Description of Working Group

The WebTransport working group will define new client-server protocols or
protocol extensions in order to support the development of the WebTransport
API https://wicg.github.io/web-transport.

The WebTransport working group will define an application-layer protocol
or suite of application-layer protocols that support a range of simple
communication methods. These must include unreliable messages (that might
be limited by the path MTU), reliable messages, and ordered streams of
reliable messages. Attention will be paid to the performance of the
protocol, with particular attention to the protocol’s overhead and the
potential for head-of-line blocking; its ability to be deployed and used
reliably under different network conditions; and its ability to integrate
into the Web security model. The working group will not define new
transport protocols but will instead use existing protocols such as QUIC
and TLS/TCP.

The group will pay attention to security issues arising from the above
scenarios so as to protect against creation of new modes of attack.

To assist in the coordination with owners of the WebTransport API, the
group will initially develop an overview document containing use cases
and requirements in order to clarify the goals of the effort. The
requirements will include those arising from the WebTransport API.
Feedback will also be solicited at various points along the way in order
to ensure the best possible match between the protocol extensions and the
needs of the WebTransport API.

The group will also coordinate with related working groups within the IETF,
such as QUIC and HTTPBIS, as appropriate.  In particular, if the working
group needs any changes to or extensions of the core protocols, those
issues will be raised with the relevant working groups for decisions on how
best to handle them.  If those decisions result in work in WebTrans, the
working group last calls for that work will again be sent to the relevant
working groups.  The group also needs to coordinate with TAPS, as they are
working on related message-based APIs and it's important to make sure there
aren't conflicts and/or duplications.