BITS vs OCTET STRING

Hello Randy,

As you may know the ADSLMIB WG is currently working on the draft:
draft-ietf-adslmib-adsl2-00.txt.
I would like to request your advice regarding one of the issues raised:

Currently the draft has defined a Textual Conventions - Adsl2ScMaskDs
which  uses the SYNTAX  BITS to
define 512 bits;  bit0 (0)   .... bit511(511). This bit map indicates
whether the corresponding bin is in use or not. The value
zero indicating that the bin is in use and the value one indicating that
the bin is not in use. This textual convention is used by
the adsl2LConfProfScMaskDs parameter which is part of the ADSL2 line
configuration profile. The
adsl2LConfProfScMaskDs field is not expected to be changed dynamically.

There is also a similar parameter for the upstream direction.

An alternative has been proposed in which an OCTET STRING be used instead
of BITS.

The argument put forward for this change is: Using an OCTET STRING instead
of a very large BITS type, provides a better economy of description.

Questions:
1. The BITS data type was added only in SNMPv2 and it is stored as an OCTET
STRING. Is the current situation (sequence of 1-bit flags) an example for
which the BITS data type was defined?
2. Are there any particular issues that we should be aware of, in the use
of either of the data types?
3. What would you advise as the better approach?


Thank you kindly for your assistance.

Best Regards,

Menachem Dodge
ECI Telecom Ltd.
Broadband Access Division

Tel:      +972-3-9268421
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