[urn] Application: URN Namespace Identifier: nf

Trust Anchor Group AB                                        Peter Waher
Blekholmsterrassen 36                   [email protected]
11164 Stockholm                                             2025-July-17
Sweden

              Namespace Identifier Registration Application
                                   nf

Abstract

   This document contains the formal application for registering the
   Namespace Identifier nf for the purpose of clearly and compactly
   defining namespaces for interoperability as defined by the
   Neuro-Foundation, in accordance with RFC 8141.

Keywords

   Internet of Things, Smart City, Interoperability.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 Trust Anchor Group AB and the persons identified 
   as the document authors. All rights reserved. Upon registration of 
   the Namespace Identifier, copyright can be transferred to the
   corresponding Internet body, if required.

Namespace Identifier Registration

   Following is the formal application for the registration of the
   Namespace Identifier nf.

Namespace Identifier (formal)

   nf

Version

   1

Date

   2025-07-17

Registrant

   Organization registering the Namespace Identifier:

      Trust Anchor Group AB
      Blekholmsterrassen 36
      11164 Stockholm
      Sweden

   Contact Person:

      Peter Waher
      email: [email protected]
      xmpp: [email protected]

Purpose

   Neuro-Foundation [1] presents communication infrastructure for a
   globally scalable, distributed infrastructure for smart societies.
   By harmonizing technologies (bridging technology boundaries), it 
   allows different technologies to interact and interoperate. The 
   interfaces support:

   * Local governance
   * Definition of ownership
   * Protection of privacy
   * Consent-based communication
   * High level of cybersecurity
   * Cross-domain interoperability
   * Cross-technology interoperability
   * Self-sovereign digital identities
   * Legally binding cross-domain agreements
   * Distributed discovery and decision support
   * Monetization and support for micro-transactions

   They do this by defining interoperability interfaces used over 
   different Internet protocols such as HTTP and the versatile and 
   extensible Internet protocol XMPP [2-4] and others. Each
   interoperability interface, be it a peer-to-peer interoperability
   interface or an edge service interface, is identified using a
   Neuro-Foundation namespace. For interoperability purposes, this
   namespace must be clear and unambiguous and not be associated
   with any particular domain. For efficiency, it must be short, to 
   avoid unnecessary bytes during communication, as the namespace is 
   repeated many times. For this purpose, a URN namespace is ideal.

   The interfaces are used by different organizations such as
   companies, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, 
   governmental organizations and other actors. It is also used
   within several working groups of standards bodies such as the
   IEEE. In an effort to make sure all interfaces are available open 
   source and publicly accessible and usable, Neuro-Foundation is 
   being formed. The purpose is to act as the custodian of the 
   interfaces and the corresponding intellectual property.

   The Namespace Identifier will solely be used to identify
   interoperability namespaces published by the Neuro-Foundation
   in a short and unambiguous manner.


Syntax

   Using the format defined in RFC 3986 [5], and some of its base
   classes, a formal definition of the syntax used for urn URIs
   used together with the nf Namespace Identifier is as follows:

         nf-uri       = "urn:nf:" category ":" subcat : version
         category     = name
         subcat       = 1*( ":" name )
         name         = 1*( unreserved / pct-encoded )
         version      = 1*DIGIT "." 1*DIGIT

   As an example, the following are some of the namespaces defined 
   for IoT interoperability and harmonization, defined in [1]:

   * urn:nf:iot:concentrator:1.0 - Concentrators
   * urn:nf:iot:ctr:1.0 - Actuator Control
   * urn:nf:iot:disco:1.0 - Discovery
   * urn:nf:iot:e2e:1.0 - End-to-End Encryption
   * urn:nf:iot:events:1.0 - Event subscription
   * urn:nf:iot:leg:id:1.0 - Legal identities
   * urn:nf:iot:leg:sc:1.0 - Smart Contracts
   * urn:nf:iot:p2p:1.0 - Peer-to-Peer Connectivity
   * urn:nf:iot:prov:d:1.0 - Provisioning for Devices
   * urn:nf:iot:prov:o:1.0 - Provisioning for Owners
   * urn:nf:iot:prov:t:1.0 - Provisioning Tokens
   * urn:nf:iot:sd:1.0 - Sensor Data
   * urn:nf:iot:swu:1.0 - Software Updates
   * urn:nf:iot:synchronization:1.0 - Synchronization

Assignment

   Names are assigned by the Neuro-Foundation in cooperation with
   funding and interested partners, as new interfaces are developed
   and published. No other resources are assigned names using the
   nf namespace identifier.

Security and Privacy

   There are no known security or privacy implications of using the
   nf namespace identifier. The URIs only identify public interfaces,
   which contain no personal, confidential or sensitive information.

Interoperability

   There are no known security or privacy implications to using the
   nf namespace identifier. One of the reasons for using the URN URI
   schema to identify interfaces, is to avoid confusion with 
   namespaces using the http or https URI schema to identify the
   namespace, as they may or may not point to downloadable schema
   files for the corresponding namespaces. Using the URN URI schema
   ensures no attempts to download schema resources are attempted
   during interoperable communication across domains with different
   security policies.
   
Resolution

   There is no resolution mechanism anticipated for use with the
   nf namespace identifier.

Documentation

   The Neuro-Foundation interfaces are documented publicly in [1].

Additional Information

   The nf namespace identifier is used to clearly identify
   Neuro-Foundation interfaces for interoperable communication
   in a short and clear manner. Interface names are not negotiated
   with other organizations, to avoid confusion and overlap.

Revision Information

   First draft.

References

   [1] Neuro-Foundation interfaces, https://neuro-foundation.io/

   [2] P. Saint-André, "RFC 6120: Extensible Messaging and Presence
       Protocol (XMPP): Core," [Online].
       Available: http://xmpp.org/rfcs/rfc6120.html.

   [3] P. Saint-André, "RFC 6121: Extensible Messaging and Presence
       Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence," [Online]. 
       Available: http://xmpp.org/rfcs/rfc6121.html.

   [4] P. Saint-André, "RFC 6122: Extensible Messaging and Presence
       Protocol (XMPP): Address Format," [Online].
       Available: http://xmpp.org/rfcs/rfc6122.html.

   [5] T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding and L. Masinter, "Uniform Resource
       Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax," 01 2005. [Online].
       Available: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986.
       [Accessed 03 07 2015].