NIST Releases DRAFT Revisions to USGv6 Program for Public Comment

DRAFT USGv6 Revision 1 Specifications Available for Public Comment

 The first version of the of the USGv6 standards profile was published in 2008 and the USGv6 test program became operational in 2009.   In the years since the USGv6 Program (as the effort is commonly known) has been referenced in Federal Acquisition Regulations, used as the basis for USG Agency strategic plans and acquisition policies and has resulted in the detailed documentation and test of IPv6 capabilities in a large number of commercial products.

This first major revision of the USGv6 program updates the standards profiles and testing program to achieve several goals:

1. To update the set of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specifications that form the basis for the USGv6 profile to their latest published version.
2. To add new specifications for important IPv6 capabilities that have been developed since the publication of the first profile. 
   • Highlights of these additions include technologies to support emerging use cases such as the Internet of Things, new forms of IPv6 transition technologies necessary to support “IPv6 Only” environments, and better support for specification of IPv6 enabled applications.
3. To remove specifications for IPv6 capabilities included in the first version of the profile but that has since failed to achieve significant support in commercial products and network deployments.
4. To update and consolidate the description of the USGv6 Test Program to reflect the lessons learned in the operation of that program to date.
   • Highlights of these changes include a more concise and consistent notation for documenting IPv6 capabilities, better support for testing in IPv6-Only environments, and an improved and streamlined Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) for documenting test results.
5. To separate the definition of IPv6 Capability Profiles from their specific use in USG acquisition programs so as to permit other user groups to re-use the capability profiles and their aligned product testing programs.

To achieve this last goal, we have divided the original USGv6 profile into two separate documents.   The NIST IPv6 Profile defines a basic taxonomy of IPv6 capabilities as defined in IETF specifications, resulting in named capability sets for common network functions and usage scenarios.    The USGv6 Profile defines how this generic capability profile should be used by USG agencies in acquisitions.

See the USGv6 Program web site for the list of documents for review and instructions for submitting comments. 

Comments are due by September 14, 2018.