   the session.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 25]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   It is important to note that there is no relationship between a
+   connection and a session, and that Diameter messages for multiple
+   sessions are all multiplexed through a single connection.  Also, note
+   that Diameter messages pertaining to the session, both application-
+   specific and those that are defined in this document such as ASR/ASA,
+   RAR/RAA, and STR/STA, MUST carry the Application Id of the
+   application.  Diameter messages pertaining to peer connection
+   establishment and maintenance such as CER/CEA, DWR/DWA, and DPR/DPA
+   MUST carry an Application Id of zero (0).
+
+ +

+As noted above, diameter is not involved in session management. +This is the responsibility of the diameter user.

+ +
+
+2.6.  Peer Table
+
+   The Diameter peer table is used in message forwarding and is
+   referenced by the routing table.  A peer table entry contains the
+   following fields:
+
+   Host Identity
+
+      Following the conventions described for the DiameterIdentity-
+      derived AVP data format in Section 4.3.1, this field contains the
+      contents of the Origin-Host (Section 6.3) AVP found in the CER or
+      CEA message.
+
+   StatusT
+
+      This is the state of the peer entry, and it MUST match one of the
+      values listed in Section 5.6.
+
+   Static or Dynamic
+
+      Specifies whether a peer entry was statically configured or
+      dynamically discovered.
+
+   Expiration Time
+
+      Specifies the time at which dynamically discovered peer table
+      entries are to be either refreshed or expired.  If public key
+      certificates are used for Diameter security (e.g., with TLS), this
+      value MUST NOT be greater than the expiry times in the relevant
+      certificates.
+
+   TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP Enabled
+
+      Specifies whether TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP is to be used when
+      communicating with the peer.
+
+   Additional security information, when needed (e.g., keys,
+   certificates).
+
+ +

+The Peer Table is not directly accessible to the diameter user. +Information about connected peers can be retrieved using +&mod_service_info;.

+ +
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 26]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+2.7.  Routing Table
+
+   All Realm-Based routing lookups are performed against what is
+   commonly known as the routing table (see Section 12).  Each routing
+   table entry contains the following fields:
+
+   Realm Name
+
+      This is the field that MUST be used as a primary key in the
+      routing table lookups.  Note that some implementations perform
+      their lookups based on longest-match-from-the-right on the realm
+      rather than requiring an exact match.
+
+   Application Identifier
+
+      An application is identified by an Application Id.  A route entry
+      can have a different destination based on the Application Id in
+      the message header.  This field MUST be used as a secondary key
+      field in routing table lookups.
+
+   Local Action
+
+      The Local Action field is used to identify how a message should be
+      treated.  The following actions are supported:
+
+      1.  LOCAL - Diameter messages that can be satisfied locally and do
+          not need to be routed to another Diameter entity.
+
+      2.  RELAY - All Diameter messages that fall within this category
+          MUST be routed to a next-hop Diameter entity that is indicated
+          by the identifier described below.  Routing is done without
+          modifying any non-routing AVPs.  See Section 6.1.9 for
+          relaying guidelines.
+
+      3.  PROXY - All Diameter messages that fall within this category
+          MUST be routed to a next Diameter entity that is indicated by
+          the identifier described below.  The local server MAY apply
+          its local policies to the message by including new AVPs to the
+          message prior to routing.  See Section 6.1.9 for proxying
+          guidelines.
+
+      4.  REDIRECT - Diameter messages that fall within this category
+          MUST have the identity of the home Diameter server(s)
+          appended, and returned to the sender of the message.  See
+          Section 6.1.8 for redirection guidelines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 27]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Server Identifier
+
+      The identity of one or more servers to which the message is to be
+      routed.  This identity MUST also be present in the Host Identity
+      field of the peer table (Section 2.6).  When the Local Action is
+      set to RELAY or PROXY, this field contains the identity of the
+      server(s) to which the message MUST be routed.  When the Local
+      Action field is set to REDIRECT, this field contains the identity
+      of one or more servers to which the message MUST be redirected.
+
+   Static or Dynamic
+
+      Specifies whether a route entry was statically configured or
+      dynamically discovered.
+
+   Expiration Time
+
+      Specifies the time at which a dynamically discovered route table
+      entry expires.  If public key certificates are used for Diameter
+      security (e.g., with TLS), this value MUST NOT be greater than the
+      expiry time in the relevant certificates.
+
+   It is important to note that Diameter agents MUST support at least
+   one of the LOCAL, RELAY, PROXY, or REDIRECT modes of operation.
+   Agents do not need to support all modes of operation in order to
+   conform with the protocol specification, but they MUST follow the
+   protocol compliance guidelines in Section 2.  Relay agents and
+   proxies MUST NOT reorder AVPs.
+
+   The routing table MAY include a default entry that MUST be used for
+   any requests not matching any of the other entries.  The routing
+   table MAY consist of only such an entry.
+
+   When a request is routed, the target server MUST have advertised the
+   Application Id (see Section 2.4) for the given message or have
+   advertised itself as a relay or proxy agent.  Otherwise, an error is
+   returned with the Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER.
+
+ +

+Routing does not need specific support in diameter: a user can +maintain their own routing table if desired and implement any desired +routing in &man_app; callbacks. +However, it may be convenient to add more specific routing support to +diameter in the future.

+ +
+
+2.8.  Role of Diameter Agents
+
+   In addition to clients and servers, the Diameter protocol introduces
+   relay, proxy, redirect, and translation agents, each of which is
+   defined in Section 1.2.  Diameter agents are useful for several
+   reasons:
+
+ +

+An noted above, the role a node plays is largely a question of +configuration and &man_app; callback implementation.

+ +
+
+   o  They can distribute administration of systems to a configurable
+      grouping, including the maintenance of security associations.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 28]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  They can be used for concentration of requests from a number of
+      co-located or distributed NAS equipment sets to a set of like user
+      groups.
+
+   o  They can do value-added processing to the requests or responses.
+
+   o  They can be used for load balancing.
+
+   o  A complex network will have multiple authentication sources, they
+      can sort requests and forward towards the correct target.
+
+   The Diameter protocol requires that agents maintain transaction
+   state, which is used for failover purposes.  Transaction state
+   implies that upon forwarding a request, its Hop-by-Hop Identifier is
+   saved; the field is replaced with a locally unique identifier, which
+   is restored to its original value when the corresponding answer is
+   received.  The request's state is released upon receipt of the
+   answer.  A stateless agent is one that only maintains transaction
+   state.
+
+   The Proxy-Info AVP allows stateless agents to add local state to a
+   Diameter request, with the guarantee that the same state will be
+   present in the answer.  However, the protocol's failover procedures
+   require that agents maintain a copy of pending requests.
+
+   A stateful agent is one that maintains session state information by
+   keeping track of all authorized active sessions.  Each authorized
+   session is bound to a particular service, and its state is considered
+   active until either the agent is notified otherwise or the session
+   expires.  Each authorized session has an expiration, which is
+   communicated by Diameter servers via the Session-Timeout AVP.
+
+   Maintaining session state may be useful in certain applications, such
+   as:
+
+   o  Protocol translation (e.g., RADIUS <-> Diameter)
+
+   o  Limiting resources authorized to a particular user
+
+   o  Per-user or per-transaction auditing
+
+   A Diameter agent MAY act in a stateful manner for some requests and
+   be stateless for others.  A Diameter implementation MAY act as one
+   type of agent for some requests and as another type of agent for
+   others.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 29]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+2.8.1.  Relay Agents
+
+   Relay agents are Diameter agents that accept requests and route
+   messages to other Diameter nodes based on information found in the
+   messages (e.g., the value of the Destination-Realm AVP Section 6.6).
+   This routing decision is performed using a list of supported realms
+   and known peers.  This is known as the routing table, as is defined
+   further in Section 2.7.
+
+   Relays may, for example, be used to aggregate requests from multiple
+   Network Access Servers (NASes) within a common geographical area
+   (Point of Presence, POP).  The use of relays is advantageous since it
+   eliminates the need for NASes to be configured with the necessary
+   security information they would otherwise require to communicate with
+   Diameter servers in other realms.  Likewise, this reduces the
+   configuration load on Diameter servers that would otherwise be
+   necessary when NASes are added, changed, or deleted.
+
+   Relays modify Diameter messages by inserting and removing routing
+   information, but they do not modify any other portion of a message.
+   Relays SHOULD NOT maintain session state but MUST maintain
+   transaction state.
+
+       +------+    --------->     +------+     --------->    +------+
+       |      |    1. Request     |      |     2. Request    |      |
+       | NAS  |                   | DRL  |                   | HMS  |
+       |      |    4. Answer      |      |     3. Answer     |      |
+       +------+    <---------     +------+     <---------    +------+
+    example.net                example.net                example.com
+
+                  Figure 2: Relaying of Diameter messages
+
+   The example provided in Figure 2 depicts a request issued from a NAS,
+   which is an access device, for the user bob@example.com.  Prior to
+   issuing the request, the NAS performs a Diameter route lookup, using
+   "example.com" as the key, and determines that the message is to be
+   relayed to a DRL, which is a Diameter relay.  The DRL performs the
+   same route lookup as the NAS, and relays the message to the HMS,
+   which is example.com's home server.  The HMS identifies that the
+   request can be locally supported (via the realm), processes the
+   authentication and/or authorization request, and replies with an
+   answer, which is routed back to the NAS using saved transaction
+   state.
+
+   Since relays do not perform any application-level processing, they
+   provide relaying services for all Diameter applications; therefore,
+   they MUST advertise the Relay Application Id.
+
+ +

+Requests are relayed by returning a relay tuple from a +&app_handle_request; callback.

+ +
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 30]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+2.8.2.  Proxy Agents
+
+   Similar to relays, proxy agents route Diameter messages using the
+   Diameter routing table.  However, they differ since they modify
+   messages to implement policy enforcement.  This requires that proxies
+   maintain the state of their downstream peers (e.g., access devices)
+   to enforce resource usage, provide admission control, and provide
+   provisioning.
+
+   Proxies may, for example, be used in call control centers or access
+   ISPs that provide outsourced connections; they can monitor the number
+   and type of ports in use and make allocation and admission decisions
+   according to their configuration.
+
+   Since enforcing policies requires an understanding of the service
+   being provided, proxies MUST only advertise the Diameter applications
+   they support.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.8.3.  Redirect Agents
+
+   Redirect agents are useful in scenarios where the Diameter routing
+   configuration needs to be centralized.  An example is a redirect
+   agent that provides services to all members of a consortium, but does
+   not wish to be burdened with relaying all messages between realms.
+   This scenario is advantageous since it does not require that the
+   consortium provide routing updates to its members when changes are
+   made to a member's infrastructure.
+
+   Since redirect agents do not relay messages, and only return an
+   answer with the information necessary for Diameter agents to
+   communicate directly, they do not modify messages.  Since redirect
+   agents do not receive answer messages, they cannot maintain session
+   state.
+
+   The example provided in Figure 3 depicts a request issued from the
+   access device, NAS, for the user bob@example.com.  The message is
+   forwarded by the NAS to its relay, DRL, which does not have a routing
+   entry in its Diameter routing table for example.com.  The DRL has a
+   default route configured to DRD, which is a redirect agent that
+   returns a redirect notification to DRL, as well as the HMS' contact
+   information.  Upon receipt of the redirect notification, the DRL
+   establishes a transport connection with the HMS, if one doesn't
+   already exist, and forwards the request to it.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 31]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                                  +------+
+                                  |      |
+                                  | DRD  |
+                                  |      |
+                                  +------+
+                                   ^    |
+                       2. Request  |    | 3. Redirection
+                                   |    |    Notification
+                                   |    v
+       +------+    --------->     +------+     --------->    +------+
+       |      |    1. Request     |      |     4. Request    |      |
+       | NAS  |                   | DRL  |                   | HMS  |
+       |      |    6. Answer      |      |     5. Answer     |      |
+       +------+    <---------     +------+     <---------    +------+
+      example.net                example.net               example.com
+
+                 Figure 3: Redirecting a Diameter Message
+
+   Since redirect agents do not perform any application-level
+   processing, they provide relaying services for all Diameter
+   applications; therefore, they MUST advertise the Relay Application
+   ID.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+2.8.4.  Translation Agents
+
+   A translation agent is a device that provides translation between two
+   protocols (e.g., RADIUS<->Diameter, TACACS+<->Diameter).  Translation
+   agents are likely to be used as aggregation servers to communicate
+   with a Diameter infrastructure, while allowing for the embedded
+   systems to be migrated at a slower pace.
+
+   Given that the Diameter protocol introduces the concept of long-lived
+   authorized sessions, translation agents MUST be session stateful and
+   MUST maintain transaction state.
+
+   Translation of messages can only occur if the agent recognizes the
+   application of a particular request; therefore, translation agents
+   MUST only advertise their locally supported applications.
+
+       +------+    --------->     +------+     --------->    +------+
+       |      |  RADIUS Request   |      |  Diameter Request |      |
+       | NAS  |                   | TLA  |                   | HMS  |
+       |      |  RADIUS Answer    |      |  Diameter Answer  |      |
+       +------+    <---------     +------+     <---------    +------+
+      example.net                example.net               example.com
+
+                Figure 4: Translation of RADIUS to Diameter
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 32]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+2.9.  Diameter Path Authorization
+
+   As noted in Section 2.2, Diameter provides transmission-level
+   security for each connection using TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP.  Therefore,
+   each connection can be authenticated and can be replay and integrity
+   protected.
+
+   In addition to authenticating each connection, the entire session
+   MUST also be authorized.  Before initiating a connection, a Diameter
+   peer MUST check that its peers are authorized to act in their roles.
+   For example, a Diameter peer may be authentic, but that does not mean
+   that it is authorized to act as a Diameter server advertising a set
+   of Diameter applications.
+
+   Prior to bringing up a connection, authorization checks are performed
+   at each connection along the path.  Diameter capabilities negotiation
+   (CER/CEA) also MUST be carried out, in order to determine what
+   Diameter applications are supported by each peer.  Diameter sessions
+   MUST be routed only through authorized nodes that have advertised
+   support for the Diameter application required by the session.
+
+   As noted in Section 6.1.9, a relay or proxy agent MUST append a
+   Route-Record AVP to all requests forwarded.  The AVP contains the
+   identity of the peer from which the request was received.
+
+   The home Diameter server, prior to authorizing a session, MUST check
+   the Route-Record AVPs to make sure that the route traversed by the
+   request is acceptable.  For example, administrators within the home
+   realm may not wish to honor requests that have been routed through an
+   untrusted realm.  By authorizing a request, the home Diameter server
+   is implicitly indicating its willingness to engage in the business
+   transaction as specified by any contractual relationship between the
+   server and the previous hop.  A DIAMETER_AUTHORIZATION_REJECTED error
+   message (see Section 7.1.5) is sent if the route traversed by the
+   request is unacceptable.
+
+   A home realm may also wish to check that each accounting request
+   message corresponds to a Diameter response authorizing the session.
+   Accounting requests without corresponding authorization responses
+   SHOULD be subjected to further scrutiny, as should accounting
+   requests indicating a difference between the requested and provided
+   service.
+
+   Forwarding of an authorization response is considered evidence of a
+   willingness to take on financial risk relative to the session.  A
+   local realm may wish to limit this exposure, for example, by
+   establishing credit limits for intermediate realms and refusing to
+   accept responses that would violate those limits.  By issuing an
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 33]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   accounting request corresponding to the authorization response, the
+   local realm implicitly indicates its agreement to provide the service
+   indicated in the authorization response.  If the service cannot be
+   provided by the local realm, then a DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_COMPLY error
+   message MUST be sent within the accounting request; a Diameter client
+   receiving an authorization response for a service that it cannot
+   perform MUST NOT substitute an alternate service and then send
+   accounting requests for the alternate service instead.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+3.  Diameter Header
+
+   A summary of the Diameter header format is shown below.  The fields
+   are transmitted in network byte order.
+
+       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
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |    Version    |                 Message Length                |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      | Command Flags |                  Command Code                 |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |                         Application-ID                        |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |                      Hop-by-Hop Identifier                    |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |                      End-to-End Identifier                    |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |  AVPs ...
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
+
+ +

+The Diameter Header is represented by the diameter_header +record defined in diameter.hrl. +The diameter_packet record contains a header field whose +value will be a decoded #diameter_header{} for incoming +messages passed to &app_handle_request; and &app_handle_answer; +callbacks. +In the case of outgoing messages, diameter and the relevant +dictionary populate the Diameter Header appropriately, although +&app_prepare_request; and &app_handle_request; callbacks can modify +header values. +(Which can be useful in test.)

+ +
+
+   Version
+
+      This Version field MUST be set to 1 to indicate Diameter Version
+      1.
+
+    Message Length
+
+      The Message Length field is three octets and indicates the length
+      of the Diameter message including the header fields and the padded
+      AVPs.  Thus, the Message Length field is always a multiple of 4.
+
+   Command Flags
+
+      The Command Flags field is eight bits.  The following bits are
+      assigned:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 34]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+          0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
+         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+         |R P E T r r r r|
+         +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+
+      R(equest)
+
+         If set, the message is a request.  If cleared, the message is
+         an answer.
+
+      P(roxiable)
+
+         If set, the message MAY be proxied, relayed, or redirected.  If
+         cleared, the message MUST be locally processed.
+
+      E(rror)
+
+         If set, the message contains a protocol error, and the message
+         will not conform to the CCF described for this command.
+         Messages with the 'E' bit set are commonly referred to as error
+         messages.  This bit MUST NOT be set in request messages (see
+         Section 7.2).
+
+      T(Potentially retransmitted message)
+
+         This flag is set after a link failover procedure, to aid the
+         removal of duplicate requests.  It is set when resending
+         requests not yet acknowledged, as an indication of a possible
+         duplicate due to a link failure.  This bit MUST be cleared when
+         sending a request for the first time; otherwise, the sender
+         MUST set this flag.  Diameter agents only need to be concerned
+         about the number of requests they send based on a single
+         received request; retransmissions by other entities need not be
+         tracked.  Diameter agents that receive a request with the T
+         flag set, MUST keep the T flag set in the forwarded request.
+         This flag MUST NOT be set if an error answer message (e.g., a
+         protocol error) has been received for the earlier message.  It
+         can be set only in cases where no answer has been received from
+         the server for a request, and the request has been sent again.
+         This flag MUST NOT be set in answer messages.
+
+      r(eserved)
+
+         These flag bits are reserved for future use; they MUST be set
+         to zero and ignored by the receiver.
+
+ +

+Reserved bits are set to 0 in outgoing messages.

+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 35]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Command Code
+
+      The Command Code field is three octets and is used in order to
+      communicate the command associated with the message.  The 24-bit
+      address space is managed by IANA (see Section 3.1).  Command Code
+      values 16,777,214 and 16,777,215 (hexadecimal values FFFFFE-
+      FFFFFF) are reserved for experimental use (see Section 11.2).
+
+   Application-ID
+
+      Application-ID is four octets and is used to identify for which
+      application the message is applicable.  The application can be an
+      authentication application, an accounting application, or a
+      vendor-specific application.
+
+      The value of the Application-ID field in the header MUST be the
+      same as any relevant Application-Id AVPs contained in the message.
+
+   Hop-by-Hop Identifier
+
+      The Hop-by-Hop Identifier is an unsigned 32-bit integer field (in
+      network byte order) that aids in matching requests and replies.
+      The sender MUST ensure that the Hop-by-Hop Identifier in a request
+      is unique on a given connection at any given time, and it MAY
+      attempt to ensure that the number is unique across reboots.  The
+      sender of an answer message MUST ensure that the Hop-by-Hop
+      Identifier field contains the same value that was found in the
+      corresponding request.  The Hop-by-Hop Identifier is normally a
+      monotonically increasing number, whose start value was randomly
+      generated.  An answer message that is received with an unknown
+      Hop-by-Hop Identifier MUST be discarded.
+
+   End-to-End Identifier
+
+      The End-to-End Identifier is an unsigned 32-bit integer field (in
+      network byte order) that is used to detect duplicate messages.
+      Upon reboot, implementations MAY set the high order 12 bits to
+      contain the low order 12 bits of current time, and the low order
+      20 bits to a random value.  Senders of request messages MUST
+      insert a unique identifier on each message.  The identifier MUST
+      remain locally unique for a period of at least 4 minutes, even
+      across reboots.  The originator of an answer message MUST ensure
+      that the End-to-End Identifier field contains the same value that
+      was found in the corresponding request.  The End-to-End Identifier
+      MUST NOT be modified by Diameter agents of any kind.  The
+      combination of the Origin-Host AVP (Section 6.3) and this field is
+      used to detect duplicates.  Duplicate requests SHOULD cause the
+      same answer to be transmitted (modulo the Hop-by-Hop Identifier
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 36]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      field and any routing AVPs that may be present), and they MUST NOT
+      affect any state that was set when the original request was
+      processed.  Duplicate answer messages that are to be locally
+      consumed (see Section 6.2) SHOULD be silently discarded.
+
+   AVPs
+
+      AVPs are a method of encapsulating information relevant to the
+      Diameter message.  See Section 4 for more information on AVPs.
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+3.1.  Command Codes
+
+   Each command Request/Answer pair is assigned a Command Code, and the
+   sub-type (i.e., request or answer) is identified via the 'R' bit in
+   the Command Flags field of the Diameter header.
+
+   Every Diameter message MUST contain a Command Code in its header's
+   Command Code field, which is used to determine the action that is to
+   be taken for a particular message.  The following Command Codes are
+   defined in the Diameter base protocol:
+
+                                                   Section
+    Command Name             Abbrev.    Code       Reference
+      --------------------------------------------------------
+      Abort-Session-Request     ASR       274           8.5.1
+      Abort-Session-Answer      ASA       274           8.5.2
+      Accounting-Request        ACR       271           9.7.1
+      Accounting-Answer         ACA       271           9.7.2
+      Capabilities-Exchange-    CER       257           5.3.1
+         Request
+      Capabilities-Exchange-    CEA       257           5.3.2
+         Answer
+      Device-Watchdog-Request   DWR       280           5.5.1
+      Device-Watchdog-Answer    DWA       280           5.5.2
+      Disconnect-Peer-Request   DPR       282           5.4.1
+      Disconnect-Peer-Answer    DPA       282           5.4.2
+      Re-Auth-Request           RAR       258           8.3.1
+      Re-Auth-Answer            RAA       258           8.3.2
+      Session-Termination-      STR       275           8.4.1
+         Request
+      Session-Termination-      STA       275           8.4.2
+         Answer
+
+ +

+These messages are all defined in diameter's implementation of the +common dictionary in modules diameter_gen_base_rfc6733 and +diameter_gen_base_rfc3588. +Corresponding record definitions are found in +diameter_gen_base_rfc6733.hrl and +diameter_gen_base_rfc3588.hrl.

+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 37]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+3.2.  Command Code Format Specification
+
+   Every Command Code defined MUST include a corresponding Command Code
+   Format (CCF) specification, which is used to define the AVPs that
+   MUST or MAY be present when sending the message.  The following ABNF
+   specifies the CCF used in the definition:
+
+ +

+The CCF is what is specified in the @messages section of the +&man_dict; format, except as noted below.

+ +
+
+   command-def      = "<" command-name ">" "::=" diameter-message
+
+ +

+Angle brackets are currently not allowed here. +This was a change between RFC 3588 and RFC 6733: the former disallowed +them in the grammar but included them in its own command definitions.

+ +
+
+   command-name     = diameter-name
+
+   diameter-name    = ALPHA *(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
+
+   diameter-message = header   *fixed  *required *optional
+
+   header           = "<Diameter-Header:" command-id
+                         [r-bit] [p-bit] [e-bit] [application-id]">"
+
+   application-id   = 1*DIGIT
+
+   command-id       = 1*DIGIT
+                      ; The Command Code assigned to the command.
+
+   r-bit            = ", REQ"
+                      ; If present, the 'R' bit in the Command
+                      ; Flags is set, indicating that the message
+                      ; is a request as opposed to an answer.
+
+   p-bit            = ", PXY"
+                      ; If present, the 'P' bit in the Command
+                      ; Flags is set, indicating that the message
+                      ; is proxiable.
+
+   e-bit            = ", ERR"
+                      ; If present, the 'E' bit in the Command
+                      ; Flags is set, indicating that the answer
+                      ; message contains a Result-Code AVP in
+                      ; the "protocol error" class.
+
+   fixed            = [qual] "<" avp-spec ">"
+                      ; Defines the fixed position of an AVP.
+
+   required         = [qual] "{" avp-spec "}"
+                      ; The AVP MUST be present and can appear
+                      ; anywhere in the message.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 38]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   optional         = [qual] "[" avp-name "]"
+                      ; The avp-name in the 'optional' rule cannot
+                      ; evaluate to any AVP Name that is included
+                      ; in a fixed or required rule.  The AVP can
+                      ; appear anywhere in the message.
+                      ;
+                      ; NOTE:  "[" and "]" have a slightly different
+                      ; meaning than in ABNF.  These braces
+                      ; cannot be used to express optional fixed rules
+                      ; (such as an optional ICV at the end).  To do
+                      ; this, the convention is '0*1fixed'.
+
+   qual             = [min] "*" [max]
+                      ; See ABNF conventions, RFC 5234, Section 4.
+                      ; The absence of any qualifier depends on
+                      ; whether it precedes a fixed, required, or
+                      ; optional rule.  If a fixed or required rule has
+                      ; no qualifier, then exactly one such AVP MUST
+                      ; be present.  If an optional rule has no
+                      ; qualifier, then 0 or 1 such AVP may be
+                      ; present.  If an optional rule has a qualifier,
+                      ; then the value of min MUST be 0 if present.
+
+   min              = 1*DIGIT
+                      ; The minimum number of times the element may
+                      ; be present.  If absent, the default value is 0
+                      ; for fixed and optional rules and 1 for
+                      ; required rules.  The value MUST be at least 1
+                      ; for required rules.
+
+   max              = 1*DIGIT
+                      ; The maximum number of times the element may
+                      ; be present.  If absent, the default value is
+                      ; infinity.  A value of 0 implies the AVP MUST
+                      ; NOT be present.
+
+   avp-spec         = diameter-name
+                      ; The avp-spec has to be an AVP Name, defined
+                      ; in the base or extended Diameter
+                      ; specifications.
+
+   avp-name         = avp-spec / "AVP"
+                      ; The string "AVP" stands for *any* arbitrary AVP
+                      ; Name, not otherwise listed in that Command Code
+                      ; definition.  The inclusion of this string
+                      ; is recommended for all CCFs to allow for
+                      ; extensibility.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 39]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The following is a definition of a fictitious Command Code:
+
+   Example-Request ::= < Diameter Header: 9999999, REQ, PXY >
+                       { User-Name }
+                    1* { Origin-Host }
+                     * [ AVP ]
+
+ +&nada; + +
+
+3.3.  Diameter Command Naming Conventions
+
+   Diameter command names typically includes one or more English words
+   followed by the verb "Request" or "Answer".  Each English word is
+   delimited by a hyphen.  A three-letter acronym for both the request
+   and answer is also normally provided.
+
+   An example is a message set used to terminate a session.  The command
+   name is Session-Terminate-Request and Session-Terminate-Answer, while
+   the acronyms are STR and STA, respectively.
+
+   Both the request and the answer for a given command share the same
+   Command Code.  The request is identified by the R(equest) bit in the
+   Diameter header set to one (1), to ask that a particular action be
+   performed, such as authorizing a user or terminating a session.  Once
+   the receiver has completed the request, it issues the corresponding
+   answer, which includes a result code that communicates one of the
+   following:
+
+   o  The request was successful
+
+   o  The request failed
+
+   o  An additional request has to be sent to provide information the
+      peer requires prior to returning a successful or failed answer.
+
+   o  The receiver could not process the request, but provides
+      information about a Diameter peer that is able to satisfy the
+      request, known as redirect.
+
+   Additional information, encoded within AVPs, may also be included in
+   answer messages.
+
+ +

+The &man_dict; format places no requirement on the naming of commands.

+ +
+
+4.  Diameter AVPs
+
+   Diameter AVPs carry specific authentication, accounting,
+   authorization, and routing information as well as configuration
+   details for the request and reply.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 40]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Each AVP of type OctetString MUST be padded to align on a 32-bit
+   boundary, while other AVP types align naturally.  A number of zero-
+   valued bytes are added to the end of the AVP Data field until a word
+   boundary is reached.  The length of the padding is not reflected in
+   the AVP Length field.
+
+4.1.  AVP Header
+
+   The fields in the AVP header MUST be sent in network byte order.  The
+   format of the header is:
+
+       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
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |                           AVP Code                            |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |V M P r r r r r|                  AVP Length                   |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |                        Vendor-ID (opt)                        |
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+      |    Data ...
+      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+
+   AVP Code
+
+      The AVP Code, combined with the Vendor-Id field, identifies the
+      attribute uniquely.  AVP numbers 1 through 255 are reserved for
+      reuse of RADIUS attributes, without setting the Vendor-Id field.
+      AVP numbers 256 and above are used for Diameter, which are
+      allocated by IANA (see Section 11.1.1).
+
+   AVP Flags
+
+      The AVP Flags field informs the receiver how each attribute must
+      be handled.  New Diameter applications SHOULD NOT define
+      additional AVP Flag bits.  However, note that new Diameter
+      applications MAY define additional bits within the AVP header, and
+      an unrecognized bit SHOULD be considered an error.  The sender of
+      the AVP MUST set 'R' (reserved) bits to 0 and the receiver SHOULD
+      ignore all 'R' (reserved) bits.  The 'P' bit has been reserved for
+      future usage of end-to-end security.  At the time of writing,
+      there are no end-to-end security mechanisms specified; therefore,
+      the 'P' bit SHOULD be set to 0.
+
+      The 'M' bit, known as the Mandatory bit, indicates whether the
+      receiver of the AVP MUST parse and understand the semantics of the
+      AVP including its content.  The receiving entity MUST return an
+      appropriate error message if it receives an AVP that has the M-bit
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 41]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      set but does not understand it.  An exception applies when the AVP
+      is embedded within a Grouped AVP.  See Section 4.4 for details.
+      Diameter relay and redirect agents MUST NOT reject messages with
+      unrecognized AVPs.
+
+      The 'M' bit MUST be set according to the rules defined in the
+      application specification that introduces or reuses this AVP.
+      Within a given application, the M-bit setting for an AVP is
+      defined either for all command types or for each command type.
+
+      AVPs with the 'M' bit cleared are informational only; a receiver
+      that receives a message with such an AVP that is not supported, or
+      whose value is not supported, MAY simply ignore the AVP.
+
+      The 'V' bit, known as the Vendor-Specific bit, indicates whether
+      the optional Vendor-ID field is present in the AVP header.  When
+      set, the AVP Code belongs to the specific vendor code address
+      space.
+
+   AVP Length
+
+      The AVP Length field is three octets, and indicates the number of
+      octets in this AVP including the AVP Code field, AVP Length field,
+      AVP Flags field, Vendor-ID field (if present), and the AVP Data
+      field.  If a message is received with an invalid attribute length,
+      the message MUST be rejected.
+
+4.1.1.  Optional Header Elements
+
+   The AVP header contains one optional field.  This field is only
+   present if the respective bit-flag is enabled.
+
+   Vendor-ID
+
+      The Vendor-ID field is present if the 'V' bit is set in the AVP
+      Flags field.  The optional four-octet Vendor-ID field contains the
+      IANA-assigned "SMI Network Management Private Enterprise Codes"
+      [ENTERPRISE] value, encoded in network byte order.  Any vendors or
+      standardization organizations that are also treated like vendors
+      in the IANA-managed "SMI Network Management Private Enterprise
+      Codes" space wishing to implement a vendor-specific Diameter AVP
+      MUST use their own Vendor-ID along with their privately managed
+      AVP address space, guaranteeing that they will not collide with
+      any other vendor's vendor-specific AVP(s) or with future IETF
+      AVPs.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 42]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      A Vendor-ID value of zero (0) corresponds to the IETF-adopted AVP
+      values, as managed by IANA.  Since the absence of the Vendor-ID
+      field implies that the AVP in question is not vendor specific,
+      implementations MUST NOT use the value of zero (0) for the
+      Vendor-ID field.
+
+4.2.  Basic AVP Data Formats
+
+   The Data field is zero or more octets and contains information
+   specific to the Attribute.  The format and length of the Data field
+   is determined by the AVP Code and AVP Length fields.  The format of
+   the Data field MUST be one of the following base data types or a data
+   type derived from the base data types.  In the event that a new Basic
+   AVP Data Format is needed, a new version of this RFC MUST be created.
+
+   OctetString
+
+      The data contains arbitrary data of variable length.  Unless
+      otherwise noted, the AVP Length field MUST be set to at least 8
+      (12 if the 'V' bit is enabled).  AVP values of this type that are
+      not a multiple of 4 octets in length are followed by the necessary
+      padding so that the next AVP (if any) will start on a 32-bit
+      boundary.
+
+   Integer32
+
+      32-bit signed value, in network byte order.  The AVP Length field
+      MUST be set to 12 (16 if the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+   Integer64
+
+      64-bit signed value, in network byte order.  The AVP Length field
+      MUST be set to 16 (20 if the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+   Unsigned32
+
+      32-bit unsigned value, in network byte order.  The AVP Length
+      field MUST be set to 12 (16 if the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+   Unsigned64
+
+      64-bit unsigned value, in network byte order.  The AVP Length
+      field MUST be set to 16 (20 if the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 43]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Float32
+
+      This represents floating point values of single precision as
+      described by [FLOATPOINT].  The 32-bit value is transmitted in
+      network byte order.  The AVP Length field MUST be set to 12 (16 if
+      the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+   Float64
+
+      This represents floating point values of double precision as
+      described by [FLOATPOINT].  The 64-bit value is transmitted in
+      network byte order.  The AVP Length field MUST be set to 16 (20 if
+      the 'V' bit is enabled).
+
+   Grouped
+
+      The Data field is specified as a sequence of AVPs.  These AVPs are
+      concatenated -- including their headers and padding -- in the
+      order in which they are specified and the result encapsulated in
+      the Data field.  The AVP Length field is set to 8 (12 if the 'V'
+      bit is enabled) plus the total length of all included AVPs,
+      including their headers and padding.  Thus, the AVP Length field
+      of an AVP of type Grouped is always a multiple of 4.
+
+4.3.  Derived AVP Data Formats
+
+   In addition to using the Basic AVP Data Formats, applications may
+   define data formats derived from the Basic AVP Data Formats.  An
+   application that defines new Derived AVP Data Formats MUST include
+   them in a section titled "Derived AVP Data Formats", using the same
+   format as the definitions below.  Each new definition MUST be either
+   defined or listed with a reference to the RFC that defines the
+   format.
+
+4.3.1.  Common Derived AVP Data Formats
+
+   The following are commonly used Derived AVP Data Formats.
+
+   Address
+
+      The Address format is derived from the OctetString Basic AVP
+      Format.  It is a discriminated union representing, for example, a
+      32-bit (IPv4) [RFC0791] or 128-bit (IPv6) [RFC4291] address, most
+      significant octet first.  The first two octets of the Address AVP
+      represent the AddressType, which contains an Address Family,
+      defined in [IANAADFAM].  The AddressType is used to discriminate
+      the content and format of the remaining octets.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 44]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Time
+
+      The Time format is derived from the OctetString Basic AVP Format.
+      The string MUST contain four octets, in the same format as the
+      first four bytes are in the NTP timestamp format.  The NTP
+      timestamp format is defined in Section 3 of [RFC5905].
+
+      This represents the number of seconds since 0h on 1 January 1900
+      with respect to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
+
+      On 6h 28m 16s UTC, 7 February 2036, the time value will overflow.
+      Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) [RFC5905] describes a
+      procedure to extend the time to 2104.  This procedure MUST be
+      supported by all Diameter nodes.
+
+   UTF8String
+
+      The UTF8String format is derived from the OctetString Basic AVP
+      Format.  This is a human-readable string represented using the
+      ISO/IEC IS 10646-1 character set, encoded as an OctetString using
+      the UTF-8 transformation format [RFC3629].
+
+      Since additional code points are added by amendments to the 10646
+      standard from time to time, implementations MUST be prepared to
+      encounter any code point from 0x00000001 to 0x7fffffff.  Byte
+      sequences that do not correspond to the valid encoding of a code
+      point into UTF-8 charset or are outside this range are prohibited.
+
+      The use of control codes SHOULD be avoided.  When it is necessary
+      to represent a new line, the control code sequence CR LF SHOULD be
+      used.
+
+      The use of leading or trailing white space SHOULD be avoided.
+
+      For code points not directly supported by user interface hardware
+      or software, an alternative means of entry and display, such as
+      hexadecimal, MAY be provided.
+
+      For information encoded in 7-bit US-ASCII, the UTF-8 charset is
+      identical to the US-ASCII charset.
+
+      UTF-8 may require multiple bytes to represent a single character /
+      code point; thus, the length of a UTF8String in octets may be
+      different from the number of characters encoded.
+
+      Note that the AVP Length field of an UTF8String is measured in
+      octets not characters.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 45]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DiameterIdentity
+
+      The DiameterIdentity format is derived from the OctetString Basic
+      AVP Format.
+
+                        DiameterIdentity  = FQDN/Realm
+
+   The DiameterIdentity value is used to uniquely identify either:
+
+      *  A Diameter node for purposes of duplicate connection and
+         routing loop detection.
+
+      *  A Realm to determine whether messages can be satisfied locally
+         or whether they must be routed or redirected.
+
+      When a DiameterIdentity value is used to identify a Diameter node,
+      the contents of the string MUST be the Fully Qualified Domain Name
+      (FQDN) of the Diameter node.  If multiple Diameter nodes run on
+      the same host, each Diameter node MUST be assigned a unique
+      DiameterIdentity.  If a Diameter node can be identified by several
+      FQDNs, a single FQDN should be picked at startup and used as the
+      only DiameterIdentity for that node, whatever the connection on
+      which it is sent.  In this document, note that DiameterIdentity is
+      in ASCII form in order to be compatible with existing DNS
+      infrastructure.  See Appendix D for interactions between the
+      Diameter protocol and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).
+
+   DiameterURI
+
+      The DiameterURI MUST follow the Uniform Resource Identifiers (RFC
+      3986) syntax [RFC3986] rules specified below:
+
+      "aaa://" FQDN [ port ] [ transport ] [ protocol ]
+
+                      ; No transport security
+
+      "aaas://" FQDN [ port ] [ transport ] [ protocol ]
+
+                      ; Transport security used
+
+      FQDN               = < Fully Qualified Domain Name >
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 46]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      port               = ":" 1*DIGIT
+
+                      ; One of the ports used to listen for
+                      ; incoming connections.
+                      ; If absent, the default Diameter port
+                      ; (3868) is assumed if no transport
+                      ; security is used and port 5658 when
+                      ; transport security (TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP)
+                      ; is used.
+
+      transport          = ";transport=" transport-protocol
+
+                      ; One of the transports used to listen
+                      ; for incoming connections.  If absent,
+                      ; the default protocol is assumed to be TCP.
+                      ; UDP MUST NOT be used when the aaa-protocol
+                      ; field is set to diameter.
+
+      transport-protocol = ( "tcp" / "sctp" / "udp" )
+
+      protocol           = ";protocol=" aaa-protocol
+
+                      ; If absent, the default AAA protocol
+                      ; is Diameter.
+
+      aaa-protocol       = ( "diameter" / "radius" / "tacacs+" )
+
+      The following are examples of valid Diameter host identities:
+
+      aaa://host.example.com;transport=tcp
+      aaa://host.example.com:6666;transport=tcp
+      aaa://host.example.com;protocol=diameter
+      aaa://host.example.com:6666;protocol=diameter
+      aaa://host.example.com:6666;transport=tcp;protocol=diameter
+      aaa://host.example.com:1813;transport=udp;protocol=radius
+
+   Enumerated
+
+      The Enumerated format is derived from the Integer32 Basic AVP
+      Format.  The definition contains a list of valid values and their
+      interpretation and is described in the Diameter application
+      introducing the AVP.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 47]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   IPFilterRule
+
+      The IPFilterRule format is derived from the OctetString Basic AVP
+      Format and uses the ASCII charset.  The rule syntax is a modified
+      subset of ipfw(8) from FreeBSD.  Packets may be filtered based on
+      the following information that is associated with it:
+
+            Direction                          (in or out)
+            Source and destination IP address  (possibly masked)
+            Protocol
+            Source and destination port        (lists or ranges)
+            TCP flags
+            IP fragment flag
+            IP options
+            ICMP types
+
+   Rules for the appropriate direction are evaluated in order, with the
+   first matched rule terminating the evaluation.  Each packet is
+   evaluated once.  If no rule matches, the packet is dropped if the
+   last rule evaluated was a permit, and passed if the last rule was a
+   deny.
+
+   IPFilterRule filters MUST follow the format:
+
+         action dir proto from src to dst [options]
+
+         action       permit - Allow packets that match the rule.
+                      deny   - Drop packets that match the rule.
+
+         dir          "in" is from the terminal, "out" is to the
+                      terminal.
+
+         proto        An IP protocol specified by number.  The "ip"
+                      keyword means any protocol will match.
+
+         src and dst  <address/mask> [ports]
+
+                      The <address/mask> may be specified as:
+                      ipno       An IPv4 or IPv6 number in dotted-
+                                 quad or canonical IPv6 form.  Only
+                                 this exact IP number will match the
+                                 rule.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 48]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                      ipno/bits  An IP number as above with a mask
+                                 width of the form 192.0.2.10/24.  In
+                                 this case, all IP numbers from
+                                 192.0.2.0 to 192.0.2.255 will match.
+                                 The bit width MUST be valid for the
+                                 IP version, and the IP number MUST
+                                 NOT have bits set beyond the mask.
+                                 For a match to occur, the same IP
+                                 version must be present in the
+                                 packet that was used in describing
+                                 the IP address.  To test for a
+                                 particular IP version, the bits part
+                                 can be set to zero.  The keyword
+                                 "any" is 0.0.0.0/0 or the IPv6
+                                 equivalent.  The keyword "assigned"
+                                 is the address or set of addresses
+                                 assigned to the terminal.  For IPv4,
+                                 a typical first rule is often "deny
+                                 in ip! assigned".
+
+                      The sense of the match can be inverted by
+                      preceding an address with the not modifier (!),
+                      causing all other addresses to be matched
+                      instead.  This does not affect the selection of
+                      port numbers.
+
+                      With the TCP, UDP, and SCTP protocols, optional
+                      ports may be specified as:
+
+                         {port/port-port}[,ports[,...]]
+
+                       The '-' notation specifies a range of ports
+                      (including boundaries).
+
+                      Fragmented packets that have a non-zero offset
+                      (i.e., not the first fragment) will never match
+                      a rule that has one or more port
+                      specifications.  See the frag option for
+                      details on matching fragmented packets.
+
+         options:
+            frag    Match if the packet is a fragment and this is not
+                    the first fragment of the datagram.  frag may not
+                    be used in conjunction with either tcpflags or
+                    TCP/UDP port specifications.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 49]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+            ipoptions spec
+                    Match if the IP header contains the comma-separated
+                    list of options specified in spec.  The
+                    supported IP options are:
+
+                    ssrr (strict source route), lsrr (loose source
+                    route), rr (record packet route), and ts
+                    (timestamp).  The absence of a particular option
+                    may be denoted with a '!'.
+
+            tcpoptions spec
+                    Match if the TCP header contains the comma-separated
+                    list of options specified in spec.  The
+                    supported TCP options are:
+
+                    mss (maximum segment size), window (tcp window
+                    advertisement), sack (selective ack), ts (rfc1323
+                    timestamp), and cc (rfc1644 t/tcp connection
+                    count).  The absence of a particular option may
+                    be denoted with a '!'.
+
+            established
+                    TCP packets only.  Match packets that have the RST
+                    or ACK bits set.
+
+            setup   TCP packets only.  Match packets that have the SYN
+                    bit set but no ACK bit.
+
+
+            tcpflags spec
+                    TCP packets only.  Match if the TCP header
+                    contains the comma-separated list of flags
+                    specified in spec.  The supported TCP flags are:
+
+                    fin, syn, rst, psh, ack, and urg.  The absence of a
+                    particular flag may be denoted with a '!'.  A rule
+                    that contains a tcpflags specification can never
+                    match a fragmented packet that has a non-zero
+                    offset.  See the frag option for details on
+                    matching fragmented packets.
+
+            icmptypes types
+                    ICMP packets only.  Match if the ICMP type is in
+                    the list types.  The list may be specified as any
+                    combination of ranges or individual types
+                    separated by commas.  Both the numeric values and
+                    the symbolic values listed below can be used.  The
+                    supported ICMP types are:
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 50]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                    echo reply (0), destination unreachable (3),
+                    source quench (4), redirect (5), echo request
+                    (8), router advertisement (9), router
+                    solicitation (10), time-to-live exceeded (11), IP
+                    header bad (12), timestamp request (13),
+                    timestamp reply (14), information request (15),
+                    information reply (16), address mask request (17),
+                    and address mask reply (18).
+
+   There is one kind of packet that the access device MUST always
+   discard, that is an IP fragment with a fragment offset of one.  This
+   is a valid packet, but it only has one use, to try to circumvent
+   firewalls.
+
+   An access device that is unable to interpret or apply a deny rule
+   MUST terminate the session.  An access device that is unable to
+   interpret or apply a permit rule MAY apply a more restrictive rule.
+   An access device MAY apply deny rules of its own before the supplied
+   rules, for example to protect the access device owner's
+   infrastructure.
+
+4.4.   Grouped AVP Values
+
+   The Diameter protocol allows AVP values of type 'Grouped'.  This
+   implies that the Data field is actually a sequence of AVPs.  It is
+   possible to include an AVP with a Grouped type within a Grouped type,
+   that is, to nest them.  AVPs within an AVP of type Grouped have the
+   same padding requirements as non-Grouped AVPs, as defined in
+   Section 4.4.
+
+   The AVP Code numbering space of all AVPs included in a Grouped AVP is
+   the same as for non-Grouped AVPs.  Receivers of a Grouped AVP that
+   does not have the 'M' (mandatory) bit set and one or more of the
+   encapsulated AVPs within the group has the 'M' (mandatory) bit set
+   MAY simply be ignored if the Grouped AVP itself is unrecognized.  The
+   rule applies even if the encapsulated AVP with its 'M' (mandatory)
+   bit set is further encapsulated within other sub-groups, i.e., other
+   Grouped AVPs embedded within the Grouped AVP.
+
+   Every Grouped AVP definition MUST include a corresponding grammar,
+   using ABNF [RFC5234] (with modifications), as defined below.
+
+         grouped-avp-def  = "<" name ">" "::=" avp
+
+         name-fmt         = ALPHA *(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 51]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+         name             = name-fmt
+                            ; The name has to be the name of an AVP,
+                            ; defined in the base or extended Diameter
+                            ; specifications.
+
+         avp              = header *fixed *required *optional
+
+         header           = "<" "AVP-Header:" avpcode [vendor] ">"
+
+         avpcode          = 1*DIGIT
+                            ; The AVP Code assigned to the Grouped AVP.
+
+         vendor           = 1*DIGIT
+                            ; The Vendor-ID assigned to the Grouped AVP.
+                            ; If absent, the default value of zero is
+                            ; used.
+
+4.4.1.  Example AVP with a Grouped Data Type
+
+   The Example-AVP (AVP Code 999999) is of type Grouped and is used to
+   clarify how Grouped AVP values work.  The Grouped Data field has the
+   following CCF grammar:
+
+         Example-AVP  ::= < AVP Header: 999999 >
+                          { Origin-Host }
+                        1*{ Session-Id }
+                         *[ AVP ]
+
+      An Example-AVP with Grouped Data follows.
+
+      The Origin-Host AVP (Section 6.3) is required.  In this case:
+
+         Origin-Host = "example.com".
+
+      One or more Session-Ids must follow.  Here there are two:
+
+         Session-Id =
+           "grump.example.com:33041;23432;893;0AF3B81"
+
+         Session-Id =
+           "grump.example.com:33054;23561;2358;0AF3B82"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 52]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      optional AVPs included are
+
+         Recovery-Policy = <binary>
+            2163bc1d0ad82371f6bc09484133c3f09ad74a0dd5346d54195a7cf0b35
+            2cabc881839a4fdcfbc1769e2677a4c1fb499284c5f70b48f58503a45c5
+            c2d6943f82d5930f2b7c1da640f476f0e9c9572a50db8ea6e51e1c2c7bd
+            f8bb43dc995144b8dbe297ac739493946803e1cee3e15d9b765008a1b2a
+            cf4ac777c80041d72c01e691cf751dbf86e85f509f3988e5875dc905119
+            26841f00f0e29a6d1ddc1a842289d440268681e052b30fb638045f7779c
+            1d873c784f054f688f5001559ecff64865ef975f3e60d2fd7966b8c7f92
+
+         Futuristic-Acct-Record = <binary>
+            fe19da5802acd98b07a5b86cb4d5d03f0314ab9ef1ad0b67111ff3b90a0
+            57fe29620bf3585fd2dd9fcc38ce62f6cc208c6163c008f4258d1bc88b8
+            17694a74ccad3ec69269461b14b2e7a4c111fb239e33714da207983f58c
+            41d018d56fe938f3cbf089aac12a912a2f0d1923a9390e5f789cb2e5067
+            d3427475e49968f841
+
+   The data for the optional AVPs is represented in hexadecimal form
+   since the format of these AVPs is not known at the time of definition
+   of the Example-AVP group nor (likely) at the time when the example
+   instance of this AVP is interpreted -- except by Diameter
+   implementations that support the same set of AVPs.  The encoding
+   example illustrates how padding is used and how length fields are
+   calculated.  Also, note that AVPs may be present in the Grouped AVP
+   value that the receiver cannot interpret (here, the Recover-Policy
+   and Futuristic-Acct-Record AVPs).  The length of the Example-AVP is
+   the sum of all the length of the member AVPs, including their
+   padding, plus the Example-AVP header size.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 53]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   This AVP would be encoded as follows:
+
+         0       1       2       3       4       5       6       7
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   0  |     Example AVP Header (AVP Code = 999999), Length = 496      |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   8  |     Origin-Host AVP Header (AVP Code = 264), Length = 19      |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   16 |  'e'  |  'x'  |  'a'  |  'm'  |  'p'  |  'l'  |  'e'  |  '.'  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   24 |  'c'  |  'o'  |  'm'  |Padding|     Session-Id AVP Header     |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   32 | (AVP Code = 263), Length = 49 |  'g'  |  'r'  |  'u'  |  'm'  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+                                    . . .
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   72 |  'F'  |  '3'  |  'B'  |  '8'  |  '1'  |Padding|Padding|Padding|
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   80 |     Session-Id AVP Header (AVP Code = 263), Length = 50       |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   88 |  'g'  |  'r'  |  'u'  |  'm'  |  'p'  |  '.'  |  'e'  |  'x'  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+                                   . . .
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   120|  '5'  |  '8'  |  ';'  |  '0'  |  'A'  |  'F'  |  '3'  |  'B'  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   128|  '8'  |  '2'  |Padding|Padding|  Recovery-Policy Header (AVP  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   136|  Code = 8341), Length = 223   | 0x21  | 0x63  | 0xbc  | 0x1d  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   144|  0x0a | 0xd8  | 0x23  | 0x71  | 0xf6  | 0xbc  | 0x09  | 0x48  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+                                    . . .
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   352|  0x8c | 0x7f  | 0x92  |Padding| Futuristic-Acct-Record Header |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   328|(AVP Code = 15930),Length = 137| 0xfe  | 0x19  | 0xda  | 0x58  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   336|  0x02 | 0xac  | 0xd9  | 0x8b  | 0x07  | 0xa5  | 0xb8  | 0xc6  |
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+                                    . . .
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+   488|  0xe4 | 0x99  | 0x68  | 0xf8  | 0x41  |Padding|Padding|Padding|
+      +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 54]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+4.5.  Diameter Base Protocol AVPs
+
+   The following table describes the Diameter AVPs defined in the base
+   protocol, their AVP Code values, types, and possible flag values.
+
+   Due to space constraints, the short form DiamIdent is used to
+   represent DiameterIdentity.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 55]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                                            +----------+
+                                            | AVP Flag |
+                                            |  rules   |
+                                            |----+-----|
+                   AVP  Section             |    |MUST |
+   Attribute Name  Code Defined  Data Type  |MUST| NOT |
+   -----------------------------------------|----+-----|
+   Acct-             85  9.8.2   Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Interim-Interval                       |    |     |
+   Accounting-      483  9.8.7   Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+     Realtime-Required                      |    |     |
+   Acct-            50   9.8.5   UTF8String | M  |  V  |
+     Multi-Session-Id                       |    |     |
+   Accounting-      485  9.8.3   Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Record-Number                          |    |     |
+   Accounting-      480  9.8.1   Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+     Record-Type                            |    |     |
+   Acct-             44  9.8.4   OctetString| M  |  V  |
+    Session-Id                              |    |     |
+   Accounting-      287  9.8.6   Unsigned64 | M  |  V  |
+     Sub-Session-Id                         |    |     |
+   Acct-            259  6.9     Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Application-Id                         |    |     |
+   Auth-            258  6.8     Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Application-Id                         |    |     |
+   Auth-Request-    274  8.7     Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+      Type                                  |    |     |
+   Authorization-   291  8.9     Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Lifetime                               |    |     |
+   Auth-Grace-      276  8.10    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Period                                 |    |     |
+   Auth-Session-    277  8.11    Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+     State                                  |    |     |
+   Re-Auth-Request- 285  8.12    Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+     Type                                   |    |     |
+   Class             25  8.20    OctetString| M  |  V  |
+   Destination-Host 293  6.5     DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+   Destination-     283  6.6     DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+     Realm                                  |    |     |
+   Disconnect-Cause 273  5.4.3   Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+   Error-Message    281  7.3     UTF8String |    | V,M |
+   Error-Reporting- 294  7.4     DiamIdent  |    | V,M |
+     Host                                   |    |     |
+   Event-Timestamp   55  8.21    Time       | M  |  V  |
+   Experimental-    297  7.6     Grouped    | M  |  V  |
+      Result                                |    |     |
+   -----------------------------------------|----+-----|
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 56]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                                            +----------+
+                                            | AVP Flag |
+                                            |  rules   |
+                                            |----+-----|
+                   AVP  Section             |    |MUST |
+   Attribute Name  Code Defined  Data Type  |MUST| NOT |
+   -----------------------------------------|----+-----|
+   Experimental-    298  7.7     Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+      Result-Code                           |    |     |
+   Failed-AVP       279  7.5     Grouped    | M  |  V  |
+   Firmware-        267  5.3.4   Unsigned32 |    | V,M |
+     Revision                               |    |     |
+   Host-IP-Address  257  5.3.5   Address    | M  |  V  |
+   Inband-Security                          | M  |  V  |
+      -Id           299  6.10    Unsigned32 |    |     |
+   Multi-Round-     272  8.19    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Time-Out                               |    |     |
+   Origin-Host      264  6.3     DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+   Origin-Realm     296  6.4     DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+   Origin-State-Id  278  8.16    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+   Product-Name     269  5.3.7   UTF8String |    | V,M |
+   Proxy-Host       280  6.7.3   DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+   Proxy-Info       284  6.7.2   Grouped    | M  |  V  |
+   Proxy-State       33  6.7.4   OctetString| M  |  V  |
+   Redirect-Host    292  6.12    DiamURI    | M  |  V  |
+   Redirect-Host-   261  6.13    Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+      Usage                                 |    |     |
+   Redirect-Max-    262  6.14    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+      Cache-Time                            |    |     |
+   Result-Code      268  7.1     Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+   Route-Record     282  6.7.1   DiamIdent  | M  |  V  |
+   Session-Id       263  8.8     UTF8String | M  |  V  |
+   Session-Timeout   27  8.13    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+   Session-Binding  270  8.17    Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+   Session-Server-  271  8.18    Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+     Failover                               |    |     |
+   Supported-       265  5.3.6   Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+     Vendor-Id                              |    |     |
+   Termination-     295  8.15    Enumerated | M  |  V  |
+      Cause                                 |    |     |
+   User-Name          1  8.14    UTF8String | M  |  V  |
+   Vendor-Id        266  5.3.3   Unsigned32 | M  |  V  |
+   Vendor-Specific- 260  6.11    Grouped    | M  |  V  |
+      Application-Id                        |    |     |
+   -----------------------------------------|----+-----|
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 57]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.  Diameter Peers
+
+   This section describes how Diameter nodes establish connections and
+   communicate with peers.
+
+5.1.  Peer Connections
+
+   Connections between diameter peers are established using their valid
+   DiameterIdentity.  A Diameter node initiating a connection to a peer
+   MUST know the peer's DiameterIdentity.  Methods for discovering a
+   Diameter peer can be found in Section 5.2.
+
+   Although a Diameter node may have many possible peers with which it
+   is able to communicate, it may not be economical to have an
+   established connection to all of them.  At a minimum, a Diameter node
+   SHOULD have an established connection with two peers per realm, known
+   as the primary and secondary peers.  Of course, a node MAY have
+   additional connections, if it is deemed necessary.  Typically, all
+   messages for a realm are sent to the primary peer but, in the event
+   that failover procedures are invoked, any pending requests are sent
+   to the secondary peer.  However, implementations are free to load
+   balance requests between a set of peers.
+
+   Note that a given peer MAY act as a primary for a given realm while
+   acting as a secondary for another realm.
+
+   When a peer is deemed suspect, which could occur for various reasons,
+   including not receiving a DWA within an allotted time frame, no new
+   requests should be forwarded to the peer, but failover procedures are
+   invoked.  When an active peer is moved to this mode, additional
+   connections SHOULD be established to ensure that the necessary number
+   of active connections exists.
+
+   There are two ways that a peer is removed from the suspect peer list:
+
+   1.  The peer is no longer reachable, causing the transport connection
+       to be shut down.  The peer is moved to the closed state.
+
+   2.  Three watchdog messages are exchanged with accepted round-trip
+       times, and the connection to the peer is considered stabilized.
+
+   In the event the peer being removed is either the primary or
+   secondary, an alternate peer SHOULD replace the deleted peer and
+   assume the role of either primary or secondary.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 58]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.2.  Diameter Peer Discovery
+
+   Allowing for dynamic Diameter agent discovery makes possible simpler
+   and more robust deployment of Diameter services.  In order to promote
+   interoperable implementations of Diameter peer discovery, the
+   following mechanisms (manual configuration and DNS) are described.
+   These are based on existing IETF standards.  Both mechanisms MUST be
+   supported by all Diameter implementations; either MAY be used.
+
+   There are two cases where Diameter peer discovery may be performed.
+   The first is when a Diameter client needs to discover a first-hop
+   Diameter agent.  The second case is when a Diameter agent needs to
+   discover another agent for further handling of a Diameter operation.
+   In both cases, the following 'search order' is recommended:
+
+   1.  The Diameter implementation consults its list of statically
+       (manually) configured Diameter agent locations.  These will be
+       used if they exist and respond.
+
+   2.  The Diameter implementation performs a NAPTR query for a server
+       in a particular realm.  The Diameter implementation has to know,
+       in advance, in which realm to look for a Diameter agent.  This
+       could be deduced, for example, from the 'realm' in an NAI on
+       which a Diameter implementation needed to perform a Diameter
+       operation.
+
+       The NAPTR usage in Diameter follows the S-NAPTR DDDS application
+       [RFC3958] in which the SERVICE field includes tags for the
+       desired application and supported application protocol.  The
+       application service tag for a Diameter application is 'aaa' and
+       the supported application protocol tags are 'diameter.tcp',
+       'diameter.sctp', 'diameter.dtls', or 'diameter.tls.tcp'
+       [RFC6408].
+
+       The client can follow the resolution process defined by the
+       S-NAPTR DDDS [RFC3958] application to find a matching SRV, A, or
+       AAAA record of a suitable peer.  The domain suffixes in the NAPTR
+       replacement field SHOULD match the domain of the original query.
+       An example can be found in Appendix B.
+
+   3.  If no NAPTR records are found, the requester directly queries for
+       one of the following SRV records: for Diameter over TCP, use
+       "_diameter._tcp.realm"; for Diameter over TLS, use
+       "_diameters._tcp.realm"; for Diameter over SCTP, use
+       "_diameter._sctp.realm"; for Diameter over DTLS, use
+       "_diameters._sctp.realm".  If SRV records are found, then the
+       requester can perform address record query (A RR's and/or AAAA
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 59]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+       RR's) for the target hostname specified in the SRV records
+       following the rules given in [RFC2782].  If no SRV records are
+       found, the requester gives up.
+
+   If the server is using a site certificate, the domain name in the
+   NAPTR query and the domain name in the replacement field MUST both be
+   valid based on the site certificate handed out by the server in the
+   TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP or Internet Key Exchange Protocol (IKE)
+   exchange.  Similarly, the domain name in the SRV query and the domain
+   name in the target in the SRV record MUST both be valid based on the
+   same site certificate.  Otherwise, an attacker could modify the DNS
+   records to contain replacement values in a different domain, and the
+   client could not validate whether this was the desired behavior or
+   the result of an attack.
+
+   Also, the Diameter peer MUST check to make sure that the discovered
+   peers are authorized to act in its role.  Authentication via IKE or
+   TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP, or validation of DNS RRs via DNSSEC is not
+   sufficient to conclude this.  For example, a web server may have
+   obtained a valid TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP certificate, and secured RRs
+   may be included in the DNS, but this does not imply that it is
+   authorized to act as a Diameter server.
+
+   Authorization can be achieved, for example, by the configuration of a
+   Diameter server Certification Authority (CA).  The server CA issues a
+   certificate to the Diameter server, which includes an Object
+   Identifier (OID) to indicate the subject is a Diameter server in the
+   Extended Key Usage extension [RFC5280].  This certificate is then
+   used during TLS/TCP, DTLS/SCTP, or IKE security negotiation.
+   However, note that, at the time of writing, no Diameter server
+   Certification Authorities exist.
+
+   A dynamically discovered peer causes an entry in the peer table (see
+   Section 2.6) to be created.  Note that entries created via DNS MUST
+   expire (or be refreshed) within the DNS Time to Live (TTL).  If a
+   peer is discovered outside of the local realm, a routing table entry
+   (see Section 2.7) for the peer's realm is created.  The routing table
+   entry's expiration MUST match the peer's expiration value.
+
+5.3.  Capabilities Exchange
+
+   When two Diameter peers establish a transport connection, they MUST
+   exchange the Capabilities Exchange messages, as specified in the peer
+   state machine (see Section 5.6).  This message allows the discovery
+   of a peer's identity and its capabilities (protocol version number,
+   the identifiers of supported Diameter applications, security
+   mechanisms, etc.).
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 60]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The receiver only issues commands to its peers that have advertised
+   support for the Diameter application that defines the command.  A
+   Diameter node MUST cache the supported Application Ids in order to
+   ensure that unrecognized commands and/or AVPs are not unnecessarily
+   sent to a peer.
+
+   A receiver of a Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) message that does
+   not have any applications in common with the sender MUST return a
+   Capabilities-Exchange-Answer (CEA) with the Result-Code AVP set to
+   DIAMETER_NO_COMMON_APPLICATION and SHOULD disconnect the transport
+   layer connection.  Note that receiving a CER or CEA from a peer
+   advertising itself as a relay (see Section 2.4) MUST be interpreted
+   as having common applications with the peer.
+
+   The receiver of the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) MUST
+   determine common applications by computing the intersection of its
+   own set of supported Application Ids against all of the
+   Application-Id AVPs (Auth-Application-Id, Acct-Application-Id, and
+   Vendor-Specific-Application-Id) present in the CER.  The value of the
+   Vendor-Id AVP in the Vendor-Specific-Application-Id MUST NOT be used
+   during computation.  The sender of the Capabilities-Exchange-Answer
+   (CEA) SHOULD include all of its supported applications as a hint to
+   the receiver regarding all of its application capabilities.
+
+   Diameter implementations SHOULD first attempt to establish a TLS/TCP
+   and DTLS/SCTP connection prior to the CER/CEA exchange.  This
+   protects the capabilities information of both peers.  To support
+   older Diameter implementations that do not fully conform to this
+   document, the transport security MAY still be negotiated via an
+   Inband-Security AVP.  In this case, the receiver of a Capabilities-
+   Exchange-Request (CER) message that does not have any security
+   mechanisms in common with the sender MUST return a Capabilities-
+   Exchange-Answer (CEA) with the Result-Code AVP set to
+   DIAMETER_NO_COMMON_SECURITY and SHOULD disconnect the transport layer
+   connection.
+
+   CERs received from unknown peers MAY be silently discarded, or a CEA
+   MAY be issued with the Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_UNKNOWN_PEER.
+   In both cases, the transport connection is closed.  If the local
+   policy permits receiving CERs from unknown hosts, a successful CEA
+   MAY be returned.  If a CER from an unknown peer is answered with a
+   successful CEA, the lifetime of the peer entry is equal to the
+   lifetime of the transport connection.  In case of a transport
+   failure, all the pending transactions destined to the unknown peer
+   can be discarded.
+
+   The CER and CEA messages MUST NOT be proxied, redirected, or relayed.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 61]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Since the CER/CEA messages cannot be proxied, it is still possible
+   that an upstream agent will receive a message for which it has no
+   available peers to handle the application that corresponds to the
+   Command Code.  In such instances, the 'E' bit is set in the answer
+   message (Section 7) with the Result-Code AVP set to
+   DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER to inform the downstream agent to take
+   action (e.g., re-routing request to an alternate peer).
+
+   With the exception of the Capabilities-Exchange-Request message, a
+   message of type Request that includes the Auth-Application-Id or
+   Acct-Application-Id AVPs, or a message with an application-specific
+   Command Code MAY only be forwarded to a host that has explicitly
+   advertised support for the application (or has advertised the Relay
+   Application Id).
+
+5.3.1.  Capabilities-Exchange-Request
+
+   The Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER), indicated by the Command
+   Code set to 257 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit set, is sent to
+   exchange local capabilities.  Upon detection of a transport failure,
+   this message MUST NOT be sent to an alternate peer.
+
+   When Diameter is run over SCTP [RFC4960] or DTLS/SCTP [RFC6083],
+   which allow for connections to span multiple interfaces and multiple
+   IP addresses, the Capabilities-Exchange-Request message MUST contain
+   one Host-IP-Address AVP for each potential IP address that MAY be
+   locally used when transmitting Diameter messages.
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <CER> ::= < Diameter Header: 257, REQ >
+                   { Origin-Host }
+                   { Origin-Realm }
+                1* { Host-IP-Address }
+                   { Vendor-Id }
+                   { Product-Name }
+                   [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                 * [ Supported-Vendor-Id ]
+                 * [ Auth-Application-Id ]
+                 * [ Inband-Security-Id ]
+                 * [ Acct-Application-Id ]
+                 * [ Vendor-Specific-Application-Id ]
+                   [ Firmware-Revision ]
+                 * [ AVP ]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 62]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.3.2.  Capabilities-Exchange-Answer
+
+   The Capabilities-Exchange-Answer (CEA), indicated by the Command Code
+   set to 257 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit cleared, is sent in
+   response to a CER message.
+
+   When Diameter is run over SCTP [RFC4960] or DTLS/SCTP [RFC6083],
+   which allow connections to span multiple interfaces, hence, multiple
+   IP addresses, the Capabilities-Exchange-Answer message MUST contain
+   one Host-IP-Address AVP for each potential IP address that MAY be
+   locally used when transmitting Diameter messages.
+
+   Message Format
+
+         <CEA> ::= < Diameter Header: 257 >
+                   { Result-Code }
+                   { Origin-Host }
+                   { Origin-Realm }
+                1* { Host-IP-Address }
+                   { Vendor-Id }
+                   { Product-Name }
+                   [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                   [ Error-Message ]
+                   [ Failed-AVP ]
+                 * [ Supported-Vendor-Id ]
+                 * [ Auth-Application-Id ]
+                 * [ Inband-Security-Id ]
+                 * [ Acct-Application-Id ]
+                 * [ Vendor-Specific-Application-Id ]
+                   [ Firmware-Revision ]
+                 * [ AVP ]
+
+5.3.3.  Vendor-Id AVP
+
+   The Vendor-Id AVP (AVP Code 266) is of type Unsigned32 and contains
+   the IANA "SMI Network Management Private Enterprise Codes"
+   [ENTERPRISE] value assigned to the Diameter Software vendor.  It is
+   envisioned that the combination of the Vendor-Id, Product-Name
+   (Section 5.3.7), and Firmware-Revision (Section 5.3.4) AVPs may
+   provide useful debugging information.
+
+   A Vendor-Id value of zero in the CER or CEA message is reserved and
+   indicates that this field is ignored.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 63]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.3.4.  Firmware-Revision AVP
+
+   The Firmware-Revision AVP (AVP Code 267) is of type Unsigned32 and is
+   used to inform a Diameter peer of the firmware revision of the
+   issuing device.
+
+   For devices that do not have a firmware revision (general-purpose
+   computers running Diameter software modules, for instance), the
+   revision of the Diameter software module may be reported instead.
+
+5.3.5.  Host-IP-Address AVP
+
+   The Host-IP-Address AVP (AVP Code 257) is of type Address and is used
+   to inform a Diameter peer of the sender's IP address.  All source
+   addresses that a Diameter node expects to use with SCTP [RFC4960] or
+   DTLS/SCTP [RFC6083] MUST be advertised in the CER and CEA messages by
+   including a Host-IP-Address AVP for each address.
+
+5.3.6.  Supported-Vendor-Id AVP
+
+   The Supported-Vendor-Id AVP (AVP Code 265) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   contains the IANA "SMI Network Management Private Enterprise Codes"
+   [ENTERPRISE] value assigned to a vendor other than the device vendor
+   but including the application vendor.  This is used in the CER and
+   CEA messages in order to inform the peer that the sender supports (a
+   subset of) the Vendor-Specific AVPs defined by the vendor identified
+   in this AVP.  The value of this AVP MUST NOT be set to zero.
+   Multiple instances of this AVP containing the same value SHOULD NOT
+   be sent.
+
+5.3.7.  Product-Name AVP
+
+   The Product-Name AVP (AVP Code 269) is of type UTF8String and
+   contains the vendor-assigned name for the product.  The Product-Name
+   AVP SHOULD remain constant across firmware revisions for the same
+   product.
+
+5.4.  Disconnecting Peer Connections
+
+   When a Diameter node disconnects one of its transport connections,
+   its peer cannot know the reason for the disconnect and will most
+   likely assume that a connectivity problem occurred or that the peer
+   has rebooted.  In these cases, the peer may periodically attempt to
+   reconnect, as stated in Section 2.1.  In the event that the
+   disconnect was a result of either a shortage of internal resources or
+   simply that the node in question has no intentions of forwarding any
+   Diameter messages to the peer in the foreseeable future, a periodic
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 64]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   connection request would not be welcomed.  The Disconnection-Reason
+   AVP contains the reason the Diameter node issued the Disconnect-Peer-
+   Request message.
+
+   The Disconnect-Peer-Request message is used by a Diameter node to
+   inform its peer of its intent to disconnect the transport layer and
+   that the peer shouldn't reconnect unless it has a valid reason to do
+   so (e.g., message to be forwarded).  Upon receipt of the message, the
+   Disconnect-Peer-Answer message is returned, which SHOULD contain an
+   error if messages have recently been forwarded, and are likely in
+   flight, which would otherwise cause a race condition.
+
+   The receiver of the Disconnect-Peer-Answer message initiates the
+   transport disconnect.  The sender of the Disconnect-Peer-Answer
+   message should be able to detect the transport closure and clean up
+   the connection.
+
+5.4.1.  Disconnect-Peer-Request
+
+   The Disconnect-Peer-Request (DPR), indicated by the Command Code set
+   to 282 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit set, is sent to a peer to
+   inform it of its intentions to shut down the transport connection.
+   Upon detection of a transport failure, this message MUST NOT be sent
+   to an alternate peer.
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <DPR>  ::= < Diameter Header: 282, REQ >
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    { Disconnect-Cause }
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+5.4.2.   Disconnect-Peer-Answer
+
+   The Disconnect-Peer-Answer (DPA), indicated by the Command Code set
+   to 282 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit cleared, is sent as a response
+   to the Disconnect-Peer-Request message.  Upon receipt of this
+   message, the transport connection is shut down.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 65]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <DPA>  ::= < Diameter Header: 282 >
+                    { Result-Code }
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ Error-Message ]
+                    [ Failed-AVP ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+
+5.4.3.   Disconnect-Cause AVP
+
+   The Disconnect-Cause AVP (AVP Code 273) is of type Enumerated.  A
+   Diameter node MUST include this AVP in the Disconnect-Peer-Request
+   message to inform the peer of the reason for its intention to shut
+   down the transport connection.  The following values are supported:
+
+      REBOOTING                         0
+         A scheduled reboot is imminent.  A receiver of a DPR with
+         above result code MAY attempt reconnection.
+
+      BUSY                              1
+         The peer's internal resources are constrained, and it has
+         determined that the transport connection needs to be closed.
+         A receiver of a DPR with above result code SHOULD NOT attempt
+         reconnection.
+
+      DO_NOT_WANT_TO_TALK_TO_YOU        2
+         The peer has determined that it does not see a need for the
+         transport connection to exist, since it does not expect any
+         messages to be exchanged in the near future.  A receiver of a
+         DPR with above result code SHOULD NOT attempt reconnection.
+
+5.5.  Transport Failure Detection
+
+   Given the nature of the Diameter protocol, it is recommended that
+   transport failures be detected as soon as possible.  Detecting such
+   failures will minimize the occurrence of messages sent to unavailable
+   agents, resulting in unnecessary delays, and will provide better
+   failover performance.  The Device-Watchdog-Request and Device-
+   Watchdog-Answer messages, defined in this section, are used to pro-
+   actively detect transport failures.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 66]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.5.1.  Device-Watchdog-Request
+
+   The Device-Watchdog-Request (DWR), indicated by the Command Code set
+   to 280 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit set, is sent to a peer when no
+   traffic has been exchanged between two peers (see Section 5.5.3).
+   Upon detection of a transport failure, this message MUST NOT be sent
+   to an alternate peer.
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <DWR>  ::= < Diameter Header: 280, REQ >
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+5.5.2.  Device-Watchdog-Answer
+
+   The Device-Watchdog-Answer (DWA), indicated by the Command Code set
+   to 280 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit cleared, is sent as a response
+   to the Device-Watchdog-Request message.
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <DWA>  ::= < Diameter Header: 280 >
+                    { Result-Code }
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ Error-Message ]
+                    [ Failed-AVP ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+5.5.3.   Transport Failure Algorithm
+
+   The transport failure algorithm is defined in [RFC3539].  All
+   Diameter implementations MUST support the algorithm defined in that
+   specification in order to be compliant to the Diameter base protocol.
+
+5.5.4.  Failover and Failback Procedures
+
+   In the event that a transport failure is detected with a peer, it is
+   necessary for all pending request messages to be forwarded to an
+   alternate agent, if possible.  This is commonly referred to as
+   "failover".
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 67]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   In order for a Diameter node to perform failover procedures, it is
+   necessary for the node to maintain a pending message queue for a
+   given peer.  When an answer message is received, the corresponding
+   request is removed from the queue.  The Hop-by-Hop Identifier field
+   is used to match the answer with the queued request.
+
+   When a transport failure is detected, if possible, all messages in
+   the queue are sent to an alternate agent with the T flag set.  On
+   booting a Diameter client or agent, the T flag is also set on any
+   remaining records in non-volatile storage that are still waiting to
+   be transmitted.  An example of a case where it is not possible to
+   forward the message to an alternate server is when the message has a
+   fixed destination, and the unavailable peer is the message's final
+   destination (see Destination-Host AVP).  Such an error requires that
+   the agent return an answer message with the 'E' bit set and the
+   Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER.
+
+   It is important to note that multiple identical requests or answers
+   MAY be received as a result of a failover.  The End-to-End Identifier
+   field in the Diameter header along with the Origin-Host AVP MUST be
+   used to identify duplicate messages.
+
+   As described in Section 2.1, a connection request should be
+   periodically attempted with the failed peer in order to re-establish
+   the transport connection.  Once a connection has been successfully
+   established, messages can once again be forwarded to the peer.  This
+   is commonly referred to as "failback".
+
+5.6.  Peer State Machine
+
+   This section contains a finite state machine that MUST be observed by
+   all Diameter implementations.  Each Diameter node MUST follow the
+   state machine described below when communicating with each peer.
+   Multiple actions are separated by commas, and may continue on
+   succeeding lines, as space requires.  Similarly, state and next state
+   may also span multiple lines, as space requires.
+
+   This state machine is closely coupled with the state machine
+   described in [RFC3539], which is used to open, close, failover,
+   probe, and reopen transport connections.  In particular, note that
+   [RFC3539] requires the use of watchdog messages to probe connections.
+   For Diameter, DWR and DWA messages are to be used.
+
+   The I- prefix is used to represent the initiator (connecting)
+   connection, while the R- prefix is used to represent the responder
+   (listening) connection.  The lack of a prefix indicates that the
+   event or action is the same regardless of the connection on which the
+   event occurred.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 68]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The stable states that a state machine may be in are Closed, I-Open,
+   and R-Open; all other states are intermediate.  Note that I-Open and
+   R-Open are equivalent except for whether the initiator or responder
+   transport connection is used for communication.
+
+   A CER message is always sent on the initiating connection immediately
+   after the connection request is successfully completed.  In the case
+   of an election, one of the two connections will shut down.  The
+   responder connection will survive if the Origin-Host of the local
+   Diameter entity is higher than that of the peer; the initiator
+   connection will survive if the peer's Origin-Host is higher.  All
+   subsequent messages are sent on the surviving connection.  Note that
+   the results of an election on one peer are guaranteed to be the
+   inverse of the results on the other.
+
+   For TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP usage, a TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP handshake
+   SHOULD begin when both ends are in the closed state prior to any
+   Diameter message exchanges.  The TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP connection
+   SHOULD be established before sending any CER or CEA message to secure
+   and protect the capabilities information of both peers.  The TLS/TCP
+   and DTLS/SCTP connection SHOULD be disconnected when the state
+   machine moves to the closed state.  When connecting to responders
+   that do not conform to this document (i.e., older Diameter
+   implementations that are not prepared to received TLS/TCP and DTLS/
+   SCTP connections in the closed state), the initial TLS/TCP and DTLS/
+   SCTP connection attempt will fail.  The initiator MAY then attempt to
+   connect via TCP or SCTP and initiate the TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP
+   handshake when both ends are in the open state.  If the handshake is
+   successful, all further messages will be sent via TLS/TCP and DTLS/
+   SCTP.  If the handshake fails, both ends move to the closed state.
+
+   The state machine constrains only the behavior of a Diameter
+   implementation as seen by Diameter peers through events on the wire.
+
+   Any implementation that produces equivalent results is considered
+   compliant.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 69]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      state            event              action         next state
+      -----------------------------------------------------------------
+      Closed           Start            I-Snd-Conn-Req   Wait-Conn-Ack
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Accept,        R-Open
+                                        Process-CER,
+                                        R-Snd-CEA
+
+      Wait-Conn-Ack    I-Rcv-Conn-Ack   I-Snd-CER        Wait-I-CEA
+                       I-Rcv-Conn-Nack  Cleanup          Closed
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Accept,        Wait-Conn-Ack/
+                                        Process-CER      Elect
+                       Timeout          Error            Closed
+
+      Wait-I-CEA       I-Rcv-CEA        Process-CEA      I-Open
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Accept,        Wait-Returns
+                                        Process-CER,
+                                        Elect
+                       I-Peer-Disc      I-Disc           Closed
+                       I-Rcv-Non-CEA    Error            Closed
+                       Timeout          Error            Closed
+
+      Wait-Conn-Ack/   I-Rcv-Conn-Ack   I-Snd-CER,Elect  Wait-Returns
+      Elect            I-Rcv-Conn-Nack  R-Snd-CEA        R-Open
+                       R-Peer-Disc      R-Disc           Wait-Conn-Ack
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Reject         Wait-Conn-Ack/
+                                                         Elect
+                       Timeout          Error            Closed
+
+      Wait-Returns     Win-Election     I-Disc,R-Snd-CEA R-Open
+                       I-Peer-Disc      I-Disc,          R-Open
+                                        R-Snd-CEA
+                       I-Rcv-CEA        R-Disc           I-Open
+                       R-Peer-Disc      R-Disc           Wait-I-CEA
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Reject         Wait-Returns
+                       Timeout          Error            Closed
+
+      R-Open           Send-Message     R-Snd-Message    R-Open
+                       R-Rcv-Message    Process          R-Open
+                       R-Rcv-DWR        Process-DWR,     R-Open
+                                        R-Snd-DWA
+                       R-Rcv-DWA        Process-DWA      R-Open
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Reject         R-Open
+                       Stop             R-Snd-DPR        Closing
+                       R-Rcv-DPR        R-Snd-DPA        Closing
+                       R-Peer-Disc      R-Disc           Closed
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 70]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      I-Open           Send-Message     I-Snd-Message    I-Open
+                       I-Rcv-Message    Process          I-Open
+                       I-Rcv-DWR        Process-DWR,     I-Open
+                                        I-Snd-DWA
+                       I-Rcv-DWA        Process-DWA      I-Open
+                       R-Conn-CER       R-Reject         I-Open
+                       Stop             I-Snd-DPR        Closing
+                       I-Rcv-DPR        I-Snd-DPA        Closing
+                       I-Peer-Disc      I-Disc           Closed
+
+      Closing          I-Rcv-DPA        I-Disc           Closed
+                       R-Rcv-DPA        R-Disc           Closed
+                       Timeout          Error            Closed
+                       I-Peer-Disc      I-Disc           Closed
+                       R-Peer-Disc      R-Disc           Closed
+
+5.6.1.  Incoming Connections
+
+   When a connection request is received from a Diameter peer, it is
+   not, in the general case, possible to know the identity of that peer
+   until a CER is received from it.  This is because host and port
+   determine the identity of a Diameter peer; the source port of an
+   incoming connection is arbitrary.  Upon receipt of a CER, the
+   identity of the connecting peer can be uniquely determined from the
+   Origin-Host.
+
+   For this reason, a Diameter peer must employ logic separate from the
+   state machine to receive connection requests, accept them, and await
+   the CER.  Once the CER arrives on a new connection, the Origin-Host
+   that identifies the peer is used to locate the state machine
+   associated with that peer, and the new connection and CER are passed
+   to the state machine as an R-Conn-CER event.
+
+   The logic that handles incoming connections SHOULD close and discard
+   the connection if any message other than a CER arrives or if an
+   implementation-defined timeout occurs prior to receipt of CER.
+
+   Because handling of incoming connections up to and including receipt
+   of a CER requires logic, separate from that of any individual state
+   machine associated with a particular peer, it is described separately
+   in this section rather than in the state machine above.
+
+5.6.2.  Events
+
+   Transitions and actions in the automaton are caused by events.  In
+   this section, we will ignore the I- and R- prefixes, since the actual
+   event would be identical, but it would occur on one of two possible
+   connections.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 71]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Start          The Diameter application has signaled that a
+                  connection should be initiated with the peer.
+
+   R-Conn-CER     An acknowledgement is received stating that the
+                  transport connection has been established, and the
+                  associated CER has arrived.
+
+   Rcv-Conn-Ack   A positive acknowledgement is received confirming that
+                  the transport connection is established.
+
+   Rcv-Conn-Nack  A negative acknowledgement was received stating that
+                  the transport connection was not established.
+
+   Timeout        An application-defined timer has expired while waiting
+                  for some event.
+
+   Rcv-CER        A CER message from the peer was received.
+
+   Rcv-CEA        A CEA message from the peer was received.
+
+   Rcv-Non-CEA    A message, other than a CEA, from the peer was
+                  received.
+
+   Peer-Disc      A disconnection indication from the peer was received.
+
+   Rcv-DPR        A DPR message from the peer was received.
+
+   Rcv-DPA        A DPA message from the peer was received.
+
+   Win-Election   An election was held, and the local node was the
+                  winner.
+
+   Send-Message   A message is to be sent.
+
+   Rcv-Message    A message other than CER, CEA, DPR, DPA, DWR, or DWA
+                  was received.
+
+   Stop           The Diameter application has signaled that a
+                  connection should be terminated (e.g., on system
+                  shutdown).
+
+5.6.3.  Actions
+
+   Actions in the automaton are caused by events and typically indicate
+   the transmission of packets and/or an action to be taken on the
+   connection.  In this section, we will ignore the I- and R- prefixes,
+   since the actual action would be identical, but it would occur on one
+   of two possible connections.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 72]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Snd-Conn-Req   A transport connection is initiated with the peer.
+
+   Accept         The incoming connection associated with the R-Conn-CER
+                  is accepted as the responder connection.
+
+   Reject         The incoming connection associated with the R-Conn-CER
+                  is disconnected.
+
+   Process-CER    The CER associated with the R-Conn-CER is processed.
+
+   Snd-CER        A CER message is sent to the peer.
+
+   Snd-CEA        A CEA message is sent to the peer.
+
+   Cleanup        If necessary, the connection is shut down, and any
+                  local resources are freed.
+
+   Error          The transport layer connection is disconnected,
+                  either politely or abortively, in response to
+                  an error condition.  Local resources are freed.
+
+   Process-CEA    A received CEA is processed.
+
+   Snd-DPR        A DPR message is sent to the peer.
+
+   Snd-DPA        A DPA message is sent to the peer.
+
+   Disc           The transport layer connection is disconnected,
+                  and local resources are freed.
+
+   Elect          An election occurs (see Section 5.6.4 for more
+                  information).
+
+   Snd-Message    A message is sent.
+
+   Snd-DWR        A DWR message is sent.
+
+   Snd-DWA        A DWA message is sent.
+
+   Process-DWR    The DWR message is serviced.
+
+   Process-DWA    The DWA message is serviced.
+
+   Process        A message is serviced.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 73]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+5.6.4.  The Election Process
+
+   The election is performed on the responder.  The responder compares
+   the Origin-Host received in the CER with its own Origin-Host as two
+   streams of octets.  If the local Origin-Host lexicographically
+   succeeds the received Origin-Host, a Win-Election event is issued
+   locally.  Diameter identities are in ASCII form; therefore, the
+   lexical comparison is consistent with DNS case insensitivity, where
+   octets that fall in the ASCII range 'a' through 'z' MUST compare
+   equally to their uppercase counterparts between 'A' and 'Z'.  See
+   Appendix D for interactions between the Diameter protocol and
+   Internationalized Domain Name (IDNs).
+
+   The winner of the election MUST close the connection it initiated.
+   Historically, maintaining the responder side of a connection was more
+   efficient than maintaining the initiator side.  However, current
+   practices makes this distinction irrelevant.
+
+6.  Diameter Message Processing
+
+   This section describes how Diameter requests and answers are created
+   and processed.
+
+6.1.  Diameter Request Routing Overview
+
+   A request is sent towards its final destination using one of the
+   following three combinations of the Destination-Realm and
+   Destination-Host AVPs:
+
+   o  A request that is not able to be proxied (such as a CER) MUST NOT
+      contain either Destination-Realm or Destination-Host AVPs.
+
+   o  A request that needs to be sent to a home server serving a
+      specific realm, but not to a specific server (such as the first
+      request of a series of round trips), MUST contain a Destination-
+      Realm AVP but MUST NOT contain a Destination-Host AVP.  For
+      Diameter clients, the value of the Destination-Realm AVP MAY be
+      extracted from the User-Name AVP, or other methods.
+
+   o  Otherwise, a request that needs to be sent to a specific home
+      server among those serving a given realm MUST contain both the
+      Destination-Realm and Destination-Host AVPs.
+
+   The Destination-Host AVP is used as described above when the
+   destination of the request is fixed, which includes:
+
+   o  Authentication requests that span multiple round trips.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 74]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  A Diameter message that uses a security mechanism that makes use
+      of a pre-established session key shared between the source and the
+      final destination of the message.
+
+   o  Server-initiated messages that MUST be received by a specific
+      Diameter client (e.g., access device), such as the Abort-Session-
+      Request message, which is used to request that a particular user's
+      session be terminated.
+
+   Note that an agent can only forward a request to a host described in
+   the Destination-Host AVP if the host in question is included in its
+   peer table (see Section 2.6).  Otherwise, the request is routed based
+   on the Destination-Realm only (see Section 6.1.6).
+
+   When a message is received, the message is processed in the following
+   order:
+
+   o  If the message is destined for the local host, the procedures
+      listed in Section 6.1.4 are followed.
+
+   o  If the message is intended for a Diameter peer with whom the local
+      host is able to directly communicate, the procedures listed in
+      Section 6.1.5 are followed.  This is known as "Request
+      Forwarding".
+
+   o  The procedure listed in Section 6.1.6 is followed, which is known
+      as "Request Routing".
+
+   o  If none of the above are successful, an answer is returned with
+      the Result-Code set to DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER, with the 'E'
+      bit set.
+
+   For routing of Diameter messages to work within an administrative
+   domain, all Diameter nodes within the realm MUST be peers.
+
+   The overview contained in this section (6.1) is intended to provide
+   general guidelines to Diameter developers.  Implementations are free
+   to use different methods than the ones described here as long as they
+   conform to the requirements specified in Sections 6.1.1 through
+   6.1.9.  See Section 7 for more details on error handling.
+
+6.1.1.  Originating a Request
+
+   When creating a request, in addition to any other procedures
+   described in the application definition for that specific request,
+   the following procedures MUST be followed:
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 75]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  the Command Code is set to the appropriate value;
+
+   o  the 'R' bit is set;
+
+   o  the End-to-End Identifier is set to a locally unique value;
+
+   o  the Origin-Host and Origin-Realm AVPs MUST be set to the
+      appropriate values, used to identify the source of the message;
+      and
+
+   o  the Destination-Host and Destination-Realm AVPs MUST be set to the
+      appropriate values, as described in Section 6.1.
+
+6.1.2.  Sending a Request
+
+   When sending a request, originated either locally or as the result of
+   a forwarding or routing operation, the following procedures SHOULD be
+   followed:
+
+   o  The Hop-by-Hop Identifier SHOULD be set to a locally unique value.
+
+   o  The message SHOULD be saved in the list of pending requests.
+
+   Other actions to perform on the message based on the particular role
+   the agent is playing are described in the following sections.
+
+6.1.3.  Receiving Requests
+
+   A relay or proxy agent MUST check for forwarding loops when receiving
+   requests.  A loop is detected if the server finds its own identity in
+   a Route-Record AVP.  When such an event occurs, the agent MUST answer
+   with the Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_LOOP_DETECTED.
+
+6.1.4.  Processing Local Requests
+
+   A request is known to be for local consumption when one of the
+   following conditions occurs:
+
+   o  The Destination-Host AVP contains the local host's identity;
+
+   o  The Destination-Host AVP is not present, the Destination-Realm AVP
+      contains a realm the server is configured to process locally, and
+      the Diameter application is locally supported; or
+
+   o  Both the Destination-Host and the Destination-Realm are not
+      present.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 76]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   When a request is locally processed, the rules in Section 6.2 should
+   be used to generate the corresponding answer.
+
+6.1.5.  Request Forwarding
+
+   Request forwarding is done using the Diameter peer table.  The
+   Diameter peer table contains all of the peers with which the local
+   node is able to directly communicate.
+
+   When a request is received, and the host encoded in the Destination-
+   Host AVP is one that is present in the peer table, the message SHOULD
+   be forwarded to the peer.
+
+6.1.6.  Request Routing
+
+   Diameter request message routing is done via realms and Application
+   Ids. A Diameter message that may be forwarded by Diameter agents
+   (proxies, redirect agents, or relay agents) MUST include the target
+   realm in the Destination-Realm AVP.  Request routing SHOULD rely on
+   the Destination-Realm AVP and the Application Id present in the
+   request message header to aid in the routing decision.  The realm MAY
+   be retrieved from the User-Name AVP, which is in the form of a
+   Network Access Identifier (NAI).  The realm portion of the NAI is
+   inserted in the Destination-Realm AVP.
+
+   Diameter agents MAY have a list of locally supported realms and
+   applications, and they MAY have a list of externally supported realms
+   and applications.  When a request is received that includes a realm
+   and/or application that is not locally supported, the message is
+   routed to the peer configured in the routing table (see Section 2.7).
+
+   Realm names and Application Ids are the minimum supported routing
+   criteria, additional information may be needed to support redirect
+   semantics.
+
+6.1.7.  Predictive Loop Avoidance
+
+   Before forwarding or routing a request, Diameter agents, in addition
+   to performing the processing described in Section 6.1.3, SHOULD check
+   for the presence of a candidate route's peer identity in any of the
+   Route-Record AVPs.  In the event of the agent detecting the presence
+   of a candidate route's peer identity in a Route-Record AVP, the agent
+   MUST ignore such a route for the Diameter request message and attempt
+   alternate routes if any exist.  In case all the candidate routes are
+   eliminated by the above criteria, the agent SHOULD return a
+   DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER message.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 77]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+6.1.8.  Redirecting Requests
+
+   When a redirect agent receives a request whose routing entry is set
+   to REDIRECT, it MUST reply with an answer message with the 'E' bit
+   set, while maintaining the Hop-by-Hop Identifier in the header, and
+   include the Result-Code AVP to DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION.  Each of
+   the servers associated with the routing entry are added in a separate
+   Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+                     +------------------+
+                     |     Diameter     |
+                     |  Redirect Agent  |
+                     +------------------+
+                      ^    |    2. command + 'E' bit
+       1. Request     |    |    Result-Code =
+      joe@example.com |    |    DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION +
+                      |    |    Redirect-Host AVP(s)
+                      |    v
+                  +-------------+  3. Request  +-------------+
+                  | example.com |------------->| example.net |
+                  |    Relay    |              |   Diameter  |
+                  |    Agent    |<-------------|    Server   |
+                  +-------------+  4. Answer   +-------------+
+
+                     Figure 5: Diameter Redirect Agent
+
+   The receiver of an answer message with the 'E' bit set and the
+   Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION uses the Hop-by-
+   Hop Identifier in the Diameter header to identify the request in the
+   pending message queue (see Section 5.5.4) that is to be redirected.
+   If no transport connection exists with the new peer, one is created,
+   and the request is sent directly to it.
+
+   Multiple Redirect-Host AVPs are allowed.  The receiver of the answer
+   message with the 'E' bit set selects exactly one of these hosts as
+   the destination of the redirected message.
+
+   When the Redirect-Host-Usage AVP included in the answer message has a
+   non-zero value, a route entry for the redirect indications is created
+   and cached by the receiver.  The redirect usage for such a route
+   entry is set by the value of Redirect-Host-Usage AVP and the lifetime
+   of the cached route entry is set by Redirect-Max-Cache-Time AVP
+   value.
+
+   It is possible that multiple redirect indications can create multiple
+   cached route entries differing only in their redirect usage and the
+   peer to forward messages to.  As an example, two(2) route entries
+   that are created by two(2) redirect indications results in two(2)
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 78]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   cached routes for the same realm and Application Id.  However, one
+   has a redirect usage of ALL_SESSION, where matching requests will be
+   forwarded to one peer; the other has a redirect usage of ALL_REALM,
+   where request are forwarded to another peer.  Therefore, an incoming
+   request that matches the realm and Application Id of both routes will
+   need additional resolution.  In such a case, a routing precedence
+   rule MUST be used against the redirect usage value to resolve the
+   contention.  The precedence rule can be found in Section 6.13.
+
+6.1.9.  Relaying and Proxying Requests
+
+   A relay or proxy agent MUST append a Route-Record AVP to all requests
+   forwarded.  The AVP contains the identity of the peer from which the
+   request was received.
+
+   The Hop-by-Hop Identifier in the request is saved and replaced with a
+   locally unique value.  The source of the request is also saved, which
+   includes the IP address, port, and protocol.
+
+   A relay or proxy agent MAY include the Proxy-Info AVP in requests if
+   it requires access to any local state information when the
+   corresponding response is received.  The Proxy-Info AVP has security
+   implications as state information is distributed to other entities.
+   As such, it is RECOMMENDED that the content of the Proxy-Info AVP be
+   protected with cryptographic mechanisms, for example, by using a
+   keyed message digest such as HMAC-SHA1 [RFC2104].  Such a mechanism,
+   however, requires the management of keys, although only locally at
+   the Diameter server.  Still, a full description of the management of
+   the keys used to protect the Proxy-Info AVP is beyond the scope of
+   this document.  Below is a list of common recommendations:
+
+   o  The keys should be generated securely following the randomness
+      recommendations in [RFC4086].
+
+   o  The keys and cryptographic protection algorithms should be at
+      least 128 bits in strength.
+
+   o  The keys should not be used for any other purpose than generating
+      and verifying instances of the Proxy-Info AVP.
+
+   o  The keys should be changed regularly.
+
+   o  The keys should be changed if the AVP format or cryptographic
+      protection algorithms change.
+
+   The message is then forwarded to the next hop, as identified in the
+   routing table.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 79]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Figure 6 provides an example of message routing using the procedures
+   listed in these sections.
+
+       (Origin-Host=nas.example.net)    (Origin-Host=nas.example.net)
+       (Origin-Realm=example.net)       (Origin-Realm=example.net)
+       (Destination-Realm=example.com)  (Destination-Realm=example.com)
+                                        (Route-Record=nas.example.net)
+      +------+      ------>      +------+      ------>      +------+
+      |      |     (Request)     |      |      (Request)    |      |
+      | NAS  +-------------------+ DRL  +-------------------+ HMS  |
+      |      |                   |      |                   |      |
+      +------+     <------       +------+     <------       +------+
+     example.net    (Answer)   example.net     (Answer)   example.com
+          (Origin-Host=hms.example.com)   (Origin-Host=hms.example.com)
+          (Origin-Realm=example.com)      (Origin-Realm=example.com)
+
+                  Figure 6: Routing of Diameter messages
+
+   Relay and proxy agents are not required to perform full inspection of
+   incoming messages.  At a minimum, validation of the message header
+   and relevant routing AVPs has to be done when relaying messages.
+   Proxy agents may optionally perform more in-depth message validation
+   for applications in which it is interested.
+
+6.2.  Diameter Answer Processing
+
+   When a request is locally processed, the following procedures MUST be
+   applied to create the associated answer, in addition to any
+   additional procedures that MAY be discussed in the Diameter
+   application defining the command:
+
+   o  The same Hop-by-Hop Identifier in the request is used in the
+      answer.
+
+   o  The local host's identity is encoded in the Origin-Host AVP.
+
+   o  The Destination-Host and Destination-Realm AVPs MUST NOT be
+      present in the answer message.
+
+   o  The Result-Code AVP is added with its value indicating success or
+      failure.
+
+   o  If the Session-Id is present in the request, it MUST be included
+      in the answer.
+
+   o  Any Proxy-Info AVPs in the request MUST be added to the answer
+      message, in the same order they were present in the request.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 80]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  The 'P' bit is set to the same value as the one in the request.
+
+   o  The same End-to-End identifier in the request is used in the
+      answer.
+
+   Note that the error messages (see Section 7) are also subjected to
+   the above processing rules.
+
+6.2.1.   Processing Received Answers
+
+   A Diameter client or proxy MUST match the Hop-by-Hop Identifier in an
+   answer received against the list of pending requests.  The
+   corresponding message should be removed from the list of pending
+   requests.  It SHOULD ignore answers received that do not match a
+   known Hop-by-Hop Identifier.
+
+6.2.2.  Relaying and Proxying Answers
+
+   If the answer is for a request that was proxied or relayed, the agent
+   MUST restore the original value of the Diameter header's Hop-by-Hop
+   Identifier field.
+
+   If the last Proxy-Info AVP in the message is targeted to the local
+   Diameter server, the AVP MUST be removed before the answer is
+   forwarded.
+
+   If a relay or proxy agent receives an answer with a Result-Code AVP
+   indicating a failure, it MUST NOT modify the contents of the AVP.
+   Any additional local errors detected SHOULD be logged but not
+   reflected in the Result-Code AVP.  If the agent receives an answer
+   message with a Result-Code AVP indicating success, and it wishes to
+   modify the AVP to indicate an error, it MUST modify the Result-Code
+   AVP to contain the appropriate error in the message destined towards
+   the access device as well as include the Error-Reporting-Host AVP; it
+   MUST also issue an STR on behalf of the access device towards the
+   Diameter server.
+
+   The agent MUST then send the answer to the host that it received the
+   original request from.
+
+6.3.  Origin-Host AVP
+
+   The Origin-Host AVP (AVP Code 264) is of type DiameterIdentity, and
+   it MUST be present in all Diameter messages.  This AVP identifies the
+   endpoint that originated the Diameter message.  Relay agents MUST NOT
+   modify this AVP.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 81]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The value of the Origin-Host AVP is guaranteed to be unique within a
+   single host.
+
+   Note that the Origin-Host AVP may resolve to more than one address as
+   the Diameter peer may support more than one address.
+
+   This AVP SHOULD be placed as close to the Diameter header as
+   possible.
+
+6.4.  Origin-Realm AVP
+
+   The Origin-Realm AVP (AVP Code 296) is of type DiameterIdentity.
+   This AVP contains the Realm of the originator of any Diameter message
+   and MUST be present in all messages.
+
+   This AVP SHOULD be placed as close to the Diameter header as
+   possible.
+
+6.5.  Destination-Host AVP
+
+   The Destination-Host AVP (AVP Code 293) is of type DiameterIdentity.
+   This AVP MUST be present in all unsolicited agent initiated messages,
+   MAY be present in request messages, and MUST NOT be present in answer
+   messages.
+
+   The absence of the Destination-Host AVP will cause a message to be
+   sent to any Diameter server supporting the application within the
+   realm specified in Destination-Realm AVP.
+
+   This AVP SHOULD be placed as close to the Diameter header as
+   possible.
+
+6.6.  Destination-Realm AVP
+
+   The Destination-Realm AVP (AVP Code 283) is of type DiameterIdentity
+   and contains the realm to which the message is to be routed.  The
+   Destination-Realm AVP MUST NOT be present in answer messages.
+   Diameter clients insert the realm portion of the User-Name AVP.
+   Diameter servers initiating a request message use the value of the
+   Origin-Realm AVP from a previous message received from the intended
+   target host (unless it is known a priori).  When present, the
+   Destination-Realm AVP is used to perform message routing decisions.
+
+   The CCF for a request message that includes the Destination-Realm AVP
+   SHOULD list the Destination-Realm AVP as a required AVP (an AVP
+   indicated as {AVP}); otherwise, the message is inherently a non-
+   routable message.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 82]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   This AVP SHOULD be placed as close to the Diameter header as
+   possible.
+
+6.7.  Routing AVPs
+
+   The AVPs defined in this section are Diameter AVPs used for routing
+   purposes.  These AVPs change as Diameter messages are processed by
+   agents.
+
+6.7.1.  Route-Record AVP
+
+   The Route-Record AVP (AVP Code 282) is of type DiameterIdentity.  The
+   identity added in this AVP MUST be the same as the one received in
+   the Origin-Host of the Capabilities Exchange message.
+
+6.7.2.  Proxy-Info AVP
+
+   The Proxy-Info AVP (AVP Code 284) is of type Grouped.  This AVP
+   contains the identity and local state information of the Diameter
+   node that creates and adds it to a message.  The Grouped Data field
+   has the following CCF grammar:
+
+         Proxy-Info ::= < AVP Header: 284 >
+                        { Proxy-Host }
+                        { Proxy-State }
+                      * [ AVP ]
+
+6.7.3.  Proxy-Host AVP
+
+   The Proxy-Host AVP (AVP Code 280) is of type DiameterIdentity.  This
+   AVP contains the identity of the host that added the Proxy-Info AVP.
+
+6.7.4.  Proxy-State AVP
+
+   The Proxy-State AVP (AVP Code 33) is of type OctetString.  It
+   contains state information that would otherwise be stored at the
+   Diameter entity that created it.  As such, this AVP MUST be treated
+   as opaque data by other Diameter entities.
+
+6.8.  Auth-Application-Id AVP
+
+   The Auth-Application-Id AVP (AVP Code 258) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   is used in order to advertise support of the Authentication and
+   Authorization portion of an application (see Section 2.4).  If
+   present in a message other than CER and CEA, the value of the Auth-
+   Application-Id AVP MUST match the Application Id present in the
+   Diameter message header.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 83]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+6.9.  Acct-Application-Id AVP
+
+   The Acct-Application-Id AVP (AVP Code 259) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   is used in order to advertise support of the accounting portion of an
+   application (see Section 2.4).  If present in a message other than
+   CER and CEA, the value of the Acct-Application-Id AVP MUST match the
+   Application Id present in the Diameter message header.
+
+6.10.  Inband-Security-Id AVP
+
+   The Inband-Security-Id AVP (AVP Code 299) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   is used in order to advertise support of the security portion of the
+   application.  The use of this AVP in CER and CEA messages is NOT
+   RECOMMENDED.  Instead, discovery of a Diameter entity's security
+   capabilities can be done either through static configuration or via
+   Diameter Peer Discovery as described in Section 5.2.
+
+   The following values are supported:
+
+
+   NO_INBAND_SECURITY 0
+
+      This peer does not support TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP.  This is the
+      default value, if the AVP is omitted.
+
+   TLS 1
+
+      This node supports TLS/TCP [RFC5246] and DTLS/SCTP [RFC6083]
+      security.
+
+6.11.  Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP
+
+   The Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP (AVP Code 260) is of type
+   Grouped and is used to advertise support of a vendor-specific
+   Diameter application.  Exactly one instance of either Auth-
+   Application-Id or Acct-Application-Id AVP MUST be present.  The
+   Application Id carried by either Auth-Application-Id or Acct-
+   Application-Id AVP MUST comply with vendor-specific Application Id
+   assignment described in Section 11.3.  It MUST also match the
+   Application Id present in the Diameter header except when used in a
+   CER or CEA message.
+
+   The Vendor-Id AVP is an informational AVP pertaining to the vendor
+   who may have authorship of the vendor-specific Diameter application.
+   It MUST NOT be used as a means of defining a completely separate
+   vendor-specific Application Id space.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 84]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP SHOULD be placed as close to
+   the Diameter header as possible.
+
+      AVP Format
+
+      <Vendor-Specific-Application-Id> ::= < AVP Header: 260 >
+                                           { Vendor-Id }
+                                           [ Auth-Application-Id ]
+                                           [ Acct-Application-Id ]
+
+   A Vendor-Specific-Application-Id AVP MUST contain exactly one of
+   either Auth-Application-Id or Acct-Application-Id.  If a Vendor-
+   Specific-Application-Id is received without one of these two AVPs,
+   then the recipient SHOULD issue an answer with a Result-Code set to
+   DIAMETER_MISSING_AVP.  The answer SHOULD also include a Failed-AVP,
+   which MUST contain an example of an Auth-Application-Id AVP and an
+   Acct-Application-Id AVP.
+
+   If a Vendor-Specific-Application-Id is received that contains both
+   Auth-Application-Id and Acct-Application-Id, then the recipient MUST
+   issue an answer with Result-Code set to
+   DIAMETER_AVP_OCCURS_TOO_MANY_TIMES.  The answer MUST also include a
+   Failed-AVP, which MUST contain the received Auth-Application-Id AVP
+   and Acct-Application-Id AVP.
+
+6.12.  Redirect-Host AVP
+
+   The Redirect-Host AVP (AVP Code 292) is of type DiameterURI.  One or
+   more instances of this AVP MUST be present if the answer message's
+   'E' bit is set and the Result-Code AVP is set to
+   DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION.
+
+   Upon receiving the above, the receiving Diameter node SHOULD forward
+   the request directly to one of the hosts identified in these AVPs.
+   The server contained in the selected Redirect-Host AVP SHOULD be used
+   for all messages matching the criteria set by the Redirect-Host-Usage
+   AVP.
+
+6.13.  Redirect-Host-Usage AVP
+
+   The Redirect-Host-Usage AVP (AVP Code 261) is of type Enumerated.
+   This AVP MAY be present in answer messages whose 'E' bit is set and
+   the Result-Code AVP is set to DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION.
+
+   When present, this AVP provides hints about how the routing entry
+   resulting from the Redirect-Host is to be used.  The following values
+   are supported:
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 85]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DONT_CACHE 0
+
+      The host specified in the Redirect-Host AVP SHOULD NOT be cached.
+      This is the default value.
+
+   ALL_SESSION 1
+
+      All messages within the same session, as defined by the same value
+      of the Session-ID AVP SHOULD be sent to the host specified in the
+      Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   ALL_REALM 2
+
+      All messages destined for the realm requested SHOULD be sent to
+      the host specified in the Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   REALM_AND_APPLICATION 3
+
+      All messages for the application requested to the realm specified
+      SHOULD be sent to the host specified in the Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   ALL_APPLICATION 4
+
+      All messages for the application requested SHOULD be sent to the
+      host specified in the Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   ALL_HOST 5
+
+      All messages that would be sent to the host that generated the
+      Redirect-Host SHOULD be sent to the host specified in the
+      Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   ALL_USER 6
+
+      All messages for the user requested SHOULD be sent to the host
+      specified in the Redirect-Host AVP.
+
+   When multiple cached routes are created by redirect indications and
+   they differ only in redirect usage and peers to forward requests to
+   (see Section 6.1.8), a precedence rule MUST be applied to the
+   redirect usage values of the cached routes during normal routing to
+   resolve contentions that may occur.  The precedence rule is the order
+   that dictate which redirect usage should be considered before any
+   other as they appear.  The order is as follows:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 86]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   1.  ALL_SESSION
+
+   2.  ALL_USER
+
+   3.  REALM_AND_APPLICATION
+
+   4.  ALL_REALM
+
+   5.  ALL_APPLICATION
+
+   6.  ALL_HOST
+
+6.14.  Redirect-Max-Cache-Time AVP
+
+   The Redirect-Max-Cache-Time AVP (AVP Code 262) is of type Unsigned32.
+   This AVP MUST be present in answer messages whose 'E' bit is set,
+   whose Result-Code AVP is set to DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION, and
+   whose Redirect-Host-Usage AVP set to a non-zero value.
+
+   This AVP contains the maximum number of seconds the peer and route
+   table entries, created as a result of the Redirect-Host, SHOULD be
+   cached.  Note that once a host is no longer reachable, any associated
+   cache, peer, and routing table entries MUST be deleted.
+
+7.  Error Handling
+
+   There are two different types of errors in Diameter; protocol errors
+   and application errors.  A protocol error is one that occurs at the
+   base protocol level and MAY require per-hop attention (e.g., a
+   message routing error).  Application errors, on the other hand,
+   generally occur due to a problem with a function specified in a
+   Diameter application (e.g., user authentication, missing AVP).
+
+   Result-Code AVP values that are used to report protocol errors MUST
+   only be present in answer messages whose 'E' bit is set.  When a
+   request message is received that causes a protocol error, an answer
+   message is returned with the 'E' bit set, and the Result-Code AVP is
+   set to the appropriate protocol error value.  As the answer is sent
+   back towards the originator of the request, each proxy or relay agent
+   MAY take action on the message.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 87]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                          1. Request        +---------+ Link Broken
+                +-------------------------->|Diameter |----///----+
+                |     +---------------------|         |           v
+         +------+--+  | 2. answer + 'E' set | Relay 2 |     +--------+
+         |Diameter |<-+ (Unable to Forward) +---------+     |Diameter|
+         |         |                                        |  Home  |
+         | Relay 1 |--+                     +---------+     | Server |
+         +---------+  |   3. Request        |Diameter |     +--------+
+                      +-------------------->|         |           ^
+                                            | Relay 3 |-----------+
+                                            +---------+
+
+        Figure 7: Example of Protocol Error Causing Answer Message
+
+   Figure 7 provides an example of a message forwarded upstream by a
+   Diameter relay.  When the message is received by Relay 2, and it
+   detects that it cannot forward the request to the home server, an
+   answer message is returned with the 'E' bit set and the Result-Code
+   AVP set to DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER.  Given that this error falls
+   within the protocol error category, Relay 1 would take special
+   action, and given the error, attempt to route the message through its
+   alternate Relay 3.
+
+            +---------+ 1. Request  +---------+ 2. Request  +---------+
+            | Access  |------------>|Diameter |------------>|Diameter |
+            |         |             |         |             |  Home   |
+            | Device  |<------------|  Relay  |<------------| Server  |
+            +---------+  4. Answer  +---------+  3. Answer  +---------+
+                       (Missing AVP)           (Missing AVP)
+
+           Figure 8: Example of Application Error Answer Message
+
+   Figure 8 provides an example of a Diameter message that caused an
+   application error.  When application errors occur, the Diameter
+   entity reporting the error clears the 'R' bit in the Command Flags
+   and adds the Result-Code AVP with the proper value.  Application
+   errors do not require any proxy or relay agent involvement;
+   therefore, the message would be forwarded back to the originator of
+   the request.
+
+   In the case where the answer message itself contains errors, any
+   related session SHOULD be terminated by sending an STR or ASR
+   message.  The Termination-Cause AVP in the STR MAY be filled with the
+   appropriate value to indicate the cause of the error.  An application
+   MAY also send an application-specific request instead of an STR or
+   ASR message to signal the error in the case where no state is
+   maintained or to allow for some form of error recovery with the
+   corresponding Diameter entity.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 88]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   There are certain Result-Code AVP application errors that require
+   additional AVPs to be present in the answer.  In these cases, the
+   Diameter node that sets the Result-Code AVP to indicate the error
+   MUST add the AVPs.  Examples are as follows:
+
+   o  A request with an unrecognized AVP is received with the 'M' bit
+      (Mandatory bit) set causes an answer to be sent with the Result-
+      Code AVP set to DIAMETER_AVP_UNSUPPORTED and the Failed-AVP AVP
+      containing the offending AVP.
+
+   o  A request with an AVP that is received with an unrecognized value
+      causes an answer to be returned with the Result-Code AVP set to
+      DIAMETER_INVALID_AVP_VALUE, with the Failed-AVP AVP containing the
+      AVP causing the error.
+
+   o  A received command that is missing AVPs that are defined as
+      required in the commands CCF; examples are AVPs indicated as
+      {AVP}.  The receiver issues an answer with the Result-Code set to
+      DIAMETER_MISSING_AVP and creates an AVP with the AVP Code and
+      other fields set as expected in the missing AVP.  The created AVP
+      is then added to the Failed-AVP AVP.
+
+   The Result-Code AVP describes the error that the Diameter node
+   encountered in its processing.  In case there are multiple errors,
+   the Diameter node MUST report only the first error it encountered
+   (detected possibly in some implementation-dependent order).  The
+   specific errors that can be described by this AVP are described in
+   the following section.
+
+7.1.  Result-Code AVP
+
+   The Result-Code AVP (AVP Code 268) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   indicates whether a particular request was completed successfully or
+   an error occurred.  All Diameter answer messages in IETF-defined
+   Diameter application specifications MUST include one Result-Code AVP.
+   A non-successful Result-Code AVP (one containing a non-2xxx value
+   other than DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION) MUST include the Error-
+   Reporting-Host AVP if the host setting the Result-Code AVP is
+   different from the identity encoded in the Origin-Host AVP.
+
+   The Result-Code data field contains an IANA-managed 32-bit address
+   space representing errors (see Section 11.3.2).  Diameter provides
+   the following classes of errors, all identified by the thousands
+   digit in the decimal notation:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 89]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  1xxx (Informational)
+
+   o  2xxx (Success)
+
+   o  3xxx (Protocol Errors)
+
+   o  4xxx (Transient Failures)
+
+   o  5xxx (Permanent Failure)
+
+   An unrecognized class (one whose first digit is not defined in this
+   section) MUST be handled as a permanent failure.
+
+7.1.1.  Informational
+
+   Errors that fall within this category are used to inform the
+   requester that a request could not be satisfied, and additional
+   action is required on its part before access is granted.
+
+   DIAMETER_MULTI_ROUND_AUTH 1001
+
+      This informational error is returned by a Diameter server to
+      inform the access device that the authentication mechanism being
+      used requires multiple round trips, and a subsequent request needs
+      to be issued in order for access to be granted.
+
+7.1.2.  Success
+
+   Errors that fall within the Success category are used to inform a
+   peer that a request has been successfully completed.
+
+   DIAMETER_SUCCESS 2001
+
+      The request was successfully completed.
+
+   DIAMETER_LIMITED_SUCCESS 2002
+
+      When returned, the request was successfully completed, but
+      additional processing is required by the application in order to
+      provide service to the user.
+
+7.1.3.  Protocol Errors
+
+   Errors that fall within the Protocol Error category SHOULD be treated
+   on a per-hop basis, and Diameter proxies MAY attempt to correct the
+   error, if it is possible.  Note that these errors MUST only be used
+   in answer messages whose 'E' bit is set.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 90]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DIAMETER_COMMAND_UNSUPPORTED 3001
+
+      This error code is used when a Diameter entity receives a message
+      with a Command Code that it does not support.
+
+   DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_DELIVER 3002
+
+      This error is given when Diameter cannot deliver the message to
+      the destination, either because no host within the realm
+      supporting the required application was available to process the
+      request or because the Destination-Host AVP was given without the
+      associated Destination-Realm AVP.
+
+   DIAMETER_REALM_NOT_SERVED 3003
+
+      The intended realm of the request is not recognized.
+
+   DIAMETER_TOO_BUSY 3004
+
+      When returned, a Diameter node SHOULD attempt to send the message
+      to an alternate peer.  This error MUST only be used when a
+      specific server is requested, and it cannot provide the requested
+      service.
+
+   DIAMETER_LOOP_DETECTED 3005
+
+      An agent detected a loop while trying to get the message to the
+      intended recipient.  The message MAY be sent to an alternate peer,
+      if one is available, but the peer reporting the error has
+      identified a configuration problem.
+
+   DIAMETER_REDIRECT_INDICATION 3006
+
+      A redirect agent has determined that the request could not be
+      satisfied locally, and the initiator of the request SHOULD direct
+      the request directly to the server, whose contact information has
+      been added to the response.  When set, the Redirect-Host AVP MUST
+      be present.
+
+   DIAMETER_APPLICATION_UNSUPPORTED 3007
+
+      A request was sent for an application that is not supported.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_HDR_BITS 3008
+
+      A request was received whose bits in the Diameter header were set
+      either to an invalid combination or to a value that is
+      inconsistent with the Command Code's definition.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 91]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_AVP_BITS 3009
+
+      A request was received that included an AVP whose flag bits are
+      set to an unrecognized value or that is inconsistent with the
+      AVP's definition.
+
+   DIAMETER_UNKNOWN_PEER 3010
+
+      A CER was received from an unknown peer.
+
+7.1.4.  Transient Failures
+
+   Errors that fall within the transient failures category are used to
+   inform a peer that the request could not be satisfied at the time it
+   was received but MAY be able to satisfy the request in the future.
+   Note that these errors MUST be used in answer messages whose 'E' bit
+   is not set.
+
+   DIAMETER_AUTHENTICATION_REJECTED 4001
+
+      The authentication process for the user failed, most likely due to
+      an invalid password used by the user.  Further attempts MUST only
+      be tried after prompting the user for a new password.
+
+   DIAMETER_OUT_OF_SPACE 4002
+
+      A Diameter node received the accounting request but was unable to
+      commit it to stable storage due to a temporary lack of space.
+
+   ELECTION_LOST 4003
+
+      The peer has determined that it has lost the election process and
+      has therefore disconnected the transport connection.
+
+7.1.5.  Permanent Failures
+
+   Errors that fall within the permanent failures category are used to
+   inform the peer that the request failed and should not be attempted
+   again.  Note that these errors SHOULD be used in answer messages
+   whose 'E' bit is not set.  In error conditions where it is not
+   possible or efficient to compose application-specific answer grammar,
+   answer messages with the 'E' bit set and which comply to the grammar
+   described in Section 7.2 MAY also be used for permanent errors.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 92]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DIAMETER_AVP_UNSUPPORTED 5001
+
+      The peer received a message that contained an AVP that is not
+      recognized or supported and was marked with the 'M' (Mandatory)
+      bit.  A Diameter message with this error MUST contain one or more
+      Failed-AVP AVPs containing the AVPs that caused the failure.
+
+   DIAMETER_UNKNOWN_SESSION_ID 5002
+
+      The request contained an unknown Session-Id.
+
+   DIAMETER_AUTHORIZATION_REJECTED 5003
+
+      A request was received for which the user could not be authorized.
+      This error could occur if the service requested is not permitted
+      to the user.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_AVP_VALUE 5004
+
+      The request contained an AVP with an invalid value in its data
+      portion.  A Diameter message indicating this error MUST include
+      the offending AVPs within a Failed-AVP AVP.
+
+   DIAMETER_MISSING_AVP 5005
+
+      The request did not contain an AVP that is required by the Command
+      Code definition.  If this value is sent in the Result-Code AVP, a
+      Failed-AVP AVP SHOULD be included in the message.  The Failed-AVP
+      AVP MUST contain an example of the missing AVP complete with the
+      Vendor-Id if applicable.  The value field of the missing AVP
+      should be of correct minimum length and contain zeroes.
+
+   DIAMETER_RESOURCES_EXCEEDED 5006
+
+      A request was received that cannot be authorized because the user
+      has already expended allowed resources.  An example of this error
+      condition is when a user that is restricted to one dial-up PPP
+      port attempts to establish a second PPP connection.
+
+   DIAMETER_CONTRADICTING_AVPS 5007
+
+      The Home Diameter server has detected AVPs in the request that
+      contradicted each other, and it is not willing to provide service
+      to the user.  The Failed-AVP AVP MUST be present, which contain
+      the AVPs that contradicted each other.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 93]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   DIAMETER_AVP_NOT_ALLOWED 5008
+
+      A message was received with an AVP that MUST NOT be present.  The
+      Failed-AVP AVP MUST be included and contain a copy of the
+      offending AVP.
+
+   DIAMETER_AVP_OCCURS_TOO_MANY_TIMES 5009
+
+      A message was received that included an AVP that appeared more
+      often than permitted in the message definition.  The Failed-AVP
+      AVP MUST be included and contain a copy of the first instance of
+      the offending AVP that exceeded the maximum number of occurrences.
+
+   DIAMETER_NO_COMMON_APPLICATION 5010
+
+      This error is returned by a Diameter node that receives a CER
+      whereby no applications are common between the CER sending peer
+      and the CER receiving peer.
+
+   DIAMETER_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION 5011
+
+      This error is returned when a request was received, whose version
+      number is unsupported.
+
+   DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_COMPLY 5012
+
+      This error is returned when a request is rejected for unspecified
+      reasons.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_BIT_IN_HEADER 5013
+
+      This error is returned when a reserved bit in the Diameter header
+      is set to one (1) or the bits in the Diameter header are set
+      incorrectly.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_AVP_LENGTH 5014
+
+      The request contained an AVP with an invalid length.  A Diameter
+      message indicating this error MUST include the offending AVPs
+      within a Failed-AVP AVP.  In cases where the erroneous AVP length
+      value exceeds the message length or is less than the minimum AVP
+      header length, it is sufficient to include the offending AVP
+      header and a zero filled payload of the minimum required length
+      for the payloads data type.  If the AVP is a Grouped AVP, the
+      Grouped AVP header with an empty payload would be sufficient to
+      indicate the offending AVP.  In the case where the offending AVP
+      header cannot be fully decoded when the AVP length is less than
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 94]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      the minimum AVP header length, it is sufficient to include an
+      offending AVP header that is formulated by padding the incomplete
+      AVP header with zero up to the minimum AVP header length.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_MESSAGE_LENGTH 5015
+
+      This error is returned when a request is received with an invalid
+      message length.
+
+   DIAMETER_INVALID_AVP_BIT_COMBO 5016
+
+      The request contained an AVP with which is not allowed to have the
+      given value in the AVP Flags field.  A Diameter message indicating
+      this error MUST include the offending AVPs within a Failed-AVP
+      AVP.
+
+   DIAMETER_NO_COMMON_SECURITY 5017
+
+      This error is returned when a CER message is received, and there
+      are no common security mechanisms supported between the peers.  A
+      Capabilities-Exchange-Answer (CEA) message MUST be returned with
+      the Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_NO_COMMON_SECURITY.
+
+7.2.  Error Bit
+
+   The 'E' (Error Bit) in the Diameter header is set when the request
+   caused a protocol-related error (see Section 7.1.3).  A message with
+   the 'E' bit MUST NOT be sent as a response to an answer message.
+   Note that a message with the 'E' bit set is still subjected to the
+   processing rules defined in Section 6.2.  When set, the answer
+   message will not conform to the CCF specification for the command;
+   instead, it and will conform to the following CCF:
+
+      Message Format
+
+      <answer-message> ::= < Diameter Header: code, ERR [, PXY] >
+                        0*1< Session-Id >
+                           { Origin-Host }
+                           { Origin-Realm }
+                           { Result-Code }
+                           [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                           [ Error-Message ]
+                           [ Error-Reporting-Host ]
+                           [ Failed-AVP ]
+                           [ Experimental-Result ]
+                         * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                         * [ AVP ]
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 95]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Note that the code used in the header is the same than the one found
+   in the request message, but with the 'R' bit cleared and the 'E' bit
+   set.  The 'P' bit in the header is set to the same value as the one
+   found in the request message.
+
+7.3.  Error-Message AVP
+
+   The Error-Message AVP (AVP Code 281) is of type UTF8String.  It MAY
+   accompany a Result-Code AVP as a human-readable error message.  The
+   Error-Message AVP is not intended to be useful in an environment
+   where error messages are processed automatically.  It SHOULD NOT be
+   expected that the content of this AVP be parsed by network entities.
+
+7.4.  Error-Reporting-Host AVP
+
+   The Error-Reporting-Host AVP (AVP Code 294) is of type
+   DiameterIdentity.  This AVP contains the identity of the Diameter
+   host that sent the Result-Code AVP to a value other than 2001
+   (Success), only if the host setting the Result-Code is different from
+   the one encoded in the Origin-Host AVP.  This AVP is intended to be
+   used for troubleshooting purposes, and it MUST be set when the
+   Result-Code AVP indicates a failure.
+
+7.5.  Failed-AVP AVP
+
+   The Failed-AVP AVP (AVP Code 279) is of type Grouped and provides
+   debugging information in cases where a request is rejected or not
+   fully processed due to erroneous information in a specific AVP.  The
+   value of the Result-Code AVP will provide information on the reason
+   for the Failed-AVP AVP.  A Diameter answer message SHOULD contain an
+   instance of the Failed-AVP AVP that corresponds to the error
+   indicated by the Result-Code AVP.  For practical purposes, this
+   Failed-AVP would typically refer to the first AVP processing error
+   that a Diameter node encounters.
+
+   The possible reasons for this AVP are the presence of an improperly
+   constructed AVP, an unsupported or unrecognized AVP, an invalid AVP
+   value, the omission of a required AVP, the presence of an explicitly
+   excluded AVP (see tables in Section 10) or the presence of two or
+   more occurrences of an AVP that is restricted to 0, 1, or 0-1
+   occurrences.
+
+   A Diameter message SHOULD contain one Failed-AVP AVP, containing the
+   entire AVP that could not be processed successfully.  If the failure
+   reason is omission of a required AVP, an AVP with the missing AVP
+   code, the missing Vendor-Id, and a zero-filled payload of the minimum
+   required length for the omitted AVP will be added.  If the failure
+   reason is an invalid AVP length where the reported length is less
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 96]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   than the minimum AVP header length or greater than the reported
+   message length, a copy of the offending AVP header and a zero-filled
+   payload of the minimum required length SHOULD be added.
+
+   In the case where the offending AVP is embedded within a Grouped AVP,
+   the Failed-AVP MAY contain the grouped AVP, which in turn contains
+   the single offending AVP.  The same method MAY be employed if the
+   grouped AVP itself is embedded in yet another grouped AVP and so on.
+   In this case, the Failed-AVP MAY contain the grouped AVP hierarchy up
+   to the single offending AVP.  This enables the recipient to detect
+   the location of the offending AVP when embedded in a group.
+
+   AVP Format
+
+         <Failed-AVP> ::= < AVP Header: 279 >
+                       1* {AVP}
+
+7.6.  Experimental-Result AVP
+
+   The Experimental-Result AVP (AVP Code 297) is of type Grouped, and
+   indicates whether a particular vendor-specific request was completed
+   successfully or whether an error occurred.  This AVP has the
+   following structure:
+
+   AVP Format
+
+         Experimental-Result ::= < AVP Header: 297 >
+                                 { Vendor-Id }
+                                 { Experimental-Result-Code }
+
+   The Vendor-Id AVP (see Section 5.3.3) in this grouped AVP identifies
+   the vendor responsible for the assignment of the result code that
+   follows.  All Diameter answer messages defined in vendor-specific
+   applications MUST include either one Result-Code AVP or one
+   Experimental-Result AVP.
+
+7.7.  Experimental-Result-Code AVP
+
+   The Experimental-Result-Code AVP (AVP Code 298) is of type Unsigned32
+   and contains a vendor-assigned value representing the result of
+   processing the request.
+
+   It is recommended that vendor-specific result codes follow the same
+   conventions given for the Result-Code AVP regarding the different
+   types of result codes and the handling of errors (for non-2xxx
+   values).
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 97]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+8.  Diameter User Sessions
+
+   In general, Diameter can provide two different types of services to
+   applications.  The first involves authentication and authorization,
+   and it can optionally make use of accounting.  The second only makes
+   use of accounting.
+
+   When a service makes use of the authentication and/or authorization
+   portion of an application, and a user requests access to the network,
+   the Diameter client issues an auth request to its local server.  The
+   auth request is defined in a service-specific Diameter application
+   (e.g., NASREQ).  The request contains a Session-Id AVP, which is used
+   in subsequent messages (e.g., subsequent authorization, accounting,
+   etc.) relating to the user's session.  The Session-Id AVP is a means
+   for the client and servers to correlate a Diameter message with a
+   user session.
+
+   When a Diameter server authorizes a user to implement network
+   resources for a finite amount of time, and it is willing to extend
+   the authorization via a future request, it MUST add the
+   Authorization- Lifetime AVP to the answer message.  The
+   Authorization-Lifetime AVP defines the maximum number of seconds a
+   user MAY make use of the resources before another authorization
+   request is expected by the server.  The Auth-Grace-Period AVP
+   contains the number of seconds following the expiration of the
+   Authorization-Lifetime, after which the server will release all state
+   information related to the user's session.  Note that if payment for
+   services is expected by the serving realm from the user's home realm,
+   the Authorization-Lifetime AVP, combined with the Auth-Grace-Period
+   AVP, implies the maximum length of the session for which the home
+   realm is willing to be fiscally responsible.  Services provided past
+   the expiration of the Authorization-Lifetime and Auth-Grace-Period
+   AVPs are the responsibility of the access device.  Of course, the
+   actual cost of services rendered is clearly outside the scope of the
+   protocol.
+
+   An access device that does not expect to send a re-authorization or a
+   session termination request to the server MAY include the Auth-
+   Session-State AVP with the value set to NO_STATE_MAINTAINED as a hint
+   to the server.  If the server accepts the hint, it agrees that since
+   no session termination message will be received once service to the
+   user is terminated, it cannot maintain state for the session.  If the
+   answer message from the server contains a different value in the
+   Auth-Session-State AVP (or the default value if the AVP is absent),
+   the access device MUST follow the server's directives.  Note that the
+   value NO_STATE_MAINTAINED MUST NOT be set in subsequent re-
+   authorization requests and answers.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 98]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The base protocol does not include any authorization request
+   messages, since these are largely application-specific and are
+   defined in a Diameter application document.  However, the base
+   protocol does define a set of messages that are used to terminate
+   user sessions.  These are used to allow servers that maintain state
+   information to free resources.
+
+   When a service only makes use of the accounting portion of the
+   Diameter protocol, even in combination with an application, the
+   Session-Id is still used to identify user sessions.  However, the
+   session termination messages are not used, since a session is
+   signaled as being terminated by issuing an accounting stop message.
+
+   Diameter may also be used for services that cannot be easily
+   categorized as authentication, authorization, or accounting (e.g.,
+   certain Third Generation Partnership Project Internet Multimedia
+   System (3GPP IMS) interfaces).  In such cases, the finite state
+   machine defined in subsequent sections may not be applicable.
+   Therefore, the application itself MAY need to define its own finite
+   state machine.  However, such application-specific state machines
+   SHOULD follow the general state machine framework outlined in this
+   document such as the use of Session-Id AVPs and the use of STR/STA,
+   ASR/ASA messages for stateful sessions.
+
+8.1.  Authorization Session State Machine
+
+   This section contains a set of finite state machines, which represent
+   the life cycle of Diameter sessions and which MUST be observed by all
+   Diameter implementations that make use of the authentication and/or
+   authorization portion of a Diameter application.  The term "Service-
+   Specific" below refers to a message defined in a Diameter application
+   (e.g., Mobile IPv4, NASREQ).
+
+   There are four different authorization session state machines
+   supported in the Diameter base protocol.  The first two describe a
+   session in which the server is maintaining session state, indicated
+   by the value of the Auth-Session-State AVP (or its absence).  One
+   describes the session from a client perspective, the other from a
+   server perspective.  The second two state machines are used when the
+   server does not maintain session state.  Here again, one describes
+   the session from a client perspective, the other from a server
+   perspective.
+
+   When a session is moved to the Idle state, any resources that were
+   allocated for the particular session must be released.  Any event not
+   listed in the state machines MUST be considered an error condition,
+   and an answer, if applicable, MUST be returned to the originator of
+   the message.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                   [Page 99]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   In the case that an application does not support re-auth, the state
+   transitions related to server-initiated re-auth, when both client and
+   server sessions maintain state (e.g., Send RAR, Pending, Receive
+   RAA), MAY be ignored.
+
+   In the state table, the event "Failure to send X" means that the
+   Diameter agent is unable to send command X to the desired
+   destination.  This could be due to the peer being down or due to the
+   peer sending back a transient failure or temporary protocol error
+   notification DIAMETER_TOO_BUSY or DIAMETER_LOOP_DETECTED in the
+   Result-Code AVP of the corresponding Answer command.  The event 'X
+   successfully sent' is the complement of 'Failure to send X'.
+
+   The following state machine is observed by a client when state is
+   maintained on the server:
+
+                              CLIENT, STATEFUL
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+      Idle      Client or device requests      Send         Pending
+                access                         service-
+                                               specific
+                                               auth req
+
+      Idle      ASR Received                   Send ASA     Idle
+                for unknown session            with
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               UNKNOWN_
+                                               SESSION_ID
+
+      Idle      RAR Received                   Send RAA     Idle
+                for unknown session            with
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               UNKNOWN_
+                                               SESSION_ID
+
+      Pending   Successful service-specific    Grant        Open
+                authorization answer           Access
+                received with default
+                Auth-Session-State value
+
+      Pending   Successful service-specific    Sent STR     Discon
+                authorization answer received,
+                but service not provided
+
+      Pending   Error processing successful    Sent STR     Discon
+                service-specific authorization
+                answer
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 100]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Pending   Failed service-specific        Clean up     Idle
+                authorization answer received
+
+      Open      User or client device          Send         Open
+                requests access to service     service-
+                                               specific
+                                               auth req
+
+      Open      Successful service-specific    Provide      Open
+                authorization answer received  service
+
+      Open      Failed service-specific        Discon.      Idle
+                authorization answer           user/device
+                received.
+
+      Open      RAR received and client will   Send RAA     Open
+                perform subsequent re-auth     with
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               SUCCESS
+
+      Open      RAR received and client will   Send RAA     Idle
+                not perform subsequent         with
+                re-auth                        Result-Code !=
+                                               SUCCESS,
+                                               Discon.
+                                               user/device
+
+      Open      Session-Timeout expires on     Send STR     Discon
+                access device
+
+      Open      ASR received,                  Send ASA     Discon
+                client will comply             with
+                with request to end the        Result-Code =
+                session                        = SUCCESS,
+                                               Send STR.
+
+      Open      ASR Received,                  Send ASA     Open
+                client will not comply         with
+                with request to end the        Result-Code !=
+                session                        != SUCCESS
+
+      Open      Authorization-Lifetime +       Send STR     Discon
+                Auth-Grace-Period expires on
+                access device
+
+      Discon    ASR received                   Send ASA     Discon
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 101]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Discon    STA received                   Discon.      Idle
+                                               user/device
+
+   The following state machine is observed by a server when it is
+   maintaining state for the session:
+
+                             SERVER, STATEFUL
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+      Idle      Service-specific authorization Send         Open
+                request received, and          successful
+                user is authorized             service-
+                                               specific
+                                               answer
+
+      Idle      Service-specific authorization Send         Idle
+                request received, and          failed
+                user is not authorized         service-
+                                               specific
+                                               answer
+
+      Open      Service-specific authorization Send         Open
+                request received, and user     successful
+                is authorized                  service-
+                                               specific
+                                               answer
+
+      Open      Service-specific authorization Send         Idle
+                request received, and user     failed
+                is not authorized              service-
+                                               specific
+                                               answer,
+                                               Clean up
+
+      Open      Home server wants to confirm   Send RAR     Pending
+                authentication and/or
+                authorization of the user
+
+      Pending   Received RAA with a failed     Clean up     Idle
+                Result-Code
+
+      Pending   Received RAA with Result-Code  Update       Open
+                = SUCCESS                      session
+
+      Open      Home server wants to           Send ASR     Discon
+                terminate the service
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 102]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Open      Authorization-Lifetime (and    Clean up     Idle
+                Auth-Grace-Period) expires
+                on home server
+
+      Open      Session-Timeout expires on     Clean up     Idle
+                home server
+
+      Discon    Failure to send ASR            Wait,        Discon
+                                               resend ASR
+
+      Discon    ASR successfully sent and      Clean up     Idle
+                ASA Received with Result-Code
+
+      Not       ASA Received                   None         No Change
+      Discon
+
+      Any       STR Received                   Send STA,    Idle
+                                               Clean up
+
+   The following state machine is observed by a client when state is not
+   maintained on the server:
+
+                              CLIENT, STATELESS
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+      Idle      Client or device requests      Send         Pending
+                access                         service-
+                                               specific
+                                               auth req
+
+      Pending   Successful service-specific    Grant        Open
+                authorization answer           access
+                received with Auth-Session-
+                State set to
+                NO_STATE_MAINTAINED
+
+      Pending   Failed service-specific        Clean up     Idle
+                authorization answer
+                received
+
+      Open      Session-Timeout expires on     Discon.      Idle
+                access device                  user/device
+
+      Open      Service to user is terminated  Discon.      Idle
+                                               user/device
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 103]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   The following state machine is observed by a server when it is not
+   maintaining state for the session:
+
+                              SERVER, STATELESS
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+      Idle      Service-specific authorization Send         Idle
+                request received, and          service-
+                successfully processed         specific
+                                               answer
+
+8.2.  Accounting Session State Machine
+
+   The following state machines MUST be supported for applications that
+   have an accounting portion or that require only accounting services.
+   The first state machine is to be observed by clients.
+
+   See Section 9.7 for Accounting Command Codes and Section 9.8 for
+   Accounting AVPs.
+
+   The server side in the accounting state machine depends in some cases
+   on the particular application.  The Diameter base protocol defines a
+   default state machine that MUST be followed by all applications that
+   have not specified other state machines.  This is the second state
+   machine in this section described below.
+
+   The default server side state machine requires the reception of
+   accounting records in any order and at any time, and it does not
+   place any standards requirement on the processing of these records.
+   Implementations of Diameter may perform checking, ordering,
+   correlation, fraud detection, and other tasks based on these records.
+   AVPs may need to be inspected as a part of these tasks.  The tasks
+   can happen either immediately after record reception or in a post-
+   processing phase.  However, as these tasks are typically application
+   or even policy dependent, they are not standardized by the Diameter
+   specifications.  Applications MAY define requirements on when to
+   accept accounting records based on the used value of Accounting-
+   Realtime-Required AVP, credit-limit checks, and so on.
+
+   However, the Diameter base protocol defines one optional server side
+   state machine that MAY be followed by applications that require
+   keeping track of the session state at the accounting server.  Note
+   that such tracking is incompatible with the ability to sustain long
+   duration connectivity problems.  Therefore, the use of this state
+   machine is recommended only in applications where the value of the
+   Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP is DELIVER_AND_GRANT; hence,
+   accounting connectivity problems are required to cause the serviced
+   user to be disconnected.  Otherwise, records produced by the client
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 104]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   may be lost by the server, which no longer accepts them after the
+   connectivity is re-established.  This state machine is the third
+   state machine in this section.  The state machine is supervised by a
+   supervision session timer Ts, whose value should be reasonably higher
+   than the Acct_Interim_Interval value.  Ts MAY be set to two times the
+   value of the Acct_Interim_Interval so as to avoid the accounting
+   session in the Diameter server to change to Idle state in case of
+   short transient network failure.
+
+   Any event not listed in the state machines MUST be considered as an
+   error condition, and a corresponding answer, if applicable, MUST be
+   returned to the originator of the message.
+
+   In the state table, the event "Failure to send" means that the
+   Diameter client is unable to communicate with the desired
+   destination.  This could be due to the peer being down, or due to the
+   peer sending back a transient failure or temporary protocol error
+   notification DIAMETER_OUT_OF_SPACE, DIAMETER_TOO_BUSY, or
+   DIAMETER_LOOP_DETECTED in the Result-Code AVP of the Accounting
+   Answer command.
+
+   The event "Failed answer" means that the Diameter client received a
+   non-transient failure notification in the Accounting Answer command.
+
+   Note that the action "Disconnect user/dev" MUST also have an effect
+   on the authorization session state table, e.g., cause the STR message
+   to be sent, if the given application has both authentication/
+   authorization and accounting portions.
+
+   The states PendingS, PendingI, PendingL, PendingE, and PendingB stand
+   for pending states to wait for an answer to an accounting request
+   related to a Start, Interim, Stop, Event, or buffered record,
+   respectively.
+
+                            CLIENT, ACCOUNTING
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+      Idle      Client or device requests      Send         PendingS
+                access                         accounting
+                                               start req.
+
+      Idle      Client or device requests      Send         PendingE
+                a one-time service             accounting
+                                               event req
+
+      Idle      Records in storage             Send         PendingB
+                                               record
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 105]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      PendingS  Successful accounting                       Open
+                start answer received
+
+      PendingS  Failure to send and buffer     Store        Open
+                space available and real time  Start
+                not equal to DELIVER_AND_GRANT Record
+
+      PendingS  Failure to send and no buffer               Open
+                space available and real time
+                equal to GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingS  Failure to send and no         Disconnect   Idle
+                buffer space available and     user/dev
+                real time not equal to
+                GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingS  Failed accounting start answer              Open
+                received and real time equal
+                to GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingS  Failed accounting start answer Disconnect   Idle
+                received and real time not     user/dev
+                equal to GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingS  User service terminated        Store        PendingS
+                                               stop
+                                               record
+
+      Open      Interim interval elapses       Send         PendingI
+                                               accounting
+                                               interim
+                                               record
+
+      Open      User service terminated        Send         PendingL
+                                               accounting
+                                               stop req.
+
+      PendingI  Successful accounting interim               Open
+                answer received
+
+      PendingI  Failure to send and (buffer    Store        Open
+                space available or old         interim
+                record can be overwritten)     record
+                and real time not equal to
+                DELIVER_AND_GRANT
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 106]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      PendingI  Failure to send and no buffer               Open
+                space available and real time
+                equal to GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingI  Failure to send and no         Disconnect   Idle
+                buffer space available and     user/dev
+                real time not equal to
+                GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingI  Failed accounting interim                   Open
+                answer received and real time
+                equal to GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingI  Failed accounting interim      Disconnect   Idle
+                answer received and            user/dev
+                real time not equal to
+                GRANT_AND_LOSE
+
+      PendingI  User service terminated        Store        PendingI
+                                               stop
+                                               record
+      PendingE  Successful accounting                       Idle
+                event answer received
+
+      PendingE  Failure to send and buffer     Store        Idle
+                space available                event
+                                               record
+
+      PendingE  Failure to send and no buffer               Idle
+                space available
+
+      PendingE  Failed accounting event answer              Idle
+                received
+
+      PendingB  Successful accounting answer   Delete       Idle
+                received                       record
+
+      PendingB  Failure to send                             Idle
+
+      PendingB  Failed accounting answer       Delete       Idle
+                received                       record
+
+      PendingL  Successful accounting                       Idle
+                stop answer received
+
+      PendingL  Failure to send and buffer     Store        Idle
+                space available                stop
+                                               record
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 107]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      PendingL  Failure to send and no buffer               Idle
+                space available
+
+      PendingL  Failed accounting stop answer               Idle
+                received
+
+
+                       SERVER, STATELESS ACCOUNTING
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+      Idle      Accounting start request       Send         Idle
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed.                     start
+                                               answer
+
+      Idle      Accounting event request       Send         Idle
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed.                     event
+                                               answer
+
+      Idle      Interim record received        Send         Idle
+                and successfully processed.    accounting
+                                               interim
+                                               answer
+
+      Idle      Accounting stop request        Send         Idle
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed                      stop answer
+
+      Idle      Accounting request received;   Send         Idle
+                no space left to store         accounting
+                records                        answer;
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               OUT_OF_
+                                               SPACE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 108]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                            SERVER, STATEFUL ACCOUNTING
+      State     Event                          Action       New State
+      ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+      Idle      Accounting start request       Send         Open
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed.                     start
+                                               answer;
+                                               Start Ts
+
+      Idle      Accounting event request       Send         Idle
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed.                     event
+                                               answer
+      Idle      Accounting request received;   Send         Idle
+                no space left to store         accounting
+                records                        answer;
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               OUT_OF_
+                                               SPACE
+
+      Open      Interim record received        Send         Open
+                and successfully processed.    accounting
+                                               interim
+                                               answer;
+                                               Restart Ts
+
+      Open      Accounting stop request        Send         Idle
+                received and successfully      accounting
+                processed                      stop answer;
+                                               Stop Ts
+
+      Open      Accounting request received;   Send         Idle
+                no space left to store         accounting
+                records                        answer;
+                                               Result-Code =
+                                               OUT_OF_
+                                               SPACE;
+                                               Stop Ts
+
+      Open      Session supervision timer Ts   Stop Ts      Idle
+                expired
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 109]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+8.3.  Server-Initiated Re-Auth
+
+   A Diameter server may initiate a re-authentication and/or re-
+   authorization service for a particular session by issuing a Re-Auth-
+   Request (RAR).
+
+   For example, for prepaid services, the Diameter server that
+   originally authorized a session may need some confirmation that the
+   user is still using the services.
+
+   An access device that receives an RAR message with the Session-Id
+   equal to a currently active session MUST initiate a re-auth towards
+   the user, if the service supports this particular feature.  Each
+   Diameter application MUST state whether server-initiated re-auth is
+   supported, since some applications do not allow access devices to
+   prompt the user for re-auth.
+
+8.3.1.  Re-Auth-Request
+
+   The Re-Auth-Request (RAR), indicated by the Command Code set to 258
+   and the message flags' 'R' bit set, may be sent by any server to the
+   access device that is providing session service, to request that the
+   user be re-authenticated and/or re-authorized.
+
+
+    Message Format
+
+         <RAR>  ::= < Diameter Header: 258, REQ, PXY >
+                    < Session-Id >
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    { Destination-Realm }
+                    { Destination-Host }
+                    { Auth-Application-Id }
+                    { Re-Auth-Request-Type }
+                    [ User-Name ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                  * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                  * [ Route-Record ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+8.3.2.  Re-Auth-Answer
+
+   The Re-Auth-Answer (RAA), indicated by the Command Code set to 258
+   and the message flags' 'R' bit clear, is sent in response to the RAR.
+   The Result-Code AVP MUST be present, and it indicates the disposition
+   of the request.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 110]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   A successful RAA message MUST be followed by an application-specific
+   authentication and/or authorization message.
+
+    Message Format
+
+         <RAA>  ::= < Diameter Header: 258, PXY >
+                    < Session-Id >
+                    { Result-Code }
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ User-Name ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                    [ Error-Message ]
+                    [ Error-Reporting-Host ]
+                    [ Failed-AVP ]
+                  * [ Redirect-Host ]
+                    [ Redirect-Host-Usage ]
+                    [ Redirect-Max-Cache-Time ]
+                  * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+8.4.  Session Termination
+
+   It is necessary for a Diameter server that authorized a session, for
+   which it is maintaining state, to be notified when that session is no
+   longer active, both for tracking purposes as well as to allow
+   stateful agents to release any resources that they may have provided
+   for the user's session.  For sessions whose state is not being
+   maintained, this section is not used.
+
+   When a user session that required Diameter authorization terminates,
+   the access device that provided the service MUST issue a Session-
+   Termination-Request (STR) message to the Diameter server that
+   authorized the service, to notify it that the session is no longer
+   active.  An STR MUST be issued when a user session terminates for any
+   reason, including user logoff, expiration of Session-Timeout,
+   administrative action, termination upon receipt of an Abort-Session-
+   Request (see below), orderly shutdown of the access device, etc.
+
+   The access device also MUST issue an STR for a session that was
+   authorized but never actually started.  This could occur, for
+   example, due to a sudden resource shortage in the access device, or
+   because the access device is unwilling to provide the type of service
+   requested in the authorization, or because the access device does not
+   support a mandatory AVP returned in the authorization, etc.
+
+   It is also possible that a session that was authorized is never
+   actually started due to action of a proxy.  For example, a proxy may
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 111]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   modify an authorization answer, converting the result from success to
+   failure, prior to forwarding the message to the access device.  If
+   the answer did not contain an Auth-Session-State AVP with the value
+   NO_STATE_MAINTAINED, a proxy that causes an authorized session not to
+   be started MUST issue an STR to the Diameter server that authorized
+   the session, since the access device has no way of knowing that the
+   session had been authorized.
+
+   A Diameter server that receives an STR message MUST clean up
+   resources (e.g., session state) associated with the Session-Id
+   specified in the STR and return a Session-Termination-Answer.
+
+   A Diameter server also MUST clean up resources when the Session-
+   Timeout expires, or when the Authorization-Lifetime and the Auth-
+   Grace-Period AVPs expire without receipt of a re-authorization
+   request, regardless of whether an STR for that session is received.
+   The access device is not expected to provide service beyond the
+   expiration of these timers; thus, expiration of either of these
+   timers implies that the access device may have unexpectedly shut
+   down.
+
+8.4.1.  Session-Termination-Request
+
+   The Session-Termination-Request (STR), indicated by the Command Code
+   set to 275 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit set, is sent by a Diameter
+   client or by a Diameter proxy to inform the Diameter server that an
+   authenticated and/or authorized session is being terminated.
+
+    Message Format
+
+        <STR>  ::= < Diameter Header: 275, REQ, PXY >
+                   < Session-Id >
+                   { Origin-Host }
+                   { Origin-Realm }
+                   { Destination-Realm }
+                   { Auth-Application-Id }
+                   { Termination-Cause }
+                   [ User-Name ]
+                   [ Destination-Host ]
+                 * [ Class ]
+                   [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                 * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                 * [ Route-Record ]
+                 * [ AVP ]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 112]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+8.4.2.  Session-Termination-Answer
+
+   The Session-Termination-Answer (STA), indicated by the Command Code
+   set to 275 and the message flags' 'R' bit clear, is sent by the
+   Diameter server to acknowledge the notification that the session has
+   been terminated.  The Result-Code AVP MUST be present, and it MAY
+   contain an indication that an error occurred while servicing the STR.
+
+   Upon sending or receipt of the STA, the Diameter server MUST release
+   all resources for the session indicated by the Session-Id AVP.  Any
+   intermediate server in the Proxy-Chain MAY also release any
+   resources, if necessary.
+
+    Message Format
+
+         <STA> ::= < Diameter Header: 275, PXY >
+                    < Session-Id >
+                    { Result-Code }
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ User-Name ]
+                  * [ Class ]
+                    [ Error-Message ]
+                    [ Error-Reporting-Host ]
+                    [ Failed-AVP ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                  * [ Redirect-Host ]
+                    [ Redirect-Host-Usage ]
+                    [ Redirect-Max-Cache-Time ]
+                  * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+8.5.  Aborting a Session
+
+   A Diameter server may request that the access device stop providing
+   service for a particular session by issuing an Abort-Session-Request
+   (ASR).
+
+   For example, the Diameter server that originally authorized the
+   session may be required to cause that session to be stopped for lack
+   of credit or other reasons that were not anticipated when the session
+   was first authorized.
+
+   An access device that receives an ASR with Session-ID equal to a
+   currently active session MAY stop the session.  Whether the access
+   device stops the session or not is implementation and/or
+   configuration dependent.  For example, an access device may honor
+   ASRs from certain agents only.  In any case, the access device MUST
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 113]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   respond with an Abort-Session-Answer, including a Result-Code AVP to
+   indicate what action it took.
+
+8.5.1.  Abort-Session-Request
+
+   The Abort-Session-Request (ASR), indicated by the Command Code set to
+   274 and the message flags' 'R' bit set, may be sent by any Diameter
+   server or any Diameter proxy to the access device that is providing
+   session service, to request that the session identified by the
+   Session-Id be stopped.
+
+    Message Format
+
+         <ASR>  ::= < Diameter Header: 274, REQ, PXY >
+                    < Session-Id >
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    { Destination-Realm }
+                    { Destination-Host }
+                    { Auth-Application-Id }
+                    [ User-Name ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                  * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                  * [ Route-Record ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+8.5.2.  Abort-Session-Answer
+
+   The Abort-Session-Answer (ASA), indicated by the Command Code set to
+   274 and the message flags' 'R' bit clear, is sent in response to the
+   ASR.  The Result-Code AVP MUST be present and indicates the
+   disposition of the request.
+
+   If the session identified by Session-Id in the ASR was successfully
+   terminated, the Result-Code is set to DIAMETER_SUCCESS.  If the
+   session is not currently active, the Result-Code is set to
+   DIAMETER_UNKNOWN_SESSION_ID.  If the access device does not stop the
+   session for any other reason, the Result-Code is set to
+   DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO_COMPLY.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 114]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+    Message Format
+
+         <ASA>  ::= < Diameter Header: 274, PXY >
+                    < Session-Id >
+                    { Result-Code }
+                    { Origin-Host }
+                    { Origin-Realm }
+                    [ User-Name ]
+                    [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                    [ Error-Message ]
+                    [ Error-Reporting-Host ]
+                    [ Failed-AVP ]
+                  * [ Redirect-Host ]
+                    [ Redirect-Host-Usage ]
+                    [ Redirect-Max-Cache-Time ]
+                  * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                  * [ AVP ]
+
+8.6.  Inferring Session Termination from Origin-State-Id
+
+   The Origin-State-Id is used to allow detection of terminated sessions
+   for which no STR would have been issued, due to unanticipated
+   shutdown of an access device.
+
+   A Diameter client or access device increments the value of the
+   Origin-State-Id every time it is started or powered up.  The new
+   Origin-State-Id is then sent in the CER/CEA message immediately upon
+   connection to the server.  The Diameter server receiving the new
+   Origin-State-Id can determine whether the sending Diameter client had
+   abruptly shut down by comparing the old value of the Origin-State-Id
+   it has kept for that specific client is less than the new value and
+   whether it has un-terminated sessions originating from that client.
+
+   An access device can also include the Origin-State-Id in request
+   messages other than the CER if there are relays or proxies in between
+   the access device and the server.  In this case, however, the server
+   cannot discover that the access device has been restarted unless and
+   until it receives a new request from it.  Therefore, this mechanism
+   is more opportunistic across proxies and relays.
+
+   The Diameter server may assume that all sessions that were active
+   prior to detection of a client restart have been terminated.  The
+   Diameter server MAY clean up all session state associated with such
+   lost sessions, and it MAY also issue STRs for all such lost sessions
+   that were authorized on upstream servers, to allow session state to
+   be cleaned up globally.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 115]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+8.7.  Auth-Request-Type AVP
+
+   The Auth-Request-Type AVP (AVP Code 274) is of type Enumerated and is
+   included in application-specific auth requests to inform the peers
+   whether a user is to be authenticated only, authorized only, or both.
+   Note any value other than both MAY cause RADIUS interoperability
+   issues.  The following values are defined:
+
+   AUTHENTICATE_ONLY 1
+
+      The request being sent is for authentication only, and it MUST
+      contain the relevant application-specific authentication AVPs that
+      are needed by the Diameter server to authenticate the user.
+
+   AUTHORIZE_ONLY 2
+
+      The request being sent is for authorization only, and it MUST
+      contain the application-specific authorization AVPs that are
+      necessary to identify the service being requested/offered.
+
+   AUTHORIZE_AUTHENTICATE 3
+
+      The request contains a request for both authentication and
+      authorization.  The request MUST include both the relevant
+      application-specific authentication information and authorization
+      information necessary to identify the service being requested/
+      offered.
+
+8.8.  Session-Id AVP
+
+   The Session-Id AVP (AVP Code 263) is of type UTF8String and is used
+   to identify a specific session (see Section 8).  All messages
+   pertaining to a specific session MUST include only one Session-Id
+   AVP, and the same value MUST be used throughout the life of a
+   session.  When present, the Session-Id SHOULD appear immediately
+   following the Diameter header (see Section 3).
+
+   The Session-Id MUST be globally and eternally unique, as it is meant
+   to uniquely identify a user session without reference to any other
+   information, and it may be needed to correlate historical
+   authentication information with accounting information.  The
+   Session-Id includes a mandatory portion and an implementation-defined
+   portion; a recommended format for the implementation-defined portion
+   is outlined below.
+
+   The Session-Id MUST begin with the sender's identity encoded in the
+   DiameterIdentity type (see Section 4.3.1).  The remainder of the
+   Session-Id is delimited by a ";" character, and it MAY be any
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 116]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   sequence that the client can guarantee to be eternally unique;
+   however, the following format is recommended, (square brackets []
+   indicate an optional element):
+
+      <DiameterIdentity>;<high 32 bits>;<low 32 bits>[;<optional value>]
+
+   <high 32 bits> and <low 32 bits> are decimal representations of the
+   high and low 32 bits of a monotonically increasing 64-bit value.  The
+   64-bit value is rendered in two part to simplify formatting by 32-bit
+   processors.  At startup, the high 32 bits of the 64-bit value MAY be
+   initialized to the time in NTP format [RFC5905], and the low 32 bits
+   MAY be initialized to zero.  This will for practical purposes
+   eliminate the possibility of overlapping Session-Ids after a reboot,
+   assuming the reboot process takes longer than a second.
+   Alternatively, an implementation MAY keep track of the increasing
+   value in non-volatile memory.
+
+
+   <optional value> is implementation specific, but it may include a
+   modem's device Id, a Layer 2 address, timestamp, etc.
+
+   Example, in which there is no optional value:
+
+      accesspoint7.example.com;1876543210;523
+
+   Example, in which there is an optional value:
+
+     accesspoint7.example.com;1876543210;523;mobile@200.1.1.88
+
+   The Session-Id is created by the Diameter application initiating the
+   session, which, in most cases, is done by the client.  Note that a
+   Session-Id MAY be used for both the authentication, authorization,
+   and accounting commands of a given application.
+
+8.9.  Authorization-Lifetime AVP
+
+   The Authorization-Lifetime AVP (AVP Code 291) is of type Unsigned32
+   and contains the maximum number of seconds of service to be provided
+   to the user before the user is to be re-authenticated and/or re-
+   authorized.  Care should be taken when the Authorization-Lifetime
+   value is determined, since a low, non-zero value could create
+   significant Diameter traffic, which could congest both the network
+   and the agents.
+
+   A value of zero (0) means that immediate re-auth is necessary by the
+   access device.  The absence of this AVP, or a value of all ones
+   (meaning all bits in the 32-bit field are set to one) means no re-
+   auth is expected.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 117]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   If both this AVP and the Session-Timeout AVP are present in a
+   message, the value of the latter MUST NOT be smaller than the
+   Authorization-Lifetime AVP.
+
+   An Authorization-Lifetime AVP MAY be present in re-authorization
+   messages, and it contains the number of seconds the user is
+   authorized to receive service from the time the re-auth answer
+   message is received by the access device.
+
+   This AVP MAY be provided by the client as a hint of the maximum
+   lifetime that it is willing to accept.  The server MUST return a
+   value that is equal to, or smaller than, the one provided by the
+   client.
+
+8.10.  Auth-Grace-Period AVP
+
+   The Auth-Grace-Period AVP (AVP Code 276) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   contains the number of seconds the Diameter server will wait
+   following the expiration of the Authorization-Lifetime AVP before
+   cleaning up resources for the session.
+
+8.11.  Auth-Session-State AVP
+
+   The Auth-Session-State AVP (AVP Code 277) is of type Enumerated and
+   specifies whether state is maintained for a particular session.  The
+   client MAY include this AVP in requests as a hint to the server, but
+   the value in the server's answer message is binding.  The following
+   values are supported:
+
+   STATE_MAINTAINED 0
+
+      This value is used to specify that session state is being
+      maintained, and the access device MUST issue a session termination
+      message when service to the user is terminated.  This is the
+      default value.
+
+   NO_STATE_MAINTAINED 1
+
+      This value is used to specify that no session termination messages
+      will be sent by the access device upon expiration of the
+      Authorization-Lifetime.
+
+8.12.  Re-Auth-Request-Type AVP
+
+   The Re-Auth-Request-Type AVP (AVP Code 285) is of type Enumerated and
+   is included in application-specific auth answers to inform the client
+   of the action expected upon expiration of the Authorization-Lifetime.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 118]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   If the answer message contains an Authorization-Lifetime AVP with a
+   positive value, the Re-Auth-Request-Type AVP MUST be present in an
+   answer message.  The following values are defined:
+
+   AUTHORIZE_ONLY 0
+
+      An authorization only re-auth is expected upon expiration of the
+      Authorization-Lifetime.  This is the default value if the AVP is
+      not present in answer messages that include the Authorization-
+      Lifetime.
+
+   AUTHORIZE_AUTHENTICATE 1
+
+      An authentication and authorization re-auth is expected upon
+      expiration of the Authorization-Lifetime.
+
+8.13.  Session-Timeout AVP
+
+   The Session-Timeout AVP (AVP Code 27) [RFC2865] is of type Unsigned32
+   and contains the maximum number of seconds of service to be provided
+   to the user before termination of the session.  When both the
+   Session-Timeout and the Authorization-Lifetime AVPs are present in an
+   answer message, the former MUST be equal to or greater than the value
+   of the latter.
+
+   A session that terminates on an access device due to the expiration
+   of the Session-Timeout MUST cause an STR to be issued, unless both
+   the access device and the home server had previously agreed that no
+   session termination messages would be sent (see Section 8).
+
+   A Session-Timeout AVP MAY be present in a re-authorization answer
+   message, and it contains the remaining number of seconds from the
+   beginning of the re-auth.
+
+   A value of zero, or the absence of this AVP, means that this session
+   has an unlimited number of seconds before termination.
+
+   This AVP MAY be provided by the client as a hint of the maximum
+   timeout that it is willing to accept.  However, the server MAY return
+   a value that is equal to, or smaller than, the one provided by the
+   client.
+
+8.14.  User-Name AVP
+
+   The User-Name AVP (AVP Code 1) [RFC2865] is of type UTF8String, which
+   contains the User-Name, in a format consistent with the NAI
+   specification [RFC4282].
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 119]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+8.15.  Termination-Cause AVP
+
+   The Termination-Cause AVP (AVP Code 295) is of type Enumerated, and
+   is used to indicate the reason why a session was terminated on the
+   access device.  The currently assigned values for this AVP can be
+   found in the IANA registry for Termination-Cause AVP Values
+   [IANATCV].
+
+8.16.  Origin-State-Id AVP
+
+   The Origin-State-Id AVP (AVP Code 278), of type Unsigned32, is a
+   monotonically increasing value that is advanced whenever a Diameter
+   entity restarts with loss of previous state, for example, upon
+   reboot.  Origin-State-Id MAY be included in any Diameter message,
+   including CER.
+
+   A Diameter entity issuing this AVP MUST create a higher value for
+   this AVP each time its state is reset.  A Diameter entity MAY set
+   Origin-State-Id to the time of startup, or it MAY use an incrementing
+   counter retained in non-volatile memory across restarts.
+
+   The Origin-State-Id, if present, MUST reflect the state of the entity
+   indicated by Origin-Host.  If a proxy modifies Origin-Host, it MUST
+   either remove Origin-State-Id or modify it appropriately as well.
+   Typically, Origin-State-Id is used by an access device that always
+   starts up with no active sessions; that is, any session active prior
+   to restart will have been lost.  By including Origin-State-Id in a
+   message, it allows other Diameter entities to infer that sessions
+   associated with a lower Origin-State-Id are no longer active.  If an
+   access device does not intend for such inferences to be made, it MUST
+   either not include Origin-State-Id in any message or set its value to
+   0.
+
+8.17.  Session-Binding AVP
+
+   The Session-Binding AVP (AVP Code 270) is of type Unsigned32, and it
+   MAY be present in application-specific authorization answer messages.
+   If present, this AVP MAY inform the Diameter client that all future
+   application-specific re-auth and Session-Termination-Request messages
+   for this session MUST be sent to the same authorization server.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 120]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   This field is a bit mask, and the following bits have been defined:
+
+   RE_AUTH 1
+
+      When set, future re-auth messages for this session MUST NOT
+      include the Destination-Host AVP.  When cleared, the default
+      value, the Destination-Host AVP MUST be present in all re-auth
+      messages for this session.
+
+   STR 2
+
+      When set, the STR message for this session MUST NOT include the
+      Destination-Host AVP.  When cleared, the default value, the
+      Destination-Host AVP MUST be present in the STR message for this
+      session.
+
+   ACCOUNTING 4
+
+      When set, all accounting messages for this session MUST NOT
+      include the Destination-Host AVP.  When cleared, the default
+      value, the Destination-Host AVP, if known, MUST be present in all
+      accounting messages for this session.
+
+8.18.  Session-Server-Failover AVP
+
+   The Session-Server-Failover AVP (AVP Code 271) is of type Enumerated
+   and MAY be present in application-specific authorization answer
+   messages that either do not include the Session-Binding AVP or
+   include the Session-Binding AVP with any of the bits set to a zero
+   value.  If present, this AVP MAY inform the Diameter client that if a
+   re-auth or STR message fails due to a delivery problem, the Diameter
+   client SHOULD issue a subsequent message without the Destination-Host
+   AVP.  When absent, the default value is REFUSE_SERVICE.
+
+   The following values are supported:
+
+   REFUSE_SERVICE 0
+
+      If either the re-auth or the STR message delivery fails, terminate
+      service with the user and do not attempt any subsequent attempts.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 121]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   TRY_AGAIN 1
+
+      If either the re-auth or the STR message delivery fails, resend
+      the failed message without the Destination-Host AVP present.
+
+   ALLOW_SERVICE 2
+
+      If re-auth message delivery fails, assume that re-authorization
+      succeeded.  If STR message delivery fails, terminate the session.
+
+   TRY_AGAIN_ALLOW_SERVICE 3
+
+      If either the re-auth or the STR message delivery fails, resend
+      the failed message without the Destination-Host AVP present.  If
+      the second delivery fails for re-auth, assume re-authorization
+      succeeded.  If the second delivery fails for STR, terminate the
+      session.
+
+8.19.  Multi-Round-Time-Out AVP
+
+   The Multi-Round-Time-Out AVP (AVP Code 272) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   SHOULD be present in application-specific authorization answer
+   messages whose Result-Code AVP is set to DIAMETER_MULTI_ROUND_AUTH.
+   This AVP contains the maximum number of seconds that the access
+   device MUST provide the user in responding to an authentication
+   request.
+
+8.20.  Class AVP
+
+   The Class AVP (AVP Code 25) is of type OctetString and is used by
+   Diameter servers to return state information to the access device.
+   When one or more Class AVPs are present in application-specific
+   authorization answer messages, they MUST be present in subsequent re-
+   authorization, session termination and accounting messages.  Class
+   AVPs found in a re-authorization answer message override the ones
+   found in any previous authorization answer message.  Diameter server
+   implementations SHOULD NOT return Class AVPs that require more than
+   4096 bytes of storage on the Diameter client.  A Diameter client that
+   receives Class AVPs whose size exceeds local available storage MUST
+   terminate the session.
+
+8.21.  Event-Timestamp AVP
+
+   The Event-Timestamp (AVP Code 55) is of type Time and MAY be included
+   in an Accounting-Request and Accounting-Answer messages to record the
+   time that the reported event occurred, in seconds since January 1,
+   1900 00:00 UTC.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 122]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+9.  Accounting
+
+   This accounting protocol is based on a server directed model with
+   capabilities for real-time delivery of accounting information.
+   Several fault resilience methods [RFC2975] have been built into the
+   protocol in order minimize loss of accounting data in various fault
+   situations and under different assumptions about the capabilities of
+   the used devices.
+
+9.1.  Server Directed Model
+
+   The server directed model means that the device generating the
+   accounting data gets information from either the authorization server
+   (if contacted) or the accounting server regarding the way accounting
+   data shall be forwarded.  This information includes accounting record
+   timeliness requirements.
+
+   As discussed in [RFC2975], real-time transfer of accounting records
+   is a requirement, such as the need to perform credit-limit checks and
+   fraud detection.  Note that batch accounting is not a requirement,
+   and is therefore not supported by Diameter.  Should batched
+   accounting be required in the future, a new Diameter application will
+   need to be created, or it could be handled using another protocol.
+   Note, however, that even if at the Diameter layer, accounting
+   requests are processed one by one; transport protocols used under
+   Diameter typically batch several requests in the same packet under
+   heavy traffic conditions.  This may be sufficient for many
+   applications.
+
+   The authorization server (chain) directs the selection of proper
+   transfer strategy, based on its knowledge of the user and
+   relationships of roaming partnerships.  The server (or agents) uses
+   the Acct-Interim-Interval and Accounting-Realtime-Required AVPs to
+   control the operation of the Diameter peer operating as a client.
+   The Acct-Interim-Interval AVP, when present, instructs the Diameter
+   node acting as a client to produce accounting records continuously
+   even during a session.  Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP is used to
+   control the behavior of the client when the transfer of accounting
+   records from the Diameter client is delayed or unsuccessful.
+
+   The Diameter accounting server MAY override the interim interval or
+   the real-time requirements by including the Acct-Interim-Interval or
+   Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP in the Accounting-Answer message.
+   When one of these AVPs is present, the latest value received SHOULD
+   be used in further accounting activities for the same session.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 123]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+9.2.  Protocol Messages
+
+   A Diameter node that receives a successful authentication and/or
+   authorization message from the Diameter server SHOULD collect
+   accounting information for the session.  The Accounting-Request
+   message is used to transmit the accounting information to the
+   Diameter server, which MUST reply with the Accounting-Answer message
+   to confirm reception.  The Accounting-Answer message includes the
+   Result-Code AVP, which MAY indicate that an error was present in the
+   accounting message.  The value of the Accounting-Realtime-Required
+   AVP received earlier for the session in question may indicate that
+   the user's session has to be terminated when a rejected Accounting-
+   Request message was received.
+
+9.3.  Accounting Application Extension and Requirements
+
+   Each Diameter application (e.g., NASREQ, Mobile IP) SHOULD define its
+   service-specific AVPs that MUST be present in the Accounting-Request
+   message in a section titled "Accounting AVPs".  The application MUST
+   assume that the AVPs described in this document will be present in
+   all Accounting messages, so only their respective service-specific
+   AVPs need to be defined in that section.
+
+   Applications have the option of using one or both of the following
+   accounting application extension models:
+
+   Split Accounting Service
+
+      The accounting message will carry the Application Id of the
+      Diameter base accounting application (see Section 2.4).
+      Accounting messages may be routed to Diameter nodes other than the
+      corresponding Diameter application.  These nodes might be
+      centralized accounting servers that provide accounting service for
+      multiple different Diameter applications.  These nodes MUST
+      advertise the Diameter base accounting Application Id during
+      capabilities exchange.
+
+   Coupled Accounting Service
+
+      The accounting message will carry the Application Id of the
+      application that is using it.  The application itself will process
+      the received accounting records or forward them to an accounting
+      server.  There is no accounting application advertisement required
+      during capabilities exchange, and the accounting messages will be
+      routed the same way as any of the other application messages.
+
+   In cases where an application does not define its own accounting
+   service, it is preferred that the split accounting model be used.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 124]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+9.4.  Fault Resilience
+
+   Diameter base protocol mechanisms are used to overcome small message
+   loss and network faults of a temporary nature.
+
+   Diameter peers acting as clients MUST implement the use of failover
+   to guard against server failures and certain network failures.
+   Diameter peers acting as agents or related off-line processing
+   systems MUST detect duplicate accounting records caused by the
+   sending of the same record to several servers and duplication of
+   messages in transit.  This detection MUST be based on the inspection
+   of the Session-Id and Accounting-Record-Number AVP pairs.  Appendix C
+   discusses duplicate detection needs and implementation issues.
+
+   Diameter clients MAY have non-volatile memory for the safe storage of
+   accounting records over reboots or extended network failures, network
+   partitions, and server failures.  If such memory is available, the
+   client SHOULD store new accounting records there as soon as the
+   records are created and until a positive acknowledgement of their
+   reception from the Diameter server has been received.  Upon a reboot,
+   the client MUST start sending the records in the non-volatile memory
+   to the accounting server with the appropriate modifications in
+   termination cause, session length, and other relevant information in
+   the records.
+
+   A further application of this protocol may include AVPs to control
+   the maximum number of accounting records that may be stored in the
+   Diameter client without committing them to the non-volatile memory or
+   transferring them to the Diameter server.
+
+   The client SHOULD NOT remove the accounting data from any of its
+   memory areas before the correct Accounting-Answer has been received.
+   The client MAY remove the oldest, undelivered, or as yet
+   unacknowledged accounting data if it runs out of resources such as
+   memory.  It is an implementation-dependent matter for the client to
+   accept new sessions under this condition.
+
+9.5.  Accounting Records
+
+   In all accounting records, the Session-Id AVP MUST be present; the
+   User-Name AVP MUST be present if it is available to the Diameter
+   client.
+
+   Different types of accounting records are sent depending on the
+   actual type of accounted service and the authorization server's
+   directions for interim accounting.  If the accounted service is a
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 125]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   one-time event, meaning that the start and stop of the event are
+   simultaneous, then the Accounting-Record-Type AVP MUST be present and
+   set to the value EVENT_RECORD.
+
+   If the accounted service is of a measurable length, then the AVP MUST
+   use the values START_RECORD, STOP_RECORD, and possibly,
+   INTERIM_RECORD.  If the authorization server has not directed interim
+   accounting to be enabled for the session, two accounting records MUST
+   be generated for each service of type session.  When the initial
+   Accounting-Request for a given session is sent, the Accounting-
+   Record-Type AVP MUST be set to the value START_RECORD.  When the last
+   Accounting-Request is sent, the value MUST be STOP_RECORD.
+
+   If the authorization server has directed interim accounting to be
+   enabled, the Diameter client MUST produce additional records between
+   the START_RECORD and STOP_RECORD, marked INTERIM_RECORD.  The
+   production of these records is directed by Acct-Interim-Interval as
+   well as any re-authentication or re-authorization of the session.
+   The Diameter client MUST overwrite any previous interim accounting
+   records that are locally stored for delivery, if a new record is
+   being generated for the same session.  This ensures that only one
+   pending interim record can exist on an access device for any given
+   session.
+
+   A particular value of Accounting-Sub-Session-Id MUST appear only in
+   one sequence of accounting records from a Diameter client, except for
+   the purposes of retransmission.  The one sequence that is sent MUST
+   be either one record with Accounting-Record-Type AVP set to the value
+   EVENT_RECORD or several records starting with one having the value
+   START_RECORD, followed by zero or more INTERIM_RECORDs and a single
+   STOP_RECORD.  A particular Diameter application specification MUST
+   define the type of sequences that MUST be used.
+
+9.6.  Correlation of Accounting Records
+
+   If an application uses accounting messages, it can correlate
+   accounting records with a specific application session by using the
+   Session-Id of the particular application session in the accounting
+   messages.  Accounting messages MAY also use a different Session-Id
+   from that of the application sessions, in which case, other session-
+   related information is needed to perform correlation.
+
+   In cases where an application requires multiple accounting sub-
+   sessions, an Accounting-Sub-Session-Id AVP is used to differentiate
+   each sub-session.  The Session-Id would remain constant for all sub-
+   sessions and is used to correlate all the sub-sessions to a
+   particular application session.  Note that receiving a STOP_RECORD
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 126]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   with no Accounting-Sub-Session-Id AVP when sub-sessions were
+   originally used in the START_RECORD messages implies that all sub-
+   sessions are terminated.
+
+   There are also cases where an application needs to correlate multiple
+   application sessions into a single accounting record; the accounting
+   record may span multiple different Diameter applications and sessions
+   used by the same user at a given time.  In such cases, the Acct-
+   Multi-Session-Id AVP is used.  The Acct-Multi-Session-Id AVP SHOULD
+   be signaled by the server to the access device (typically, during
+   authorization) when it determines that a request belongs to an
+   existing session.  The access device MUST then include the Acct-
+   Multi-Session-Id AVP in all subsequent accounting messages.
+
+   The Acct-Multi-Session-Id AVP MAY include the value of the original
+   Session-Id.  Its contents are implementation specific, but the MUST
+   be globally unique across other Acct-Multi-Session-Ids and MUST NOT
+   change during the life of a session.
+
+   A Diameter application document MUST define the exact concept of a
+   session that is being accounted, and it MAY define the concept of a
+   multi-session.  For instance, the NASREQ DIAMETER application treats
+   a single PPP connection to a Network Access Server as one session and
+   a set of Multilink PPP sessions as one multi-session.
+
+9.7.  Accounting Command Codes
+
+   This section defines Command Code values that MUST be supported by
+   all Diameter implementations that provide accounting services.
+
+9.7.1.  Accounting-Request
+
+   The Accounting-Request (ACR) command, indicated by the Command Code
+   field set to 271 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit set, is sent by a
+   Diameter node, acting as a client, in order to exchange accounting
+   information with a peer.
+
+   In addition to the AVPs listed below, Accounting-Request messages
+   SHOULD include service-specific accounting AVPs.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 127]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <ACR> ::= < Diameter Header: 271, REQ, PXY >
+                   < Session-Id >
+                   { Origin-Host }
+                   { Origin-Realm }
+                   { Destination-Realm }
+                   { Accounting-Record-Type }
+                   { Accounting-Record-Number }
+                   [ Acct-Application-Id ]
+                   [ Vendor-Specific-Application-Id ]
+                   [ User-Name ]
+                   [ Destination-Host ]
+                   [ Accounting-Sub-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Acct-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Acct-Multi-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Acct-Interim-Interval ]
+                   [ Accounting-Realtime-Required ]
+                   [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                   [ Event-Timestamp ]
+                 * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                 * [ Route-Record ]
+                 * [ AVP ]
+
+9.7.2.  Accounting-Answer
+
+   The Accounting-Answer (ACA) command, indicated by the Command Code
+   field set to 271 and the Command Flags' 'R' bit cleared, is used to
+   acknowledge an Accounting-Request command.  The Accounting-Answer
+   command contains the same Session-Id as the corresponding request.
+
+   Only the target Diameter server, known as the home Diameter server,
+   SHOULD respond with the Accounting-Answer command.
+
+   In addition to the AVPs listed below, Accounting-Answer messages
+   SHOULD include service-specific accounting AVPs.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 128]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      Message Format
+
+         <ACA> ::= < Diameter Header: 271, PXY >
+                   < Session-Id >
+                   { Result-Code }
+                   { Origin-Host }
+                   { Origin-Realm }
+                   { Accounting-Record-Type }
+                   { Accounting-Record-Number }
+                   [ Acct-Application-Id ]
+                   [ Vendor-Specific-Application-Id ]
+                   [ User-Name ]
+                   [ Accounting-Sub-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Acct-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Acct-Multi-Session-Id ]
+                   [ Error-Message ]
+                   [ Error-Reporting-Host ]
+                   [ Failed-AVP ]
+                   [ Acct-Interim-Interval ]
+                   [ Accounting-Realtime-Required ]
+                   [ Origin-State-Id ]
+                   [ Event-Timestamp ]
+                 * [ Proxy-Info ]
+                 * [ AVP ]
+
+9.8.  Accounting AVPs
+
+   This section contains AVPs that describe accounting usage information
+   related to a specific session.
+
+9.8.1.  Accounting-Record-Type AVP
+
+   The Accounting-Record-Type AVP (AVP Code 480) is of type Enumerated
+   and contains the type of accounting record being sent.  The following
+   values are currently defined for the Accounting-Record-Type AVP:
+
+   EVENT_RECORD 1
+
+      An Accounting Event Record is used to indicate that a one-time
+      event has occurred (meaning that the start and end of the event
+      are simultaneous).  This record contains all information relevant
+      to the service, and it is the only record of the service.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 129]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   START_RECORD 2
+
+      Accounting Start, Interim, and Stop Records are used to indicate
+      that a service of a measurable length has been given.  An
+      Accounting Start Record is used to initiate an accounting session
+      and contains accounting information that is relevant to the
+      initiation of the session.
+
+   INTERIM_RECORD 3
+
+      An Interim Accounting Record contains cumulative accounting
+      information for an existing accounting session.  Interim
+      Accounting Records SHOULD be sent every time a re-authentication
+      or re-authorization occurs.  Further, additional interim record
+      triggers MAY be defined by application-specific Diameter
+      applications.  The selection of whether to use INTERIM_RECORD
+      records is done by the Acct-Interim-Interval AVP.
+
+   STOP_RECORD 4
+
+      An Accounting Stop Record is sent to terminate an accounting
+      session and contains cumulative accounting information relevant to
+      the existing session.
+
+9.8.2.  Acct-Interim-Interval AVP
+
+   The Acct-Interim-Interval AVP (AVP Code 85) is of type Unsigned32 and
+   is sent from the Diameter home authorization server to the Diameter
+   client.  The client uses information in this AVP to decide how and
+   when to produce accounting records.  With different values in this
+   AVP, service sessions can result in one, two, or two+N accounting
+   records, based on the needs of the home organization.  The following
+   accounting record production behavior is directed by the inclusion of
+   this AVP:
+
+   1.  The omission of the Acct-Interim-Interval AVP or its inclusion
+       with Value field set to 0 means that EVENT_RECORD, START_RECORD,
+       and STOP_RECORD are produced, as appropriate for the service.
+
+   2.  The inclusion of the AVP with Value field set to a non-zero value
+       means that INTERIM_RECORD records MUST be produced between the
+       START_RECORD and STOP_RECORD records.  The Value field of this
+       AVP is the nominal interval between these records in seconds.
+       The Diameter node that originates the accounting information,
+       known as the client, MUST produce the first INTERIM_RECORD record
+       roughly at the time when this nominal interval has elapsed from
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 130]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+       the START_RECORD, the next one again as the interval has elapsed
+       once more, and so on until the session ends and a STOP_RECORD
+       record is produced.
+
+       The client MUST ensure that the interim record production times
+       are randomized so that large accounting message storms are not
+       created either among records or around a common service start
+       time.
+
+9.8.3.   Accounting-Record-Number AVP
+
+   The Accounting-Record-Number AVP (AVP Code 485) is of type Unsigned32
+   and identifies this record within one session.  As Session-Id AVPs
+   are globally unique, the combination of Session-Id and Accounting-
+   Record-Number AVPs is also globally unique and can be used in
+   matching accounting records with confirmations.  An easy way to
+   produce unique numbers is to set the value to 0 for records of type
+   EVENT_RECORD and START_RECORD and set the value to 1 for the first
+   INTERIM_RECORD, 2 for the second, and so on until the value for
+   STOP_RECORD is one more than for the last INTERIM_RECORD.
+
+9.8.4.  Acct-Session-Id AVP
+
+   The Acct-Session-Id AVP (AVP Code 44) is of type OctetString is only
+   used when RADIUS/Diameter translation occurs.  This AVP contains the
+   contents of the RADIUS Acct-Session-Id attribute.
+
+9.8.5.  Acct-Multi-Session-Id AVP
+
+   The Acct-Multi-Session-Id AVP (AVP Code 50) is of type UTF8String,
+   following the format specified in Section 8.8.  The Acct-Multi-
+   Session-Id AVP is used to link multiple related accounting sessions,
+   where each session would have a unique Session-Id but the same Acct-
+   Multi-Session-Id AVP.  This AVP MAY be returned by the Diameter
+   server in an authorization answer, and it MUST be used in all
+   accounting messages for the given session.
+
+9.8.6.  Accounting-Sub-Session-Id AVP
+
+   The Accounting-Sub-Session-Id AVP (AVP Code 287) is of type
+   Unsigned64 and contains the accounting sub-session identifier.  The
+   combination of the Session-Id and this AVP MUST be unique per sub-
+   session, and the value of this AVP MUST be monotonically increased by
+   one for all new sub-sessions.  The absence of this AVP implies no
+   sub-sessions are in use, with the exception of an Accounting-Request
+   whose Accounting-Record-Type is set to STOP_RECORD.  A STOP_RECORD
+   message with no Accounting-Sub-Session-Id AVP present will signal the
+   termination of all sub-sessions for a given Session-Id.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 131]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+9.8.7.   Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP
+
+   The Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP (AVP Code 483) is of type
+   Enumerated and is sent from the Diameter home authorization server to
+   the Diameter client or in the Accounting-Answer from the accounting
+   server.  The client uses information in this AVP to decide what to do
+   if the sending of accounting records to the accounting server has
+   been temporarily prevented due to, for instance, a network problem.
+
+   DELIVER_AND_GRANT 1
+
+      The AVP with Value field set to DELIVER_AND_GRANT means that the
+      service MUST only be granted as long as there is a connection to
+      an accounting server.  Note that the set of alternative accounting
+      servers are treated as one server in this sense.  Having to move
+      the accounting record stream to a backup server is not a reason to
+      discontinue the service to the user.
+
+   GRANT_AND_STORE 2
+
+      The AVP with Value field set to GRANT_AND_STORE means that service
+      SHOULD be granted if there is a connection, or as long as records
+      can still be stored as described in Section 9.4.
+
+      This is the default behavior if the AVP isn't included in the
+      reply from the authorization server.
+
+   GRANT_AND_LOSE 3
+
+      The AVP with Value field set to GRANT_AND_LOSE means that service
+      SHOULD be granted even if the records cannot be delivered or
+      stored.
+
+10.  AVP Occurrence Tables
+
+   The following tables present the AVPs defined in this document and
+   specify in which Diameter messages they MAY or MAY NOT be present.
+   AVPs that occur only inside a Grouped AVP are not shown in these
+   tables.
+
+   The tables use the following symbols:
+
+   0     The AVP MUST NOT be present in the message.
+
+   0+    Zero or more instances of the AVP MAY be present in the
+         message.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 132]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   0-1   Zero or one instance of the AVP MAY be present in the message.
+         It is considered an error if there are more than one instance
+         of the AVP.
+
+   1     One instance of the AVP MUST be present in the message.
+
+   1+    At least one instance of the AVP MUST be present in the
+         message.
+
+10.1.  Base Protocol Command AVP Table
+
+   The table in this section is limited to the non-Accounting Command
+   Codes defined in this specification.
+
+                       +-----------------------------------------------+
+                       |                  Command Code                 |
+                       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+   Attribute Name      |CER|CEA|DPR|DPA|DWR|DWA|RAR|RAA|ASR|ASA|STR|STA|
+   --------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+   Acct-Interim-       |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+     Interval          |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   Accounting-Realtime-|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+     Required          |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   Acct-Application-Id |0+ |0+ |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Auth-Application-Id |0+ |0+ |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |
+   Auth-Grace-Period   |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Auth-Request-Type   |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Auth-Session-State  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Authorization-      |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+     Lifetime          |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   Class               |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0+ |0+ |
+   Destination-Host    |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |0-1|0  |
+   Destination-Realm   |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |
+   Disconnect-Cause    |0  |0  |1  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Error-Message       |0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|
+   Error-Reporting-Host|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|
+   Failed-AVP          |0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|
+   Firmware-Revision   |0-1|0-1|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Host-IP-Address     |1+ |1+ |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Inband-Security-Id  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Multi-Round-Time-Out|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 133]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Origin-Host         |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |
+   Origin-Realm        |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |
+   Origin-State-Id     |0-1|0-1|0  |0  |0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|
+   Product-Name        |1  |1  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Proxy-Info          |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0+ |0+ |0+ |0+ |0+ |0+ |
+   Redirect-Host       |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0+ |0  |0+ |0  |0+ |
+   Redirect-Host-Usage |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|
+   Redirect-Max-Cache- |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0  |0-1|0  |0-1|
+     Time              |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   Result-Code         |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |0  |1  |
+   Re-Auth-Request-Type|0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Route-Record        |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0+ |0  |0+ |0  |0+ |0  |
+   Session-Binding     |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Session-Id          |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |1  |
+   Session-Server-     |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+     Failover          |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   Session-Timeout     |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Supported-Vendor-Id |0+ |0+ |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Termination-Cause   |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |1  |0  |
+   User-Name           |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|0-1|
+   Vendor-Id           |1  |1  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+   Vendor-Specific-    |0+ |0+ |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |0  |
+     Application-Id    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
+   --------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
+
+10.2.  Accounting AVP Table
+
+   The table in this section is used to represent which AVPs defined in
+   this document are to be present in the Accounting messages.  These
+   AVP occurrence requirements are guidelines, which may be expanded,
+   and/or overridden by application-specific requirements in the
+   Diameter applications documents.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 134]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+                                    +-----------+
+                                    |  Command  |
+                                    |    Code   |
+                                    +-----+-----+
+      Attribute Name                | ACR | ACA |
+      ------------------------------+-----+-----+
+      Acct-Interim-Interval         | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Acct-Multi-Session-Id         | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Accounting-Record-Number      | 1   | 1   |
+      Accounting-Record-Type        | 1   | 1   |
+      Acct-Session-Id               | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Accounting-Sub-Session-Id     | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Accounting-Realtime-Required  | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Acct-Application-Id           | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Auth-Application-Id           | 0   | 0   |
+      Class                         | 0+  | 0+  |
+      Destination-Host              | 0-1 | 0   |
+      Destination-Realm             | 1   | 0   |
+      Error-Reporting-Host          | 0   | 0+  |
+      Event-Timestamp               | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Failed-AVP                    | 0   | 0-1 |
+      Origin-Host                   | 1   | 1   |
+      Origin-Realm                  | 1   | 1   |
+      Proxy-Info                    | 0+  | 0+  |
+      Route-Record                  | 0+  | 0   |
+      Result-Code                   | 0   | 1   |
+      Session-Id                    | 1   | 1   |
+      Termination-Cause             | 0   | 0   |
+      User-Name                     | 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      Vendor-Specific-Application-Id| 0-1 | 0-1 |
+      ------------------------------+-----+-----+
+
+11.  IANA Considerations
+
+   This section provides guidance to the Internet Assigned Numbers
+   Authority (IANA) regarding registration of values related to the
+   Diameter protocol, in accordance with [RFC5226].  Existing IANA
+   registries and assignments put in place by RFC 3588 remain the same
+   unless explicitly updated or deprecated in this section.
+
+11.1.  AVP Header
+
+   As defined in Section 4, the AVP header contains three fields that
+   require IANA namespace management: the AVP Code, Vendor-ID, and Flags
+   fields.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 135]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+11.1.1.  AVP Codes
+
+   There are multiple namespaces.  Vendors can have their own AVP Codes
+   namespace that will be identified by their Vendor-ID (also known as
+   Enterprise-Number), and they control the assignments of their vendor-
+   specific AVP Codes within their own namespace.  The absence of a
+   Vendor-ID or a Vendor-ID value of zero (0) identifies the IETF AVP
+   Codes namespace, which is under IANA control.  The AVP Codes and
+   sometimes possible values in an AVP are controlled and maintained by
+   IANA.  AVP Code 0 is not used.  AVP Codes 1-255 are managed
+   separately as RADIUS Attribute Types.  Where a Vendor-Specific AVP is
+   implemented by more than one vendor, allocation of global AVPs should
+   be encouraged instead.
+
+   AVPs may be allocated following Expert Review (by a Designated
+   Expert) with Specification Required [RFC5226].  A block allocation
+   (release of more than three AVPs at a time for a given purpose)
+   requires IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.1.2.  AVP Flags
+
+   Section 4.1 describes the existing AVP Flags.  The remaining bits can
+   only be assigned via a Standards Action [RFC5226].
+
+11.2.  Diameter Header
+
+11.2.1.  Command Codes
+
+   For the Diameter header, the Command Code namespace allocation has
+   changed.  The new allocation rules are as follows:
+
+      The Command Code values 256 - 8,388,607 (0x100 to 0x7fffff) are
+      for permanent, standard commands, allocated by IETF Review
+      [RFC5226].
+
+      The values 8,388,608 - 16,777,213 (0x800000 - 0xfffffd) are
+      reserved for vendor-specific Command Codes, to be allocated on a
+      First Come, First Served basis by IANA [RFC5226].  The request to
+      IANA for a Vendor-Specific Command Code SHOULD include a reference
+      to a publicly available specification that documents the command
+      in sufficient detail to aid in interoperability between
+      independent implementations.  If the specification cannot be made
+      publicly available, the request for a vendor-specific Command Code
+      MUST include the contact information of persons and/or entities
+      responsible for authoring and maintaining the command.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 136]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      The values 16,777,214 and 16,777,215 (hexadecimal values 0xfffffe
+      - 0xffffff) are reserved for experimental commands.  As these
+      codes are only for experimental and testing purposes, no guarantee
+      is made for interoperability between Diameter peers using
+      experimental commands.
+
+11.2.2.  Command Flags
+
+   Section 3 describes the existing Command Flags field.  The remaining
+   bits can only be assigned via a Standards Action [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.  AVP Values
+
+   For AVP values, the Experimental-Result-Code AVP value allocation has
+   been added; see Section 11.3.1.  The old AVP value allocation rule,
+   IETF Consensus, has been updated to IETF Review as per [RFC5226], and
+   affected AVPs are listed as reminders.
+
+11.3.1.  Experimental-Result-Code AVP
+
+   Values for this AVP are purely local to the indicated vendor, and no
+   IANA registry is maintained for them.
+
+11.3.2.  Result-Code AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.3.  Accounting-Record-Type AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.4.  Termination-Cause AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.5.  Redirect-Host-Usage AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.6.  Session-Server-Failover AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.7.  Session-Binding AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 137]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+11.3.8.  Disconnect-Cause AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.9.  Auth-Request-Type AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.10.  Auth-Session-State AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.11.  Re-Auth-Request-Type AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.12.  Accounting-Realtime-Required AVP Values
+
+   New values are available for assignment via IETF Review [RFC5226].
+
+11.3.13.  Inband-Security-Id AVP (code 299)
+
+   The use of this AVP has been deprecated.
+
+11.4.  _diameters Service Name and Port Number Registration
+
+   IANA has registered the "_diameters" service name and assigned port
+   numbers for TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP according to the guidelines given
+   in [RFC6335].
+
+      Service Name:         _diameters
+
+      Transport Protocols:  TCP, SCTP
+
+      Assignee:             IESG <iesg@ietf.org>
+
+      Contact:              IETF Chair <chair@ietf.org>
+
+      Description:          Diameter over TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP
+
+      Reference:            RFC 6733
+
+      Port  Number:         5868, from the User Range
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 138]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+11.5.  SCTP Payload Protocol Identifiers
+
+   Two SCTP payload protocol identifiers have been registered in the
+   SCTP Payload Protocol Identifiers registry:
+
+
+    Value | SCTP Payload Protocol Identifier
+   -------|-----------------------------------
+     46   | Diameter in a SCTP DATA chunk
+     47   | Diameter in a DTLS/SCTP DATA chunk
+
+
+11.6.  S-NAPTR Parameters
+
+   The following tag has been registered in the S-NAPTR Application
+   Protocol Tags registry:
+
+   Tag                | Protocol
+   -------------------|---------
+   diameter.dtls.sctp | DTLS/SCTP
+
+12.  Diameter Protocol-Related Configurable Parameters
+
+   This section contains the configurable parameters that are found
+   throughout this document:
+
+   Diameter Peer
+
+      A Diameter entity MAY communicate with peers that are statically
+      configured.  A statically configured Diameter peer would require
+      that either the IP address or the fully qualified domain name
+      (FQDN) be supplied, which would then be used to resolve through
+      DNS.
+
+   Routing Table
+
+      A Diameter proxy server routes messages based on the realm portion
+      of a Network Access Identifier (NAI).  The server MUST have a
+      table of Realm Names, and the address of the peer to which the
+      message must be forwarded.  The routing table MAY also include a
+      "default route", which is typically used for all messages that
+      cannot be locally processed.
+
+   Tc timer
+
+      The Tc timer controls the frequency that transport connection
+      attempts are done to a peer with whom no active transport
+      connection exists.  The recommended value is 30 seconds.
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 139]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+13.  Security Considerations
+
+   The Diameter base protocol messages SHOULD be secured by using TLS
+   [RFC5246] or DTLS/SCTP [RFC6083].  Additional security mechanisms
+   such as IPsec [RFC4301] MAY also be deployed to secure connections
+   between peers.  However, all Diameter base protocol implementations
+   MUST support the use of TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP, and the Diameter
+   protocol MUST NOT be used without one of TLS, DTLS, or IPsec.
+
+   If a Diameter connection is to be protected via TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP
+   or IPsec, then TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP or IPsec/IKE SHOULD begin prior
+   to any Diameter message exchange.  All security parameters for TLS/
+   TCP and DTLS/SCTP or IPsec are configured independent of the Diameter
+   protocol.  All Diameter messages will be sent through the TLS/TCP and
+   DTLS/SCTP or IPsec connection after a successful setup.
+
+   For TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP connections to be established in the open
+   state, the CER/CEA exchange MUST include an Inband-Security-ID AVP
+   with a value of TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP.  The TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP
+   handshake will begin when both ends successfully reach the open
+   state, after completion of the CER/CEA exchange.  If the TLS/TCP and
+   DTLS/SCTP handshake is successful, all further messages will be sent
+   via TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP.  If the handshake fails, both ends MUST
+   move to the closed state.  See Section 13.1 for more details.
+
+13.1.  TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP Usage
+
+   Diameter nodes using TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP for security MUST mutually
+   authenticate as part of TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP session establishment.
+   In order to ensure mutual authentication, the Diameter node acting as
+   the TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP server MUST request a certificate from the
+   Diameter node acting as TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP client, and the
+   Diameter node acting as the TLS/TCP and DTLS/SCTP client MUST be
+   prepared to supply a certificate on request.
+
+   Diameter nodes MUST be able to negotiate the following TLS/TCP and
+   DTLS/SCTP cipher suites:
+
+         TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
+         TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
+         TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
+
+   Diameter nodes SHOULD be able to negotiate the following TLS/TCP and
+   DTLS/SCTP cipher suite:
+
+         TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 140]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   Note that it is quite possible that support for the
+   TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA cipher suite will be REQUIRED at some
+   future date.  Diameter nodes MAY negotiate other TLS/TCP and DTLS/
+   SCTP cipher suites.
+
+   If public key certificates are used for Diameter security (for
+   example, with TLS), the value of the expiration times in the routing
+   and peer tables MUST NOT be greater than the expiry time in the
+   relevant certificates.
+
+13.2.  Peer-to-Peer Considerations
+
+   As with any peer-to-peer protocol, proper configuration of the trust
+   model within a Diameter peer is essential to security.  When
+   certificates are used, it is necessary to configure the root
+   certificate authorities trusted by the Diameter peer.  These root CAs
+   are likely to be unique to Diameter usage and distinct from the root
+   CAs that might be trusted for other purposes such as Web browsing.
+   In general, it is expected that those root CAs will be configured so
+   as to reflect the business relationships between the organization
+   hosting the Diameter peer and other organizations.  As a result, a
+   Diameter peer will typically not be configured to allow connectivity
+   with any arbitrary peer.  With certificate authentication, Diameter
+   peers may not be known beforehand and therefore peer discovery may be
+   required.
+
+13.3.  AVP Considerations
+
+   Diameter AVPs often contain security-sensitive data; for example,
+   user passwords and location data, network addresses and cryptographic
+   keys.  The following AVPs defined in this document are considered to
+   be security-sensitive:
+
+   o  Acct-Interim-Interval
+
+   o  Accounting-Realtime-Required
+
+   o  Acct-Multi-Session-Id
+
+   o  Accounting-Record-Number
+
+   o  Accounting-Record-Type
+
+   o  Accounting-Session-Id
+
+   o  Accounting-Sub-Session-Id
+
+   o  Class
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 141]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   o  Session-Id
+
+   o  Session-Binding
+
+   o  Session-Server-Failover
+
+   o  User-Name
+
+   Diameter messages containing these or any other AVPs considered to be
+   security-sensitive MUST only be sent protected via mutually
+   authenticated TLS or IPsec.  In addition, those messages MUST NOT be
+   sent via intermediate nodes unless there is end-to-end security
+   between the originator and recipient or the originator has locally
+   trusted configuration that indicates that end-to-end security is not
+   needed.  For example, end-to-end security may not be required in the
+   case where an intermediary node is known to be operated as part of
+   the same administrative domain as the endpoints so that an ability to
+   successfully compromise the intermediary would imply a high
+   probability of being able to compromise the endpoints as well.  Note
+   that no end-to-end security mechanism is specified in this document.
+
+14.  References
+
+14.1.  Normative References
+
+   [FLOATPOINT]
+              Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, "IEEE
+              Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic, ANSI/IEEE
+              Standard 754-1985", August 1985.
+
+   [IANAADFAM]
+              IANA, "Address Family Numbers",
+              <http://www.iana.org/assignments/address-family-numbers>.
+
+   [RFC0791]  Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
+              September 1981.
+
+   [RFC0793]  Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", STD 7,
+              RFC 793, September 1981.
+
+   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
+              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
+
+   [RFC3492]  Costello, A., "Punycode: A Bootstring encoding of Unicode
+              for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications
+              (IDNA)", RFC 3492, March 2003.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 142]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   [RFC3539]  Aboba, B. and J. Wood, "Authentication, Authorization and
+              Accounting (AAA) Transport Profile", RFC 3539, June 2003.
+
+   [RFC3629]  Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
+              10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.
+
+   [RFC3958]  Daigle, L. and A. Newton, "Domain-Based Application
+              Service Location Using SRV RRs and the Dynamic Delegation
+              Discovery Service (DDDS)", RFC 3958, January 2005.
+
+   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
+              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
+              RFC 3986, January 2005.
+
+   [RFC4004]  Calhoun, P., Johansson, T., Perkins, C., Hiller, T., and
+              P. McCann, "Diameter Mobile IPv4 Application", RFC 4004,
+              August 2005.
+
+   [RFC4005]  Calhoun, P., Zorn, G., Spence, D., and D. Mitton,
+              "Diameter Network Access Server Application", RFC 4005,
+              August 2005.
+
+   [RFC4006]  Hakala, H., Mattila, L., Koskinen, J-P., Stura, M., and J.
+              Loughney, "Diameter Credit-Control Application", RFC 4006,
+              August 2005.
+
+   [RFC4086]  Eastlake, D., Schiller, J., and S. Crocker, "Randomness
+              Requirements for Security", BCP 106, RFC 4086, June 2005.
+
+   [RFC4282]  Aboba, B., Beadles, M., Arkko, J., and P. Eronen, "The
+              Network Access Identifier", RFC 4282, December 2005.
+
+   [RFC4291]  Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
+              Architecture", RFC 4291, February 2006.
+
+   [RFC4960]  Stewart, R., "Stream Control Transmission Protocol",
+              RFC 4960, September 2007.
+
+   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
+              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
+              May 2008.
+
+   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
+              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.
+
+   [RFC5246]  Dierks, T. and E. Rescorla, "The Transport Layer Security
+              (TLS) Protocol Version 1.2", RFC 5246, August 2008.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 143]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   [RFC5280]  Cooper, D., Santesson, S., Farrell, S., Boeyen, S.,
+              Housley, R., and W. Polk, "Internet X.509 Public Key
+              Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List
+              (CRL) Profile", RFC 5280, May 2008.
+
+   [RFC5729]  Korhonen, J., Jones, M., Morand, L., and T. Tsou,
+              "Clarifications on the Routing of Diameter Requests Based
+              on the Username and the Realm", RFC 5729, December 2009.
+
+   [RFC5890]  Klensin, J., "Internationalized Domain Names for
+              Applications (IDNA): Definitions and Document Framework",
+              RFC 5890, August 2010.
+
+   [RFC5891]  Klensin, J., "Internationalized Domain Names in
+              Applications (IDNA): Protocol", RFC 5891, August 2010.
+
+   [RFC6083]  Tuexen, M., Seggelmann, R., and E. Rescorla, "Datagram
+              Transport Layer Security (DTLS) for Stream Control
+              Transmission Protocol (SCTP)", RFC 6083, January 2011.
+
+   [RFC6347]  Rescorla, E. and N. Modadugu, "Datagram Transport Layer
+              Security Version 1.2", RFC 6347, January 2012.
+
+   [RFC6408]  Jones, M., Korhonen, J., and L. Morand, "Diameter
+              Straightforward-Naming Authority Pointer (S-NAPTR) Usage",
+              RFC 6408, November 2011.
+
+14.2.  Informative References
+
+   [ENTERPRISE]  IANA, "SMI Network Management Private Enterprise
+                 Codes",
+                 <http://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers>.
+
+   [IANATCV]     IANA, "Termination-Cause AVP Values (code 295)",
+                 <http://www.iana.org/assignments/aaa-parameters/
+                 aaa-parameters.xml#aaa-parameters-16>.
+
+   [RFC1492]     Finseth, C., "An Access Control Protocol, Sometimes
+                 Called TACACS", RFC 1492, July 1993.
+
+   [RFC1661]     Simpson, W., "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)",
+                 STD 51, RFC 1661, July 1994.
+
+   [RFC2104]     Krawczyk, H., Bellare, M., and R. Canetti, "HMAC:
+                 Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication", RFC 2104,
+                 February 1997.
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 144]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   [RFC2782]     Gulbrandsen, A., Vixie, P., and L. Esibov, "A DNS RR
+                 for specifying the location of services (DNS SRV)",
+                 RFC 2782, February 2000.
+
+   [RFC2865]     Rigney, C., Willens, S., Rubens, A., and W. Simpson,
+                 "Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)",
+                 RFC 2865, June 2000.
+
+   [RFC2866]     Rigney, C., "RADIUS Accounting", RFC 2866, June 2000.
+
+   [RFC2869]     Rigney, C., Willats, W., and P. Calhoun, "RADIUS
+                 Extensions", RFC 2869, June 2000.
+
+   [RFC2881]     Mitton, D. and M. Beadles, "Network Access Server
+                 Requirements Next Generation (NASREQNG) NAS Model",
+                 RFC 2881, July 2000.
+
+   [RFC2975]     Aboba, B., Arkko, J., and D. Harrington, "Introduction
+                 to Accounting Management", RFC 2975, October 2000.
+
+   [RFC2989]     Aboba, B., Calhoun, P., Glass, S., Hiller, T., McCann,
+                 P., Shiino, H., Walsh, P., Zorn, G., Dommety, G.,
+                 Perkins, C., Patil, B., Mitton, D., Manning, S.,
+                 Beadles, M., Chen, X., Sivalingham, S., Hameed, A.,
+                 Munson, M., Jacobs, S., Lim, B., Hirschman, B., Hsu,
+                 R., Koo, H., Lipford, M., Campbell, E., Xu, Y., Baba,
+                 S., and E. Jaques, "Criteria for Evaluating AAA
+                 Protocols for Network Access", RFC 2989, November 2000.
+
+   [RFC3162]     Aboba, B., Zorn, G., and D. Mitton, "RADIUS and IPv6",
+                 RFC 3162, August 2001.
+
+   [RFC3748]     Aboba, B., Blunk, L., Vollbrecht, J., Carlson, J., and
+                 H. Levkowetz, "Extensible Authentication Protocol
+                 (EAP)", RFC 3748, June 2004.
+
+   [RFC4301]     Kent, S. and K. Seo, "Security Architecture for the
+                 Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, December 2005.
+
+   [RFC4690]     Klensin, J., Faltstrom, P., Karp, C., and IAB, "Review
+                 and Recommendations for Internationalized Domain Names
+                 (IDNs)", RFC 4690, September 2006.
+
+   [RFC5176]     Chiba, M., Dommety, G., Eklund, M., Mitton, D., and B.
+                 Aboba, "Dynamic Authorization Extensions to Remote
+                 Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)",
+                 RFC 5176, January 2008.
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 145]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   [RFC5461]     Gont, F., "TCP's Reaction to Soft Errors", RFC 5461,
+                 February 2009.
+
+   [RFC5905]     Mills, D., Martin, J., Burbank, J., and W. Kasch,
+                 "Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and
+                 Algorithms Specification", RFC 5905, June 2010.
+
+   [RFC5927]     Gont, F., "ICMP Attacks against TCP", RFC 5927,
+                 July 2010.
+
+   [RFC6335]     Cotton, M., Eggert, L., Touch, J., Westerlund, M., and
+                 S. Cheshire, "Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
+                 (IANA) Procedures for the Management of the Service
+                 Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry",
+                 BCP 165, RFC 6335, August 2011.
+
+   [RFC6737]     Kang, J. and G. Zorn, "The Diameter Capabilities Update
+                 Application", RFC 6737, October 2012.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 146]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+Appendix A.  Acknowledgements
+
+A.1.  This Document
+
+   The authors would like to thank the following people that have
+   provided proposals and contributions to this document:
+
+   To Vishnu Ram and Satendra Gera for their contributions on
+   capabilities updates, predictive loop avoidance, as well as many
+   other technical proposals.  To Tolga Asveren for his insights and
+   contributions on almost all of the proposed solutions incorporated
+   into this document.  To Timothy Smith for helping on the capabilities
+   Update and other topics.  To Tony Zhang for providing fixes to
+   loopholes on composing Failed-AVPs as well as many other issues and
+   topics.  To Jan Nordqvist for clearly stating the usage of
+   Application Ids.  To Anders Kristensen for providing needed technical
+   opinions.  To David Frascone for providing invaluable review of the
+   document.  To Mark Jones for providing clarifying text on vendor
+   command codes and other vendor-specific indicators.  To Victor
+   Pascual and Sebastien Decugis for new text and recommendations on
+   SCTP/DTLS.  To Jouni Korhonen for taking over the editing task and
+   resolving last bits from versions 27 through 29.
+
+   Special thanks to the Diameter extensibility design team, which
+   helped resolve the tricky question of mandatory AVPs and ABNF
+   semantics.  The members of this team are as follows:
+
+   Avi Lior, Jari Arkko, Glen Zorn, Lionel Morand, Mark Jones, Tolga
+   Asveren, Jouni Korhonen, and Glenn McGregor.
+
+   Special thanks also to people who have provided invaluable comments
+   and inputs especially in resolving controversial issues:
+
+   Glen Zorn, Yoshihiro Ohba, Marco Stura, Stephen Farrel, Pete Resnick,
+   Peter Saint-Andre, Robert Sparks, Krishna Prasad, Sean Turner, Barry
+   Leiba, and Pasi Eronen.
+
+   Finally, we would like to thank the original authors of this
+   document:
+
+   Pat Calhoun, John Loughney, Jari Arkko, Erik Guttman, and Glen Zorn.
+
+   Their invaluable knowledge and experience has given us a robust and
+   flexible AAA protocol that many people have seen great value in
+   adopting.  We greatly appreciate their support and stewardship for
+   the continued improvements of Diameter as a protocol.  We would also
+   like to extend our gratitude to folks aside from the authors who have
+
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 147]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   assisted and contributed to the original version of this document.
+   Their efforts significantly contributed to the success of Diameter.
+
+A.2.  RFC 3588
+
+   The authors would like to thank Nenad Trifunovic, Tony Johansson and
+   Pankaj Patel for their participation in the pre-IETF Document Reading
+   Party.  Allison Mankin, Jonathan Wood, and Bernard Aboba provided
+   invaluable assistance in working out transport issues and this was
+   also the case with Steven Bellovin in the security area.
+
+   Paul Funk and David Mitton were instrumental in getting the Peer
+   State Machine correct, and our deep thanks go to them for their time.
+
+   Text in this document was also provided by Paul Funk, Mark Eklund,
+   Mark Jones, and Dave Spence.  Jacques Caron provided many great
+   comments as a result of a thorough review of the spec.
+
+   The authors would also like to acknowledge the following people for
+   their contribution in the development of the Diameter protocol:
+
+   Allan C. Rubens, Haseeb Akhtar, William Bulley, Stephen Farrell,
+   David Frascone, Daniel C. Fox, Lol Grant, Ignacio Goyret, Nancy
+   Greene, Peter Heitman, Fredrik Johansson, Mark Jones, Martin Julien,
+   Bob Kopacz, Paul Krumviede, Fergal Ladley, Ryan Moats, Victor Muslin,
+   Kenneth Peirce, John Schnizlein, Sumit Vakil, John R. Vollbrecht, and
+   Jeff Weisberg.
+
+   Finally, Pat Calhoun would like to thank Sun Microsystems since most
+   of the effort put into this document was done while he was in their
+   employ.
+
+Appendix B.  S-NAPTR Example
+
+   As an example, consider a client that wishes to resolve aaa:
+   ex1.example.com.  The client performs a NAPTR query for that domain,
+   and the following NAPTR records are returned:
+
+    ;;        order pref flags service   regexp replacement
+    IN NAPTR  50    50   "s"   "aaa:diameter.tls.tcp" ""
+                 _diameter._tls.ex1.example.com
+    IN NAPTR  100   50   "s"   "aaa:diameter.tcp"     ""
+                 _aaa._tcp.ex1.example.com
+    IN NAPTR  150   50   "s"   "aaa:diameter.sctp"    ""
+                 _diameter._sctp.ex1.example.com
+
+   This indicates that the server supports TLS, TCP, and SCTP in that
+   order.  If the client supports TLS, TLS will be used, targeted to a
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 148]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   host determined by an SRV lookup of _diameter._tls.ex1.example.com.
+   That lookup would return:
+
+    ;;       Priority  Weight  Port    Target
+    IN SRV   0         1       5060    server1.ex1.example.com
+    IN SRV   0         2       5060    server2.ex1.example.com
+
+   As an alternative example, a client that wishes to resolve aaa:
+   ex2.example.com.  The client performs a NAPTR query for that domain,
+   and the following NAPTR records are returned:
+
+    ;;        order pref flags service   regexp replacement
+    IN NAPTR  150   50   "a"   "aaa:diameter.tls.tcp"  ""
+                 server1.ex2.example.com
+    IN NAPTR  150   50   "a"   "aaa:diameter.tls.tcp"  ""
+                 server2.ex2.example.com
+
+   This indicates that the server supports TCP available at the returned
+   host names.
+
+Appendix C.  Duplicate Detection
+
+   As described in Section 9.4, accounting record duplicate detection is
+   based on session identifiers.  Duplicates can appear for various
+   reasons:
+
+   o  Failover to an alternate server.  Where close to real-time
+      performance is required, failover thresholds need to be kept low.
+      This may lead to an increased likelihood of duplicates.  Failover
+      can occur at the client or within Diameter agents.
+
+   o  Failure of a client or agent after sending a record from non-
+      volatile memory, but prior to receipt of an application-layer ACK
+      and deletion of the record to be sent.  This will result in
+      retransmission of the record soon after the client or agent has
+      rebooted.
+
+   o  Duplicates received from RADIUS gateways.  Since the
+      retransmission behavior of RADIUS is not defined within [RFC2865],
+      the likelihood of duplication will vary according to the
+      implementation.
+
+   o  Implementation problems and misconfiguration.
+
+   The T flag is used as an indication of an application-layer
+   retransmission event, e.g., due to failover to an alternate server.
+   It is defined only for request messages sent by Diameter clients or
+   agents.  For instance, after a reboot, a client may not know whether
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 149]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+   it has already tried to send the accounting records in its non-
+   volatile memory before the reboot occurred.  Diameter servers MAY use
+   the T flag as an aid when processing requests and detecting duplicate
+   messages.  However, servers that do this MUST ensure that duplicates
+   are found even when the first transmitted request arrives at the
+   server after the retransmitted request.  It can be used only in cases
+   where no answer has been received from the server for a request and
+   the request is sent again, (e.g., due to a failover to an alternate
+   peer, due to a recovered primary peer or due to a client re-sending a
+   stored record from non-volatile memory such as after reboot of a
+   client or agent).
+
+   In some cases, the Diameter accounting server can delay the duplicate
+   detection and accounting record processing until a post-processing
+   phase takes place.  At that time records are likely to be sorted
+   according to the included User-Name and duplicate elimination is easy
+   in this case.  In other situations, it may be necessary to perform
+   real-time duplicate detection, such as when credit limits are imposed
+   or real-time fraud detection is desired.
+
+   In general, only generation of duplicates due to failover or re-
+   sending of records in non-volatile storage can be reliably detected
+   by Diameter clients or agents.  In such cases, the Diameter client or
+   agents can mark the message as a possible duplicate by setting the T
+   flag.  Since the Diameter server is responsible for duplicate
+   detection, it can choose whether or not to make use of the T flag, in
+   order to optimize duplicate detection.  Since the T flag does not
+   affect interoperability, and it may not be needed by some servers,
+   generation of the T flag is REQUIRED for Diameter clients and agents,
+   but it MAY be implemented by Diameter servers.
+
+   As an example, it can be usually be assumed that duplicates appear
+   within a time window of longest recorded network partition or device
+   fault, perhaps a day.  So only records within this time window need
+   to be looked at in the backward direction.  Secondly, hashing
+   techniques or other schemes, such as the use of the T flag in the
+   received messages, may be used to eliminate the need to do a full
+   search even in this set except for rare cases.
+
+   The following is an example of how the T flag may be used by the
+   server to detect duplicate requests.
+
+      A Diameter server MAY check the T flag of the received message to
+      determine if the record is a possible duplicate.  If the T flag is
+      set in the request message, the server searches for a duplicate
+      within a configurable duplication time window backward and
+      forward.  This limits database searching to those records where
+      the T flag is set.  In a well-run network, network partitions and
+
+
+
+Fajardo, et al.              Standards Track                  [Page 150]
+
+RFC 6733                 Diameter Base Protocol             October 2012
+
+
+      device faults will presumably be rare events, so this approach
+      represents a substantial optimization of the duplicate detection
+      process.  During failover, it is possible for the original record
+      to be received after the T-flag-marked record, due to differences
+      in network delays experienced along the path by the original and
+      duplicate transmissions.  The likelihood of this occurring
+      increases as the failover interval is decreased.  In order to be
+      able to detect duplicates that are out of order, the Diameter
+      server should use backward and forward time windows when
+      performing duplicate checking for the T-flag-marked request.  For
+      example, in order to allow time for the original record to exit
+      the network and be recorded by the accounting server, the Diameter
+      server can delay processing records with the T flag set until a
+      time period TIME_WAIT + RECORD_PROCESSING_TIME has elapsed after
+      the closing of the original transport connection.  After this time
+      period, it may check the T-flag-marked records against the
+      database with relative assurance that the original records, if
+      sent, have been received and recorded.
+
+Appendix D.  Internationalized Domain Names
+
+   To be compatible with the existing DNS infrastructure and simplify
+   host and domain name comparison, Diameter identities (FQDNs) are
+   represented in ASCII form.  This allows the Diameter protocol to fall
+   in-line with the DNS strategy of being transparent from the effects
+   of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) by following the
+   recommendations in [RFC4690] and [RFC5890].  Applications that
+   provide support for IDNs outside of the Diameter protocol but
+   interacting with it SHOULD use the representation and conversion
+   framework described in [RFC5890], [RFC5891], and [RFC3492].
+
+ +
diff --git a/lib/diameter/doc/src/seealso.ent b/lib/diameter/doc/src/seealso.ent index 9945bcadd3..76b9823f79 100644 --- a/lib/diameter/doc/src/seealso.ent +++ b/lib/diameter/doc/src/seealso.ent @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ %CopyrightBegin% -Copyright Ericsson AB 2012. All Rights Reserved. +Copyright Ericsson AB 2012-2013. All Rights Reserved. The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License, Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in @@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ significant. diameter:origin_state_id/0'> diameter:remove_transport/2'> diameter:service_info/2'> -diameter:services/0'> +diameter:services/0'> +diameter:session_id/1'> diameter:start_service/2'> diameter:stop_service/1'> diameter:subscribe/1'> -- cgit v1.2.3