Markdown Version | Session Recording

Session Date/Time: 05 Nov 2025 17:00

DRIP Session - IETF 124 Meeting Minutes

Summary

The DRIP working group meeting focused on the evolving landscape of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) regulations and the critical role of DRIP standards in ensuring the trustworthiness of air domain awareness data. Key discussions included the impact of new Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) regulations from Canada and the US, the need for international harmonization through bodies like Dronesquad, and how DRIP Entity Tags (DETs) are central to securing new aviation communication standards. The session also addressed the ongoing need for IETF engagement with aviation-focused Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and the future scope of the DRIP working group, including a call for adoption of new drafts and a mechanism for IETF-ICAO collaboration.

Key Discussion Points

• Regulatory Developments and Harmonization (Stu)

  • New regulations for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS), and shielded operations for medium-sized UAS recently went into effect in Canada.
  • The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Security Agency (TSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to normalize routine BVLOS operations, emphasizing performance-based regulations.
  • New mandatory requirements highlighted include:
    • Strategic Deconfliction: Pre-flight network-based deconfliction of 4D airspace volumes.
    • Conformance Monitoring: In-flight adherence to flight plans, requiring automated data services.
    • Secure Flight Data: Confidentiality and integrity measures for collected flight data.
    • Automated Data Service Providers (ADSPs): A newly recognized entity for managing and transporting flight data, requiring interoperability, safeguards, authentication, non-repudiation, and equitability.
  • International harmonization efforts are critical due to the slow pace of ICAO convergence. The Dronesquad consortium (Brazil, Canada, EU, US) facilitates faster standard development, with Japan and the UK expressing interest in alignment.
  • DRIP standards are crucial for enhancing trustworthiness in air domain awareness, including Remote ID, ADSB, and trajectory intent messages, by bringing modern cryptographic and network capabilities to aviation SDOs.
  • Stu identified two key missing pieces for DRIP to fully support regulatory needs:
    1. A process specification for populating and querying registries, including private registration and certificate issuance.
    2. A single point of entry/system specification document to guide aviation regulators and SDOs in citing DRIP RFCs.
  • A discussion arose about the nature of these documents: whether they should be RFCs (e.g., Best Current Practice) or lighter-weight artifacts like blog posts or wiki pages, given IETF's typical scope and ICAO's preference for citing formal standards.

• DRIP's Future Scope and SDO Coordination (Bob)

  • DRIP successfully addressed a technology gap in ASTM 3411 by enabling secure authentication for Remote ID.
  • Ongoing coordination with ASTM includes operator privacy, new FAA Part 108/140 proposals, and A2X/DAA efforts. ASTM is interested in referencing DRIP work.
  • ICAO coordination involves certificate profiles (e.g., X.509 profiles in DRIP DKI drafts) and integration with NAV/SUR panels (e.g., ESPAS, ADSB).
  • Canada's new network Remote ID (RID) requirements (3499) define the need but not "how to," indicating a role for DRIP.
  • Bob advocated for DRIP to continue its work, emphasizing that the industry is moving beyond the original charter's scope (e.g., crowdsourced ADSB, SHIK).
  • Jim Neat raised concerns about re-chartering, suggesting the working group might be winding down and that liaison mechanisms with ICAO might be better handled via individual RFCs or a formal IETF-wide liaison rather than a dedicated working group.
  • An ICAO representative (Michael Kay) clarified that ICAO prefers to reference formal RFCs to avoid drift from copy-pasting and generally leverages existing IETF work.

• Trustworthy Air Domain Awareness (TADA) (Adam Whitaker)

  • Adam introduced Trustworthy Air Domain Awareness (TADA) as an ideology promoting standards and practices to improve trust and assurance in domains, starting with UAS.
  • TADA leverages DRIP Entity Tags (DETs) from RFC 9374 and associated drafts (e.g., debt DNS draft).
  • A "Con-Ops for using DETs in the Aviation Ecosystem" document addresses the need for public interfaces for management entities, means of compliance for regulators, and alignment with Dronesquad criteria.
  • The drip-registries-dnsparam document, defining DRIP DNS parameters, is in the RFC editor queue, with IANA having cleared code points and set up the prefix reverse zone.
  • Adam requested working group adoption for a TADA document, initially a large scope covering registration, query, X.509 profiles, and ecosystem aspects. He proposed splitting it into three documents: an interface document, an X.509 profile document, and a Con-Ops document.
  • It was clarified that ICAO prefers standards track RFCs, not informational or experimental documents (which are typically the output of independent submissions), reinforcing the need for working group adoption.
  • Adam also mentioned a "Crowdsourced Air Domain Awareness" (CSADA) draft as an expansion of the CS-RID concept.

• ICAO Omni Interface and DRIP Entity Tags (Fred G. Baker)

  • Fred presented on ICAO Liaison Statement 1676 (March 2020), which requested IETF development of an overlay multilink network interface for Aeronautical Telecommunications Network with Internet Protocol Services (ATNIPS).
  • This "Omni Interface" is a non-broadcast, access virtual IPv6 interface configured over multiple underlay wireless radio interfaces on aircraft.
  • It requires a single, globally unique, topology-independent IPv6 address.
  • The DRIP Entity Tag (DET) from RFC 9374 was identified as a strong candidate for a "Multilink Local Address" (mLA) due to its addressing properties.
  • The work on the Omni interface has matured and is now ready for IETF adoption.

• Brazil's UTM Implementation (Andramelo)

  • Brazil's Institute of Technology for Aeronautics (ITA) presented its roadmap for UTM implementations.
  • Brazil has an existing internal solution registering nearly 0.5 million drone operations per year, but it's not scalable.
  • They are transitioning to an inter-USS (Linux Software Foundation) solution implementing ASTM standards, where DRIP would play a direct role between operators and drones.
  • Field tests have been conducted, and regulations are being updated to mandate ASTM standards.
  • A measurement procedure at the upcoming Formula 1 Grand Prix in Brazil will test the SDSP standard for capturing and sharing drone positions via Remote ID.

• Transport Canada Perspective (Owen Pearson)

  • Transport Canada is interested in a variety of means of compliance for performance-based Remote ID.
  • They anticipate future security-sensitive UAS operations will benefit from and potentially require enhanced spoofing, non-repudiation, authentication, and privacy protections, where DRIP's work will be a key contributor.

• PKI Expertise for DRIP (John Gray)

  • John Gray (from PKI/X.509 background) offered to assist with challenges related to PKI in highly constrained network environments relevant to DRIP.

Decisions and Action Items

• Action Item: Adam Whitaker will post to the DRIP mailing list to solicit feedback on whether to proceed with his TADA document as a single, comprehensive document or to split it into multiple, more focused documents (e.g., interface, X.509 profile, Con-Ops).

Next Steps

• Working Group Discussion: Engage in the mailing list discussion regarding Adam Whitaker's TADA document(s) and the proposed split.
• Liaison and Charter Review: The chairs and Area Director will further consider the long-term engagement strategy with ICAO and other SDOs, and the implications for DRIP's charter (e.g., re-chartering, formal liaison mechanisms, or winding down).
• DET Adoption: Further explore the integration and potential adoption of DRIP Entity Tags (DETs) for ICAO's Omni Interface and Multilink Local Addresses (mLAs).
• Community Engagement: Encourage new participants, particularly those with PKI/X.509 expertise, to engage with the DRIP mailing list and current drafts.
• Hackathon/Plugfest: Consider holding a hackathon or plugfest at a future IETF meeting to test the technical components of Adam's proposed documents.