Internet Emergency Preparedness (ieprep)

Last Modified: 2006-03-24

Additional information is available at tools.ietf.org/wg/ieprep

Chair(s):

  • Scott Bradner <sob@harvard.edu>

  • Kimberly King <ksking@mitre.org>

    Real-time Applications and Infrastructure Area Director(s):

  • Jon Peterson <jon.peterson@neustar.biz>
  • Cullen Jennings <fluffy@cisco.com>

    Real-time Applications and Infrastructure Area Advisor:

  • Jon Peterson <jon.peterson@neustar.biz>

    Mailing Lists:

    General Discussion: ieprep@ietf.org
    To Subscribe: ieprep-request@ietf.org
    In Body: subscribe ieprep
    Archive: http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ieprep/index.html

    Description of Working Group:

    Effective telecommunications capabilities are imperative to facilitate
    immediate recovery operations for serious disaster events, such as,
    hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks. Disasters can
    happen any time, any place, unexpectedly. Quick response for recovery
    operations requires immediate access to any public telecommunications
    capabilities at hand. These capabilities include: conventional
    telephone, cellular phones, and Internet access via online terminals,
    IP telephones, and wireless PDAs. The commercial telecommunications
    infrastructure is rapidly evolving to Internet-based technology.
    Therefore, the Internet community needs to consider how it can best
    support emergency management and recovery operations.

    Three examples of emergency communications include:

    1. Conveying information about the priority of specific phone calls
      that originate in a VoIP environment through gateways to the PSTN.

    2. Access and transport for database and information distribution
      applications relevant to managing the crisis. One example of this
      is the I am Alive (IAA) system that can be used by people in a
      disaster zone to register the fact that they are alive so that
      their friends and family can check on their health.

    3. Interpersonal communication among crisis management personnel using
      electronic mail and instant messaging.

    Initial documents will describe the problem space and its salient
    characteristics. In particular the working group will devlop a
    Requirements for Internet Emergency Preparedness in the Internet RFC
    which will detail the specific functions and technologies needed to
    provide support for Emergency Preparedness systems in the Internet. The
    working group may also develop a Framework for Supporting Internet
    Emergency Preparedness in IP Telephony RFC if it is determined that IP
    telephony requires special treatment above what would be in the
    requirements document.

    The international community needs advice as to what standards to rely
    on, in the form of a BCP. This BCP needs to identify mechanisms to
    provide deterministic behavior of applications, mechanisms for
    authentication and authorization, and recommendations for application
    design with existing protocols. In the IETF considerations for
    treatment and security of emergency communications stretch across a
    number of Areas and Working Groups, notably including the various
    telephony signaling working groups, Differentiated Services, Protocol
    for carrying Authentication for Network Access (pana), and various
    operational groups, so the IEPREP working group will have to cooperate
    closely with these groups and with groups outside of the IETF such as
    various ITU-T study groups.

    The working group will develop a BCP RFC or set of RFCs, regarding
    operational implementation of services for Emergency Preparedness using
    existing Internet protocols. The RFC may include identification of gaps
    in existing protocols and requirements for use in new protocol or
    protocol feature design. It is out of scope for this working group to
    do protocol or protocol feature development. The working group will
    not focus on particular national regulations.

    Deliverables

    Best Current Practice:
      IETF Recommendations for the Emergency Telecommunications Service
      using existing protocols - what can be done with existing protcols
      and what can not be done.

    Informational:
      Requirements for Internet Emergency Preparedness in the Internet.
      Framework for Supporting Internet Emergency Preparedness in IP
      Telephony.

    Goals and Milestones:

    Done  Submit initial I-D of Requirements
    Done  Submit initial I-D of Framework
    Done  Submit initial I-D of Recommendations BCP
    Done  Submit Requirements I-D to IESG for publication as an Informational RFC.
    Done  Submit Framework I-D to IESG for publication as an Informational RFC.
    Dec 2003  Submit Recommendations I-D to IESG for publication as a BCP.

    No Current Internet-Drafts

    Request For Comments:

    Requirements for Resource Priority Mechanisms for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (RFC 3487) (39615 bytes)
    Internet Emergency Preparedness (IEPREP)Telephony Topology Terminology (RFC 3523) (10190 bytes)
    IP Telephony Requirements for Emergency Telecommunication Service (RFC 3690) (13919 bytes)
    General Requirements for Emergency Telecommunication Service (RFC 3689) (21680 bytes)
    Framework for Supporting Emergency Telecommunications Service (ETS) in IP Telephony (RFC 4190) (69447 bytes)
    Emergency Telecommunications Services (ETS) Requirements for a Single Administrative Domain (RFC 4375) (17037 bytes)
    A Framework for Supporting Emergency Telecommunications Services (ETS) Within a Single Administrative Domain (RFC 4958) (44008 bytes)
    IETF Secretariat - Please send questions, comments, and/or suggestions to ietf-web@ietf.org.

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