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+Network Working Group M. Crawford
+Request for Comments: 2673 Fermilab
+Category: Standards Track August 1999
+
+
+ Binary Labels in the Domain Name System
+
+Status of this Memo
+
+ This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
+ Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
+ improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
+ Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
+ and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
+
+Copyright Notice
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
+
+1. Introduction and Terminology
+
+ This document defines a "Bit-String Label" which may appear within
+ domain names. This new label type compactly represents a sequence of
+ "One-Bit Labels" and enables resource records to be stored at any
+ bit-boundary in a binary-named section of the domain name tree.
+
+ The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
+ "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
+ document are to be interpreted as described in [KWORD].
+
+2. Motivation
+
+ Binary labels are intended to efficiently solve the problem of
+ storing data and delegating authority on arbitrary boundaries when
+ the structure of underlying name space is most naturally represented
+ in binary.
+
+3. Label Format
+
+ Up to 256 One-Bit Labels can be grouped into a single Bit-String
+ Label. Within a Bit-String Label the most significant or "highest
+ level" bit appears first. This is unlike the ordering of DNS labels
+ themselves, which has the least significant or "lowest level" label
+ first. Nonetheless, this ordering seems to be the most natural and
+ efficient for representing binary labels.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Crawford Standards Track [Page 1]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+ Among consecutive Bit-String Labels, the bits in the first-appearing
+ label are less significant or "at a lower level" than the bits in
+ subsequent Bit-String Labels, just as ASCII labels are ordered.
+
+3.1. Encoding
+
+ 0 1 2
+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 . . .
+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-//+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+ |0 1| ELT | Count | Label ... |
+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+//-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+
+ (Each tic mark represents one bit.)
+
+
+ ELT 000001 binary, the six-bit extended label type [EDNS0]
+ assigned to the Bit-String Label.
+
+ Count The number of significant bits in the Label field. A Count
+ value of zero indicates that 256 bits are significant.
+ (Thus the null label representing the DNS root cannot be
+ represented as a Bit String Label.)
+
+ Label The bit string representing a sequence of One-Bit Labels,
+ with the most significant bit first. That is, the One-Bit
+ Label in position 17 in the diagram above represents a
+ subdomain of the domain represented by the One-Bit Label in
+ position 16, and so on.
+
+ The Label field is padded on the right with zero to seven
+ pad bits to make the entire field occupy an integral number
+ of octets. These pad bits MUST be zero on transmission and
+ ignored on reception.
+
+ A sequence of bits may be split into two or more Bit-String Labels,
+ but the division points have no significance and need not be
+ preserved. An excessively clever server implementation might split
+ Bit-String Labels so as to maximize the effectiveness of message
+ compression [DNSIS]. A simpler server might divide Bit-String Labels
+ at zone boundaries, if any zone boundaries happen to fall between
+ One-Bit Labels.
+
+3.2. Textual Representation
+
+ A Bit-String Label is represented in text -- in a zone file, for
+ example -- as a <bit-spec> surrounded by the delimiters "\[" and "]".
+ The <bit-spec> is either a dotted quad or a base indicator and a
+ sequence of digits appropriate to that base, optionally followed by a
+
+
+
+Crawford Standards Track [Page 2]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+ slash and a length. The base indicators are "b", "o" and "x",
+ denoting base 2, 8 and 16 respectively. The length counts the
+ significant bits and MUST be between 1 and 32, inclusive, after a
+ dotted quad, or between 1 and 256, inclusive, after one of the other
+ forms. If the length is omitted, the implicit length is 32 for a
+ dotted quad or 1, 3 or 4 times the number of binary, octal or
+ hexadecimal digits supplied, respectively, for the other forms.
+
+ In augmented Backus-Naur form [ABNF],
+
+ bit-string-label = "\[" bit-spec "]"
+
+ bit-spec = bit-data [ "/" length ]
+ / dotted-quad [ "/" slength ]
+
+ bit-data = "x" 1*64HEXDIG
+ / "o" 1*86OCTDIG
+ / "b" 1*256BIT
+
+ dotted-quad = decbyte "." decbyte "." decbyte "." decbyte
+
+ decbyte = 1*3DIGIT
+
+ length = NZDIGIT *2DIGIT
+
+ slength = NZDIGIT [ DIGIT ]
+
+ OCTDIG = %x30-37
+
+ NZDIGIT = %x31-39
+
+ If a <length> is present, the number of digits in the <bit-data> MUST
+ be just sufficient to contain the number of bits specified by the
+ <length>. If there are insignificant bits in a final hexadecimal or
+ octal digit, they MUST be zero. A <dotted-quad> always has all four
+ parts even if the associated <slength> is less than 24, but, like the
+ other forms, insignificant bits MUST be zero.
+
+ Each number represented by a <decbyte> must be between 0 and 255,
+ inclusive.
+
+ The number represented by <length> must be between 1 and 256
+ inclusive.
+
+ The number represented by <slength> must be between 1 and 32
+ inclusive.
+
+
+
+
+
+Crawford Standards Track [Page 3]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+ When the textual form of a Bit-String Label is generated by machine,
+ the length SHOULD be explicit, not implicit.
+
+3.2.1. Examples
+
+ The following four textual forms represent the same Bit-String Label.
+
+ \[b11010000011101]
+ \[o64072/14]
+ \[xd074/14]
+ \[208.116.0.0/14]
+
+ The following represents two consecutive Bit-String Labels which
+ denote the same relative point in the DNS tree as any of the above
+ single Bit-String Labels.
+
+ \[b11101].\[o640]
+
+3.3. Canonical Representation and Sort Order
+
+ Both the wire form and the text form of binary labels have a degree
+ of flexibility in their grouping into multiple consecutive Bit-String
+ Labels. For generating and checking DNS signature records [DNSSEC]
+ binary labels must be in a predictable form. This canonical form is
+ defined as the form which has the fewest possible Bit-String Labels
+ and in which all except possibly the first (least significant) label
+ in any sequence of consecutive Bit-String Labels is of maximum
+ length.
+
+ For example, the canonical form of any sequence of up to 256 One-Bit
+ Labels has a single Bit-String Label, and the canonical form of a
+ sequence of 513 to 768 One-Bit Labels has three Bit-String Labels of
+ which the second and third contain 256 label bits.
+
+ The canonical sort order of domain names [DNSSEC] is extended to
+ encompass binary labels as follows. Sorting is still label-by-label,
+ from most to least significant, where a label may now be a One-Bit
+ Label or a standard (code 00) label. Any One-Bit Label sorts before
+ any standard label, and a 0 bit sorts before a 1 bit. The absence of
+ a label sorts before any label, as specified in [DNSSEC].
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Crawford Standards Track [Page 4]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+ For example, the following domain names are correctly sorted.
+
+ foo.example
+ \[b1].foo.example
+ \[b100].foo.example
+ \[b101].foo.example
+ bravo.\[b10].foo.example
+ alpha.foo.example
+
+4. Processing Rules
+
+ A One-Bit Label never matches any other kind of label. In
+ particular, the DNS labels represented by the single ASCII characters
+ "0" and "1" do not match One-Bit Labels represented by the bit values
+ 0 and 1.
+
+5. Discussion
+
+ A Count of zero in the wire-form represents a 256-bit sequence, not
+ to optimize that particular case, but to make it completely
+ impossible to have a zero-bit label.
+
+6. IANA Considerations
+
+ This document defines one Extended Label Type, termed the Bit-String
+ Label, and requests registration of the code point 000001 binary in
+ the space defined by [EDNS0].
+
+7. Security Considerations
+
+ All security considerations which apply to traditional ASCII DNS
+ labels apply equally to binary labels. he canonicalization and
+ sorting rules of section 3.3 allow these to be addressed by DNS
+ Security [DNSSEC].
+
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+Crawford Standards Track [Page 5]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+8. References
+
+ [ABNF] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
+ Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.
+
+ [DNSIS] Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
+ specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.
+
+ [DNSSEC] Eastlake, D., 3rd, C. Kaufman, "Domain Name System Security
+ Extensions", RFC 2065, January 1997
+
+ [EDNS0] Vixie, P., "Extension mechanisms for DNS (EDNS0)", RFC 2671,
+ August 1999.
+
+ [KWORD] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
+ Requirement Levels," BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
+
+9. Author's Address
+
+ Matt Crawford
+ Fermilab MS 368
+ PO Box 500
+ Batavia, IL 60510
+ USA
+
+ Phone: +1 630 840-3461
+ EMail: crawdad@fnal.gov
+
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+Crawford Standards Track [Page 6]
+
+RFC 2673 Binary Labels in the Domain Name System August 1999
+
+
+10. Full Copyright Statement
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
+
+ This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
+ others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
+ or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
+ and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
+ kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
+ included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
+ document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
+ the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
+ Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
+ developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
+ copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
+ followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
+ English.
+
+ The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
+ revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
+
+ This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
+ "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
+ TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
+ BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
+ HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+ MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Acknowledgement
+
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
+ Internet Society.
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+Crawford Standards Track [Page 7]
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