RFC 3689 (rfc3689) - Page 2 of 10

General Requirements for Emergency Telecommunication Service (ETS)

RFC 3689                ETS General Requirements           February 2004


1.1.  Terminology

   Label:
      The term label has been used for a number of years in various IETF
      protocols.  It is simply an identifier.  It can be manifested in
      the form of a numeric, alphanumeric value, or a specific bit
      pattern, within a field of a packet header.  The exact form is
      dependent on the protocol in which it is used.

      An example of a label can be found in RFC 3031; the Multiprotocol
      Label Switching Architecture.  Another example can be found in RFC
      2597 (and updated by RFC 3260); a bit pattern for the Assured
      Forwarding PHB group.  This latter case is a type of label that
      does not involve routing.  Note that specification of labels is
      outside the scope of this document.  Further comments on labels
      are discussed below in section 3.

1.2.  Existing Emergency Related Standards

      The following are standards from other organizations that are
      specifically aimed at supporting emergency communications.  Most
      of these standards specify telephony mechanisms or define
      telephony related labels.

       Standard   / Organization
      --------------------------
      1) T1.631   /   ANSI
      2) E.106    /   ITU
      3) F.706    /   ITU
      4) H.460.4  /   ITU
      5) I.255.3  /   ITU

   The first specifies an indicator for SS7 networks that signals the
   need for a High Probability of Completion (HPC) service.  This
   indicator is termed National Security / Emergency Preparedness
   (NS/EP) The T1.631 standard [2] is the basis for the U.S. Government
   Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) [7].

   The second standard describes functional capabilities for the Public
   Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to support International Emergency
   Preparedness System (IEPS) [3].  From the PSTN perspective, one can
   view NS/EP as a standard with national boundaries, while IEPS is an
   extension to international boundaries for telephony.

   The third standard extends IEPS beyond the scope of telephony into
   other forms that encompass multimedia [4].





Carlberg, et al.             Informational