HIP Resolution and Rendezvous Mechanisms

The Host Identity Protocol (HIP) decouples the name and locator roles that IP addresses serve in the current Internet architecture. This document discusses resolution mechanisms that map domain names into host identities and IP addresses and their effects of the overall HIP architecture, with a focus on rendezvous between nodes. It argues that HIP will benefit from removing its current dependencies on the presence of a deployed DNS infrastructure, resulting in a simpler, more modular system. Although such a system will require a new HIP resolution service to translate host identities into IP addresses, HIP will at the same time not require a dedicated rendezvous infrastructure anymore. Rendezvous servers become an optional component of the overall system that optimizes HIP performance in extreme situations, e.g., for highly mobile nodes, or enables advanced capabilities, such as location privacy.