rfc2351.Mapping of Airline Reservation, Ticketing,

NetworkWorkingGroupA.RobertRequestforComments:2351SITACategory:InformationalMay1998MappingofAirlineReservation,Ticketing,andMessagingTrafficoverIPStatusofthisMemoThismemoprovidesinformationfortheInternetcommunity.ItdoesnotspecifyanInternetstandardofanykind.Distributionofthismemoisunlimited.CopyrightNoticeCopyright(C)TheInternetSociety(1998).AllRightsReserved.SecurityDisclaimer:Thisdocumentfailstoadequatelyaddresssecurityconcerns.Theprotocolitselfdoesnotincludeanysecuritymechanisms.Thedocumentnotesthattrafficcanbeauthenticatedbasedonexternalmechanismsthatusestaticidentifiersorwhatareapparentlyclear-textpasswords,neitherofwhichprovidesoundsecurity.ThedocumentnotesingeneraltermsthattrafficcanbesecuredusingIPSEC,butleavesthisformofsoundsecuritystrictlyoptional.AbstractThismemospecifiesaprotocolfortheencapsulationoftheairlinespecificprotocoloverIP.TableofConents1.INTRODUCTION22.TERMINOLOGY&ACRONYMS43.LAYERING74.TRAFFICIDENTIFICATION75.TCPPORTALLOCATION86.MATIPSESSIONESTABLISHMENT87.OVERALLPACKETFORMATFORTYPEA&TYPEB98.MATIPFORMATFORTYPEACONVERSATIONALTRAFFIC108.1ControlPacketFormat108.1.1SessionOpenformat(SO)108.1.2OpenConfirmformat(OC)128.1.3SessionClose(SC)148.2DataPacketFormat14RobertInformational[Page1]RFC2351MATIPMay19989.MATIPFORMATFORTYPEAHOST-TO-HOSTTRAFFIC159.1ControlPacketFormat159.1.1SessionOpenformat(SO)159.1.2OpenConfirmformat(OC)179.1.3SessionClose(SC)179.2DataPacketFormat1810.MATIPFORMATFORTYPEBTRAFFIC1910.1Controlpacketformat1910.1.1SessionOpenformat(SO)1910.1.2Openconfirmformat(OC)2010.1.3SessionClose(SC)2110.2Datapacketformat2111.SECURITYCONSIDERATIONS2212.AUTHOR’SADDRESS2213.FULLCOPYRIGHTSTATEMENT231.IntroductionTheairlinecommunityhasbeenusingaworldwidedatanetworkforover40years,withtwomaintypesoftraffic:TransactionaltrafficThisisusedtypicallyforcommunicationbetweenanairlineofficeortravelagencyandacentralcomputersystemforseatreservationsandticketissuing.AdumbterminaloraPCaccessesthecentralsystem(IBMorUNISYS)throughadatanetwork.ThistrafficisalsocalledTYPEAandisbasedonreal-timequery/responsewithlimitedprotection,highpriorityandcanbediscarded.Theusercanaccessonlyonepredeterminedcentralcomputersystem.Incaseofnoresponse(dataloss),theusercanduplicatetherequest.MessagingThisisane-mailapplicationwherereal-timeisnotneeded.Howeverahighlevelofprotectionisrequired.TheaddressingschemeusesaninternationalformatdefinedbyIATAandcontainsthecityandairlinecodes.ThistrafficisalsocalledTYPEBandistransmittedwithahighlevelofprotection,multi-addressingand4levelsofpriority.ThedetailedformatsforTYPEAandTYPEBmessagesaredefinedintheIATAstandards.RobertInformational[Page2]RFC2351MATIPMay1998Atthebottomlevel,synchronousprotocolshavebeenbuiltsince1960’sandwellbeforetheOSIandSNAstandards.Atpresent,thereisabignumberoflegacyequipmentinstalledinthousandsofairlineofficesaroundtheworld.Manyairlinesdonothaveimmediateplanstoreplacetheirterminalswithmoremodernequipmentusingopenstandards.Theyareinsearchofmoreeconomicalwaysforconnectingtheseterminalstothepresentreservationsystem.Mostairlinesarewillingtomigratefromairlinespecificprotocolstostandardizedprotocolsinordertobenefitfromthelowercostofnewtechnologies,butthemigrationhasbeenslowdonetothefollowingfactors:-Applicationshavenotbeenmigrated.-DumbterminalsusingairlineprotocolsP1024B(IBMALC)orP1024C(UNISYSUTS)arestillnumerous.Therearecurrentlymanydifferentproprietarysolutionsbasedongatewaysavailabletotakeadvantageoflowcastnetworking,buttheyarenotscalableandcannotinteract.Inthefuture,TCP/IPwillbemorecommonlyusedasacommontransportmeansfortraffictypesbecause:-TCP/IPisthestandardprotocolofUNIXbasedapplications-TCP/IPstacksareinexpensive-TCP/IPisusedonintranets.ThepurposeofthisRFCistodefinethemappingoftheairlinetraffictypesoverTCP/IP.TheairlinesimplementingitintheirsystemsshouldhaveaTCP/IPstacktoenablethetrafficexchangebelow:RobertInformational[Page3]RFC2351MATIPMay1998!----!()!!----------()!----!()TypeBHOST(NETWORK)()()!---o!----!()--------!D!---oTypeAstations!----!----------()!---o!----!()TYPEAHOST!!!!--------!!--------NetworkMessagingSystem(D):GatewayTYPEArouterThedifferentairlinetrafficflowsconcernedbythisRFCare:-TYPEAHost/Terminal-TYPEAHost/TYPEAhost-TYPEBHost/NetworkmessagingSystemInthecaseofdumbterminals,aconversionisrequiredontheterminalsideinordertohaveanIPconnectionbetweenthehostandtherouter.However,theIPconnectionisdirectlybetweenthecentralairlinehostandtheintelligentworkstationifthelatterhasadirectconnectiontothenetwork,aTCP/IPstackandaterminalemulation2.Terminology&AcronymsALCAirlineLineControl:IBMairlinespecificprotocol(seeP1024B)ASCIIAmericanStandardCodeforInformationInterchangeASCUAgentSetControlUnit:Clusterattheuserside.AX.25AirlineX.25:AirlineapplicationoftheX.25OSImodel(publishedbyIATA)RobertInformational[Page4]RFC2351MATIPMay1998BAUDOTAlphabetdefinedinITU-TNumber5.BAUDOTuses5bits.PaddedBAUDOTuses7bitswiththeMostsignificantbit(bit7)fortheparityandthebit6equalto1.BATAPTypeBApplicationtoApplicationProtocol.ProtocoltosecuretheTYPEBtraffic.ItwasspecifiedbySITAandisnowpublishedby