ISO/IEC 4396-8:2023

Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - Recursive inter-network architecture - Part 8: RINA general delimiting procedures

This document provides a delimiting module that defines a mechanism for encoding Service Data Units (SDUs), the amount of data passed across the layer boundary within Protocol Data Units (PDUs), the amount of data sent to its peer. It is not necessary to use this document if each PDU carries precisely one SDU.

Télécommunications et échange d'information entre systèmes — Architecture récursive inter-réseaux — Partie 8: Procédures générales de délimitation RINA

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 04-Dec-2023
• ICS: 35.100.30 - Network layer
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 6 - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 6 - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 05-Dec-2023
• Due Date: 30-Nov-2023
• Completion Date: 05-Dec-2023

Overview

ISO/IEC 4396-8:2023 is an international standard under the Recursive Inter-Network Architecture (RINA) series that specifies general delimiting procedures for telecommunications and information exchange between systems. This standard defines a delimiting module that provides a mechanism to encode Service Data Units (SDUs) within Protocol Data Units (PDUs). It controls the amount of data passed across layer boundaries and sent to peers in a network.

The standard is essential for scenarios where PDUs may carry multiple SDUs or SDU fragments. If each PDU carries exactly one SDU, this delimiting procedure is not required. The defined mechanism supports fragmentation, concatenation, and combinations of SDUs, enabling flexible and efficient data transport.

Key Topics

• Delimiting Module: Defines how SDUs are encoded within PDUs to enable data transfer across layering boundaries in recursive network structures.
• Encoding Syntax: Specifies the structure for PDU data fields, including delimiters, length fields, flags, and sequence numbers to identify SDU boundaries and assemble fragments.
• Fragmentation & Concatenation: Supports splitting large SDUs into fragments and combining multiple SDUs into a single PDU to optimize throughput and meet Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.
• Flags and Sequence Numbers: Utilizes SDUDelimiterFlags to indicate whether the PDU contains complete SDUs, fragments, or combinations thereof; optionally includes SDU sequence numbers to maintain correct ordering and detect missing data.
• Partial and Incomplete Delivery: Allows for incremental delivery of whole SDUs or delivery of SDUs with missing pieces based on QoS-cube policies, supporting various application requirements.
• Policy Flexibility: Delimiting policies can vary between QoS-cubes, adapting to different network service constraints and optimizations.
• Error Handling: Defines validation rules to ensure the integrity of the encoded SDUs within the PDU data field, including length checks and sequence number validations.

Applications

ISO/IEC 4396-8:2023 is intended for use in recursive inter-network architectures where efficient, flexible, and controlled delivery of data units is required. Practical applications include:

• Telecommunications Networks: Enabling recursive protocols to manage data flows through layered networking systems with advanced Quality of Service guarantees.
• Data Transport in Distributed Systems: Managing fragmented message delivery or combining smaller communications for throughput efficiency in complex networked services.
• Protocol Implementations: Developers building EFCP (Error and Flow Control Protocol) modules benefit from this standardized delimiting procedure to ensure interoperability and correctness in SDU handling.
• QoS-Sensitive Transfers: Networks requiring partial or incomplete SDU deliveries, such as multimedia streaming or real-time data feeds, can implement these procedures to balance delivery with latency or loss tolerance.
• Network Layering and Recursion: Systems employing recursive layering architectures, where each layer functions as a discrete transport domain, can deploy this method to handle SDU boundaries within PDUs rigorously.

Related Standards

This standard is part 8 of the ISO/IEC 4396 series on Recursive Inter-Network Architecture (RINA). Key related standards include:

• ISO/IEC 4396-1: Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - Recursive Inter-Network Architecture - Part 1: Reference Model - Provides definitions, concepts, and the overall architecture reference model for RINA.
• Other parts of ISO/IEC 4396: Cover various RINA components such as addressing, naming, and connection management protocols.
• ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and Part 2: Define the editorial and development procedures used in creating these standards.
• Quality of Service (QoS) Frameworks: Complementing standards defining QoS guarantees and flow management relevant to RINA implementations.

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Keywords: ISO/IEC 4396-8:2023, Recursive Inter-Network Architecture, RINA delimiting procedures, Service Data Unit encoding, Protocol Data Unit, SDU fragmentation, SDU concatenation, EFCP, network layer boundary, QoS-cube, telecommunications standards, data transport protocol, partial SDU delivery.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 4396-8
First edition
2023-12
Telecommunications and
information exchange between
systems — Recursive inter-network
architecture —
Part 8:
RINA general delimiting procedures
Télécommunications et échange d'information entre systèmes —
Architecture récursive inter-réseaux —
Partie 8: Procédures générales de délimitation RINA
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2023
© ISO/IEC 2023
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
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or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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Published in Switzerland
ii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Detailed specification of the procedure . 1
4.1 General . 1
4.2 Syntax . 1
4.3 Procedure . 3
iii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance
are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria
needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in
accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the
use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of
any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC
had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However,
implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained
from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall
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For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 6 Telecommunications and information exchange between systems.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 4396 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.
iv
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 4396-8:2023(E)
Telecommunications and information exchange between
systems — Recursive inter-network architecture —
Part 8:
RINA general delimiting procedures
1 Scope
This document provides a delimiting module that defines a mechanism for encoding Service Data Units
(SDUs), the amount of data passed across the layer boundary within Protocol Data Units (PDUs), the
amount of data sent to its peer. It is not necessary to use this document if each PDU carries precisely one
SDU.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 4396-1, Telecommunications and information exchange between systems — Recursive Inter-Network
Architecture — Part 1: Reference Model
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 4396-1 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Detailed specification of the procedure
4.1 General
The delimiting module produces on input, one or more User-Data fields for the error and flow control
protocol (EFCP) to create PDUs; and on output, depending on quality of service (QoS) parameters,
complete, incomplete, or partial SDUs for the user of the flow. Partial delivery refers to whole SDUs that
are delivered incrementally, while incomplete delivery refers to an SDU that can have pieces missing.
This implies that partial delivery of incomplete SDUs is possible. The described mechanism covers a
range of policy options, allowing fragmentation of SDUs, concatenation of SDUs, and both fragmentation
and concatenation of SDUs simultaneously. It also provides additional information needed for delivery
despite gaps in the SDU stream, if delivery across a gap is permitted by the QoS-cube for the flow. The
delimiting policy may be different between QoS-cubes. This module can be used with several QoS-cubes
with different constraints on which flags can appear.
4.2 Syntax
The User Data field of an EFCP Transfer PDU may contain SDU fragments, entire SDUs, or prescribed
combinations of the two. The User Data Fiel
...