diff --git a/draft-ietf-sframe-enc.md b/draft-ietf-sframe-enc.md
index 3c10d84..7142dc4 100644
--- a/draft-ietf-sframe-enc.md
+++ b/draft-ietf-sframe-enc.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
---
-title: Secure Frame (SFrame)
+title: "Secure Frame (SFrame): Lightweight Authenticated Encryption for Real-Time Media"
abbrev: SFrame
docname: draft-ietf-sframe-enc-latest
category: std
@@ -7,67 +7,54 @@ category: std
ipr: trust200902
stream: IETF
area: "Applications and Real-Time"
-keyword: Internet-Draft
+wg: sframe
+keyword:
+ - security
+ - real-time media encryption
+ - end-to-end encryption
v: 3
-venue:
- group: "Secure Media Frames"
- type: "Working Group"
- mail: "sframe@ietf.org"
- arch: "https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/sframe/"
- github: "sframe-wg/sframe"
- latest: "https://sframe-wg.github.io/sframe/draft-ietf-sframe-enc.html"
author:
-
- ins: E. Omara
name: Emad Omara
organization: Apple
email: eomara@apple.com
-
- ins: J. Uberti
name: Justin Uberti
- organization: Google
- email: juberti@google.com
+ organization: Fixie.ai
+ email: justin@fixie.ai
-
- ins: S. Murillo
name: Sergio Garcia Murillo
organization: CoSMo Software
email: sergio.garcia.murillo@cosmosoftware.io
-
- ins: R.L. Barnes
- name: Richard L. Barnes
+ name: Richard Barnes
organization: Cisco
email: rlb@ipv.sx
role: editor
-
- ins: Y. Fablet
name: Youenn Fablet
organization: Apple
email: youenn@apple.com
contributor:
-
- ins: F. Jacobs
- name: Frederic Jacobs
+ name: Frédéric Jacobs
organization: Apple
email: frederic.jacobs@apple.com
-
- ins: M. Mularczyk
name: Marta Mularczyk
organization: Amazon
email: mulmarta@amazon.com
-
- ins: S. Nandakumar
name: Suhas Nandakumar
organization: Cisco
email: snandaku@cisco.com
-
- ins: T. Rigaux
name: Tomas Rigaux
organization: Cisco
email: trigaux@cisco.com
-
- ins: R. Robert
name: Raphael Robert
organization: Phoenix R&D
email: ietf@raphaelrobert.com
@@ -75,32 +62,32 @@ contributor:
informative:
TestVectors:
title: "SFrame Test Vectors"
- target: https://github.com/eomara/sframe/blob/master/test-vectors.json
- date: 2023
+ refcontent: commit 025d568
+ target: https://github.com/sframe-wg/sframe/blob/025d568/test-vectors/test-vectors.json
+ date: 2023-09
--- abstract
This document describes the Secure Frame (SFrame) end-to-end encryption and
authentication mechanism for media frames in a multiparty conference call, in
-which central media servers (selective forwarding units or SFUs) can access the
+which central media servers (Selective Forwarding Units or SFUs) can access the
media metadata needed to make forwarding decisions without having access to the
actual media.
-The proposed mechanism differs from the Secure Real-Time Protocol (SRTP) in that
+This mechanism differs from the Secure Real-Time Protocol (SRTP) in that
it is independent of RTP (thus compatible with non-RTP media transport) and can
be applied to whole media frames in order to be more bandwidth efficient.
--- middle
-
# Introduction
-Modern multi-party video call systems use Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU)
+Modern multiparty video call systems use Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU)
servers to efficiently route media streams to call endpoints based on factors such
as available bandwidth, desired video size, codec support, and other factors. An
SFU typically does not need access to the media content of the conference,
-allowing for the media to be "end-to-end" encrypted so that it cannot be
+which allows the media to be encrypted "end to end" so that it cannot be
decrypted by the SFU. In order for the SFU to work properly, though, it usually
needs to be able to access RTP metadata and RTCP feedback messages, which is not
possible if all RTP/RTCP traffic is end-to-end encrypted.
@@ -124,24 +111,20 @@ of transport.
# Terminology
-The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
-"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
-"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
-BCP 14 {{!RFC2119}} {{!RFC8174}} when, and only when, they appear in all
-capitals, as shown here.
+{::boilerplate bcp14-tagged}
MAC:
: Message Authentication Code
E2EE:
-: End to End Encryption
+: End-to-End Encryption
HBH:
-: Hop By Hop
+: Hop-by-Hop
We use "Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU)" and "media stream" in a less formal sense
than in {{?RFC7656}}. An SFU is a selective switching function for media
-payloads, and a media stream a sequence of media payloads, in both cases
+payloads, and a media stream is a sequence of media payloads,
regardless of whether those media payloads are transported over RTP or some
other protocol.
@@ -159,11 +142,12 @@ media in a broad range of scenarios, as outlined by the following goals:
3. Minimize packet expansion to allow successful conferencing in as many
network conditions as possible.
-4. Independence from the underlying transport, including use in non-RTP
- transports, e.g., WebTransport {{?I-D.ietf-webtrans-overview}}.
+4. Decouple the media encryption framework from the underlying transport,
+ allowing use in non-RTP, e.g., WebTransport
+ {{?I-D.ietf-webtrans-overview}}.
-5. When used with RTP and its associated error resilience mechanisms, i.e., RTX
- and FEC, require no special handling for RTX and FEC packets.
+5. When used with RTP and its associated error-resilience mechanisms, i.e., RTX
+ and Forward Error Correction (FEC), require no special handling for RTX and FEC packets.
6. Minimize the changes needed in SFU servers.
@@ -177,7 +161,7 @@ media in a broad range of scenarios, as outlined by the following goals:
This document defines an encryption mechanism that provides effective E2EE,
is simple to implement, has no dependencies on RTP, and minimizes
encryption bandwidth overhead. This section describes how the mechanism
-works, including details of how applications utilize SFrame for media protection,
+works and includes details of how applications utilize SFrame for media protection
as well as the actual mechanics of E2EE for protecting media.
## Application Context
@@ -187,27 +171,27 @@ layer over an underlying HBH-encrypted transport such as SRTP or QUIC
{{RFC3711}}{{?I-D.ietf-moq-transport}}.
The scale at which SFrame encryption is applied to media determines the overall
-amount of overhead that SFrame adds to the media stream, as well as the
+amount of overhead that SFrame adds to the media stream as well as the
engineering complexity involved in integrating SFrame into a particular
-environment. Two patterns are common: Either using SFrame to encrypt whole
-media frames (per-frame) or individual transport-level media payloads
-(per-packet).
+environment. Two patterns are common: using SFrame to encrypt either whole
+media frames (per frame) or individual transport-level media payloads
+(per packet).
For example, {{media-stack}} shows a typical media sender stack that takes media
from some source, encodes it into frames, divides those frames into media
packets, and then sends those payloads in SRTP packets. The receiver stack
performs the reverse operations, reassembling frames from SRTP packets and
decoding. Arrows indicate two different ways that SFrame protection could be
-integrated into this media stack, to encrypt whole frames or individual media
+integrated into this media stack: to encrypt whole frames or individual media
packets.
-Applying SFrame per-frame in this system offers higher efficiency, but may
+Applying SFrame per frame in this system offers higher efficiency but may
require a more complex integration in environments where depacketization relies
-on the content of media packets. Applying SFrame per-packet avoids this
-complexity, at the cost of higher bandwidth consumption. Some quantitative
+on the content of media packets. Applying SFrame per packet avoids this
+complexity at the cost of higher bandwidth consumption. Some quantitative
discussion of these trade-offs is provided in {{overhead-analysis}}.
-As noted above, however, SFrame is a general media encapsulation, and can be
+As noted above, however, SFrame is a general media encapsulation and can be
applied in other scenarios. The important thing is that the sender and
receivers of an SFrame-encrypted object agree on that object's semantics.
SFrame does not provide this agreement; it must be arranged by the application.
@@ -223,7 +207,7 @@ SFrame does not provide this agreement; it must be arranged by the application.
/ + \ | | | ^ | |
/ \ | SFrame SFrame | | |
/ \ | Protect Protect | | |
-Alice | (per-frame) (per-packet) | | |
+Alice | (per frame) (per packet) | | |
| ^ ^ | | |
| | | | | |
+---------------|-------------------|---------|--------+ |
@@ -238,7 +222,7 @@ Alice | (per-frame) (per-packet) | | |
| V V | | |
.-. | SFrame SFrame | | |
| | | Unprotect Unprotect | | |
- '+' | (per-frame) (per-packet) | | |
+ '+' | (per frame) (per packet) | | |
/|\ | | | V | |
/ + \ | +--------+ | +-------------+ | +-----------+ | |
/ \ | | | V | | V | HBH | | |
@@ -248,19 +232,19 @@ Alice | (per-frame) (per-packet) | | |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------+
~~~
-{: #media-stack "Two options for integrating SFrame in a typical media stack" }
+{: #media-stack title="Two Options for Integrating SFrame in a Typical Media Stack" }
Like SRTP, SFrame does not define how the keys used for SFrame are exchanged by
the parties in the conference. Keys for SFrame might be distributed over an
-existing E2E-secure channel (see {{sender-keys}}), or derived from an E2E-secure
+existing E2E-secure channel (see {{sender-keys}}) or derived from an E2E-secure
shared secret (see {{mls}}). The key management system MUST ensure that each
-key used for encrypting media is used by exactly one media sender, in order to
+key used for encrypting media is used by exactly one media sender in order to
avoid reuse of nonces.
## SFrame Ciphertext
An SFrame ciphertext comprises an SFrame header followed by the output of an
-AEAD encryption of the plaintext {{!RFC5116}}, with the header provided as additional
+Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) encryption of the plaintext {{!RFC5116}}, with the header provided as additional
authenticated data (AAD).
The SFrame header is a variable-length structure described in detail in
@@ -287,9 +271,10 @@ are determined by the AEAD algorithm in use.
| |
+--- Encrypted Portion Authenticated Portion ---+
~~~
+{: #sframe-ciphertext-struct title="Structure of an SFrame Ciphertext" }
-When SFrame is applied per-packet, the payload of each packet will be an SFrame
-ciphertext. When SFrame is applied per-frame, the SFrame ciphertext
+When SFrame is applied per packet, the payload of each packet will be an SFrame
+ciphertext. When SFrame is applied per frame, the SFrame ciphertext
representing an encrypted frame will span several packets, with the header
appearing in the first packet and the authentication tag in the last packet.
It is the responsibility of the application to reassemble an encrypted frame from
@@ -304,7 +289,7 @@ derived:
* A counter (CTR) that is used to construct the nonce for the encryption
Applications MUST ensure that each (KID, CTR) combination is used for exactly
-one SFrame encryption operation. A typical approach to achieving this guarantee is
+one SFrame encryption operation. A typical approach to achieve this guarantee is
outlined in {{header-value-uniqueness}}.
~~~ aasvg
@@ -317,23 +302,23 @@ outlined in {{header-value-uniqueness}}.
|X| K |Y| C | KID... | CTR... |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------------+------------+
~~~
-{: #fig-sframe-header title="SFrame header"}
+{: #fig-sframe-header title="SFrame Header"}
-The SFrame Header has the overall structure shown in {{fig-sframe-header}}. The
+The SFrame header has the overall structure shown in {{fig-sframe-header}}. The
first byte is a "config byte", with the following fields:
-Extended Key Id Flag (X, 1 bit):
-: Indicates if the K field contains the key id or the Key ID length.
+Extended Key ID Flag (X, 1 bit):
+: Indicates if the K field contains the Key ID or the Key ID length.
Key or Key Length (K, 3 bits):
: If the X flag is set to 0, this field contains the Key ID. If the X flag is
set to 1, then it contains the length of the Key ID, minus one.
Extended Counter Flag (Y, 1 bit):
-: Indicates if the C field contains the counter or the counter length.
+: Indicates if the C field contains the Counter or the Counter length.
Counter or Counter Length (C, 3 bits):
-: This field contains the counter (CTR) if the Y flag is set to 0, or the counter
+: This field contains the Counter (CTR) if the Y flag is set to 0, or the counter
length, minus one, if set to 1.
The Key ID and Counter fields are encoded as compact unsigned integers in
@@ -341,7 +326,7 @@ network (big-endian) byte order. If the value of one of these fields is in the
range 0-7, then the value is carried in the corresponding bits of the config
byte (K or C) and the corresponding flag (X or Y) is set to zero. Otherwise,
the value MUST be encoded with the minimum number of bytes required and
-appended after the configuration byte, with the Key ID first and Counter second.
+appended after the config byte, with the Key ID first and Counter second.
The header field (K or C) is set to the number of bytes in the encoded value,
minus one. The value 000 represents a length of 1, 001 a length of 2, etc.
This allows a 3-bit length field to represent the value lengths 1-8.
@@ -391,7 +376,7 @@ aspects of the AEAD and the hash algorithm below:
size of a "tag" that is added to the plaintext)
* `AEAD.Nka` - For cipher suites using the compound AEAD described in
- {{aes-ctr-with-sha2}}, the size in bytes of a key for the underlying AES-CTR
+ {{aes-ctr-with-sha2}}, the size in bytes of a key for the underlying encryption
algorithm
* `Hash.Nh` - The size in bytes of the output of the hash function
@@ -412,12 +397,12 @@ be negotiated in a way that does not make them accessible to these intermediarie
For each known KID value, the client stores the corresponding symmetric key
`base_key`. For keys that can be used for encryption, the client also stores
-the next counter value CTR to be used when encrypting (initially 0).
+the next CTR value to be used when encrypting (initially 0).
When encrypting a plaintext, the application specifies which KID is to be used,
-and the counter is incremented after successful encryption. When decrypting,
+and the CTR value is incremented after successful encryption. When decrypting,
the `base_key` for decryption is selected from the available keys using the KID
-value in the SFrame Header.
+value in the SFrame header.
A given `base_key` MUST NOT be used for encryption by multiple senders. Such reuse
would result in multiple encrypted frames being generated with the same (key,
@@ -430,13 +415,13 @@ real-time session. In such cases, the client will need to manage key usage to
avoid media loss due to a key being used to encrypt before all receivers are
able to use it to decrypt. For example, an application may make decryption-only
keys available immediately, but delay the use of keys for encryption until (a)
-all receivers have acknowledged receipt of the new key or (b) a timeout expires.
+all receivers have acknowledged receipt of the new key, or (b) a timeout expires.
### Key Derivation
SFrame encryption and decryption use a key and salt derived from the `base_key`
-associated to a KID. Given a `base_key` value, the key and salt are derived
-using HKDF {{!RFC5869}} as follows:
+associated with a KID. Given a `base_key` value, the key and salt are derived
+using HMAC-based Key Derivation Function (HKDF) {{!RFC5869}} as follows:
~~~ pseudocode
def derive_key_salt(KID, base_key):
@@ -466,11 +451,11 @@ The hash function used for HKDF is determined by the cipher suite in use.
### Encryption
SFrame encryption uses the AEAD encryption algorithm for the cipher suite in use.
-The key for the encryption is the `sframe_key` and the nonce is formed by XORing
-the `sframe_salt` with the current counter, encoded as a big-endian integer of
+The key for the encryption is the `sframe_key`. The nonce is formed by first XORing
+the `sframe_salt` with the current CTR value, and then encoding the result as a big-endian integer of
length `AEAD.Nn`.
-The encryptor forms an SFrame header using the CTR, and KID values provided.
+The encryptor forms an SFrame header using the CTR and KID values provided.
The encoded header is provided as AAD to the AEAD encryption operation, together
with application-provided metadata about the encrypted media (see {{metadata}}).
@@ -478,13 +463,13 @@ with application-provided metadata about the encrypted media (see {{metadata}}).
def encrypt(CTR, KID, metadata, plaintext):
sframe_key, sframe_salt = key_store[KID]
- # encode_big_endian(x, n) produces an n-byte string encoding the integer x in
- # big-endian byte order.
+ # encode_big_endian(x, n) produces an n-byte string encoding the
+ # integer x in big-endian byte order.
ctr = encode_big_endian(CTR, AEAD.Nn)
nonce = xor(sframe_salt, CTR)
- # encode_sframe_header produces a byte string encoding the provided KID and
- # CTR values into an SFrame Header.
+ # encode_sframe_header produces a byte string encoding the
+ # provided KID and CTR values into an SFrame header.
header = encode_sframe_header(CTR, KID)
aad = header + metadata
@@ -493,9 +478,9 @@ def encrypt(CTR, KID, metadata, plaintext):
~~~
For example, the metadata input to encryption allows for frame metadata to be
-authenticated when SFrame is applied per-frame. After encoding the frame and
+authenticated when SFrame is applied per frame. After encoding the frame and
before packetizing it, the necessary media metadata will be moved out of the
-encoded frame buffer, to be sent in some channel visible to the SFU (e.g., an
+encoded frame buffer to be sent in some channel visible to the SFU (e.g., an
RTP header extension).
~~~ aasvg
@@ -541,11 +526,11 @@ Header | | KID | | |
### Decryption
Before decrypting, a receiver needs to assemble a full SFrame ciphertext. When
-an SFrame ciphertext may be fragmented into multiple parts for transport (e.g.,
+an SFrame ciphertext is fragmented into multiple parts for transport (e.g.,
a whole encrypted frame sent in multiple SRTP packets), the receiving client
collects all the fragments of the ciphertext, using appropriate sequencing
and start/end markers in the transport. Once all of the required fragments are
-available, the client reassembles them into the SFrame ciphertext, then passes
+available, the client reassembles them into the SFrame ciphertext and passes
the ciphertext to SFrame for decryption.
The KID field in the SFrame header is used to find the right key and salt for
@@ -571,7 +556,7 @@ once a key with that KID is received. If a ciphertext fails to decrypt for any
other reason, the client MUST discard the ciphertext. Invalid ciphertexts SHOULD be
discarded in a way that is indistinguishable (to an external observer) from having
processed a valid ciphertext. In other words, the SFrame decrypt operation
-should be constant-time, regardless of whether decryption succeeds or fails.
+should take the same amount of time regardless of whether decryption succeeds or fails.
~~~ aasvg
SFrame Ciphertext
@@ -634,20 +619,20 @@ This document defines the following cipher suites, with the constants defined in
| `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_32` | 32 | 16 | 48 | 12 | 4 |
| `AES_128_GCM_SHA256_128` | 32 | n/a | 16 | 12 | 16 |
| `AES_256_GCM_SHA512_128` | 64 | n/a | 32 | 12 | 16 |
-{: #cipher-suite-constants title="SFrame cipher suite constants" }
+{: #cipher-suite-constants title="SFrame Cipher Suite Constants" }
Numeric identifiers for these cipher suites are defined in the IANA registry
created in {{sframe-cipher-suites}}.
In the suite names, the length of the authentication tag is indicated by
-the last value: "\_128" indicates a hundred-twenty-eight-bit tag, "\_80" indicates
-an eighty-bit tag, "\_64" indicates a sixty-four-bit tag and "\_32" indicates a
-thirty-two-bit tag.
+the last value: "\_128" indicates a 128-bit tag, "\_80" indicates
+an 80-bit tag, "\_64" indicates a 64-bit tag, and "\_32" indicates a
+32-bit tag.
In a session that uses multiple media streams, different cipher suites might be
configured for different media streams. For example, in order to conserve
-bandwidth, a session might use a cipher suite with eighty-bit tags for video frames
-and another cipher suite with thirty-two-bit tags for audio frames.
+bandwidth, a session might use a cipher suite with 80-bit tags for video frames
+and another cipher suite with 32-bit tags for audio frames.
### AES-CTR with SHA2
@@ -658,7 +643,7 @@ authentication. We use an encrypt-then-MAC approach, as in SRTP {{?RFC3711}}.
Before encryption or decryption, encryption and authentication subkeys are
derived from the single AEAD key. The overall length of the AEAD key is `Nka +
Nh`, where `Nka` represents the key size for the AES block cipher in use and `Nh`
-represents the output size of the hash function (as in {{iana-cipher-suites}}).
+represents the output size of the hash function (as in {{encryption-schema}}).
The encryption subkey comprises the first `Nka` bytes and the authentication
subkey comprises the remaining `Nh` bytes.
@@ -723,18 +708,18 @@ framework, as described in {{key-management-framework}}.
## Sender Keys
-If the participants in a call have a pre-existing E2E-secure channel, they can
+If the participants in a call have a preexisting E2E-secure channel, they can
use it to distribute SFrame keys. Each client participating in a call generates
a fresh `base_key` value that it will use to encrypt media. The client then uses
the E2E-secure channel to send their encryption key to the other participants.
In this scheme, it is assumed that receivers have a signal outside of SFrame for
-which client has sent a given frame (e.g., an RTP SSRC). SFrame KID
+which client has sent a given frame (e.g., an RTP synchronization source (SSRC)). SFrame KID
values are then used to distinguish between versions of the sender's `base_key`.
-Key IDs in this scheme have two parts: a "key generation" and a "ratchet step".
+KID values in this scheme have two parts: a "key generation" and a "ratchet step".
Both are unsigned integers that begin at zero. The key generation increments
-each time the sender distributes a new key to receivers. The "ratchet step" is
+each time the sender distributes a new key to receivers. The ratchet step is
incremented each time the sender ratchets their key forward for forward secrecy:
~~~ pseudocode
@@ -748,9 +733,9 @@ its low-order `R` bits, where `R` is a value set by the application. Different
senders may use different values of `R`, but each receiver of a given sender
needs to know what value of `R` is used by the sender so that they can recognize
when they need to ratchet (vs. expecting a new key). `R` effectively defines a
-re-ordering window, since no more than 2`R` ratchet steps can be
+reordering window, since no more than 2`R` ratchet steps can be
active at a given time. The key generation is sent in the remaining `64 - R`
-bits of the key ID.
+bits of the KID.
~~~ pseudocode
KID = (key_generation << R) + (ratchet_step % (1 << R))
@@ -763,7 +748,7 @@ KID = (key_generation << R) + (ratchet_step % (1 << R))
| Key Generation | Ratchet Step |
+-----------------+--------------+
~~~
-{: #sender-keys-kid title="Structure of a KID in the Sender Keys scheme" }
+{: #sender-keys-kid title="Structure of a KID in the Sender Keys Scheme" }
The sender signals such a ratchet step update by sending with a KID value in
which the ratchet step has been incremented. A receiver who receives from a
@@ -776,7 +761,7 @@ from each sender (a) the current sender key for that sender and (b) the current
KID value for the sender. Evicting a participant requires each sender to send
a fresh sender key to all receivers.
-It is up to the application to decide when sender keys are updated. A sender
+It is the application's responsibility to decide when sender keys are updated. A sender
key may be updated by sending a new `base_key` (updating the key generation) or
by hashing the current `base_key` (updating the ratchet step). Ratcheting the
key forward is useful when adding new receivers to an SFrame-based interaction,
@@ -801,10 +786,10 @@ group.
To generate keys and nonces for SFrame, we use the MLS exporter function to
generate a `base_key` value for each MLS epoch. Each member of the group is
-assigned a set of KID values, so that each member has a unique `sframe_key` and
+assigned a set of KID values so that each member has a unique `sframe_key` and
`sframe_salt` that it uses to encrypt with. Senders may choose any KID value
within their assigned set of KID values, e.g., to allow a single sender to send
-multiple uncoordinated outbound media streams.
+multiple, uncoordinated outbound media streams.
~~~ pseudocode
base_key = MLS-Exporter("SFrame 1.0 Base Key", "", AEAD.Nk)
@@ -812,15 +797,15 @@ base_key = MLS-Exporter("SFrame 1.0 Base Key", "", AEAD.Nk)
For compactness, we do not send the whole epoch number. Instead, we send only
its low-order `E` bits, where `E` is a value set by the application. `E`
-effectively defines a re-ordering window, since no more than 2`E`
-epochs can be active at a given time. Receivers MUST be prepared for the epoch
-counter to roll over, removing an old epoch when a new epoch with the same E
-lower bits is introduced.
+effectively defines a reordering window, since no more than 2`E`
+epochs can be active at a given time. To handle rollover of the epoch counter,
+receivers MUST remove an old epoch when a new epoch with the same low-order
+E bits is introduced.
Let `S` be the number of bits required to encode a member index in the group,
i.e., the smallest value such that `group_size <= (1 << S)`. The sender index
is encoded in the `S` bits above the epoch. The remaining `64 - S - E` bits of
-the KID value are a `context` value chosen by the sender (context value `0` will
+the KID value are a `context` value chosen by the sender (`context` value `0` will
produce the shortest encoded KID).
~~~ pseudocode
@@ -838,7 +823,7 @@ KID = (context << (S + E)) + (sender_index << E) + (epoch % (1 << E))
Once an SFrame stack has been provisioned with the `sframe_epoch_secret` for an
epoch, it can compute the required KID values on demand (as well as the
-resulting SFrame keys/nonces derived from the `base_key` and KID), as it needs
+resulting SFrame keys/nonces derived from the `base_key` and KID) as it needs
to encrypt or decrypt for a given member.
~~~ aasvg
@@ -869,24 +854,24 @@ Epoch 17 +--+-- index=33 --> KID = 0x211
|
...
~~~
-{: #mls-evolution title="An example sequence of KIDs for an MLS-based SFrame
-session (E=4; S=6, allowing for 64 group members)" }
+{: #mls-evolution title="An Example Sequence of KIDs for an MLS-based SFrame
+Session (E=4; S=6, Allowing for 64 Group Members)" }
# Media Considerations
## Selective Forwarding Units
-Selective Forwarding Units (SFUs) (e.g., those described in {{Section 3.7 of
+SFUs (e.g., those described in {{Section 3.7 of
?RFC7667}}) receive the media streams from each participant and select which
ones should be forwarded to each of the other participants. There are several
approaches for stream selection, but in general, the SFU needs to access
-metadata associated to each frame and modify the RTP information of the incoming
+metadata associated with each frame and modify the RTP information of the incoming
packets when they are transmitted to the received participants.
-This section describes how this normal SFU modes of operation interact with the
+This section describes how these normal SFU modes of operation interact with the
E2EE provided by SFrame.
-### LastN and RTP stream reuse
+### RTP Stream Reuse
The SFU may choose to send only a certain number of streams based on the voice
activity of the participants. To avoid the overhead involved in establishing new
@@ -895,11 +880,12 @@ even pre-allocate a predefined number of streams and choose in each moment in
time which participant media will be sent through it.
This means that in the same transport-level stream (e.g., an RTP stream defined
-by either SSRC or MID) may carry media from different streams of different
-participants. As different keys are used by each participant for encoding their
-media, the receiver will be able to verify which is the sender of the media
-coming within the RTP stream at any given point in time, preventing the SFU
-trying to impersonate any of the participants with another participant's media.
+by either SSRC or Media Identification (MID)) may carry media from different
+streams of different participants. Because each participant uses a different key
+to encrypt their media, the receiver will be able to verify the sender of the
+media within the RTP stream at any given point in time. Thus the receiver will
+correctly associate the media with the sender indicated by the authenticated
+SFrame KID value, irrespective of how the SFU transmits the media to the client.
Note that in order to prevent impersonation by a malicious participant (not the
SFU), a mechanism based on digital signature would be required. SFrame does not
@@ -908,29 +894,29 @@ protect against such attacks.
### Simulcast
When using simulcast, the same input image will produce N different encoded
-frames (one per simulcast layer) which would be processed independently by the
-frame encryptor and assigned an unique counter for each.
+frames (one per simulcast layer), which would be processed independently by the
+frame encryptor and assigned an unique CTR value for each.
-### SVC
+### Scalable Video Coding (SVC)
In both temporal and spatial scalability, the SFU may choose to drop layers in
-order to match a certain bitrate or forward specific media sizes or frames per
+order to match a certain bitrate or to forward specific media sizes or frames per
second. In order to support the SFU selectively removing layers, the sender MUST
encapsulate each layer in a different SFrame ciphertext.
## Video Key Frames
-Forward Security and Post-Compromise Security require that the E2EE keys (base keys)
+Forward security and post-compromise security require that the E2EE keys (base keys)
are updated any time a participant joins or leaves the call.
The key exchange happens asynchronously and on a different path than the SFU signaling
and media. So it may happen that when a new participant joins the call and the
SFU side requests a key frame, the sender generates the E2EE frame
-with a key not known by the receiver, so it will be discarded. When the sender
+with a key that is not known by the receiver, so it will be discarded. When the sender
updates his sending key with the new key, it will send it in a non-key frame, so
the receiver will be able to decrypt it, but not decode it.
-The new Receiver will then re-request a key frame, but due to sender and SFU
+The new receiver will then re-request a key frame, but due to sender and SFU
policies, that new key frame could take some time to be generated.
If the sender sends a key frame after the new E2EE key is in use, the time
@@ -938,22 +924,22 @@ required for the new participant to display the video is minimized.
Note that this issue does not arise for media streams that do not have
dependencies among frames, e.g., audio streams. In these streams, each frame is
-independently decodeable, so there is never a need to process two frames
-together which might be on two sides of a key rotation.
+independently decodable, so there is never a need to process together two frames
+that might be on two sides of a key rotation.
## Partial Decoding
Some codecs support partial decoding, where individual packets can be decoded
-without waiting for the full frame to arrive. When SFrame is applied per-frame,
-this won't be possible because the decoder cannot access data until an entire
+without waiting for the full frame to arrive. When SFrame is applied per frame,
+partial decoding is not possible because the decoder cannot access data until an entire
frame has arrived and has been decrypted.
# Security Considerations
## No Header Confidentiality
-SFrame provides integrity protection to the SFrame Header (the key ID and
-counter values), but does not provide confidentiality protection. Parties that
+SFrame provides integrity protection to the SFrame header (the KID and
+CTR values), but it does not provide confidentiality protection. Parties that
can observe the SFrame header may learn, for example, which parties are sending
SFrame payloads (from KID values) and at what rates (from CTR values). In cases
where SFrame is used for end-to-end security on top of hop-by-hop protections
@@ -969,24 +955,24 @@ receiver also has the keys required to encrypt packets for the sender.
## Key Management
-Key exchange mechanism is out of scope of this document, however every client
-SHOULD change their keys when new clients joins or leaves the call for forward
-secrecy and post compromise security.
+The specifics of key management are beyond the scope of this document. However, every client
+SHOULD change their keys when new clients join or leave the call for forward
+secrecy and post-compromise security.
## Replay
The handling of replay is out of the scope of this document. However, senders
-MUST reject requests to encrypt multiple times with the same key and nonce,
+MUST reject requests to encrypt multiple times with the same key and nonce
since several AEAD algorithms fail badly in such cases (see, e.g., {{Section 5.1.1 of RFC5116}}).
-## Risks due to Short Tags
+## Risks Due to Short Tags
-The SFrame ciphersuites based on AES-CTR allow for the use of short
+The SFrame cipher suites based on AES-CTR allow for the use of short
authentication tags, which bring a higher risk that an attacker will be
able to cause an SFrame receiver to accept an SFrame ciphertext of the
attacker's choosing.
-Assuming that the authentication properties of the ciphersuite are robust, the
+Assuming that the authentication properties of the cipher suite are robust, the
only attack that an attacker can mount is an attempt to find an acceptable
(ciphertext, tag) combination through brute force. Such a brute-force attack
will have an expected success rate of the following form:
@@ -995,10 +981,10 @@ will have an expected success rate of the following form:
attacker_success_rate = attempts_per_second / 2^(8*Nt)
```
-For example, a gigabit ethernet connection is able to transmit roughly 2^20
+For example, a gigabit Ethernet connection is able to transmit roughly 220
packets per second. If an attacker saturated such a link with guesses against a
32-bit authentication tag (`Nt=4`), then the attacker would succeed on average
-roughly once every 2^12 seconds, or about once an hour.
+roughly once every 212 seconds, or about once an hour.
In a typical SFrame usage in a real-time media application, there are a few
approaches to mitigating this risk:
@@ -1015,91 +1001,86 @@ approaches to mitigating this risk:
settings, e.g., mitigating brute-force attacks on passwords.
* Media applications typically do not provide feedback to media senders as to
- which media packets failed to decrypt. When media quality feedback
+ which media packets failed to decrypt. When media-quality feedback
mechanisms are used, decryption failures will typically appear as packet
losses, but only at an aggregate level.
-* Anti-replay mechanisms (see {{replay}}) prevent the attacker from re-using
+* Anti-replay mechanisms (see {{replay}}) prevent the attacker from reusing
valid ciphertexts (either observed or guessed by the attacker). A receiver
applying anti-replay controls will only accept one valid plaintext per CTR
value. Since the CTR value is covered by SFrame authentication, an attacker
has to do a fresh search for a valid tag for every forged ciphertext, even if
- the encrypted content is unchanged. In other words, when the above brute
- force attack succeeds, it only allows the attacker to send a single SFrame
+ the encrypted content is unchanged. In other words, when the above brute-force
+ attack succeeds, it only allows the attacker to send a single SFrame
ciphertext; the ciphertext cannot be reused because either it will have the
same CTR value and be discarded as a replay, or else it will have a different
- CTR value its tag will no longer be valid.
+ CTR value and its tag will no longer be valid.
Nonetheless, without these mitigations, an application that makes use of short
tags will be at heightened risk of forgery attacks. In many cases, it is
simpler to use full-size tags and tolerate slightly higher bandwidth usage
-rather than add the additional defenses necessary to safely use short tags.
+rather than to add the additional defenses necessary to safely use short tags.
# IANA Considerations
-This document requests the creation of the following new IANA registry:
-
-* SFrame Cipher Suites ({{sframe-cipher-suites}})
-
-This registry should be under a heading of "SFrame", and assignments are made
+IANA has created a new registry called "SFrame Cipher Suites" ({{sframe-cipher-suites}})
+under the "SFrame" group registry heading. Assignments are made
via the Specification Required policy {{!RFC8126}}.
-RFC EDITOR: Please replace XXXX throughout with the RFC number assigned to
-this document
-
## SFrame Cipher Suites
-This registry lists identifiers for SFrame cipher suites, as defined in
+The "SFrame Cipher Suites" registry lists identifiers for SFrame cipher suites as defined in
{{cipher-suites}}. The cipher suite field is two bytes wide, so the valid cipher
suites are in the range 0x0000 to 0xFFFF.
-Template:
+The registration template is as follows:
* Value: The numeric value of the cipher suite
* Name: The name of the cipher suite
* Recommended: Whether support for this cipher suite is recommended by the IETF.
- Valid values are "Y", "N", and "D", as described in {{Section 17.1 of
+ Valid values are "Y", "N", and "D" as described in {{Section 17.1 of
MLS-PROTO}}. The default value of the "Recommended" column is "N". Setting the
Recommended item to "Y" or "D", or changing an item whose current value is "Y"
or "D", requires Standards Action {{RFC8126}}.
* Reference: The document where this cipher suite is defined
+* Change Controller: Who is authorized to update the row in the registry
Initial contents:
-| Value | Name | R | Reference |
-|:----------------|:------------------------------|:--|:----------|
-| 0x0000 | Reserved | - | RFC XXXX |
-| 0x0001 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_80` | Y | RFC XXXX |
-| 0x0002 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_64` | Y | RFC XXXX |
-| 0x0003 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_32` | Y | RFC XXXX |
-| 0x0004 | `AES_128_GCM_SHA256_128` | Y | RFC XXXX |
-| 0x0005 | `AES_256_GCM_SHA512_128` | Y | RFC XXXX |
-| 0xF000 - 0xFFFF | Reserved for private use | - | RFC XXXX |
-{: #iana-cipher-suites title="SFrame cipher suites" }
+| Value | Name | R | Reference | Change Controller |
+|:----------------|:------------------------------|:--|:----------|:------------------|
+| 0x0000 | Reserved | - | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0x0001 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_80` | Y | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0x0002 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_64` | Y | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0x0003 | `AES_128_CTR_HMAC_SHA256_32` | Y | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0x0004 | `AES_128_GCM_SHA256_128` | Y | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0x0005 | `AES_256_GCM_SHA512_128` | Y | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+| 0xF000 - 0xFFFF | Reserved for Private Use | - | RFC 9605 | IETF |
+{: #iana-cipher-suites title="SFrame Cipher Suites" }
# Application Responsibilities
To use SFrame, an application needs to define the inputs to the SFrame
encryption and decryption operations, and how SFrame ciphertexts are delivered
from sender to receiver (including any fragmentation and reassembly). In this
-section, we lay out additional requirements that an integration must meet in
+section, we lay out additional requirements that an application must meet in
order for SFrame to operate securely.
In general, an application using SFrame is responsible for configuring SFrame.
The application must first define when SFrame is applied at all. When SFrame is
applied, the application must define which cipher suite is to be used. If new
-versions of SFrame are defined in the future, it will be up to the application
+versions of SFrame are defined in the future, it will be the application's responsibility
to determine which version should be used.
This division of responsibilities is similar to the way other media parameters
(e.g., codecs) are typically handled in media applications, in the sense that
-they are set up in some signaling protocol, and then not described in the media.
+they are set up in some signaling protocol and not described in the media.
Applications might find it useful to extend the protocols used for negotiating
-other media parameters (e.g., SDP {{?RFC8866}}) to also negotiate parameters for
+other media parameters (e.g., Session Description Protocol (SDP) {{?RFC8866}}) to also negotiate parameters for
SFrame.
## Header Value Uniqueness
@@ -1113,7 +1094,7 @@ encrypted. In addition to its simplicity, this scheme minimizes overhead by
keeping CTR values as small as possible.
In applications where an SFrame context might be written to persistent storage,
-this context needs to include the last used CTR value. When the context is used
+this context needs to include the last-used CTR value. When the context is used
later, the application should use the stored CTR value to determine the next CTR
value to be used in an encryption operation, and then write the next CTR value
back to storage before using the CTR value for encryption. Storing the CTR
@@ -1122,19 +1103,19 @@ cause reuse of the same (`base_key`, KID, CTR) combination.
## Key Management Framework
-It is up to the application to provision SFrame with a mapping of KID values to
+The application is responsible for provisioning SFrame with a mapping of KID values to
`base_key` values and the resulting keys and salts. More importantly, the
application specifies which KID values are used for which purposes (e.g., by
which senders). An application's KID assignment strategy MUST be structured to
assure the non-reuse properties discussed in {{header-value-uniqueness}}.
-It is also up to the application to define a rotation schedule for keys. For
+The application is also responsible for defining a rotation schedule for keys. For
example, one application might have an ephemeral group for every call and keep
-rotating keys when end points join or leave the call, while another application
+rotating keys when endpoints join or leave the call, while another application
could have a persistent group that can be used for multiple calls and simply
derives ephemeral symmetric keys for a specific call.
-It should be noted that KID values are not encrypted by SFrame, and are thus
+It should be noted that KID values are not encrypted by SFrame and are thus
visible to any application-layer intermediaries that might handle an SFrame
ciphertext. If there are application semantics included in KID values, then
this information would be exposed to intermediaries. For example, in the scheme
@@ -1150,14 +1131,14 @@ As mentioned in {{replay}}, senders MUST reject requests to encrypt multiple tim
with the same key and nonce.
It is not mandatory to implement anti-replay on the receiver side. Receivers MAY
-apply time or counter based anti-replay mitigations. For example, {{Section
+apply time- or counter-based anti-replay mitigations. For example, {{Section
3.3.2 of ?RFC3711}} specifies a counter-based anti-replay mitigation, which
could be adapted to use with SFrame, using the CTR field as the counter.
## Metadata
-The `metadata` input to SFrame operations is pure application-specified data. As
-such, it is up to the application to define what information should go in the
+The `metadata` input to SFrame operations an opaque byte string specified by the application. As
+such, the application needs to define what information should go in the
`metadata` input and ensure that it is provided to the encryption and decryption
functions at the appropriate points. A receiver MUST NOT use SFrame-authenticated
metadata until after the SFrame decrypt function has authenticated it, unless
@@ -1168,21 +1149,15 @@ processing pipeline, but only to prepare for SFrame decryption.
For example, consider an application where SFrame is used to encrypt audio
frames that are sent over SRTP, with some application data included in the RTP
header extension. Suppose the application also includes this application data in
-the SFrame metadata, so that the SFU is allowed to read, but not modify the
+the SFrame metadata, so that the SFU is allowed to read, but not modify, the
application data. A receiver can use the application data in the RTP header
-extension as part of the standard SRTP decryption process, since this is
+extension as part of the standard SRTP decryption process since this is
required to recover the SFrame ciphertext carried in the SRTP payload. However,
the receiver MUST NOT use the application data for other purposes before SFrame
decryption has authenticated the application data.
--- back
-# Acknowledgements
-
-The authors wish to specially thank Dr. Alex Gouaillard as one of the early
-contributors to the document. His passion and energy were key to the design and
-development of SFrame.
-
# Example API
**This section is not normative.**
@@ -1201,16 +1176,16 @@ context to be used for sending also tracks the next CTR value to be used.
The primary operations on an SFrame context are as follows:
-* **Create an SFrame context:** The context is initialized with a ciphersuite and
+* **Create an SFrame context:** The context is initialized with a cipher suite and
no KID mappings.
-* **Adding a key for sending:** The key and salt are derived from the base key, and
- used to initialize a send context, together with a zero counter value.
-* **Adding a key for receiving:** The key and salt are derived from the base key, and
+* **Add a key for sending:** The key and salt are derived from the base key and
+ used to initialize a send context, together with a zero CTR value.
+* **Add a key for receiving:** The key and salt are derived from the base key and
used to initialize a send context.
* **Encrypt a plaintext:** Encrypt a given plaintext using the key for a given KID,
including the specified metadata.
* **Decrypt an SFrame ciphertext:** Decrypt an SFrame ciphertext with the KID
- and CTR values specified in the SFrame Header, and the provided metadata.
+ and CTR values specified in the SFrame header, and the provided metadata.
{{rust-api}} shows an example of the types of structures and methods that could
be used to create an SFrame API in Rust.
@@ -1254,8 +1229,8 @@ Any use of SFrame will impose overhead in terms of the amount of bandwidth
necessary to transmit a given media stream. Exactly how much overhead will be added
depends on several factors:
-* How many senders are involved in a conference (length of KID)
-* How long the conference has been going on (length of CTR)
+* The number of senders involved in a conference (length of KID)
+* The duration of the conference (length of CTR)
* The cipher suite in use (length of authentication tag)
* Whether SFrame is used to encrypt packets, whole frames, or some other unit
@@ -1270,27 +1245,28 @@ Here the constant value `1` reflects the fixed SFrame header; `|CTR|` and
overhead; and `CTPerSecond` reflects the number of SFrame ciphertexts
sent per second (e.g., packets or frames per second).
-In the remainder of this secton, we compute overhead estimates for a collection
+In the remainder of this section, we compute overhead estimates for a collection
of common scenarios.
## Assumptions
In the below calculations, we make conservative assumptions about SFrame
-overhead, so that the overhead amounts we compute here are likely to be an upper
-bound on those seen in practice.
+overhead so that the overhead amounts we compute here are likely to be an upper
+bound of those seen in practice.
| Field | Bytes | Explanation |
|:----------------|------:|:--------------------------------------------------|
| Fixed header | 1 | Fixed |
| Key ID (KID) | 2 | >255 senders; or MLS epoch (E=4) and >16 senders |
| Counter (CTR) | 3 | More than 24 hours of media in common cases |
-| Cipher overhead | 16 | Full GCM tag (longest defined here) |
+| Cipher overhead | 16 | Full authentication tag (longest defined here) |
+{: #analysis-assumptions title="Overhead Analysis Assumptions" }
In total, then, we assume that each SFrame encryption will add 22 bytes of
overhead.
-We consider two scenarios, applying SFrame per-frame and per-packet. In each
-scenario, we compute the SFrame overhead in absolute terms (Kbps) and as a
+We consider two scenarios: applying SFrame per frame and per packet. In each
+scenario, we compute the SFrame overhead in absolute terms (kbps) and as a
percentage of the base bandwidth.
## Audio
@@ -1299,49 +1275,45 @@ In audio streams, there is typically a one-to-one relationship between frames
and packets, so the overhead is the same whether one uses SFrame at a per-packet
or per-frame level.
-The below table considers three scenarios, based on recommended configurations
-of the Opus codec {{?RFC6716}}:
-
-* Narrow-band speech: 120ms packets, 8Kbps
-* Full-band speech: 20ms packets, 32Kbps
-* Full-band stereo music: 10ms packets, 128Kbps
+{{audio-overhead}} considers three scenarios that are based on recommended configurations
+of the Opus codec {{?RFC6716}} (where "fps" stands for "frames per second"):
-| Scenario | fps | Base Kbps | Overhead Kbps | Overhead % |
-|:-------------------------|:---:|:---------:|:-------------:|:----------:|
-| NB speech, 120ms packets | 8.3 | 8 | 1.4 | 17.9% |
-| FB speech, 20ms packets | 50 | 32 | 8.6 | 26.9% |
-| FB stereo, 10ms packets | 100 | 128 | 17.2 | 13.4% |
-{: #audio-overhead title="SFrame overhead for audio streams" }
+| Scenario | Frame length | fps | Base kbps | Overhead kbps | Overhead % |
+|:-----------------------|:------------:|:---:|:---------:|:-------------:|:----------:|
+| Narrow-band speech | 120 ms | 8.3 | 8 | 1.4 | 17.9% |
+| Full-band speech | 20 ms | 50 | 32 | 8.6 | 26.9% |
+| Full-band stereo music | 10 ms | 100 | 128 | 17.2 | 13.4% |
+{: #audio-overhead title="SFrame Overhead for Audio Streams" }
## Video
Video frames can be larger than an MTU and thus are commonly split across
multiple frames. {{video-overhead-per-frame}} and {{video-overhead-per-packet}}
show the estimated overhead of encrypting a video stream, where SFrame is
-applied per-frame and per-packet, respectively. The choices of resolution,
-frames per second, and bandwidth are chosen to roughly reflect the capabilities of
+applied per frame and per packet, respectively. The choices of resolution,
+frames per second, and bandwidth roughly reflect the capabilities of
modern video codecs across a range from very low to very high quality.
-| Scenario | fps | Base Kbps | Overhead Kbps | Overhead % |
+| Scenario | fps | Base kbps | Overhead kbps | Overhead % |
|:------------|:---:|:---------:|:-------------:|:----------:|
| 426 x 240 | 7.5 | 45 | 1.3 | 2.9% |
| 640 x 360 | 15 | 200 | 2.6 | 1.3% |
| 640 x 360 | 30 | 400 | 5.2 | 1.3% |
| 1280 x 720 | 30 | 1500 | 5.2 | 0.3% |
| 1920 x 1080 | 60 | 7200 | 10.3 | 0.1% |
-{: #video-overhead-per-frame title="SFrame overhead for a video stream encrypted per-frame" }
+{: #video-overhead-per-frame title="SFrame Overhead for a Video Stream Encrypted per Frame" }
-| Scenario | fps | pps | Base Kbps | Overhead Kbps | Overhead % |
+| Scenario | fps | Packets per Second (pps) | Base kbps | Overhead kbps | Overhead % |
|:------------|:---:|:---:|:---------:|:-------------:|:----------:|
| 426 x 240 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 45 | 1.3 | 2.9% |
| 640 x 360 | 15 | 30 | 200 | 5.2 | 2.6% |
| 640 x 360 | 30 | 60 | 400 | 10.3 | 2.6% |
| 1280 x 720 | 30 | 180 | 1500 | 30.9 | 2.1% |
| 1920 x 1080 | 60 | 780 | 7200 | 134.1 | 1.9% |
-{: #video-overhead-per-packet title="SFrame overhead for a video stream encrypted per-packet" }
+{: #video-overhead-per-packet title="SFrame Overhead for a Video Stream Encrypted per Packet" }
In the per-frame case, the SFrame percentage overhead approaches zero as the
-quality of the video goes up, since bandwidth is driven more by picture size
+quality of the video improves since bandwidth is driven more by picture size
than frame rate. In the per-packet case, the SFrame percentage overhead
approaches the ratio between the SFrame overhead per packet and the MTU (here 22
bytes of SFrame overhead divided by an assumed 1200-byte MTU, or about 1.8%).
@@ -1349,15 +1321,15 @@ bytes of SFrame overhead divided by an assumed 1200-byte MTU, or about 1.8%).
## Conferences
Real conferences usually involve several audio and video streams. The overhead
-of SFrame in such a conference is the aggregate of the overhead over all the
+of SFrame in such a conference is the aggregate of the overhead across all the
individual streams. Thus, while SFrame incurs a large percentage overhead on an
audio stream, if the conference also involves a video stream, then the audio
overhead is likely negligible relative to the overall bandwidth of the
conference.
-For example, {{conference-overhead}} shows the overhead estimates for a two
-person conference where one person is sending low-quality media and the other
-sending high-quality. (And we assume that SFrame is applied per-frame.) The
+For example, {{conference-overhead}} shows the overhead estimates for a two-person
+conference where one person is sending low-quality media and the other is
+sending high-quality media. (And we assume that SFrame is applied per frame.) The
video streams dominate the bandwidth at the SFU, so the total bandwidth overhead
is only around 1%.
@@ -1368,7 +1340,7 @@ is only around 1%.
| Participant 2 audio | 32 | 9 | 26.9% |
| Participant 2 video | 1500 | 5 | 0.3% |
| Total at SFU | 1585 | 16.5 | 1.0% |
-{: #conference-overhead title="SFrame overhead for a two-person conference" }
+{: #conference-overhead title="SFrame Overhead for a Two-Person Conference" }
## SFrame over RTP
@@ -1378,10 +1350,10 @@ integration between SFrame and RTP could be done, and some of the challenges
that would need to be overcome.
As discussed in {{application-context}}, there are two natural patterns for
-integrating SFrame into an application: applying SFrame per-frame or per-packet.
-In RTP-based applications, applying SFrame per-packet means that the payload of
-each RTP packet will be an SFrame ciphertext, starting with an SFrame Header, as
-shown in {{sframe-packet}}. Applying SFrame per-frame means that different
+integrating SFrame into an application: applying SFrame per frame or per packet.
+In RTP-based applications, applying SFrame per packet means that the payload of
+each RTP packet will be an SFrame ciphertext, starting with an SFrame header, as
+shown in {{sframe-packet}}. Applying SFrame per frame means that different
RTP payloads will have different formats: The first payload of a frame will
contain the SFrame headers, and subsequent payloads will contain further chunks
of the ciphertext, as shown in {{sframe-multi-packet}}.
@@ -1393,12 +1365,12 @@ a mechanism for distributing this configuration information. In applications
that use SDP for negotiating RTP media streams {{?RFC8866}}, an appropriate
extension to SDP could provide this function.
-Applying SFrame per-frame also requires that packetization and depacketization
+Applying SFrame per frame also requires that packetization and depacketization
be done in a generic manner that does not depend on the media content of the
-packets, since the content being packetized / depacketized will be opaque
+packets, since the content being packetized or depacketized will be opaque
ciphertext (except for the SFrame header). In order for such a generic
-packetization scheme to work interoperably one would have to be defined, e.g.,
-as proposed in {{?I-D.codec-agnostic-rtp-payload-format}}.
+packetization scheme to work interoperably, one would have to be defined, e.g.,
+as proposed in {{?I-D.gouaillard-avtcore-codec-agn-rtp-payload}}.
~~~ aasvg
+---+-+-+-------+-+-------------+-------------------------------+<-+
@@ -1424,7 +1396,7 @@ as proposed in {{?I-D.codec-agnostic-rtp-payload-format}}.
| |
+--- SRTP Encrypted Portion SRTP Authenticated Portion ---+
~~~
-{: #sframe-packet title="SRTP packet with SFrame-protected payload"}
+{: #sframe-packet title="SRTP Packet with SFrame-Protected Payload"}
~~~ aasvg
+----------------+ +---------------+
@@ -1465,7 +1437,7 @@ as proposed in {{?I-D.codec-agnostic-rtp-payload-format}}.
| | | | | |
+---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
~~~
-{: #sframe-multi-packet title="Encryption flow with per-frame encryption for RTP" }
+{: #sframe-multi-packet title="Encryption Flow with per-Frame Encryption for RTP" }
# Test Vectors
@@ -1487,7 +1459,7 @@ These test vectors are also available in JSON format at {{TestVectors}}. In the
JSON test vectors, numeric values are JSON numbers and byte string values are
JSON strings containing the hex encoding of the byte strings.
-## Header encoding/decoding
+## Header Encoding/Decoding
For each case, we provide:
@@ -1503,7 +1475,7 @@ An implementation should verify that:
{::include test-vectors/header.md}
-## AEAD encryption/decryption using AES-CTR and HMAC
+## AEAD Encryption/Decryption Using AES-CTR and HMAC
For each case, we provide:
@@ -1528,7 +1500,7 @@ facilitate debugging of test failures.
{::include test-vectors/aes-ctr-hmac.md}
-## SFrame encryption/decryption
+## SFrame Encryption/Decryption
For each case, we provide:
@@ -1557,3 +1529,10 @@ The other values in the test vector are intermediate values provided to
facilitate debugging of test failures.
{::include test-vectors/sframe.md}
+
+# Acknowledgements
+{: numbered="false"}
+
+The authors wish to specially thank {{{Dr. Alex Gouaillard}}} as one of the early
+contributors to the document. His passion and energy were key to the design and
+development of SFrame.