DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKING

Lecture 31
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
IPv6 is an Internet Layer protocol for packet-switched internetworking and provides end-to-
end datagram transmission across multiple IP networks, closely adhering to the design principles
developed in the previous version of the protocol, Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4).

IP v6 was developed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to deal with the problem of IP v4
exhaustion. IP v6 is 128-bits address having an address space of 2^128, which is way bigger than IPv4. In
IPv6 we use Colon-Hexa representation. There are 8 groups and each group represents 2 Bytes.

The addressing architecture of IPv6 is defined in RFC 4291 and allows three different types of
transmission:

• Unicast
• Multicast
• Anycast
Unicast Address: Unicast Address identifies a single network interface. A packet sent to unicast address
is delivered to the interface identified by that address.
Multicast Address: Multicast Address is used by multiple hosts, called as Group, acquires a multicast
destination address. These hosts need not be geographically together. If any packet is sent to this
multicast address, it will be distributed to all interfaces corresponding to that multicast address.
Anycast Address: Anycast Address is assigned to a group of interfaces. Any packet sent to anycast
address will be delivered to only one member interface (mostly nearest host possible).

Note : Broadcast is not defined in IPv6. In IPv6, all 0’s and all 1’s can be assigned to any host, there is not
any restriction like IPv4.

IPv6 - Features
The successor of IPv4 is not designed to be backward compatible. Trying to keep the basic
functionalities of IP addressing, IPv6 is redesigned entirely. It offers the following features:

• Larger Address Space

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In contrast to IPv4, IPv6 uses 4 times more bits to address a device on the Internet. This much
of extra bits can provide approximately 3.4×1038 different combinations of addresses. This
address can accumulate the aggressive requirement of address allotment for almost
everything in this world. According to an estimate, 1564 addresses can be allocated to every
square meter of this earth.

• Simplified Header

IPv6’s header has been simplified by moving all unnecessary information and options (which
are present in IPv4 header) to the end of the IPv6 header. IPv6 header is only twice as bigger
than IPv4 provided the fact that IPv6 address is four times longer.

• End-to-end Connectivity

Every system now has unique IP address and can traverse through the Internet without using
NAT or other translating components. After IPv6 is fully implemented, every host can directly
reach other hosts on the Internet, with some limitations involved like Firewall, organization
policies, etc.

• Auto-configuration

IPv6 supports both stateful and stateless auto configuration mode of its host devices. This
way, absence of a DHCP server does not put a halt on inter segment communication.

• Faster Forwarding/Routing

Simplified header puts all unnecessary information at the end of the header. The information
contained in the first part of the header is adequate for a Router to take routing decisions,
thus making routing decision as quickly as looking at the mandatory header.

• IPSec

Initially it was decided that IPv6 must have IPSec security, making it more secure than IPv4.
This feature has now been made optional.

• No Broadcast

Though Ethernet/Token Ring are considered as broadcast network because they support
Broadcasting, IPv6 does not have any broadcast support any more. It uses multicast to
communicate with multiple hosts.

• Anycast Support

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This is another characteristic of IPv6. IPv6 has introduced Anycast mode of packet routing. In
this mode, multiple interfaces over the Internet are assigned same Anycast IP address.
Routers, while routing, send the packet to the nearest destination.

• Mobility

IPv6 was designed keeping mobility in mind. This feature enables hosts (such as mobile
phone) to roam around in different geographical area and remain connected with the same
IP address. The mobility feature of IPv6 takes advantage of auto IP configuration and
Extension headers.

• Enhanced Priority Support

IPv4 used 6 bits DSCP (Differential Service Code Point) and 2 bits ECN (Explicit Congestion
Notification) to provide Quality of Service but it could only be used if the end-to-end devices
support it, that is, the source and destination device and underlying network must support
it.

In IPv6, Traffic class and Flow label are used to tell the underlying routers how to efficiently
process the packet and route it.

• Smooth Transition

Large IP address scheme in IPv6 enables to allocate devices with globally unique IP addresses.
This mechanism saves IP addresses and NAT is not required. So devices can send/receive data
among each other, for example, VoIP and/or any streaming media can be used much
efficiently.

Other fact is, the header is less loaded, so routers can take forwarding decisions and forward
them as quickly as they arrive.

• Extensibility

One of the major advantages of IPv6 header is that it is extensible to add more information
in the option part. IPv4 provides only 40-bytes for options, whereas options in IPv6 can be as
much as the size of IPv6 packet itself.

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Difference Between IPv4 and IPv6:

IPv4 has 32-bit address length IPv6 has 128-bit address length

It Supports Manual and DHCP It supports Auto and renumbering address

address configuration configuration

In IPv4 end to end connection In IPv6 end to end connection integrity is

integrity is Unachievable Achievable

It can generate 4.29×109 Address space of IPv6 is quite large it can

address space produce 3.4×1038 address space

Security feature is dependent IPSEC is inbuilt security feature in the

on application IPv6 protocol

Address representation of IPv4 Address Representation of IPv6 is in

is in decimal hexadecimal

Fragmentation performed by In IPv6 fragmentation performed only by

Sender and forwarding routers sender

In IPv6 packetflow identification are

In IPv4 Packet flow identification Available and uses flow label field in the

is not available header

In IPv4 checksumfield is

available In IPv6 checksumfield is not available

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IPV4 IPV6

It has broadcast Message In IPv6 multicast and any cast message

Transmission Scheme transmission scheme is available

In IPv4 Encryption and

Authentication facility not In IPv6 Encryption and Authentication are

provided provided

IPv4 has header of 20-60 bytes. IPv6 has header of 40 bytes fixed

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