Subject: WG Review: Real-Time Communication in WEB-browsers (rtcweb)

From: IESG Secretary <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:48:04 -0700 (PDT)

A new IETF working group has been proposed in the Real-Time Applications
and Infrastructure Area.  The IESG has not made any determination as yet.
The following draft charter was submitted, and is provided for
informational purposes only. Please send your comments to the IESG mailing
list ([email-masked]) by Tuesday, April 26, 2011.               

Real-Time Communication in WEB-browsers (rtcweb)
------------------------------------------------
Current Status: Proposed Working Group
Last Updated: 2011-04-14

Chairs:
 TBD

RAI Area Directors:
 Gonzalo Camarillo
 Robert Sparks

RAI Area Advisor:
 Gonzalo Camarillo

Mailing Lists:
 Address:       [email-masked]
 To Subscribe:  https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/rtcweb
 Archive:       http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/rtcweb/

Description of Working Group:
 
There are a number of proprietary implementations that provide direct
interactive rich communication using audio, video, collaboration,
games, etc. between two peers' web-browsers. These are not
interoperable, as they require non-standard extensions or plugins to
work.  There is a desire to standardize the basis for such
communication so that interoperable communication can be established
between any compatible browsers. The goal is to enable innovation on
top of a set of basic components.  One core component is to enable
real-time media like audio and video, a second is to enable data
transfer directly between clients.
 
This work will be done in collaboration with the W3C.  The IETF WG
will produce architecture and requirements for selection and profiling
of the on the wire protocols. The architecture needs to be coordinated
with W3C.  The IETF WG work will identify state information and events
that need to be exposed in the APIs as input to W3C. The W3C will be
responsible for defining APIs to ensure that application developers
can control the components. We will reach out to the developer
community for consultation and early feedback on implementation.
 
The security and privacy goals and requirements will be developed by
the WG. The security model needs to be coordinated with the W3C.  The
work will also consider where support for extensibility is needed. RTP
functionalities, media formats, security algorithms are example of
things that commonly need extensions, additions or replacement, and
thus some support for negotiation between clients is required.
 
The WG will perform the following work:

1.  Define the communication model in detail, including how session
    management is to occur within the model.

2.  Define a security model that describes the security and privacy
    goals and specifies the security protocol mechanisms necessary
    to achieve those goals.

3.  Define the solution - protocols and API requirements - for
    firewall and NAT traversal.

4.  Define which media functions and extensions shall be supported in
    the client and their usage for real-time media, including media
    adaptation to ensure congestion safe usage.

5.  Define what functionalities in the solution, such as media codecs,
    security algorithms, etc., can be extended and how the
    extensibility mechanisms works.

6.  Define a set of media formats that must or should be supported by
    a client to improve interoperability.

7.  Define how non media data is transported between clients in a
    secure and congestion safe way.

8.  Provide W3C input for the APIs that comes from the communication
    model and the selected components and protocols that are part of
    the solution.

9.  The group will consider options for interworking with legacy VoIP
    equipment.
 
This work will be done primarily by using already defined protocols or
functionalities. If there is identification of missing protocols or
functionalities, such work can be requested to be done in another
working group with a suitable charter or by requests for chartering it
in this WG or another WG. The following topics will be out of scope
for the initial phase of the WG: RTSP, RSVP, NSIS, Location services,
Resource Priority, and IM & Presence specific features.
 
The products of the working group will support security and keying as
required by BCP 61 and be defined for IPv4, IPv6, and dual stack
deployments. The Working Group will consider the possibility of
defining a browser component that implements an existing session
negotiation and management protocol. The working group will follow BCP
79, and adhere to the spirit of BCP 79. The working group cannot
explicitly rule out the possibility of adopting encumbered
technologies; however, the working group will try to avoid encumbered
technologies that require royalties or other encumbrances that would
prevent such technologies from being easy to use in web browsers.
 
Milestones:
 
Aug 2011 Architecture, Security, Privacy and Threat Model sent to W3C
 
Aug 2011 Use cases, Scenarios, and Requirements document (I-D) sent to
         W3C
 
Sep 2011 Architecture and Security, Privacy, and Threat Model
         document(s) to IESG as Informational
 
Sep 2011 Use cases, Scenarios, and Requirements for RTCWeb document
         sent to IESG as Informational
 
Dec 2011 RTCWeb protocol profiles and Media format specification(s) to
         IESG as PS
  
Dec 2011 Information elements and events APIs Input to W3C
 
Apr 2012 API to Protocol mapping document submitted to the IESG as
         Informational (if needed)