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Checking references for intended status: Informational ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- No issues found here. Summary: 0 errors (**), 0 flaws (~~), 1 warning (==), 1 comment (--). Run idnits with the --verbose option for more detailed information about the items above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 IRSG S. Dawkins, Ed. 3 Internet-Draft Huawei 4 Intended status: Informational April 16, 2014 5 Expires: October 18, 2014 7 An IRTF Primer for IETF Participants 8 draft-dawkins-irtf-newrg-01.txt 10 Abstract 12 This document provides a high-level description of things to consider 13 when bringing new research into the Internet Research Task Force 14 (IRTF). It targets Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 15 participants, emphasizing the differences in expectations between the 16 two organizations. 18 Status of This Memo 20 This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the 21 provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. 23 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 24 Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute 25 working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- 26 Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 28 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 29 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 30 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 31 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 33 This Internet-Draft will expire on October 18, 2014. 35 Copyright Notice 37 Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the 38 document authors. All rights reserved. 40 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal 41 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents 42 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of 43 publication of this document. Please review these documents 44 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect 45 to this document. 47 Table of Contents 49 1. Introduction and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 50 2. The IRTF is not the IETF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 51 2.1. Research and Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 52 2.2. Research Community Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 53 2.3. Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 54 2.4. Timeframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 55 2.5. Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 56 2.6. Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 57 2.7. Charters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 58 2.8. Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 59 2.9. Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 60 3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 61 4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 62 5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 63 6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 64 6.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 65 6.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 66 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 68 1. Introduction and Scope 70 This document provides a high-level description of things to consider 71 when bringing new research into the Internet Research Task Force 72 (IRTF). It targets Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 73 participants, emphasizing the differences in expectations between the 74 two organizations. 76 IRTF research group guidelines and procedures are described in 77 [RFC2014] (BCP 8), and this document does not change those guidelines 78 and procedures in any way. 80 2. The IRTF is not the IETF 82 A number of proposals from experienced IETF participants for new IRTF 83 research groups have encountered problems because the proposals would 84 have been appropriate for the IETF, but not for the IRTF. [RFC2014] 85 describes the origin of IRTF research groups, but doesn't provide 86 much detail about the process, which is intended to be flexible and 87 accommodate new types of research groups. Lacking that detail, 88 experienced IETF participants assume that chartering an IRTF research 89 group will be similar to chartering an IETF working group, and follow 90 the suggestions in [RFC6771] to gather a group of interested parties, 91 and then follow the suggestions in [RFC5434] to prepare for a 92 successful BOF and eventually, a chartered working group. 94 Both of these documents are excellent references for proposals in the 95 IETF, but their suggestions may result in a proposal that is almost 96 the opposite of what the IRTF Chair is looking for in a proposal for 97 an IRTF research group. The mismatches fall into some consistent 98 categories. 100 2.1. Research and Engineering 102 Although this should be obvious, IRTF research groups aren't IETF 103 working groups. Some IRTF research groups conduct research, some act 104 as fora for researchers to discuss ideas, in the manner of academic 105 workshops, and some provde a home for topics that are important to 106 the development of the Internet but not in scope for the IETF, with 107 researchers being involved at some level. 109 If a likely solution is apparent, and what's required is working out 110 details, that's what IETF working groups do. 112 "I work in research and engineering. When we finish a project, if 113 it works, it was engineering. If it doesn't work, it was 114 research." - anon 116 2.2. Research Community Alternatives 118 IRTF research groups are only one of several alternatives available 119 to researchers. Where there are already well-established relevant 120 workshops and conferences, researchers might be less motivated to 121 also participate in an IRTF research group. 123 Starting an IRTF research group may still be the right thing to do, 124 but will be more likely to succeed in attracting a stable community 125 of researchers if it offers a venue that complements what's already 126 available. This isn't a requirement, but it is an opportunity for 127 creative thinking. 129 "Complementing" may take many different forms, reflecting the 130 flexibility IRTF research groups have in organizing their work. For 131 instance, some IRTF research groups focus on applying theories that 132 have been developed elsewhere to the Internet, while others focus on 133 bringing researchers and engineers together, and in particular to 134 "build bridges" between the practitioners and the theorists. 136 2.3. Scope 138 IRTF research groups have a scope large enough to interest 139 researchers, attract them to the IRTF, and keep them busy doing 140 significant work. Their charters are therefore usually much broader 141 than IETF working group charters, and research groups often discuss 142 different topics underneath the charter umbrella at different times, 143 based on current research interests in the field. 145 IETF working groups are chartered with a limited scope and specific 146 deliverables. If deliverables and milestones are known, the proposal 147 is likely too limited for the IRTF. 149 2.4. Timeframes 151 IRTF research groups bring researchers together to work on 152 significant problems. That takes time. The effort required by a 153 research group is likely to take at least three to five years, 154 significantly longer than IETF working groups envision when they are 155 chartered. 157 2.5. Alternatives 159 IRTF research groups are encouraged to explore more than one 160 alternative approach to the chartered problem area. There is no 161 expectation that the research group will "come to consensus" on one 162 approach. The research group may publish multiple competing 163 proposals as research produces results. 165 Because IETF working groups focus on immediate needs, the emphasis is 166 often on picking one approach, whether that means starting with an 167 approach the working group participants agree on, or considering 168 alternatives with a view to picking one before spending significant 169 effort on alternatives that won't go forward. 171 The IRTF as an organization may also charter multiple research groups 172 with somewhat overlapping areas of interest, which the IETF tries 173 very hard to avoid. 175 2.6. Process 177 All IRTF participants have the obligation to disclose IPR and 178 otherwise follow the IRTF's IPR policies, which closely mirror the 179 IETF's IPR policies, but in all other aspects, IRTF research group 180 operation is much less constained than is IETF working group 181 operation. 183 Each IRTF research group is permitted (and encouraged) to agree on a 184 way of working together that best supports the specific needs of the 185 group. This freedom allows IRTF research groups to bypass 186 fundamental IETF ways of working, such as the need to reach at least 187 rough consensus, which IRTF research groups need not do. The mode of 188 operation of IRTF research groups can therefore also change over 189 time, for example, becoming more like IETF working group operation as 190 the research the group has been progressing matures and nears 191 potential standardization in the IETF. s 193 2.7. Charters 195 IRTF research group charters reflect the broad scope of research 196 groups themselves, and point in the general direction of what the 197 research group will be researching. Research groups may even begin 198 work without a charter (under instructions from the IRTF Chair to 199 "act like a research group for a year and we'll see how it goes"). 201 The purpose of charters in the IRTF is more to serve as an 202 advertisement to other researchers that may be wondering if the group 203 is the right place to participate for them, and to broadly sketch the 204 field of research that a group is interested in pursuing. 206 IETF working group charters tend to be very narrow, intended to 207 constrain the work that the working group will be doing, and may 208 contain considerable text about what the working group will not be 209 working on. 211 2.8. Deliverables 213 IRTF research group deliverables may be publshed as RFCs, but may 214 also be papers that may present intermediate results and be published 215 in academic journals. There is no expectation that IRTF groups 216 publish any RFCs (although many occasionally do). IRTF groups are 217 successful when they stimulate discussion, produce relevant outputs 218 and impact the research community. 220 IETF working group deliverables tend to be specific protocol, 221 deployment and operational specifications, along with problem 222 statements, use cases, requirements and architectures that inform 223 those specifications. 225 2.9. Completion 227 When IRTF research groups have produced the appropriate outputs, 228 researchers may consider what they've learned from producing those 229 outputs, and look for better solutions. 231 IETF working groups will typically conclude, allowing participants to 232 focus on implementation and deployment, although the working group 233 mailing list may remain open for a time. 235 3. Security Considerations 237 This document provides guidance about the IRTF chartering process to 238 IETF participants and has no direct Internet security implications. 240 4. IANA Considerations 242 This document makes no requests of IANA and the RFC Editor can safely 243 remove this section during publication. 245 5. Acknowledgements 247 Thanks go to Lars Eggert, who became IRTF Chair in 2011 and has been 248 carrying this information around in his head ever since. Lars also 249 provided helpful comments on early versions of this document. 251 Thanks also to David Meyer and Stephen Farrell for helpful review 252 comments. 254 6. References 256 6.1. Normative References 258 [RFC2014] Weinrib, A. and J. Postel, "IRTF Research Group Guidelines 259 and Procedures", BCP 8, RFC 2014, October 1996. 261 6.2. Informative References 263 [RFC5434] Narten, T., "Considerations for Having a Successful Birds- 264 of-a-Feather (BOF) Session", RFC 5434, February 2009. 266 [RFC6771] Eggert, L. and G. Camarillo, "Considerations for Having a 267 Successful "Bar BOF" Side Meeting", RFC 6771, October 268 2012. 270 Author's Address 272 Spencer Dawkins (editor) 273 Huawei Technologies 275 Email: spencerdawkins.ietf@gmail.com