History

Since created in 1995, RADIUS has been used to provide authentication, authorization and generate accounting information for dial-in users. However, it does not support roaming users efficiently, and is not designed to support emerging QoS (RSVP, IntServ, DiffServ) services. In March 1998, the IESG decided to close the RADIUS WG to open the way for a more flexible protocol for AAA services. In August 1998, a new BOF is created to design a new AAA protocol.

DIAMETER
Designed by Pat Calhoun in 1996, it provides AAA for roaming users. Today, DIAMETER can also provide policy support for VPN (Virtual Private Service), Voice over IP, Fax over IP, Mobile IP, and resource management (or Bandwidth Broker). DIAMETER protocol consists of two potions:
Base Protocol: provide secure communication among DIAMETER entities, feature discovery, and version negotiation. Extensions: Build on top of the base protocol to provide specific services.

DIAMETER Network Architecture

S2

S1

Servers: S1, S2
Clients: C1, C2, C3, C4

C1

C3

Communications: Peer-to-peer: Client-Server:

C2

C4

IP Telephony Service Network

Transit ISPs

SIP Proxy Caller

Router

SIP Proxy Callee

Router

Regional ISP A

Regional ISP B

Policy Server A

Inter-carrier Accounting

Policy Server B

User Accounting (DIAMETER Extension) Resource Management Real-time Data

DIAMETER / SIP Extension

DIAMETER Server

DIAMETER Messages

DIAMETER Client SIP Client

SIP Messages

SIP Proxy Server

SIP Messages

 Mechanism
Caller Proxy
Allow? Yes
SIP INVITE Accept? Yes SIP 200 (Success) Register SIP ACK Register

Policy Server

Policy Server

Callee Proxy

SIP BYE

Release

Release