Subject: ATM addressing information in the APPN MIB

From: "R.E. (Robert) Moore (254-4436)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 96 09:54:34 EDT

A question has been raised here in IBM about the ATM address formats
to use for the objects in the APPN MIB that return link-level addresses.
In the HPR over ATM document, we described how an agent creates the
display strings for these objects when the address being returned is
an E.164 address, and when it is an OSI NSAP.  The question is, is
this really all we need to return in these objects?

If we look at cv46A5, we find *three* possible ways for a node to provide
a partner with its ATM address:

   1.  NSAP address
   2.  NSAP address + E.164 address of a local gateway to a public
       ATM network
   3.  E.164 address

As it's currently written, the HPR over ATM document provides for cases 1
and 3, but not for case 2.  If a partner provides a node with its NSAP
address + its local gateway's E.164 address, the node can only return the
partner's NSAP address in the appnLsRemoteAddr and appnLsStatusRemoteAddr
objects.  Similarly, if the node provides its partner with both its NSAP
address and its local gateway's E.164 address, it can't return the
gateway's address in the appnPortDlcLocalAddr, appnLsLocalAddr, and
appnLsStatusLocalAddr objects.

The real question here is what we think the purpose of these MIB objects
is.  If it's just to provide a unique way of identifying a node in an ATM
network, then what we have now is OK.  If, however, it's to provide
enough information to understand how one would establish a connection
between two nodes, then we need to add an option in the HPR over ATM
document that allows a node to return both an NSAP address and a
gateway's E.164 address.

I guess the way to approach this is to say that in the absence of any
votes to add the third option, we'll leave the document as it is.  If you
have any comments on this question, please send them to these mailing
lists in the next couple of weeks.

Bob Moore, IBM Network Management Architecture