[aprssig] APRS-IS and metadata

[Jason KG4WSV]

I understand the reasoning behind wanting the data, but I’ve gotta say this sounds like the mirror image of shoving application data down into layers 2/3 which resulted in a bit of a nightmare for APRS implementers. I’m not saying your proposal would be as problematic, but I will say I’m not sure it is the correct way to solve the problem. 

I think one place to supply this kind of data would be status text supplied by gateway devices themselves. Anyone interested in storing said data can pull it from the APRS-IS feed. 

What comes to my mind is the ICMP protocol that rides alongside IP to give use some basic data about the lower layers of the network stack (connectivity, latencies etc) that makes up our Internet infrastructure, usually via queries (using tools like ping or traceroute). My first thought is to put that work onto the LoRaGate by crafting queries using the APRS messaging protocol that the gateway would respond to, perhaps in addition to regular status text by the gateway. 

This approach doesn’t require infrastructure modification except on the components you want to keep track of. 

Just some thoughts that I admit aren’t thoroughly thought out. :)

-Jason
kg4wsv