Authentication, authorization, and accounting
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
AAA refers to Authentication, Authorization and Accounting. It is used to refer to a family of protocols which mediate network access.
Two network protocols providing this functionality are particularly popular: the RADIUS protocol,[1] and its newer Diameter counterpart.[2][3]
Authentication
Authentication refers to the process where an entity's identity is authenticated, typically by providing evidence that it holds a specific digital identity an identifier and the corresponding credentials. Examples of types of credentials are passwords, one-time tokens, digital certificates, digital signatures and phone numbers (calling/called).
Authorization
The authorization function determines whether a particular entity is authorized to perform a given activity, typically inherited from authentication when logging on to an application or service. Authorization may be determined based on a range of restrictions; for example, time-of-day restrictions, or physical location restrictions, or restrictions against multiple access by the same entity or user. Typical authorization in everyday computer life is, for example, granting read access to a specific file for a specific authenticated user. Examples of types of service include, but are not limited to: ip address filtering, address assignment, route assignment, quality of Service/differential services, bandwidth control/traffic management, compulsory tunneling to a specific endpoint, and encryption.
Accounting
Accounting refers to the tracking of network resource consumption by users for the purpose of capacity and trend analysis, cost allocation, billing.[4] In addition, it may record events such as authentication and authorization failures, and include auditing functionality, which permits verifying the correctness of procedures carried out based on accounting data. Real-time accounting refers to accounting information that is delivered concurrently with the consumption of the resources. Batch accounting refers to accounting information that is saved until it is delivered at a later time. Typical information that is gathered in accounting is the identity of the user or other entity, the nature of the service delivered, when the service began, and when it ended, and if there is a status to report.
Further explanations of Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting are available on external sites.
Usage of AAA in Diameter
In some cases, the term AAA has been used to refer to protocol-specific information. For example, Diameter uses the URI scheme; AAA, which stands for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting, and AAAS which stands for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting with Secure Transport, which is a Diameter-based Protocol.[5] These protocols were defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force in RFC 6733 and are intended to provide an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) framework for applications such as network access or IP mobility in both local and roaming situations.[6]
While the term AAA has been used in such a narrow context, the concept of AAA is more widely used within the industry. As a result, it is incorrect to refer to AAA and Diameter as being one and the same.
Usage of AAA servers in CDMA networks
AAA servers in CDMA data networks are entities that provide Internet Protocol (IP) functionality to support the functions of authentication, authorization and accounting. The AAA server in the CDMA wireless data network architecture is similar to the HLR in the CDMA wireless voice network architecture. Types of AAA servers :
- Access Network AAA (AN-AAA) – Communicates with the RNC in the Access Network (AN) to enable authentication and authorization functions to be performed at the AN. The interface between AN and AN-AAA is known as the A12 interface.
- Broker AAA (B-AAA) – Acts as an intermediary to proxy AAA traffic between roaming partner networks (i.e., between the H-AAA server in the home network and V-AAA server in the serving network). B-AAA servers are used in CRX networks to enable CRX providers to offer billing settlement functions.
- Home AAA (H-AAA) – The AAA server in the roamer's home network. The H-AAA is similar to the HLR in voice. The H-AAA stores user profile information, responds to authentication requests, and collects accounting information.
- Visited AAA (V-AAA) – The AAA server in the visited network from which a roamer is receiving service. The V-AAA in the serving network communicates with the H-AAA in a roamer's home network. Authentication requests and accounting information are forwarded by the V-AAA to the H-AAA, either directly or through a B-AAA.
Current AAA servers communicate using the RADIUS protocol. As such, TIA specifications refer to AAA servers as RADIUS servers. However, future AAA servers are expected to use a successor protocol to RADIUS known as Diameter. [citation needed]
The behavior of AAA servers (radius servers) in the CDMA2000 wireless IP network is specified in TIA-835.
See also
References
- ^ C. Rigney, S. Willens, A. Rubens, W. Simpson, "Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)", IETF RFC 2865, June 2000.
- ^ P. Calhoun, J. Loughney, E. Guttman, G. Zorn, J. Arkko, "Diameter Base Protocol", IETF RFC 3588, September 2003.
- ^ Sasu Tarkoma, "Mobile Middleware: Architecture, Patterns and Practice", John Wiley and Sons, 2009, pp. 248–251. ISBN 9780470745526.
- ^ Bernard Aboba, Jari Arkko, David Harrington, "Introduction to Accounting Management", RFC 2975, IETF, Oct. 2000.
- ^ "Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Schemes". Retrieved 12 October 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "RFC 6733 - Diameter Base Protocol". PROPOSED STANDARD. Standards Track. ISSN 2070-1721. Retrieved 12 October 2014.