Diameter (protocol)

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Diameter is an authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol for computer networks. It evolved from the earlier RADIUS protocol. It belongs to the application layer protocols in the Internet protocol suite.

Diameter Applications extend the base protocol by adding new commands and/or attributes, such as those for use with the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).

Comparison with RADIUS[edit]

The name is a play on words, derived from the RADIUS protocol, which is the predecessor (a diameter is twice the radius). Diameter is not directly backward compatible but provides an upgrade path for RADIUS. The main features provided by Diameter but lacking in RADIUS are:

  • Support for SCTP
  • Capability negotiation
  • Application layer acknowledgements; Diameter defines failover methods and state machines (RFC 3539)
  • Extensibility; new commands can be defined
  • Aligned on 32 bit boundaries

Also: Like RADIUS, it is intended to work in both local and roaming AAA situations. It uses TCP or SCTP, unlike RADIUS which uses UDP. Unlike RADIUS it includes no encryption but can be protected by transport-level security (IPSEC or TLS). The base size of the AV identifier is 32 bit unlike RADIUS which uses 8 bit as the base AV identifier size. Like RADIUS, it supports stateless as well as stateful modes. Like RADIUS, it supports application-layer acknowledgment and defines failover. Diameter is used for many different interfaces defined by the 3GPP standards, with each interface typically defining new commands and attributes.

Applications[edit]

A Diameter Application is not a software application but is a protocol based on the Diameter base protocol defined in RFC 6733 and RFC 7075 (Obsoletes: RFC 3588). Each application is defined by an application identifier and can add new command codes and/or new mandatory AVPs (Attribute-Value Pair). Adding a new optional AVP does not require a new application.

Examples of Diameter applications:

  • Diameter Mobile IPv4 Application (MobileIP, RFC 4004)
  • Diameter Network Access Server Application (NASREQ, RFC 7155)(Obsoletes: RFC 4005)
  • Diameter Extensible Authentication Protocol Application (RFC 4072)
  • Diameter Credit-Control Application (DCCA, RFC 8506])(Obsoletes: RFC 4006)
  • Diameter Session Initiation Protocol Application (RFC 4740)
  • Various applications in the 3GPP IP Multimedia Subsystem
Both the HSS and the SLF communicate using the Diameter protocol.

(Generic Bootstrapping Architecture): Bootstrapping Server Function

History[edit]

The Diameter protocol was initially developed by Pat R. Calhoun, Glen Zorn, and Ping Pan in 1998 to provide a framework for authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) that could overcome the limitations of RADIUS. RADIUS had issues with reliability, scalability, security, and flexibility. RADIUS cannot deal effectively with remote access, IP mobility, and policy control. The Diameter protocol defines a policy protocol used by clients to perform Policy, AAA, and resource control. This allows a single server to handle policies for many services.[1]

Like RADIUS, Diameter provides AAA functionality, but uses TCP and SCTP instead of UDP, therefore delegating detection and handling of communication problems to those protocols. The Diameter protocol is enhanced further by the development of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The S6a, S6b, Gx, Gy, Sy, Rx, Cx, Dh, Dx, Rf, Ro, Sh and Zh interfaces are supported by Diameter applications.[2] Through the use of extensions, the protocol was designed to be extensible to support proxies, brokers, strong security, mobile IP, network-access servers (NASREQ), accounting and resource management.

Protocol description[edit]

The Diameter base protocol is defined by RFC 6733 (Obsoletes: RFC 3588 and RFC 5719) and defines the minimum requirements for an AAA protocol. Diameter Applications can extend the base protocol by adding new commands, attributes, or both. Diameter security is provided by IPsec or TLS. The IANA has assigned TCP and SCTP port number 3868 to Diameter, as stated in section 11.4 of RFC 6733.

Packet format[edit]

The packet consists of a Diameter header and a variable number of Attribute–Value Pairs, or AVPs, for encapsulating information relevant to the Diameter message.

Diameter Header
Bit offset  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0 version message length
32 R P E T         command code
64 application ID
96 hop-by-hop ID
128 end-to-end ID
160
...		 AVPs
...

Version[edit]

This field indicates the version of the Diameter Base Protocol. As of 2014, the only value supported is 1.[3]

Message length[edit]

The Message Length field indicates the length of the Diameter message in bytes, including the header fields and the padded AVPs.

Command flags[edit]

The "R" (Request) bit – If set, the message is a request. If cleared, the message is an answer.

The "P" (Proxiable) bit – If set, the message MAY be proxied, relayed or redirected. If cleared, the message MUST be locally processed.

The "E" (Error) bit – If set, the message contains a protocol error, and the message will not conform to the CCF described for this command. Messages with the "E" bit set are commonly referred to as error messages. This bit MUST NOT be set in request messages.

The "T" (Potentially re-transmitted message) bit – This flag is set after a link failover procedure, to aid the removal of duplicate requests. It is set when resending requests not yet acknowledged as an indication of a possible duplicate due to a link failure.

Commands[edit]

Each command Request/Answer pair is assigned a command code. Whether it is the request or answer is identified via the 'R' bit in the Command Flags field of the header.

The values 0-255 are reserved for RADIUS backward compatibility. The values 256-16777213 are for permanent, standard commands allocated by IANA. The values 16777214 and 16777215 (hex 0xFFFFFE and 0xFFFFFF) are reserved for experimental and testing purposes.

A Command Code is used to determine the action that is to be taken for a particular message. Some common Diameter commands defined in the protocol (base and applications) are:

Command-Name Abbr. Code Application
AA-Request AAR 265 Diameter NAS Application - RFC 7155
AA-Answer AAA 265 Diameter NAS Application - RFC 7155
Diameter-EAP-Request DER 268 Diameter EAP Application - RFC 4072
Diameter-EAP-Answer DEA 268 Diameter EAP Application - RFC 4072
Abort-Session-Request ASR 274 Diameter base
Abort-Session-Answer ASA 274 Diameter base
Accounting-Request ACR 271 Diameter base
Accounting-Answer ACA 271 Diameter base
Credit-Control-Request CCR 272 Diameter Credit-Control Application - RFC 8506 (Obsoletes RFC 4006)
Credit-Control-Answer CCA 272 Diameter Credit-Control Application - RFC 8506 (Obsoletes RFC 4006)
Capabilities-Exchange-Request CER 257 Diameter base
Capabilities-Exchange-Answer CEA 257 Diameter base
Device-Watchdog-Request DWR 280 Diameter base
Device-Watchdog-Answer DWA 280 Diameter base
Disconnect-Peer-Request DPR 282 Diameter base
Disconnect-Peer-Answer DPA 282 Diameter base
Re-Auth-Request RAR 258 Diameter base
Re-Auth-Answer RAA 258 Diameter base
Session-Termination-Request STR 275 Diameter base
Session-Termination-Answer STA 275 Diameter base
User-Authorization-Request UAR 283 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
User-Authorization-Answer UAA 283 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Server-Assignment-Request SAR 284 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Server-Assignment-Answer SAA 284 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Location-Info-Request LIR 285 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Location-Info-Answer LIA 285 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Multimedia-Auth-Request MAR 286 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Multimedia-Auth-Answer MAA 286 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Registration-Termination-Request RTR 287 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Registration-Termination-Answer RTA 287 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Push-Profile-Request PPR 288 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
Push-Profile-Answer PPA 288 Diameter SIP Application - RFC 4740
User-Authorization-Request UAR 300 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
User-Authorization-Answer UAA 300 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Server-Assignment-Request SAR 301 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Server-Assignment-Answer SAA 301 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Location-Info-Request LIR 302 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Location-Info-Answer LIA 302 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Multimedia-Auth-Request MAR 303 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Multimedia-Auth-Answer MAA 303 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Registration-Termination-Request RTR 304 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Registration-Termination-Answer RTA 304 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Push-Profile-Request PPR 305 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Push-Profile-Answer PPA 305 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
User-Data-Request UDR 306 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
User-Data-Answer UDA 306 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Profile-Update-Request PUR 307 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Profile-Update-Answer PUA 307 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Subscribe-Notifications-Request SNR 308 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Subscribe-Notifications-Answer SNA 308 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Push-Notification-Request PNR 309 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Push-Notification-Answer PNA 309 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Bootstrapping-Info-Request BIR 310 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Bootstrapping-Info-Answer BIA 310 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Message-Process-Request MPR 311 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Message-Process-Answer MPA 311 Diameter base (3GPP) RFC 3589
Update-Location-Request ULR 316 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Update-Location-Answer ULA 316 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Cancel-Location-Request CLR 317 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Cancel-Location-Answer CLA 317 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Authentication-Information-Request AIR 318 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Authentication-Information-Answer AIA 318 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Insert-Subscriber-Data-Request IDR 319 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Insert-Subscriber-Data-Answer IDA 319 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Delete-Subscriber-Data-Request DSR 320 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Delete-Subscriber-Data-Answer DSA 320 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Purge-UE-Request PER 321 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Purge-UE-Answer PEA 321 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Notify-Request NR 323 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Notify-Answer NA 323 3GPP TS 29.272 [RFC 5516]
Provide-Location-Request PLR 8388620 3GPP-LCS-SLg (Application-ID 16777255)
Provide-Location-Answer PLA 8388620 3GPP-LCS-SLg (Application-ID 16777255)
Routing-Info-Request RIR 8388622 3GPP-LCS-SLh (Application-ID 16777291)
Routing-Info-Answer RIA 8388622 3GPP-LCS-SLh (Application-ID 16777291)
AA-Mobile-Node-Request AMR 260 Diameter Mobile IPv4 - RFC 4004
AA-Mobile-Node-Answer AMA 260 Diameter Mobile IPv4 - RFC 4004
Home-Agent-MIP-Request HAR 262 Diameter Mobile IPv4 - RFC 4004
Home-Agent-MIP-Answer HAA 262 Diameter Mobile IPv4 - RFC 4004
Configuration-Information-Request CIR 8388718 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336
Configuration-Information-Answer CIA 8388718 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336
Reporting-Information-Request RIR 8388719 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336
Reporting-Information-Answer RIA 8388719 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336
NIDD-Information-Request NIR 8388726 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336
NIDD-Information-Answer NIA 8388726 S6t per 3GPP TS 29.336

Application-ID[edit]

Application-ID is used to identify for which Diameter application the message is applicable. The application can be an authentication application, an accounting application, or a vendor-specific application.

Diameter agents conforming to a certain Diameter extension publicize its support by including a specific value of in the Auth-Application-Id Attribute of the Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) and Capabilities-Exchange-Answer (CEA) command.

The value of the Application-ID field in the header is the same as any relevant Application-Id AVPs contained in the message. For instance, the value of the Application-ID and of the Auth-Application-Id Attribute in the Credit-Control-Request (CCR) and Credit-Control-Answer (CCA) Command for the Diameter Credit-Control Application is 4.[4]

Application-ID Abbr. Full name Usage
0 Base Diameter Common Messages Diameter protocol association establishment/teardown/maintenance
16777216 Cx/Dx 3GPP Cx/Dx IMS I/S-CSCF to HSS interface
16777217 Sh 3GPP Sh VoIP/IMS SIP Application Server to HSS interface
16777236 Rx 3GPP Rx Policy and charging control
16777238 Gx 3GPP Gx Policy and charging control
16777251 S6a/S6d 3GPP S6a/S6d LTE Roaming signaling
16777252 S13 3GPP 13 Interface between EIR and MME
16777255 SLg 3GPP LCS SLg Location services
16777345 S6t 3GPP S6t Interface between SCEF and HSS

Hop-by-Hop Identifier[edit]

The Hop-by-Hop Identifier is an unsigned 32-bit integer field (in network byte order) that is used to match the requests with their answers as the same value in the request is used in the response.

The Diameter protocol requires that relaying and proxying agents maintain transaction state, which is used for failover purposes. Transaction state implies that upon forwarding a request, its Hop-by-Hop Identifier is saved; the field is replaced with a locally unique identifier, which is restored to its original value when the corresponding answer is received. The request's state is released upon receipt of the answer. Received answers that do not match a known Hop-by-Hop Identifier are ignored by the Diameter agent.

In case of redirecting agents, the Hop-by-Hop Identifier is maintained in the header as the Diameter agent responds with an answer message.

End-to-End Identifier[edit]

The End-to-End Identifier is an unsigned 32-bit integer field (in network byte order) that is used to detect duplicate messages along with the combination of the Origin-Host AVP.

When creating a request, the End-to-End Identifier is set to a locally unique value. The End-to-End Identifier is not modified by Diameter agents of any kind, and the same value in the corresponding request is used in the answer.

Attribute–Value Pairs (AVP)[edit]

AVP Header
Bit offset  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
0 AVP code
32 V M P           AVP length
64 vendor ID (optional)
96
...		 data
...

For simplicity, AVP Flag "V" bit Means Vendor Specific; "M" bit means Mandatory; "P" bit means Protected.

The "V" bit, known as the Vendor-Specific bit, indicates whether the optional Vendor-ID field is present in the AVP header. When set the AVP Code belongs to the specific vendor code address space.

The "M" bit, known as the Mandatory bit, indicates whether support of the AVP is required. If an AVP with the "M" bit set is received by a Diameter client, server, proxy, or translation agent and either the AVP or its value is unrecognized, the message must be rejected. Diameter Relay and redirect agents must not reject messages with unrecognized AVPs.

The "P" bit indicates the need for encryption for end-to-end security.

Attribute-Name Code Data Type
Acct-Interim-Interval 85 Unsigned32
Accounting-Realtime-Required 483 Enumerated
Acct-Multi-Session-Id 50 UTF8String
Accounting-Record-Number 485 Unsigned32
Accounting-Record-Type 480 Enumerated
Accounting-Session-Id 44 OctetString
Accounting-Sub-Session-Id 287 Unsigned64
Acct-Application-Id 259 Unsigned32
Auth-Application-Id 258 Unsigned32
Auth-Request-Type 274 Enumerated
Authorization-Lifetime 291 Unsigned32
Auth-Grace-Period 276 Unsigned32
Auth-Session-State 277 Enumerated
Re-Auth-Request-Type 285 Enumerated
Class 25 OctetString
Destination-Host 293 DiamIdent
Destination-Realm 283 DiamIdent
Disconnect-Cause 273 Enumerated
E2E-Sequence 300 Grouped
Error-Message 281 UTF8String
Error-Reporting-Host 294 DiamIdent
Event-Timestamp 55 Time
Experimental-Result 297 Grouped
Experimental-Result-Code 298 Unsigned32
Failed-AVP 279 Grouped
Firmware-Revision 267 Unsigned32
Host-IP-Address 257 Address
Inband-Security-Id 299 Unsigned32
Multi-Round-Time-Out 272 Unsigned32
Origin-Host 264 DiamIdent
Origin-Realm 296 DiamIdent
Origin-State-Id 278 Unsigned32
Product-Name 269 UTF8String
Proxy-Host 280 DiamIdent
Proxy-Info 284 Grouped
Proxy-State 33 OctetString
Redirect-Host 292 DiamURI
Redirect-Host-Usage 261 Enumerated
Redirect-Max-Cache-Time 262 Unsigned32
Result-Code 268 Unsigned32
Route-Record 282 DiamIdent
Session-Id 263 UTF8String
Session-Timeout 27 Unsigned32
Session-Binding 270 Unsigned32
Session-Server-Failover 271 Enumerated
Supported-Vendor-Id 265 Unsigned32
Termination-Cause 295 Enumerated
User-Name 1 UTF8String
Vendor-Id 266 Unsigned32
Vendor-Specific-Application-Id 260 Grouped

State machines[edit]

The RFC 3588 defines a core state machine for maintaining connections between peers and processing messages. This is part of the basic protocol functionality and all stacks should support it and as such abstract from the connectivity related operations.

  • Peer State Machine Part 1
    Peer State Machine Part 1
  • Peer State Machine Part 2
    Peer State Machine Part 2

Additionally, application specific state machines can be introduced either later or at a higher abstraction layer. The RFC 3588 defines an authorization and an accounting state machine.

  • Diameter Authorization State Machines (Client)
    Diameter Authorization State Machines (Client)
  • Diameter Authorization State Machines (Server)
    Diameter Authorization State Machines (Server)
  • Diameter Accounting State Machines (Client)
    Diameter Accounting State Machines (Client)
  • Diameter Accounting State Machines (Server)
    Diameter Accounting State Machines (Server)

Message flows[edit]

The communication between two diameter peers starts with the establishment of a transport connection (TCP or SCTP). The initiator then sends a Capabilities-Exchange-Request (CER) to the other peer, which responds with a Capabilities-Exchange-Answer (CEA). For RFC3588 compliant peers TLS (Transport Layer Security) may optionally be negotiated. For RFC6733 compliant peers TLS negotiation may optionally happen before the CER/CEA.

The connection is then ready for exchanging application messages.

If no messages have been exchanged for some time either side may send a Device-Watchdog-Request (DWR) and the other peer must respond with Device-Watchdog-Answer.

Either side may terminate the communication by sending a Disconnect-Peer-Request (DPR) which the other peer must respond to with Disconnect-Peer-Answer. After that the transport connection can be disconnected.

RFCs[edit]

The Diameter protocol is currently defined in the following IETF RFCs: Obsolete RFCs are indicated with strikethrough text.

# Title Date published Related article Obsoleted by Notes
RFC 3588 Diameter Base Protocol. September 2003 RFC 6733
RFC 3589 Diameter Command Codes for Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 5. September 2003
RFC 4004 Diameter Mobile IPv4 Application. August 2005
RFC 4005 Diameter Network Access Server Application. August 2005 RFC 7155
RFC 4006 Diameter Credit-Control Application. August 2005 Diameter Credit-Control Application RFC 8506
RFC 4072 Diameter Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Application. August 2005
RFC 4740 Diameter Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Application. M. November 2006
RFC 5224 Diameter Policy Processing Application. March 2008
RFC 5431 Diameter ITU-T Rw Policy Enforcement Interface Application. March 2009
RFC 5447 Diameter Mobile IPv6: Support for Network Access Server to Diameter Server Interaction. February 2009
RFC 5516 Diameter Command Code Registration for the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Packet System (EPS). April 2009 -
RFC 5624 Quality of Service Parameters for Usage with Diameter. August 2009
RFC 5719 Updated IANA Considerations for Diameter Command Code Allocations. January 2010 RFC 6733
RFC 6733 Diameter Base Protocol. October 2012
RFC 6737 The Diameter Capabilities Update Application. October 2012
RFC 7155 Diameter Network Access Server Application. April 2014


RFC 8506 Diameter Credit-Control Application. March 2019

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pat R. Calhoun, Glen Zorn, and Ping Pan (February 2001). "DIAMETER Framework Document". Ietf Datatracker. IETF. Retrieved 30 April 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Naman Mehta (20 March 2009). "Introduction to Diameter Protocol - What is Diameter Protocol?". Sun Microsystems. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  3. ^ Arkko, J.; Loughney, J. (2012). Fajardo, V; Zorn, G (eds.). "RFC 6733 - Diameter Base Protocol". Proposed Standard. Standards Track. doi:10.17487/RFC6733. ISSN 2070-1721. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ^ Hakala, H.; Mattila, L.; Stura, M.; Loughney, J. (2005). "RFC 4006 - Diameter Credit-Control Application". Proposed Standard. Standards Track. doi:10.17487/RFC4006.

External links[edit]

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