Halder, S. (2020):

Deriving and Distributing Static Compression Context for LPWANs via IKEv2

Header compression is a way to adapt existing network protocols for use in IoT (Internet of Things) scenarios. The motivation is the limited network bandwidth and energy budget of IoT devices. Specifically, default IPv6 requires the maximum transmission unit (MTU) to be at least 1280 bytes, which is not feasible for many of the networking devices used in IoT. Existing header compression protocols use prior knowledge (context) and/or approximations to encapsulate and compress header data of common network protocols. Static context header compression (SCHC) is one such protocol and uses exclusively prior knowledge (static context) to elide or compress header fields. A major shortcoming of SCHC is the lack of mechanics to distribute this static context between communication partners as it relies solely on manual configuration. This work examines the possibility to combine SCHC with IPSec and use its key exchange protocol (IKEv2) to identify and distribute context information. The concept introduced in this work is able to leverage the power of header compression to reduce the overhead created by the protocols in the IP stack without relying on the manual configuration of SCHC. To this goal, we develop a method to derive static compression context for SCHC from the context information stored in the IPsec Security Associations. The proof of concept demonstrates some of the major obstacles that have to be overcome to successfully integrate SCHC processing into the IPsec suite.

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