Re: draft-ietf-smime-idea-04.txt: parameters question

I agree.  This was probably follows SKIPJACK.  In that case, they are 
including the SEQUENCE wrapper for compatibility with another 
environment.  Here, I am unaware of any compatibility requirement.
SKIPJACK uses:

        Skipjack-Parm ::= SEQUENCE { initialization-vector   OCTET STRING }

I suggest that IDEA should use:

        IDEA-CBC-IV ::=  OCTET STRING  -- must be 8 octets

Russ

P.S.  Authors, please consider this to be a Last Call comment.


At 04:44 PM 05/25/2000 +0100, William Whyte wrote:
> The IDEA in CMS draft specifies the parameters as follows:
>
>   IDEA-CBCPar ::= SEQUENCE {
>     IV  OCTET STRING OPTIONAL -- exactly 8 octets }
>
> Is there a good reason for the SEQUENCE wrapping? We already
> have a CBCParameter structure defined in RFC 2630, and it
> seems a shame to be inventing a slightly-differently-shaped
> wheel.
>
> Cheers,
>
> William