RFC 3320
Signaling Compression (SigComp)
Network Working Group R. Price Request for Comments: 3320 Siemens/Roke Manor Category: Standards Track C. Bormann TZI/Uni Bremen J. Christoffersson H. Hannu Ericsson Z. Liu Nokia J. Rosenberg dynamicsoft January 2003 Signaling Compression (SigComp) Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.Abstract
This document defines Signaling Compression (SigComp), a solution for compressing messages generated by application protocols such as the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (RFC 3261) and the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) (RFC 2326). The architecture and prerequisites of SigComp are outlined, along with the format of the SigComp message. Decompression functionality for SigComp is provided by a Universal Decompressor Virtual Machine (UDVM) optimized for the task of running decompression algorithms. The UDVM can be configured to understand the output of many well-known compressors such as DEFLATE (RFC-1951).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction...................................................2 2. Terminology....................................................3 3. SigComp architecture...........................................5 4. SigComp dispatchers...........................................15 5. SigComp compressor............................................18 6. State Handling and Feedback...................................20 7. SigComp message format........................................23 8. Overview of the UDVM..........................................28 9. UDVM instruction set..........................................37 10. Security Considerations.......................................56 11. IANA Considerations...........................................58 12. Acknowledgements..............................................59 13. References....................................................59 14. Authors' Addresses............................................60 15. Full Copyright Statement......................................621. Introduction
Many application protocols used for multimedia communications are text-based and engineered for bandwidth rich links. As a result the messages have not been optimized in terms of size. For example, typical SIP messages range from a few hundred bytes up to two thousand bytes or more [RFC3261]. With the planned usage of these protocols in wireless handsets as part of 2.5G and 3G cellular networks, the large message size is problematic. With low-rate IP connectivity the transmission delays are significant. Taking into account retransmissions, and the multiplicity of messages that are required in some flows, call setup and feature invocation are adversely affected. SigComp provides a means to eliminate this problem by offering robust, lossless compression of application messages. This document outlines the architecture and prerequisites of the SigComp solution, the format of the SigComp message and the Universal Decompressor Virtual Machine (UDVM) that provides decompression functionality. SigComp is offered to applications as a layer between the application and an underlying transport. The service provided is that of the underlying transport plus compression. SigComp supports a wide range of transports including TCP, UDP and SCTP [RFC-2960].
2. Terminology
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 BCP 14, RFC 2119 [RFC-2119]. Application Entity that invokes SigComp and performs the following tasks: 1. Supplying application messages to the compressor dispatcher 2. Receiving decompressed messages from the decompressor dispatcher 3. Determining the compartment identifier for a decompressed message. Bytecode Machine code that can be executed by a virtual machine. Compressor Entity that encodes application messages using a certain compression algorithm, and keeps track of state that can be used for compression. The compressor is responsible for ensuring that the messages it generates can be decompressed by the remote UDVM. Compressor Dispatcher Entity that receives application messages, invokes a compressor, and forwards the resulting SigComp compressed messages to a remote endpoint. UDVM Cycles A measure of the amount of "CPU power" required to execute a UDVM instruction (the simplest UDVM instructions require a single UDVM cycle). An upper limit is placed on the number of UDVM cycles that can be used to decompress each bit in a SigComp message. Decompressor Dispatcher Entity that receives SigComp messages, invokes a UDVM, and forwards the resulting decompressed messages to the application.
Endpoint
One instance of an application, a SigComp layer, and a transport
layer for sending and/or receiving SigComp messages.
Message-based Transport
A transport that carries data as a set of bounded messages.
Compartment
An application-specific grouping of messages that relate to a peer
endpoint. Depending on the signaling protocol, this grouping may
relate to application concepts such as "session", "dialog",
"connection", or "association". The application allocates state
memory on a per-compartment basis, and determines when a
compartment should be created or closed.
Compartment Identifier
An identifier (in a locally chosen format) that uniquely
references a compartment.
SigComp
The overall compression solution, comprising the compressor, UDVM,
dispatchers and state handler.
SigComp Message
A message sent from the compressor dispatcher to the decompressor
dispatcher. In case of a message-based transport such as UDP, a
SigComp message corresponds to exactly one datagram. For a
stream-based transport such as TCP, the SigComp messages are
separated by reserved delimiters.
Stream-based transport
A transport that carries data as a continuous stream with no
message boundaries.
Transport
Mechanism for passing data between two endpoints. SigComp is
capable of sending messages over a wide range of transports
including TCP, UDP and SCTP [RFC-2960].
Universal Decompressor Virtual Machine (UDVM)
The machine architecture described in this document. The UDVM is
used to decompress SigComp messages.
State
Data saved for retrieval by later SigComp messages.
State Handler
Entity responsible for accessing and storing state information
once permission is granted by the application.
State Identifier
Reference used to access a previously created item of state.
3. SigComp Architecture
In the SigComp architecture, compression and decompression is
performed at two communicating endpoints. The layout of a single
endpoint is illustrated in Figure 1:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Local application | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ^ | Application message & | Decompressed | | Compartment compartment identifier | message | | identifier | | | +-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --|--|-- -- -- -- -- -+ v | v | +------------------------+ +----------------------+ | | | | | | +--| Compressor | | Decompressor |<-+ | | | dispatcher | | dispatcher | | | | | | | | | | | +------------------------+ +----------------------+ | | | ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | v | | | | | +--------------+ +---------------+ | | | | | | | | +-------+ | v | | | | | Compressor 1 |<----->|State 1| | +--------------+ | | | | | | | +-------+ | | | | | | | +--------------+ | | | Decompressor | | | | | | State handler |<-->| | | | | | +--------------+ | | | (UDVM) | | | | | | | | +-------+ | | | | | | +->| Compressor 2 |<----->|State 2| | +--------------+ | | | | | | +-------+ | | | | +--------------+ +---------------+ SigComp layer | | | | | +-| -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --|-+ | | | SigComp SigComp | | message message | v | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Transport layer | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Figure 1: High-level architectural overview of one SigComp endpoint
Note that SigComp is offered to applications as a layer between the application and the underlying transport, and so Figure 1 is an endpoint when viewed from a transport layer perspective. From the perspective of multi-hop application layer protocols however, SigComp is applied on a per-hop basis. The SigComp layer is further decomposed into the following entities: 1. Compressor dispatcher - the interface from the application. The application supplies the compressor dispatcher with an application message and a compartment identifier (see Section 3.1 for further details). The compressor dispatcher invokes a particular compressor, which returns a SigComp message to be forwarded to the remote endpoint. 2. Decompressor dispatcher - the interface towards the application. The decompressor dispatcher receives a SigComp message and invokes an instance of the Universal Decompressor Virtual Machine (UDVM). It then forwards the resulting decompressed message to the application, which may return a compartment identifier if it wishes to allow state to be saved for the message. 3. One or more compressors - the entities that convert application messages into SigComp messages. Distinct compressors are invoked on a per-compartment basis, using the compartment identifiers supplied by the application. A compressor receives an application message from the compressor dispatcher, compresses the message, and returns a SigComp message to the compressor dispatcher. Each compressor chooses a certain algorithm to encode the data (e.g., DEFLATE). 4. UDVM - the entity that decompresses SigComp messages. Note that since SigComp can run over an unsecured transport layer, a separate instance of the UDVM is invoked on a per-message basis. However, during the decompression process the UDVM may invoke the state handler to access existing state or create new state. 5. State handler - the entity that can store and retrieve state. State is information that is stored between SigComp messages, avoiding the need to upload the data on a per-message basis. For security purposes it is only possible to create new state with the permission of the application. State creation and retrieval are further described in Chapter 6.
When compressing a bidirectional application protocol the choice to use SigComp can be made independently in both directions, and compression in one direction does not necessarily imply compression in the reverse direction. Moreover, even when two communicating endpoints send SigComp messages in both directions, there is no need to use the same compression algorithm in each direction. Note that a SigComp endpoint can decompress messages from multiple remote endpoints at different locations in a network, as the architecture is designed to prevent SigComp messages from one endpoint interfering with messages from a different endpoint. A consequence of this design choice is that it is difficult for a malicious user to disrupt SigComp operation by inserting false compressed messages on the transport layer.3.1. Requirements on the Application
From an application perspective the SigComp layer appears as a new transport, with similar behavior to the original transport used to carry uncompressed data (for example SigComp/UDP behaves similarly to native UDP). Mechanisms for discovering whether an endpoint supports SigComp are beyond the scope of this document. All SigComp messages contain a prefix (the five most-significant bits of the first byte are set to one) that does not occur in UTF-8 encoded text messages [RFC-2279], so for applications which use this encoding (or ASCII encoding) it is possible to multiplex uncompressed application messages and SigComp messages on the same port. Applications can still reserve a new port specifically for SigComp however (e.g., as part of the discovery mechanism). If a particular endpoint wishes to be stateful then it needs to partition its decompressed messages into "compartments" under which state can be saved. SigComp relies on the application to provide this partition. So for stateful endpoints a new interface is required to the application in order to leverage the authentication mechanisms used by the application itself. When the application receives a decompressed message it maps the message to a certain compartment and supplies the compartment identifier to SigComp. Each compartment is allocated a separate compressor and a certain amount of memory to store state information, so the application must assign distinct compartments to distinct remote endpoints. However it is possible for a local endpoint to establish several compartments that relate to the same remote endpoint (this should be avoided where possible as it may waste
memory and reduce the overall compression ratio, but it does not cause messages to be incorrectly decompressed). In this case, reliable stateful operation is possible only if the decompressor does not lump several messages into one compartment when the compressor expected them to be assigned different compartments. The exact format of the compartment identifier is unimportant provided that different identifiers are given to different compartments. Applications that wish to communicate using SigComp in a stateful fashion should use an authentication mechanism to securely map decompressed messages to compartment identifiers. They should also agree on any limits to the lifetime of a compartment, to avoid the case where an endpoint accesses state information that has already been deleted.3.2. SigComp feedback mechanism
If a signaling protocol sends SigComp messages in both directions and there is a one-to-one relationship between the compartments established by the applications on both ends ("peer compartments"), the two endpoints can cooperate more closely. In this case, it is possible to send feedback information that monitors the behavior of an endpoint and helps to improve the overall compression ratio. SigComp performs feedback on a request/response basis, so a compressor makes a feedback request and receives some feedback data in return. The procedure for requesting and returning feedback in SigComp is illustrated in Figure 2:
+---------------------+ +---------------------+ | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | -->| Compressor |------------------------>| UDVM |<-> | | sending to B | | SigComp message | | | |2 | +-----------------+ | requesting feedback | +-----------------+ | | ^ 1,9 | | 3 | | | | | | v | | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | | | State | | | | State | | | | handler | | | | handler | | | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | | ^ 8 | | 4 | | | | | | v | | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | | | UDVM | | | | Compressor | | <->| |<------------------------| sending to A |<-- 6| +-----------------+ | SigComp message | +-----------------+ | | 7 | returning feedback | 5 | | Endpoint A | | Endpoint B | +---------------------+ +---------------------+ Figure 2: Steps involved in the transmission of feedback data The dispatchers, the application and the transport layer are omitted from the diagram for clarity. Note that the decompressed messages pass via the decompressor dispatcher to the application; moreover the SigComp messages transmitted from the compressor to the remote UDVM are sent via first the compressor dispatcher, followed by the transport layer and finally the decompressor dispatcher. The steps for requesting and returning feedback data are described in more detail below: 1. The compressor that sends messages to Endpoint B piggybacks a feedback request onto a SigComp message. 2. When the application receives the decompressed message, it may return the compartment identifier for the message. 3. The UDVM in Endpoint B forwards the requested feedback data to the state handler. 4. If the UDVM can supply a valid compartment identifier, then the state handler forwards the feedback data to the appropriate compressor (namely the compressor sending to Endpoint A). 5. The compressor returns the requested feedback data to Endpoint A piggybacked onto a SigComp message.
6. When the application receives the decompressed message, it may
return the compartment identifier for the message.
7. The UDVM in Endpoint A forwards the returned feedback data to the
state handler.
8. If the UDVM can supply a valid compartment identifier, then the
state handler forwards the feedback data to the appropriate
compressor (namely the compressor sending to Endpoint B).
9. The compressor makes use of the returned feedback data.
The detailed role played by each entity in the transmission of
feedback data is explained in subsequent chapters.
3.3. SigComp Parameters
An advantage of using a virtual machine for decompression is that
almost all of the implementation flexibility lies in the SigComp
compressors. When receiving SigComp messages an endpoint generally
behaves in a predictable manner.
Note however that endpoints implementing SigComp will typically have
a wide range of capabilities, each offering a different amount of
working memory, processing power etc. In order to support this wide
variation in endpoint capabilities, the following parameters are
provided to modify SigComp behavior when receiving SigComp messages:
decompression_memory_size
state_memory_size
cycles_per_bit
SigComp_version
locally available state (a set containing 0 or more state items)
Each parameter has a minimum value that MUST be offered by all
receiving SigComp endpoints. Moreover, endpoints MAY offer
additional resources if available; these resources can be advertised
to remote endpoints using the SigComp feedback mechanism.
Particular applications may also agree a-priori to offer additional
resources as mandatory (e.g., SigComp for SIP offers a dictionary of
common SIP phrases as a mandatory state item).
Each of the SigComp parameters is described in greater detail below.
3.3.1. Memory Size and UDVM Cycles
The decompression_memory_size parameter specifies the amount of memory available to decompress one SigComp message. (Note that the term "amount of memory" is used on a conceptual level in order to specify decompressor behavior and allow resource planning on the side of the compressor -- an implementation could require additional, bounded amounts of actual memory resources or could even organize its memory in a completely different way as long as this does not cause decompression failures where the conceptual model would not.) A portion of this memory is used to buffer a SigComp message before it is decompressed; the remainder is given to the UDVM. Note that the memory is allocated on a per-message basis and can be reclaimed after the message has been decompressed. All endpoints implementing SigComp MUST offer a decompression_memory_size of at least 2048 bytes. The state_memory_size parameter specifies the number of bytes offered to a particular compartment for the creation of state. This parameter is set to 0 if the endpoint is stateless. Unlike the other SigComp parameters, the state_memory_size is offered on a per-compartment basis and may vary for different compartments. The memory for a compartment is reclaimed when the application determines that the compartment is no longer required. The cycles_per_bit parameter specifies the number of "UDVM cycles" available to decompress each bit in a SigComp message. Executing a UDVM instruction requires a certain number of UDVM cycles; a complete list of UDVM instructions and their cost in UDVM cycles can be found in Chapter 9. An endpoint MUST offer a minimum of 16 cycles_per_bit. Each of the three parameter values MUST be chosen from the limited set given below, so that the parameters can be efficiently encoded for transmission using the SigComp feedback mechanism. The cycles_per_bit parameter is encoded using 2 bits, whilst the decompression_memory_size and state_memory_size are both encoded using 3 bits. The bit encodings and their corresponding values are as follows:
Encoding: cycles_per_bit: Encoding: state_memory_size (bytes):
00 16 000 0
01 32 001 2048
10 64 010 4096
11 128 011 8192
100 16384
101 32768
110 65536
111 131072
The decompression_memory_size is encoded in the same manner as the
state_memory_size, except that the bit pattern 000 cannot be used (as
an endpoint cannot offer a decompression_memory_size of 0 bytes).
3.3.2. SigComp Version
The SigComp_version parameter specifies whether only the basic
version of SigComp is available, or whether an upgraded version is
available offering additional instructions etc. Within the UDVM, it
is available as a 2-byte value, generated by zero-extending the 1-
byte SigComp_version parameter (i.e., the first byte of the 2-byte
value is always zero).
The basic version of SigComp is Version 0x01, which is the version
described in this document.
To ensure backwards compatibility, if a SigComp message is
successfully decompressed by Version 0x01 of SigComp then it will be
successfully decompressed on upgraded versions. Similarly, if the
message triggers a manual decompression failure (see Section 8.7),
then it will also continue to do so.
However, messages that cause an unexpected decompression failure on
Version 0x01 of SigComp may be successfully decompressed by upgraded
versions.
The simplest way to upgrade SigComp in a backwards-compatible manner
is to add additional UDVM instructions, as this will not affect the
decompression of SigComp messages compatible with Version 0x01.
Reserved addresses in the UDVM memory (Useful Values, see Section
7.2) may also be assigned values in future versions of SigComp.
3.3.3. Locally Available State Items
A SigComp state item is an item of data that is retained between SigComp messages. State items can be retrieved and loaded into the UDVM memory as part of the decompression process, often significantly improving the compression ratio as the same information does not have to be uploaded on a per-message basis. Each endpoint maintains a set of state items where every item is composed of the following information: Name: Type of data: state_identifier 20-byte value state_length 2-byte value state_address 2-byte value state_instruction 2-byte value minimum_access_length 2-byte value from 6 to 20 inclusive state_value String of state_length consecutive bytes State items are typically created at an endpoint upon successful decompression of a SigComp message. The remote compressor sending the message makes a state creation request by invoking the appropriate UDVM instruction, and the state is saved once permission is granted by the application. However, an endpoint MAY also wish to offer a set of locally available state items that have not been uploaded as part of a SigComp message. For example it might offer well-known decompression algorithms, dictionaries of common phrases used in a specific signaling protocol, etc. Since these state items are established locally without input from a remote endpoint, they are most useful if publicly documented so that a wide collection of remote endpoints can determine the data contained in each state item and how it may be used. Further Internet Documents and RFCs may be published to describe particular locally available state items. Although there are no locally available state items that are mandatory for every SigComp endpoint, certain state items can be made mandatory in a specific environment (e.g., the dictionary of common phrases for a specific signaling protocol could be made mandatory for that signaling protocol's usage of SigComp). Also, remote endpoints can indicate their interest in receiving a list of some of the state items available locally at an endpoint using the SigComp feedback mechanism.
It is a matter of local decision for an endpoint what items of locally available state it advertises; this decision has no influence on interoperability, but may increase or decrease the efficiency of the compression achievable between the endpoints.
(page 15 continued on part 2)
