ASN.1
Communication between heterogeneous systems
by Olivier Dubuisson
ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) is an international standard which aims
at specifying of data used in telecommunication protocols. It is a computing
language that is both powerful and complex: it was designed for modeling
efficiently communications between heterogeneous systems.
ASN.1 was in great need of a reference book, didactic as well as precise
and Olivier Dubuisson’s book meets these demands. The language is compre-
hensively described from its basic constructions to the latest additions to the
notation. The description of each of these constructions is wholly accessible
and accurate. Many case studies of real-world applications illustrate this pre-
sentation. The text also replaces the language in its historical background and
describes the context in which it is used, both from the application viewpoint
and from that of other specification standards which use or refer to ASN.1.
This book is written by an expert of ASN.1, of its syntax and semantics,
and clearly constitutes a reference on the language. It is intended for those
merely interested in finding a complete and reliable description of the language
and for programmers or experts who may want to look up for the proper usage
of some constructions. The tools available on the
website associated with this
book will prove useful to both the proficient and the beginner ASN.1 user.
Michel Mauny
Project leader at INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in
Computer Science and Control
Olivier Dubuisson is a research engineer at France T´el´ecom R&D, the Research
& Development centre of France T´el´ecom (formerly known as Cnet), where he is in
charge of the ASN.1 expertise. He takes part in the language evolution at the ISO
and ITU-T working groups. He has also developed various editing and analysis tools
for ASN.1 specifications and assists the ASN.1 users at France T´el´ecom in numerous
application domains.
Philippe Fouquart graduated from Aston University, UK with an MSc in Computer
Science and Applied Maths in 1997. He worked for Cnet on ASN.1:1994 grammar and
later joined France T´el´ecom R&D in 1999 where he used ASN.1 for Intelligent Net-
work and SS7 protocols. He is now working on Fixed-Mobile Converged architectures
and IP mobility.
ISBN:0-12-6333361-0
c
°
OSS Nokalva, 2000
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the
owner of the copyright.
To my parents
ii ASN.1 – Communication between Heterogeneous Systems
“All right, but do you think, notwithstand-
ing so major an unknown factor, that you can
unlock what signal it holds for us?” [...]
“Actually, I would count on a trio of dis-
tinct strata of classifications.
“First, you and I look at it casually and
think of it as just confusing poppycock, fool-
ish mumbo jumbo - noticing, though, that, as
a signal, it’s obviously not random or chaotic,
that it’s an affirmation of sorts, a product of
a codifying authority, submitting to a public
that’s willing to admit it. It’s a social tool as-
suring communication, promulgating it with-
out any violation, according it its canon, its
law, its rights.
“Who knows what it is? A bylaw? A
Koran? A court summons? A bailiff’s
logbook? A contract for purchasing land? An
invitation to a birthday party? A poll tax
form? A work of fiction? A crucial fact is
that, my work advancing, what I’ll find rising
in priority isn’t its initial point of application
but its ongoing articulation for, if you think
of it, communication (I might almost say
‘communion’) is ubiquitous, a signal coursing
from this individual to that, from so-and-so
to such-and-such, a two way traffic in an
idiom of transitivity or narrativity, fiction
or imagination, affabulation or approbation,
saga or song.”
Georges Perec, The Void (translated by
Gilbert Adair).
Contents
Foreword xvii
Preface xix
I Introduction and History of the Notation 1
1 Prologue 3
2 Utilitarian introduction to ASN.1 7
2.1 A diversity of machine architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 A diversity of programming languages . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3 Conversion programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.4 The triad: concrete syntax, abstract syntax, transfer syn-
tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 ASN.1 and the OSI Reference Model 17
3.1 The 7-layer OSI model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.2 The Presentation layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 The Application layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 The OSI model in the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4 Your first steps with ASN.1 29
4.1 Informal description of the problem . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2 How should we tackle the problem? . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3 Ordering an item: from general to particular . . . . . . . 32
4.4 Encoding and condition on distinct tags . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.5 Final module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.6 A client-server protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.7 Communicating applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
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