18CSC302J-Computer

Networks
Unit –IV – IPv6 Overview

Course Learning Outcome:

• The student will be able to learn and understand IPv6

technologies.
• The students can able to analyze and compare the IPv4 and
IPv6 protocols.
Topics Covered
• IPV6 Features
• IPV6 Addressing Modes
• IPV6 Address Types
• Address Space Allocation
• Global Unicast Addresses
• Auto configuration, Renumbering
• IPV6 Routing Protocols
• IPV6 Packet Format
• Comparison between IPV4 and IPV6 Header
• IPV4 to IPV6 Tunneling
• IPV4 to IPV6 Translation Techniques
• NAT Protocol Translation
• IPV6 Mobility
• Protocols Changed to Support IPV6
 IPv6 Overview
• IPv4 stood the test of time- a tribute to its initial design
➢ Proven to be robust
➢ Easily implemented
➢ Interoperable

• The initial design did not anticipate today's Internet scale and size.
➢ Exhausting IPv4 address space
➢ Large routing tables
➢ Simpler management of IPv4 addresses
➢ Security at IP level
➢ QoS requirements
 IPv6 Features
The changes introduced by IPv6 can be grouped into seven categories:
• Larger Addresses: The new address size is the most noticeable change. IPv6 quadruples the size of an IPv4
address from 32 bits to 128 bits. The IPv6 address space is so large that it cannot be exhausted in the foreseeable
future.
• Extended Address Hierarchy:IPv6 uses the larger address space to create additional levels of addressing
hierarchy. In particular, Pv6 can define a hierarchy of ISPs as well as a hierarchical structure within a given site.
• Flexible Header Format: IPv6 uses an entirely new and incompatible datagram format. Unlike the IPv4 fixed-format
header, IPv6 defines a set of optional headers.
• Improved Options: Like IPv4, IPv6 allows a datagram to include optional control information. IPv6 includes new
options that provide additional facilities not available in IPv4.
• . Provision For Protocol Extension: Perhaps the most significant change in IPv6 is a move away from a protocol
that fully specifies all details to a protocol that can permit additional features. The extension capability has the
potential to allow the IETF to adapt the protocol to changes in underlying network hardware or to new applications.
• Support For Auto configuration And Renumbering: IPv6 provides facilities that allow computers on an isolated
network to assign themselves addresses and begin communicating without depending on a router or manual
configuration. The protocol also includes a facility that permits a manager to renumber networks dynamically.
• Support For Resource Allocation: IPv6 has two facilities that permit pre-allocation of network resources: a flow
abstraction and a differentiated service specification. The latter will use the same approach as IPv4's differentiated
services.
IPv6 Addressing Modes:
• 128 bits (or 16 bytes) long: four times as long as its predecessor.
• 2128 : about 340 billion billion billion billion different addresses
• Colon hexadecimal notation:
• addresses are written using 32 hexadecimal digits.
• digits are arranged into 8 groups of four to improve the readability.
• Groups are separated by colons
2001:0718:1c01:0016:020d:56ff:fe77:52a3
• Note:
• DNS plays an important role in the IPv6 world
• (manual typing of IPv6 addresses is not an easy thing,
• Some zero suppression rules are allowed to lighten this task at least a little.
IPv6 Address Notation: Example
128.91.45.157.220.40.0.0.0.0.252.87.212.200.31.255
 Rule 1- IPv6 Zero Suppression

• Some types of addresses contain long sequences of zeros.

• To further simplify the representation of IPv6 addresses, a contiguous sequence of 16-bit blocks set
to 0 in the colon hexadecimal format can be compressed to “::”, known as double-colon.

• For example:
• link-local address
• FE80:0:0:0:2AA:FF:FE9A:4CA2 → FE80::2AA:FF:FE9A:4CA2.
• multicast address
• FF02:0:0:0:0:0:0:2 → FF02::2
• loopback address
• 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 → ::1
 Rule 1- IPv6 Zero Suppression

• Zero compression can only be used to compress a single contiguous series of 16-bit blocks
expressed in colon hexadecimal notation.
• You cannot use zero compression to include part of a 16-bit block.

• For example,
• cannot express FF02:30:0:0:0:0:0:5 as FF02:3::5
• correct representation = FF02:30::5
• Leading zeroes in every group can be omitted.
2001:718:1c01:16:20d:56ff:fe77:52a3
 Rule 1- IPv6 Zero Suppression
• To determine the number of 0 bits represented by the “::”
1. count the number of blocks in the compressed address
2. (-) subtract this number from 8
3. (*) multiply the result by 16.

• For example
1. FF02::2
2. two blocks - “FF02” block and “2” block.
3. The number of bits expressed by the “::” is 96 (96 = (8 – 2)16).

• Zero compression can only be used once in a given address.

• Otherwise, you could not determine the number of 0 bits represented by each instance of “::”.
Example1:
Show the unabbreviated colon hex notation for the following IPv6 addresses:

a. An address with 64 0s followed by 64 1s.

b. An address with 128 0s.
c. An address with 128 1s.
d. An address with 128 alternative 1s and 0s.

Solution
a. 0000:0000:0000:0000:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF
b. 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000
c. FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF
d. AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA
Example 2
The following shows the zero contraction version of addresses in
Example 1 (part c and d cannot be abbreviated)

a. :: FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF
b. ::
c. FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF
d. AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA:AAAA
Example 3
Show abbreviations for the following addresses:
a. 0000:0000:FFFF:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000
b. 1234:2346:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:1111
c. 0000:0001:0000:0000:0000:0000:1200:1000
d. 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:FFFF:24.123.12.6
Solution
a. 0:0:FFFF::
b. 1234:2346::1111
c. 0:1::1200:1000
d. ::FFFF:24.123.12.6
 Example 4
Decompress the following addresses and show the complete unabbreviated IPv6 address:

a. 1111::2222
b. ::
c. 0:1::
d. AAAA:A:AA::1234

Solution
a. 1111:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:2222
b. 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000
c. 0000:0001:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000
d. AAAA:000A:00AA:0000:0000:0000:0000:1234
 IPv6 Prefixes
• The prefix is the part of the address that indicates the bits that have fixed values or are the bits of the
subnet prefix.
• Prefixes for IPv6 subnets, routes, and address ranges are expressed in the same way as Classless
Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation for IPv4.
• An IPv6 prefix is written in address/prefix-length notation.
• For example, 21DA:D3::/48 and 21DA:D3:0:2F3B::/64 are IPv6 address prefixes.

• Note IPv4 implementations commonly use a dotted decimal representation of the network prefix
known as the subnet mask. A subnet mask is not used for IPv6. Only the prefix length notation is
supported.
IPv6 Prefixes
IPv6 Address Types
• IPv6 Addresses: Types and Scopes
IPv6 Address Categories
IPv6 Address Types
Address space allocation
Example
• Figure Address space allocation shows that only a portion of the address space can be used for
global unicast communication. How many addresses are in this block?

Solution
• This block occupies only one-eighth of the address spaces. To find the number of addresses, we
can divide the total address space by 8 or 23 . The result is (2128)/(23) = 2125 —a huge block.
Algorithm for finding the allocated
blocks

Linked 10 0 1 111111 0 0 000000 IPv4

local compatible
1 0 1

Multicast Unique local Global

unicast Unicast
Global Unicast Addresses
• Primary used to address the System for one-one Communication mechanism i.e host to host direct communication
over the internet.

• Global unicast address is equivalent to public IPV4 address

• Global unicast address objective is to reach any host globally across the internet uniquely

• Address block refer this is called global unicast address block

• CIDR Notation for the block is 2000::/3, where 3 refers to that 3 leftmost bit is common for all address in this block
(001)

• The size of the address space is 2125 which is more than for expansion of internet in many years
Global Unicast Address
• test

n bits 128-n-m bits m bits

Global routing prefix Subnet Identifier Interface Identifier

Global Unicast Address

Block Assignment Length of block

Global routing prefix (n) 48 bits
Subnet Identifier (128-n-m) 16 bits
Interface Identifier 64 bits

Recommended length for each block in Global unicast address

Three levels of Hierarchy
• Global Routing Prefix : First block of 48 bits together form global routing preference. Its used to route the packet to
the organization site (ISP) through the internet, Since the first three bits (001) is predefined, the next 45 bits can
used to define 245 sites. The routers across the internet route the packet to the destination based on the value of n.

• Subnet Identifier : 16 bit block is used to identify the specific subnet of an organization. An organization can have
upto 216 subnets.

• Interface Identifier : last 64 bits refers to the interface identifier which is used to identify the Host which is similar to
the hostId in IPV4 scheme. In IPV4 addressing, there is no relation between the hostid (32 bits) and MAC(48 bits)
due to the difference in length. Since IPV6 64 bits of length the Physical address of the host can be embedded as
whole or part of the identifier which helps in locating the host without any mapping. Two common physical
addressing scheme can be considered for this purpose: the 64-bit extended unique identifier (EUI-64) defined by
IEEE and the 48-bit physical address defined by Ethernet.
Mapping EUI-64 to interface identifier

8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits

8 bits
EUI 64
bits 0

8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits

8 bits
Interface
Identifier 1

To map the physical address (MAC), the global bit of the format needs to be changed from 0 to 1
Mapping MAC Address to interface identifier

8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits

Ethernet
MAC address 0

Interface
Identifier
8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits
8 bits

1 11111111 11111110
To map the physical address (MAC), the global bit of the format needs to be changed from 0 to 1
Example of mapping address from one
format to other
1. Find the interface identifier if the physical address in the EUI is (F5-A9-23-EF-07-14-7A-D2)16 using the format we defined for
Ethernet addresses.
Soln : To map the EUI to interface identifier we need to invert the seventh bit of first octet. The first octet value
F5 -> (11110101)
F7 -> (11110111)
Interface identifier is F7-A9-23-EF-07-14-7A-D2

2. Find the interface identifier if the Ethernet physical address is (F5-A9-23-14-7A-D2)16 using the format we defined for Ethernet
addresses.
Soln : To map the Ethernet address to interface identifier, we need to invert the seventh bit of first octet and FFFE has to be inserted
after the 3 octet.
F5-A9-23-14-7A-D2 (11110101)
F7-A9-23-FF-FE-14-7A-D2 (11110111)
Auto Configuration
• Auto configuration enables the host to assign the IPV6 address on its own. In IPV4 usually the network manager will assign the
address (static) for each host in the network in-case if the network uses DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) the host will

be assign a dynamic address when the host join the network and it keeps changing every time it joins the network.

• Auto Configuration process:

1. Host create a link local address by taking 10 bit local prefix (1111 1110 10) and add 54 zeros and adding 64 bits interface
identifier of its own from the interface card which makes as 128 bit link local address.

2. The host verifies the uniqueness of the link local address by sending the neighbour solicitation message and waits for the
neighbour advertisement message. Incase if any of the host address matches then auto configuration process results in
failure which can be counter by either DHCP or manual configuration

3. If the uniqueness test for link local address is successful, then the host send router solicitation message to the local router. If
the local router running in the network sends a router advertisement message from which thee host extract the global
unicast prefix and the subnet prefix and append the same with local link to complete the address. Incase if the router cant
help for auto configuration it inform the host by setting the flag in the advertisement message.
Computing the global unicast address
1. Assume a host with Ethernet address (F5-A9-23-11-9B-E2)16 has joined the network. What would be its global unicast address if
the global unicast prefix of the organization is 3A21:1216:2165 and the subnet identifier is A245:1232.
Soln:
Step 1 : Creating a local link address by adding 10 bit prefix (1111 1110 10) and 54 zeros and append its 64 bit interface ID extracted
from the Ethernet address :
FE80 : :F7A9-23FF-FE11-9BE2 (by inverting the seventh bit of 1st octet and adding FFFE after the third octet)

Step 2 : On assuming this uniqueness it send the router solicitation message upon receiving the advertisement message it complete
the auto configuration process by extracting the global unicast prefix and subnet identifier from the message as follows
3A21:1216:2165:A245:1232 and append it to the local link address

3A21:1216:2165:A245:1232: F7A9-23FF-FE11-9BE2
Renumbering
Renumbering allow the site to change the service provider and reconfigure the IPV6 address. If the site changes the service provider
the address prefix needs to be changed. Once the service provider changes the router advertises the new prefix and the site uses
the old prefix before its disabling. The main hindrance in renumbering is support of the DNS, which needs to propagate the new
addressing associated with a domain name. Anew protocol called Next generation DNS in exploration.
IPV6 Introduction
The evolution of IPV6 was due to two major factors:

1. Address depletion

2. slowness of the process due to some unnecessary processing, and support for multimedia and security.

IPV6 responds to the above issue by the following modifications

• Larger address space. Instead of 32bit addressing scheme it uses 128 bit addressing format.

• Better header format. Options are flexible i.e., removed from base header and inserted when needed which speed up the routing
process.

• New options. IPv6 has new options to allow for additional functionalities.

• Allowance for extension.

• Support for resource allocation. In place of type-of-service field two new fields, traffic class and flow label have been added to
enable the source to request special handling of the packet which enable the support for multimedia transmission

• Support for more security. The encryption and authentication options in IPv6 provide confidentiality and integrity of the packet.
IPV6 Packet format
40 bytes Upto 65 535 bytes

Base Header Payload

Extension Headers (Optional) Data Packet from upper layers

32 bits = 4 bytes
• Version : To specify whether IPV4 or IPV6
0 4 12 16 24 31 • Traffic Class : Distinguish the payload.
• Flow label : Mention special handling for a
VER Traffic Class Flow Label particular flow of data.
Payload length Hop limit • Payload length : Defines the length of the IP
Next Header
datagram in payload.
Source Address • Next Header : Optional extension headers used
(128 bits = 16 bytes) by IP or the header of an encapsulated packet
such as UDP or TCP.
Destination Address • Hop Limit : TTL
(128 bits = 16 bytes) • Source Address: Original source address
• Destination Address: Final destination of
Format of Base Header datagram
Next Header codes
Code Next Header
0 Hop-by-Hop option
2 ICMP
6 TCP
17 UDP
43 Source routing
44 Fragmentation
50 Encrypted Security Payload
51 Authentication
59 NULL (no next header)
60 Destination Option
Flow Label
• IP protocol designed to serve as connectionless protocol, but it has the ability to serve as connection oriented protocol.

• Router consider the flow as a sequence of packet share the same characteristics such as path, resources, and security.

• Router support the handling of flow label table which has entry for each active flow. When a router receives a packet it check the
flow label table for the entry and provides the service mentioned. The information is provided by other means such as the hop-by-
hop options or other protocols.

• Flow label objective is to speed up the processing of packet i.e. while receiving a packet instead checking the routing table it
consults the flow label table to find the next hop.

• A flow label used to support the transmission of real-time audio and video. Real-time audio or video, particularly in digital form

Rules for flow label:

• Flow label is defined by source host which takes a random number form 1 to 224 -1 and it must be unique one.

• If host doesn’t support the feature its set to zero and if router doesn’t support it simply ignore the field.

• All the packets belong to the same flow has same source, same destination, same priority and same option
IPV4 vs IPV6

IPV4 IPV6
Header length Field Header length field is eliminated
Service type field Traffic class and flow label
Total length field Payload length field
Identification , flag, offset Fragmentation extension header
TTL Hop-limit
Protocol Next Header
Header Checksum No Checksum
Option fields Extension Headers
Extension Header
VER Traffic Class Flow Label

Payload length Next Header Hop limit

Base Header
Source Address(128 bits = 16 bytes)

Destination Address (128 bits = 16 bytes)

Next Header Header length

Next Header Header length

.
. Extension Header
.

Next Header Header length

Format of Base Header

Extension Headers
Extension Header

Source
Hop-by-Hop Destination Fragmentation Authentication ESP
Routing

• Hop-by-Hop is used when source needs to send information to all routers along the path. Used to specify information such as
management, debugging and control function also used too specify when datagram size exceeds 65535 bits. The first field defines the
header and next fields defines the length and rest of the field makes options. Only 3 options have been defined are Pad1, PadN, and
jumbo Payload.

Next Header Header length

Options
Options in Hop-by-Hop header
8 bits 8 bits

code Length Data (variable length)

Action (2 bits) C (1 bit) Type (5 bits)

C Change in option Value
• 0 Doesn’t change in transit
Action (if option not required) • 1 maybe changed in transit
• 00 Skip this option
• 01 Discard datagram, no more action Type
• 10 Discard datagram and send ICMP message • 00000 Pad1
• 11 Discard datagram and send ICMP message if not • 00001 PadN
Multicast • 00010 Jumbo Payload

Type
• Pad1 – used for alignment purpose. Options need to start at specific bit of 32 bit word, if it fall short by 1 bit Pad1 is used. Pad1
excludes the length of option and data field. Pad1 can be inserted anywhere in hop-by-hop

Options
Code pad1
00000
Rest of the payload b. Used for padding
a. Pad1
Options in Hop-by-Hop header
code length Data

00000001 C (1 bit) All 0’s Pad N

1 byte 1 byte variable

Type
• PadN – PadN is used when 2 or more bytes are needed for alignment. PadN is made of 1 byte of option code, 1 byte of the option
length, and a variable number of zero padding bytes. The value of the option code is 1 (action is 00, the change bit is 0, and type is
00001). The option length contains the number of padding bytes

Code Code
Jumbo Payload
11000010 00000100
Length of Jumbo payload ( 4 bytes)
Type
• Jumbo payload. Payload in the IP datagram can be a maximum of 65,535 bytes in length, if for any reason payload length is larger
than prefer jumbo payload option to define this longer length. The jumbo payload option must always start at a multiple of 4
bytes plus 2 from the beginning of the extension headers. The jumbo payload option starts at the (4n + 2) byte, where n is a small
integer.
Extension Headers

Destination: Destination is used when the source needs to send information only to the destination and prevents the information get
accessed by the router along the path. The format of the destination field is same as hop-by-hop option.

Source Routing: Combines the concept of strict and loose routing and minimum of 7 fields length.

Next Header Header Length Code Address left • Next Header and Header length are same as in Hop-by-Hop
Reserved Strict/loose mask • Type field defines strict or loose routing.

First Address • Address left represents the host need to reach the destination.
• strict/loose mask field determines the rigidity of routing.
Second Address
• If set to strict, routing must follow the source specification
:
• If set to loose, it may visit other routers
:

Last address

Note : Destination address in source routing does not refer to the final destination of the datagram instead, it changes from router to
router. The addresses in the extension headers also change from router to router.
Source Routing Example
If source A wants to send a packet to destination B then, the routing info

Source : A Source : A Source : A Source : A

Destination : R1 Destination : R2 Destination : R3 Destination : R3
Left : 3 Left : 2 Left : 1 Left : 0
R2 R1 R1 R1
R3 R3 R2 R2
B B B R3
Extension Header – Fragmentation & Authentication

Fragmentation
• Refers to the process of breaking the segment into smaller fragment
• IPV4 either the source (host) or the router performs the fragmentation process based on the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)

Next Header Header Length Fragment offset 0 M

Fragmentation
Fragment Identification

• In IPV6 only the source performs the fragmentation by using Path MTU discovery technique in-order to find the smallest MTU on the path. If
the source doesn’t use MTU discovery, it fragment the packet into size of 1280 bytes or smaller
Authentication:
Security parameter index
Authentication
Authentication Data

• Validates the sender and ensure integrity of data. Validation of sender to insure the message comes for genuine source not from intruder.
The integrity is verify the original transmitted message reaches the receiver end.
• Security parameter index defines the algorithm used for authentication and the data field contain the actual data generated by the
algorithm.
Authentication of data

128-bit security key

IP datagram with changeable 128 bit Authentication

Authentication
and authentication fields set to data
Algorithm
zero

128-bit security key

Authentication Process

The sender passes a 128-bit security key, the entire IP datagram, and the 128-bit security key again to the algorithm. Those fields in the
datagram with values that change during transmission (for example, hop count) are set to zero. The datagram passed to the algorithm includes
the authentication header extension, with the authentication data field set to zero. The algorithm creates authentication data which is inserted
into the extension header prior to datagram transmission.
The receiver on receiving the message passes the datagram and the secret to the algorithm and compare the result, if it matches the datagram is
accepted else discarded.
Extension Header – ESP

Encrypted Security Payload (ESP)

Security parameter index

ESP
Encrypted Data

• To provide confidentiality and prevent eavesdropping.

• The security parameter index defines the type of encryption algorithm used and data field carries the encrypted data and other information
if any needed for the algorithm
• Encryption can be done either by transport model or tunnel model
Transition from IPV4 to IPV6
Three strategies used are:
• Dual stack
• Tunnelling
• Header translation
Dual Stack: Before complete migration all station must run in dual mode i.e. Both IPV4 and IPV6

Transport and Application layers

IPV4 IPV6

Underlying LAN or WAN Technology

To IPV4 To IPV6

Before sending a packet to the destination the source queries the DNS, if it returns IPV4 then source sends IPV4 packet else send IPV6 packet.
Transition from IPV4 to IPV6 : Tunnelling
Tunnelling : Process happens when two IPV6 host wants to communicate through a IPV4 Channel, to pass through this channel it requires a IPV4
address. So IPV6 packet is encapsulated in a IPV4 packet and enter the region.

IPV4 Header
IPV6 Header
IPV6 Host IPV6 Host
Payload

IPV6 Header Tunnelling IPV6 Header

Payload Payload

IPV4 Region
IPv4 packet is carrying an IPv6 packet as data, the protocol value is set to 41
Transition from IPV4 to IPV6 : Header translation

Header Translation acquires when sender uses a IPV6 and receiver uses IPV4, where the IPV6 address needs to be translated to IPV4.

Header translation
done here
IPV6 Host IPV4 Host

IPV6 Header IPV4 Header

Payload Payload

IPV4 Region
IPV6 Region

Header translation uses the mapped address to translate an IPv6 address to an IPv4 address. Rules for Translation:
The IPv6 mapped address is changed to an IPv4 address by extracting the right-most 32 bits.
The value of the IPv6 priority field is discarded. The type of service field in IPv4 is set to zero.
The checksum for IPv4 is calculated and inserted in the corresponding field. The IPv6 flow label is ignored.
Compatible extension headers are converted to options and inserted in the IPv4 header. Some may have to be dropped.
The length of IPv4 header is calculated and inserted into the corresponding field.
The total length of the IPv4 packet is calculated and inserted in the corresponding field.
NAT Protocol
What is NAT????
To access the Internet one public IP address is needed but we can use a
private IP address in our private network. The idea of NAT is to allow
multiple devices to access the Internet through a single public address.
To achieve this the translation of private IP address to a public IP
address is required. Network Address Translation (NAT) is a process in
which one or more local IP address is translated into one or more
Global IP address and vice versa in order to provide Internet access to
the local hosts.
NAT Working
Generally, the border router is configured for NAT i.e
the router which has one interface in local (inside)
network and one interface in the global (outside)
network. When a packet traverse outside the local
(inside) network, then NAT converts that local
(private) IP address to a global (public) IP address.
When a packet enters the local network, the global
(public) IP address is converted to a local (private) IP
address.
If NAT run out of addresses, i.e., no address is left in
the pool configured then the packets will be dropped
and an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) host
unreachable packet to the destination is sent.
Types of NAT :
There are 3 ways to Configure NAT :
• Static NAT – In this, a single unregistered (Private) IP address is
mapped with a legally registered (Public) IP address i.e one-to-one
mapping between local and global address.
• Dynamic NAT – In this type of NAT, an unregistered IP address is
translated into a registered (Public) IP address from a pool of public IP
address.
• Port Address Translation (PAT) – This is also known as NAT overload.
In this, many local (private) IP addresses can be translated to a single
registered IP address. Port numbers are used to distinguish the traffic
i.e., which traffic belongs to which IP address.
Advantages of NAT
• NAT conserves legally registered IP addresses .
• It provides privacy as the device IP address, sending and receiving the
traffic, will be hidden.
• Eliminates address renumbering when a network evolves.
Disadvantages of NAT
• Translation results in switching path delays.
• Certain applications will not function while NAT is enabled.
• Complicates tunneling protocols such as IPsec.
• Also, router being a network layer device, should not tamper with
port numbers(transport layer) but it has to do so because of NAT.
IPV6 Mobility
IPV6 Mobility
• When a host is connected to a link or network, it acquires an IP
address and all communication take place using that IP address on
that link. As soon as, the same host changes its physical location, that
is, moves into another area / subnet / network / link, its IP address
changes accordingly, and all the communication taking place on the
host using old IP address, goes down.
• IPv6 mobility provides a mechanism for the host to roam around
different links without losing any communication/connection and its
IP address.
Modules associated
• Mobile Node: The device that needs IPv6 mobility.
• Home Link: This link is configured with the home subnet prefix and
this is where the Mobile IPv6 device gets its Home Address.
• Home Address: This is the address which the Mobile Node acquires
from the Home Link. This is the permanent address of the Mobile
Node. If the Mobile Node remains in the same Home Link, the
communication among various entities take place as usual.
• Home Agent: This is a router that acts as a registrar for Mobile Nodes.
Home Agent is connected to Home Link and maintains information
about all Mobile Nodes, their Home Addresses, and their present IP
addresses.
Modules associated
• Foreign Link: Any other Link that is not Mobile Node’s Home Link.
• Care-of Address: When a Mobile Node gets attached to a Foreign
Link, it acquires a new IP address of that Foreign Link’s subnet.
• Correspondent Node: Any IPv6 enabled device that intends to have
communication with Mobile Node.
Diagramatic Representation
IPV6 Mobility Operations
When a Mobile Node leaves its Home Link and is connected to some Foreign Link, the
Mobility feature of IPv6 comes into play. After getting connected to a Foreign Link, the
Mobile Node acquires an IPv6 address from the Foreign Link. This address is called Care-of
Address. The Mobile Node sends a binding request to its Home Agent with the new Care-of
Address. The Home Agent binds the Mobile Node’s Home Address with the Care-of
Address, establishing a Tunnel between both.
Whenever a Correspondent Node tries to establish connection with the Mobile Node (on
its Home Address), the Home Agent intercepts the packet and forwards to Mobile Node’s
Care-of Address over the Tunnel which was already established.
Route Optimization
When a Correspondent Node initiates a communication by sending packets to
Mobile the Node on the Home Address, these packets are tunneled to the Mobile
Node by the Home Agent. In Route Optimization mode, when the Mobile Node
receives a packet from the Correspondent Node, it does not forward replies to the
Home Agent. Rather, it sends its packet directly to the Correspondent Node using
Home Address as Source Address.
Protocols Changed to
Support IPV6
ICMPv6
Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 is an upgraded
implementation of ICMP to accommodate IPv6 requirements. This
protocol is used for diagnostic functions, error and information
message, statistical purposes. ICMPv6’s Neighbor Discovery Protocol
replaces ARP and helps discover neighbor and routers on the link.
DHCPv6
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 is an implementation of
DHCP. Though IPv6 enabled hosts do not require any DHCPv6 Server to
acquire IP address as they can be auto-configured. Neither do they
need DHCPv6 to locate DNS server because DNS can be discovered and
configured via ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery Protocol. Yet DHCPv6 Server
can be used to provide these information.
DNS
There has been no new version of DNS but it is now equipped with
extensions to provide support for querying IPv6 addresses. A new
AAAA (quad-A) record has been added to reply IPv6 query messages.
Now DNS can reply with both IP versions (4 & 6) without any change in
query format.