Independant Submission P. Duffy (ed)
Internet-Draft J. Bhasin
Intended status: Informational K. Leung
Expires: 18 February 2023 H. She
L. Zhou
Cisco Systems, Inc.
17 August 2022
CoAP Simple Management Protocol
draft-duffy-csmp-00
Abstract
CoAP Simple Management Protocol (CSMP) provides lifecycle management
for resource constrained IoT devices deployed within large-scale,
bandwidth constrained IoT networks. This document describes the
design and operation of CSMP.
Status of This Memo
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provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on 18 February 2023.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2022 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Protocol Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. CoAP Usage Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. Interface Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.1. CSMP Device Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2.2. CSMP NMS Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3. Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3.1. Base URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3.2. Resource Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3.3. Large Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4. CSMP Security Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4.1. Signature Exemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.5. Device Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.5.1. Reserved Group Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.6. Device TLV Processing Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. Functional Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.1. Device Lifecyle States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2. NMS Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3. Device Registration and Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3.1. Device Registration Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3.2. Registration POST Payload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3.3. NMS Registration Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3.4. Registration Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.4. Device Metrics Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.5. Device Firmware Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.5.1. Firmware Image Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.5.2. Firmware Download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.5.3. Image Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.5.4. Set Backup Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.6. Device Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
7. Implementation Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
8. Appendix A Registration Retry Example . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
9. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1. Introduction
Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies provide long range,
low power connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
LPWANs typically operate over distances of several kilometers with
link bandwidths as low as 10s of Kbps. LPWAN devices are often
compute, storage and power constrained (optimized to operate for
years on a single battery charge).
A large LPWAN may contain millions of devices requiring a Network
Management System (NMS) able to provide at-scale lifecycle
management. The management protocol must be able to operate within
the constrained performance envelope of an LPWAN. The management
protocol must offer an efficient message encoding, be optimized for
efficient and secure messaging flows across the LPWAN, and support
classic NMS functions such as device on-boarding, device
configuration, device status reporting, securing the network, etc.
This document describes the design and operation of the CoAP Simple
Management Protocol (CSMP), which provides management capabilities
for constrained IoT devices deployed within large scale LPWANs.
Features include:
1. Onboarding. Device startup registration and capabilities
anouncement with an NMS.
2. Configuration management. Device acquisition of configuration
from the NMS. Subsequent NMS configuration reads and updates to
the device.
3. Metrics reporting. Periodic device metrics reporting to the NMS.
NMS on-demand metrics requests to a device.
4. NMS commanded device operations. NMS command issuance to a
single device or group of devices.
5. Secure device firmware update.
2. Conventions and Definitions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
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3. Protocol Specification
CSMP is a usage profile of the Constrained Application Protocol
[RFC7252], which is designed for implementing RESTful messaging for
resource constrained devices. It is fair to view CoAP as a binary
encoded functional subset of HTTP operating over UDP which also
supports multicast messaging. Resources (addressable objects)
transported within CSMP message payloads are implemented using the
Protocol Buffers compact binary encoding [PB].
It is assumed the reader is familiar with:
1. The basic concepts of RESTful architecture.
2. The operation, message formats, and terminology of CoAP
[RFC7252].
3. Protocol Buffers [PB], which is used to describe and encode CSMP
message payloads.
4. OpenAPI [OPENAPI] is the interface definition language used to
define CSMP Device and NMS interfaces.
3.1. CoAP Usage Profile
The NMS and devices communicate directly using CoAP. Acting as a
CoAP client, a device issues RESTful requests to read or modify
specific resources (objects) exposed by the NMS server. Likewise,
the device serves requests from the NMS to manipulate resources
exposed by the device.
CSMP specializes the usage of CoAP in the following ways:
1. CSMP does not use the Token capabilities described in [RFC7252].
Request/response messaging MUST be implemented using the
"synchronous" form of a CON request with response piggybacked in
the subsequent ACK. A client MUST elide the Token field from the
request message. The server SHOULD ignore the Token if received
from a client request.
2. Due to high latencies typical of LPWAN technologies, a client
MUST NOT use the CoAP retransmission model when sending a CON
message to a server. After sending a CON message, the client
MUST accept a response from the server at any time up until the
device sends its next CON message (containing a new CoAP Message
ID).
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3.2. Interface Specification
CSMP defines a CSMP Device interface and a CSMP NMS interface. Each
of these interfaces defines a set of resources (objects), the
addresses at which these resources exist (URLs), and the methods
(GET, PUT, POST, DELETE) which may be used to manipulate the
resources to implement device management operations. The CSMP Device
and CSMP NMS interfaces are expressed using the OpenAPI interface
definition language.
OpenAPI's heritage is the expression of interfaces typically
constructed with HTTP and JSON. This document defines a few
conventions required to express a CoAP interface in OpenAPI:
1. The generic RESTful verb designators GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE
are used along with the text presentation of a resource's URL.
This is done for developer readability. An actual implementation
must properly encode the CoAP message Code field along with the
Uri-Host, Uri-Port, Uri-Path, and Uri-Query options as described
in [RFC7252].
2. CoAP Response codes of the form X.YZ are expressed in the OpenAPI
as XYZ (the actual response code is scaled by 100 in the OpenAPI
rendering).
3. Placeholder objects are defined in OpenAPI to represent the
Protocol Buffer binary objects which will be transported in CoAP
messaging payloads. The actual binary objects are defined in a
separate Protocol Buffer file [CSMPMSG].
4. CoAP supports the NON messaging pattern. OpenAPI syntax always
requires a response be defined. The CSMP interface definitions
will note when a response is for a COAP NON request and not an
actual CoAP response (no response is sent).
3.2.1. CSMP Device Interface
A CSMP device MUST implement the interface specified within
[CSMPDEV]. Various forms of the GET method are used for retrieving
registration information, device information, and monitoring
information from the devices. Various forms of the POST method are
used to deliver configuration and commands to devices. Usage of this
interface is detailed in the sections which follow.
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3.2.2. CSMP NMS Interface
A CSMP NMS MUST implement the interfaces specified within [CSMPNMS].
Various forms of the POST method are used for device registration,
device metrics reporting, and asynchronous GET responses (resulting
from a request including the "a" option and default response URL).
Usage of this interface is detailed in the sections which follow.
3.3. Resources
CSMP devices and CSMP NMS use the CoAP GET, POST, and DELETE methods
to manipulate the resources specified in [CSMPMSG], which are the
Protocol Buffer object payloads contained in the various CoAP
requests and responses. Usage of these payloads is detailed in the
sections which follow.
3.3.1. Base URL
A CSMP server is located at a <base-url> of the form
coap://hostname:port/<base-path>
It is RECOMMENDED that a default port of 61628 be used.
The <base-path> for all CSMP resources at a particular hostname:port
MUST be identical.
It is RECOMMENDED that a default <base-path> of "/." be used.
Because an NMS CSMP request message may be multicast to a large
number of devices, all CSMP devices within a multicast domain MUST
have identical port and <base-path>.
The following <base-path> are reserved for future use:
1. /o
Full details of the NMS and Device service URLs are defined in
[CSMPDEV] and [CSMPNMS].
3.3.2. Resource Encoding
3.3.2.1. Standard TLVs
The message payloads of CSMP requests and responses MUST be formatted
as a sequence of Type-Length-Value objects. Each TLV object has the
following format:
| Type | Length | Value |
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The Type field is an unsigned integer identifying a specific CSMP TLV
ID and MUST be encoded as a Protocol Buffers varint.
The Length field is an unsigned integer containing the number of
octets occupied by the Value field. The Length field MUST be encoded
as a Protocol Buffers varint.
The Value field MUST contain the Protocol Buffers encoded TLV
corresponding to the indicated Type.
The set of objects defined by CSMP and their Type (TLV ID) are
specified in [CSMPMSG].
3.3.3. Large Requests
A single CSMP TLV MUST NOT be larger than the space available in a
single CoAP request message payload, minus the space occupied by
mandatory TLVs. CSMP requests containing large TLVs or many TLVs may
exceed available space within a CoAP request / UDP datagram.
If a POST request is larger than the UDP MTU, the request MUST be
split into multiple POST requests with the TLVs spread across the
message bodies. The server MUST be prepared to handle the TLVs in
any order.
If a GET request exceeds the UDP MTU because the max length of the
"q" option is exceeded, the request MUST be split into multiple GET
requests, each with a subset of the query option.
The GET response from a server may not be able to fit all requested
TLVs into the response. The server will respond with only the TLVs
it is able to fit within the message body. A client SHOULD issue
additional GET requests to obtain the missing TLVs.
Recommended network MTU will be deployment / technology dependent.
For example, an MTU of 1024 is often used for large scale IEEE
802.15.4 mesh networks.
3.4. CSMP Security Model
The NMS signs outgoing device messaging. Devices verify the
signature to confirm source and integrity of incoming NMS messages.
NMS-Device trust is established with an NMS certificate/public key
programmed into the device at time of manufacture. Signing TLVs
included in the message payload enable signature verification by a
device. The Signing TLVs are:
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1. Signature TLV. When included, the Signature TLV MUST be the last
TLV in a message payload. The signature is calculated over the
first byte of the message payload up to but not including the
Signature TLV itself. Unless otherwise specified, the signature
MUST be calculated as ECDSA with SHA-256 signature cipher using
the signer's (NMS) private key. If the message signature is
incorrect, the device MUST ignore the message.
2. SignatureValidity TLV. The SignatureValidity TLV defines the
validity period for the message. The SignatureValidity TLV MUST
be included when the Signature TLV is included. If the message
is received outside the defined validity period, the device MUST
ignore the message.
If either of the Signing TLVs are missing from a message payload, the
device MUST ignore the message.
Additional layer 2, 3, or 4 security mechanisms may be utilized to
meet the requirements of specific deployment models (Wi-SUN layer 2
security, VPN at layer 3, DTLS at layer 4, etc.). Details of these
additional security mechanisms are out of scope of this
specification.
3.4.1. Signature Exemption
For situations in which a request payload signature adds overhead
without improving security, the Signing TLVs may be elided for
certain payloads. For example, the overhead of signing each block of
a firmware update may be unnecessary as a full image integrity check
is performed over the entire file and reported to the NMS.
The signature exemptible TLVs are:
1. ImageBlock
2. DescriptionRequest
The NMS MAY elide the Signing TLVs provided the request body contains
only exemptible TLVs. Otherwise, the Signing TLVs MUST be included.
A device MAY accept incoming message payloads without Signing TLVs
provided the payload contains only exemptible TLVs.
3.5. Device Groups
CSMP groups are used to support multicast messaging to devices.
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A group is uniquely defined by a group-type/group-id pair. A device
MAY be a member of multiple group-types, but MUST be a member of only
one group-id within a group-type. A device MUST support membership
in at least two group types.
The NMS assigns a device to a group using the GroupAssign TLV. On
initial boot, a device has no group assignments. To be assigned to a
device group, a GroupAssign TLV MUST be sent to the device either by
a POST request from the NMS or within the response to the device's
registration request to the NMS.
The NMS removes a device from a group by POST-ing a GroupEvict TLV to
the device.
If a device's group assignment is changed at the NMS, upon receipt of
the next metrics report from the device, the NMS MUST POST a new
GroupAssign TLV to the device.
Group assignments are not additive. Assignments MUST be replaced
upon receipt of a subsequent GroupAssign TLV.
A GroupAssign TLV MUST NOT be sent within a multicast message.
A GroupEvict TLV MUST NOT be sent within a multicast message.
Devices MUST maintain group assignments in durable storage (across
power cyclings / reboots).
CSMP multicast messages MUST contain a GroupMatch TLV. Upon receipt
of a multicast CSMP message:
1. A device MUST process the message if the contained GroupMatch TLV
matches a group to which the device is assigned.
2. A device MUST ignore the message if the message does not contain
a GroupMatch TLV.
3. A device MUST ignore the message if the GroupMatch TLV does not
match a device group assignment.
3.5.1. Reserved Group Types
Group type 1 is reserved for configuration.
Group type 2 is reserved for firmware.
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3.6. Device TLV Processing Order
A device processes message payload TLVs in the following order:
1. If present, the Signature and SignatureValidity TLVs MUST be
processed first.
2. If present, the GroupMatch TLV MUST be processed next.
3. The remaining payload TLVs MUST be processed in the order they
appear in the payload.
4. TLVs within a payload SHOULD NOT be duplicated. In the case of a
duplicate TLV, the last payload instance of TLV MUST be used.
5. The index field of a TLV table entry is used to determine
uniqueness of the TLV. TLVs with identical index values MUST be
considered to be duplicates (table entry TLVs are identified in
[CSMPCOMP].
6. TLV specific error handling is described in the OpenAPI
definitions.
4. Functional Description
This section describes the major operational flows of the CSMP
protocol.
4.1. Device Lifecyle States
For understanding of CSMP device behavior, it is helpful to consider
the NMS' view of device states and state transitions (presented
below).
The NMS views a device as transitioning through the following states:
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 1: NMS View of Device State
1. Devices pre-populated into the NMS prior to deployment exist in
the Unheard state.
2. Upon receipt of a device registration request, the NMS records
the device's presence on the network and the device enters the
Registering state.
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3. NMS responds with a registration ACK payload containing
configuration for the device.
4. The device transitions to the Up state upon NMS receipt of a
device metrics report.
5. If subsequent metrics reports are lost (poor network conditions),
the device transitions to the Down state. NMS receipt of a new
metrics report transitions the device back to Up state.
4.2. NMS Discovery
A device requires the <nms-base-url> of its NMS. Acquisition of the
NMS URL may be accomplished via a variety of means including a DHCP
option, pre-deployment administrative configuration setting, etc.
The specific mechanism to be used is beyond the scope of this
specification.
For devices using DHCPv6 address assignment, a device MAY request
DHCPv6 option 26484 sub-option 1 to obtain the URL of its NMS.
4.3. Device Registration and Configuration
Registration is the messaging flow via which a device announces its
entry onto the network and provides a means for the NMS to push
configuration information to the device.
A device registers with an NMS by issuing a registration request to
an NMS. The NMS subsequently responds to reject or accept the
registration, with device configuration included in a successful
registration response. A device issues a registration request for a
variety of reasons:
1. A device MUST register when the device reboots (power cycled or
receipt of RebootRequest TLV from the NMS).
2. A device MUST register when its IP address has changed (usually
indicating a network re-join).
3. A device MUST register if its mesh parent has changed (mesh
networks only).
4. A device MUST register if it detects the NMS IP address has
changed.
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5. A device MUST register upon receipt of NMSRedirectRequest TLV
from the NMS. This can be caused by the removal of a device from
the NMS inventory but the device continues to communicate with a
Session ID now unknown to the NMS.
A device and NMS implement the registration messaging flow depicted
in Figure 2.
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 2: Device Registration, Configuration, and Metrics
4.3.1. Device Registration Request
A device MUST implement two configurable parameters used to control
the registration process, initially set at manufacture time, and MUST
be maintained in durable storage.
1. tIntervalMin defaults to 300 seconds (5 minutes). Also
configurable via TLV 42/regIntervalMin field.
2. tIntervalMax defaults to 3600 seconds (1 hour). Also
configurable via TLV 42/regIntervalMax field.
A device MUST issue registration requests using the following
algorithm.
Set tInterval = tIntervalMin.
Wait an initial period between 0 and tInterval seconds.
Do {
1. Wait tBackoff seconds, where tBackoff is a random
interval between tInterval/2 and tInterval seconds.
A tBackoff value in the latter half of the interval
ensures a minimum time between successive registration
attempts.
2. Send a new CoAP CON POST request message to NMS <nms-base-url>/r.
The message payload MUST contain the registration TLVs
described in section 3.3.1.2.
3. Wait the remaining (tInterval – tBackoff) seconds.
4. Set tInterval to 2 * tInterval.
If tInterval is greater than tIntervalMax,
set tInterval to tIntervalMax.
} While the device has not received an ACK to its registration POST.
An example execution of a full registration POST retry sequence is
presented in Section 8.
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If the device receives an ACK message with CoAP response code 2.03
(valid) from the NMS at any time before the device's next
registration POST, the TLVs within the ACK message MUST be processed.
4.3.2. Registration POST Payload
The following TLVs MUST be included in the device registration POST
to the NMS:
1. DeviceID (primary identifier of the device).
2. CurrentTime (used to validate device local time).
Previously registered devices SHOULD already have (durably stored)
values for the Session ID, GroupInfo,and ReportSubscribe TLVs and
MUST include these TLVs in the device registration POST to the NMS:
1. SessionID
2. GroupInfo (one per group)
3. ReportSubscribe
The following Device Information TLVs MUST be included in the
registration POST:
1. HardwareDesc
2. InterfaceDesc (one per interface)
3. IPAddress (one per address)
4. NMSStatus (reason for the registration operation)
5. WPANStatus
6. RPLSettings
Note that the SessionID, GroupAssign, and ReportSubscribe TLV set is
considered to be generic device Configuration. The Configuration TLV
set is technology specific and MAY be extended with additional
technology specific TLVs (beyond the scope of this specification).
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4.3.3. NMS Registration Response
Upon receipt of a registration request, the NMS looks up the
information for the device identified by DeviceID to confirm
correctness of the request. See [CSMPNMS] for details of DeviceID
and SessionID validation and related error response codes.
If the device is found in inventory, authorized to register, and all
other registration request content is confirmed to be valid, the NMS
MUST send an ACK response message with response code 2.03(Valid)to
the device. The ACK takes one of two forms, depending upon whether
or not the NMS will redirect the device to another NMS.
In the case where the NMS is not redirecting, the response body to a
valid registration request contains the following TLVs:
1. SessionID MUST be elided from the ACK if the SessionID contained
in the registration request is correct, otherwise the correct
SessionID TLV MUST be included in the ACK.
2. GroupAssign MUST be elided from the ACK if the GroupAssign
contained in the registration request is correct, otherwise the
correct GroupAssign TLV MUST be included in the ACK.
3. ReportSubscribe MUST be elided from the ACK if the
ReportSubscribe contained in the registration request is correct,
otherwise the correct ReportSubscribe TLV MUST be included in the
ACK.
4. Signing TLVs MUST be included.
In the case where the NMS is redirecting, the response body to a
valid registration request contains the following TLVs:
1. NMSRedirectRequest MUST be included.
2. Signing TLVs MUST be included.
When the response contains a SessionID TLV, the device MUST durably
store this TLV and SessionID TLV MUST be included in all future CSMP
requests to the NMS.
When the response contains a GroupAssign TLV, the device MUST durably
store the group-id (overwriting any other stored group-id for the
same group-type) and MUST use the new GroupAssign values for
comparison with all future receipt of GroupMatch TLVs.
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When the response contains a ReportSubscribe TLV, the device MUST
begin reporting the indicated metrics TLVs (ignoring any TLVs
requested by the ReportSubscribe which are unknown to the device).
The NMS includes the NMSRedirectRequest TLV in a registration
response to request the device register with an alternate NMS
instance (load balancing, etc.). Upon receipt of this TLV, the
device MUST cease registration attempts with the original NMS and
start the registration process with the NMS indicated in the
NMSRedirectRequest TLV. If registration succeeds with this new NMS,
all subsequent device CSMP messaging MUST be directed to this new
NMS. Note that device receipt of NMSRedirectRequest TLV is a one-
time redirect and not persisted across device restarts.
4.3.4. Registration Complete
The NMS considers device registration to be complete when all of the
following conditions are met:
1. The registration ACK to the device indicates code 2.03 (Valid)
and message ID match is confirmed as described in CoAP.
2. The ACK response body does not contain an NMSRedirectRequest TLV.
3. The first metrics report from the device is received by the NMS.
4.4. Device Metrics Reporting
Upon receipt of a ReportSubscribe TLV, a device configures as many as
two metrics reports:
1. A primary metrics report using the interval and TLV ID set.
2. A secondary metrics report using the heartbeat interval and
heartbeat TLV ID set.
The primary metrics report MUST be used for mains powered devices
(with the secondary report disabled). To conserve power, metrics
reporting for low power devices MAY be split across primary and
secondary reports, with the primary report configured to provide TLVs
needed at more frequent interval and the secondary configured for
TLVs required at a more relaxed interval.
A device configures metrics parameters to control the device's
primary metrics report as follows:
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1. tMetricsInterval (how often a device MUST report its metrics) is
typically set between 5 minutes and 8 hours (depends on
application requirements). Designated by the interval field of
the ReportSubscribe TLV.
2. tlvList (the list of TLVs the device MUST report) is designated
by the tlvId field of the ReportSubscribe TLV.
A device configures metrics parameters to control a device's
secondary metrics report as follows:
1. tMetricsInterval is designated by the intervalHeartBeat field of
the ReportSubscribe TLV.
2. tlvList is designated by the tlvIdHeartBeat field of the
ReportSubscribe TLV.
The TLV content of the primary and secondary metrics reports are
deployment and application specific. For example, the primary
metrics report for a 6LoWPAN, mains-powered mesh node might be
configured as:
1. InterfaceMetrics
2. GroupInfo
3. FirmwareImageInfo
4. Uptime
5. LowpanPhyStats
6. DifServMetrics
7. ReportSubscribe
TLV content of the secondary metrics report is similarly application
specific and beyond the scope of this specification.
For each configured metrics report, a device MUST commence reporting
immediately after receipt of a successful registration ACK by sending
a NON POST to <nms-url>/c containing the following TLVs:
1. SessionID
2. CurrentTime
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3. The TLVs from tlvList. The entirety of all table entries MUST be
included.
Following the initial metrics report, the device MUST implement the
following algorithm for subsequent metric reports (for both primary
and secondary report):
Send a new CoAP NON POST to <nms-url>/c with the required metrics TLVs.
Wait an initial random interval between 0 and tMetricsInterval seconds.
Do {
1. Wait tMetricsBackoff seconds, where tMetricsBackoff is random
value between tMetricsInterval/2 and tMetricsInterval seconds.
2. Send a new CoAP NON POST message to <nms-url>/c
with the required metrics TLVs
3. Wait the remaining (tMetricsInterval – tMetricsBackoff) seconds
so that the full tMetricsInterval has expired.
} While the device has a valid IP address.
4.5. Device Firmware Update
CSMP defines a device firmware update process optimized for LPWANs.
A key aspect of this process is the separation of image placement on
a device from activation (execution) of the image on the device.
The device firmware update process consists of three sub-flows:
1. Firmware download. A new image is placed on one or more members
of a device group.
2. Image load. Activate an image on one or more members of a device
group at a scheduled time.
3. Set backup image. Optional designation of an image to be used
when load of all other images fails.
A device should implement the following mechanisms in support of
firmware update:
1. It is RECOMMENDED that vendors implement digital signing of
images prior to image release to production.
2. It is RECOMMENDED that a device implement a secure bootloader
which (upon device receipt of a LoadRequest TLV or at device
power-up) validates the activated image's signature, loads the
image from durable storage into operating memory, and transfers
execution to the image. Specific details of image signing and
the secure bootloader are left to the vendor beyond the scope of
this specification.
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3. A device MUST be capable of storing at least two firmware images:
the running image and at least one additional image.
4. It is RECOMMENDED that a device also support a backup image. A
device boots into the backup image when the device is unable to
boot into any other image.
5. A device MUST be capable of scheduling an image load (activation)
at a specific future time (i.e. the device must maintain a time
source).
4.5.1. Firmware Image Format
A CSMP firmware image file consists of three main parts: a CSMP
defined image header, the vendor defined image binary, and the vendor
defined image signature (as depicted below).
+================+============+=====================================+
| Field | Size | Description |
| | (octets) | |
+================+============+=====================================+
| | | Begin Header |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Header Version | 4 | 32 bit unsigned integer which |
| | | MUST be set to 2. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Header Length | 4 | 32 bit unsigned integer which |
| | | MUST be set to 256. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Rev Major | 4 | Vendor specific 32 bit unsigned |
| | | integer which is set to indicate |
| | | the major revision number of the |
| | | application image. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Rev Minor | 4 | Vendor specific 32 bit unsigned |
| | | integer which is set to indicate |
| | | the minor revision number of the |
| | | application image. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Build | 4 | Vendor specific 32 bit unsigned |
| | | integer which is set to indicate |
| | | the build of the application |
| | | image. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Length | 4 | 32 bit unsigned integer which |
| | | MUST be set to the octet length |
| | | of the Header + Image Binary |
| | | field. |
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+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Name | 32 | Vendor specific 32 octet string |
| | | which is set to indicate the |
| | | name of the application. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App SCC Branch | 32 | Vendor specific 32 octet string |
| | | which is set to indicate the |
| | | source code control system |
| | | branch ID. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App SCC Commit | 8 | Vendor specific 8 octet string |
| | | which is set to indicate the |
| | | source code control system |
| | | commit ID. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App SCC Flags | 4 | Vendor specific 32 bit unsigned |
| | | integer which is set to indicate |
| | | the source code control system |
| | | build flags. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| App Build Date | 16 | Vendor specific 16 octet string |
| | | which is set to indicate the |
| | | build date and time of the |
| | | application image. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| hwid | 32 | 32 octet field which is |
| | | RECOMMENDED to be set to a |
| | | concatenation of a unique |
| | | manufacturer ID and product |
| | | model identifier. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| sub_hwid | 32 | 32 octet field which MAY be set |
| | | for a manufacturer specific |
| | | purpose, or functionally elided |
| | | by filling with 0x20 (ASCII |
| | | space character). |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| kernel_rev | 16 | 16 octet field which MAY be set |
| | | for a manufacturer specific |
| | | purpose, or functionally elided |
| | | by filling with 0x20 (ASCII |
| | | space character). |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| sub_kernel_rev | 16 | 16 octet field which MAY be set |
| | | for a manufacturer specific |
| | | purpose, or functionally elided |
| | | by filling with 0x20 (ASCII |
| | | space character). |
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+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Reserved | 44 | Pad to 256 octets, octets MUST |
| | | be set to 0. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| | | End Header, Begin Image |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Image Binary | Variable | Vendor specific image data. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| | | End Image, Begin Signature |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Signature | Vendor | Calculated over entire content |
| Variable | specific | of this structure except the |
| | image | signature and pad fields. |
| | signature. | |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| | | End Signature, Begin Pad |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
| Pad | Variable | Optional pad field to enable |
| | | image to fill vendor specific |
| | | flash memory boundary. When |
| | | present, octets MUST be set to |
| | | 0xFF. |
+----------------+------------+-------------------------------------+
Table 1: Firmware Image Format
All multi-octet fields are encoded as little-endian.
4.5.2. Firmware Download
An NMS implements the messaging flow depicted in Figure 3 and
Figure 4 to download an image to a group of devices. Unicast
distribution is also supported, with the difference being use of
unicast addresses, omission of the GroupMatch TLV and omission of the
'a' query option.
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 3: Firmware Download
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 4: Firmware Download (cont)
A firmware download begins with the NMS informing the device group of
the meta-data of an image the NMS wishes to download, and the devices
subsequently informing the NMS of the images already loaded on the
devices.
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The NMS MUST issue a NON POST to <device-url>/c configured as
follows:
1. A GroupMatch TLV MUST be included for the desired group.
2. The 'a' option MUST be specified to randomize subsequent device
responses.
3. The request MAY contain an 'r' option to redirect the subsequent
TransferResponse.
4. The request MUST contain a TranferRequest TLV (meta-data for the
file to be downloaded)
5. The request MUST contain the Signing TLVs.
Devices receiving a TransferRequest message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs and the GroupMatch TLV as described
in section 2.6.
2. MUST wait the specified period when the 'a" option is included.
3. MUST issue a NON POST request to <nms-url>/c which MUST contain
the TransferResponse TLV. The <nms-url> MUST be overridden by
the 'r' option if specified.
The NMS MUST proceed with image block transfer when at least one
member of the target device group indicates Response Code of OK in
the TransferResponse TLV. Otherwise, the transfer MUST be aborted.
Images are often multiple 100s of Kilobytes in size and likely
require fragmentation into multiple blocks (N) to be transferred to a
device.
For the transfer of each image block, the NMS MUST issue a NON POST
to <device-url>/c configured as follows:
1. The request MUST contain the GroupMatch TLV for the desired
group.
2. The request MUST contain an ImageBlock TLV
3. The request MAY contain the Signing TLVs.
To determine image download progress, the NMS MUST periodically
include a DescriptionRequest TLV, requesting the FirmwareImageInfo
TLV, in the image block request. It is RECOMMENDED that the NMS
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request the FirmwareImageInfo TLV at 10% increments of the image
download. The NMS MUST request the FirmwareImageInfo TLV with the
transfer of the last block of the image.
Devices receiving the image block request message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs and GroupMatch TLVs as described in
section 2.6 (if present).
2. MUST cache the image block for final image assembly.
3. When the FirmwareImageInfo TLV is requested, the device MUST wait
the specified period when the 'a' option is included and MUST
issue a NON POST request to <nms-url>/c which MUST contain the
FirmwareImageInfo TLV (meta-data for files loaded on the device).
The <nms-url> MUST be overridden by the 'r' option if specified.
Receipt of the final FirmwareImageInfo TLV enables the NMS to confirm
the integrity of the completely downloaded image.
4.5.3. Image Activation
The messaging flow for scheduling image activation across a group of
devices and cancelling a scheduled image activation are depicted in
Figure 5 and described below. Unicast activation is also supported,
with the difference being use of unicast addresses, omission of the
GroupMatch TLV and omission of the 'a' query option.
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 5: Image Activation
4.5.3.1. Image Load
An NMS implements the following message flow to command devices to
designate an image as the active executable and the time at which the
image is to be activated.
The NMS MUST issue a NON POST to <device-url>/c configured as
follows:
1. A GroupMatch TLV MUST be included for the desired group.
2. The 'a' option MUST be specified to randomize subsequent device
responses.
3. The request MAY contain an 'r' option to redirect the subsequent
LoadResponse.
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4. The request MUST contain a LoadRequest TLV (designating the image
and time at which the image is to be activated).
5. The request MUST contain the Signing TLVs.
Devices receiving a LoadRequest message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs and GroupMatch TLVs as described in
section 2.6.
2. MUST wait the specified period when the 'a" option is included.
3. MUST issue a NON POST request to <nms-url>/c which MUST contain
the LoadResponse TLV (indicating success or reason for failure).
The <nms-url> MUST be overridden by the 'r' option if specified.
4.5.3.2. Cancel Image Load
An NMS implements the following message flow to cancel a previously
scheduled image activation.
The NMS MUST issue a NON POST to <device-url>/c configured as
follows:
1. A GroupMatch TLV MUST be included for the desired group.
2. The 'a' option MUST be specified to randomize subsequent device
responses.
3. The request MAY contain an 'r' option to redirect the subsequent
CancelLoadResponse.
4. The request MUST contain a CancelLoadRequest TLV (designating the
image load to be cancelled).
5. The request MUST contain the Signing TLVs.
Devices receiving a CancelLoadRequest message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs and GroupMatch TLVs as described in
section 2.6.
2. MUST wait the specified period when the 'a" option is included.
3. MUST issue a NON POST request to <nms-url>/c which MUST contain
the CancelLoadResponse TLV (indicating success or reason for
failure). The <nms-url> MUST be overridden by the 'r' option if
specified.
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4.5.4. Set Backup Image
An NMS implements the following message flow to command a device to
designate a stored image as the backup image.
Figure only available as SVG (PDF and HTML)
Figure 6: Set Backup Image
The NMS MUST issue a NON POST to <device-url>/c configured as
follows:
1. A GroupMatch TLV MUST be included for the desired group.
2. The 'a' option MUST be specified to randomize subsequent device
responses.
3. The request MAY contain an 'r' option to redirect the subsequent
SetBackupResponse.
4. The request MUST contain a SetBackupRequest TLV (designating the
image load to be cancelled).
5. The request MUST contain the Signing TLVs.
Devices receiving a SetBackupRequest message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs and GroupMatch TLVs as described in
section 2.6.
2. MUST wait the specified period when the 'a" option is included.
3. MUST issue a NON POST request to <nms-url>/c which MUST contain
the SetBackupResponse TLV (indicating success or reason for
failure). The <nms-url> MUST be overridden by the 'r' option if
specified.
4.6. Device Commands
Many TLVs served by a device are used by the NMS to interrogate the
device for configuration state and operational status. There are,
however, several TLVs which direct a device to execute internal
actions. Examples of these TLVs are PingRequest and RebootRequest.
Usage of a command TLVs is illustrated with the following PingRequest
example directed at a single device.
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The NMS MUST issue a NON POST to <device-url>/c configured as
follows:
1. A GroupMatch TLV MUST NOT be included for the designed device.
2. The request MAY contain an 'r' option to redirect the subsequent
PingResponse.
3. The request MUST contain a PingRequest TLV (describing the Ping
action to be performed).
4. The request MUST contain the Signing TLVs.
Devices receiving a PingRequest message:
1. MUST process the Signing TLVs as described in section 2.6.
2. MUST begin the requested Ping operation.
The NMS will subsequently interrogate the device with one or more GET
requests to the device for the PingResponse TLV.
Note the specific messaging exchanges vary per the definition of each
commands. Details are provided within [CSMPMSG].
5. Security Considerations
As discussed in previous sections, a CSMP NMS signs outgoing Device
messaging using an NMS private key. Signing TLVs included in the
message payload enable signature verification by a device using an
NMS signing certificate\public key, thereby providing authenication
of source and integrity check of the message incoming to the Device
(without confidentially).
Additional layer 2, 3, or 4 security mechanisms may be utilized to
meet additional security requirements of specific deployment models.
Examples include:
1. Layer 2 802.1X/EAP-TLS may be used to provide mutual
authenication of Device and NMS as well as distribution of a
unique shared key to be used to subsequently encrypt and source
authenticate communication.
2. Layer 2 802.11i tactics may be used to distribute group keys
useful for securing group wide (multicast) messaging.
3. Layer 3 VPN may be used to secure messaging between Device and
NMS.
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4. Layer 4 DTLS may be used to secure application specific
messaging.
Specific details of the usage profile for these additional security
mechanisms are highly specific to the LPWAN deployment and are thus
out of scope of this specification.
6. IANA Considerations
This document requires no IANA actions.
7. Implementation Status
This specification documents the technical details of CSMP as it has
been deployed by Cisco and partners since 2012. Today, CSMP
deployments manage many millions of LPWAN endpoints across a wide
variety of energy utility and smart city applications.
As this information is time dependent, the RFC Editor is requested to
remove this section before publication.
8. Appendix A Registration Retry Example
1. Device powers up.
2. Device sets interval for 0 to 5 minutes.
3. Device wait a random time between 2.5 and 5 minutes.
4. Device sends a confirmable registration POST message.
5. Device waits the rest of the interval until 5 minutes have
passed.
6. Device waits a random time between 5 and 10 minutes.
7. Device sends the registration message again, with a new CoAP
message ID.
8. Device waits the rest of the interval until 10 minutes have
passed.
9. Device waits a random time between 10 and 20 minutes.
10. Device sends the registration message again, with a new CoAP
message ID.
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11. Device waits the rest of the interval until 20 minutes have
passed.
12. Device waits a random time between 20 and 40 minutes.
13. Device sends the registration message again, with a new CoAP
message ID.
14. Device waits the rest of the interval until 40 minutes have
passed.
15. Device waits a random time between 40 and 60 minutes.
16. Device sends the registration message again, with a new CoAP
message ID.
17. Device waits the rest of the interval until 60 minutes have
passed.
18. Repeat steps 15, 16, and 17 forever.
9. Normative References
[CSMPCOMP] "CSMP Components", n.d., <https://github.com/woobagooba/
draft-ietf-is-
csmp/blob/e0be5a31906eb3e9983e7cc28b24ed9482543784/
CsmpComponents-1.0.yaml>.
[CSMPDEV] "CSMP Device Interface", n.d.,
<https://github.com/woobagooba/draft-ietf-is-
csmp/blob/e0be5a31906eb3e9983e7cc28b24ed9482543784/
CsmpDevice-1.0.1.yaml>.
[CSMPMSG] "CSMP Payload Definitions", n.d.,
<https://github.com/woobagooba/draft-ietf-is-
csmp/blob/e0be5a31906eb3e9983e7cc28b24ed9482543784/
CsmpTLVsPublic.proto>.
[CSMPNMS] "CSMP NMS Interface", n.d.,
<https://github.com/woobagooba/draft-ietf-is-
csmp/blob/e0be5a31906eb3e9983e7cc28b24ed9482543784/
CsmpNms-1.0.1.yaml>.
[OPENAPI] "OpenAPI Initiative", n.d., <https://www.openapis.org/>.
[PB] "Protocol Buffers", n.d.,
<https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers>.
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[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[RFC7252] Shelby, Z., Hartke, K., and C. Bormann, "The Constrained
Application Protocol (CoAP)", RFC 7252,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7252, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7252>.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude to reviewers and
early implementors, including but not limited to Chris Hett, Klaus
Hueske, Hideki Tanaka, and Johannes van der Horst.
Authors' Addresses
Paul Duffy
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Email: paduffy@cisco.com
Jasvinder Bhasin
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Email: jassi@cisco.com
Kit-Mui Leung
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Email: kml@cisco.com
Huimin She
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Email: hushe@cisco.com
Li Zhou
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Email: liz3@cisco.com
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