Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

Z N M Zarif Mahmud
Lecturer
Dept. of CSE
Daffodil International University
What is IP Address?

An IP address, which stands for Internet Protocol address, is like a home address for
your computer or any device connected to the internet. Just as your home address
lets mail find its way to your house, an IP address helps information find its way to
your device.
Types of IP

● IPv4 : Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth version of the standard that routes Internet traffic and
other packet-switched networks introduced in 1982 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). IPv4 is the
most widely used version of the protocol despite the limitations of its 32-bit address space.

● IPv6:
○ The Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP).
○ IP is used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet.
○ IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to address IPv4 exhaustion.
○ IPv6 is a 128-bit address.
○ IPv6 has an address space of 2¹²⁸, which is much larger than IPv4.
○ IPv6 uses a hexadecimal format, separated by a colon (:).
Components in IPv6 Address Format

● There are 8 groups and each group represents 2 Bytes (16-bits).

● Each Hex-Digit is of 4 bits (1 nibble)
● Delimiter used – colon (:)
Need For IPv6

● Large Address Space: An IPv6 address is 128 bits long .compared with the 32 bit address of IPv4, this is a
huge(2 raised 96 times) increases in the address space.
● Better Header Format: IPv6 uses a new header format in which options are separated from the base header
and inserted, when needed, between the base header and the upper layer data . This simplifies and speeds up
the routing process because most of the options do not need to be checked by routers.
● New Options: IPv6 has new options to allow for additional functionalities.
● Allowance for extension: IPv6 is designed to allow the extension of the protocol if required by new
technologies or applications.
● Support For Resource Allocation: In IPv6,the type of service field has been removed, but two new fields ,
traffic class and flow label have been added to enables the source to request special handling of the packet .
this mechanism can be used to support traffic such as real-time audio and video.
● Support For More Security: The encryption and authentication options in IPv6 provide confidentiality and
integrity of the packet. In IPv6 representation, we have three addressing methods :
○ Unicast
○ Multicast
○ Anycast
Addressing Methods

● Unicast Address : Unicast Address identifies a single network interface. A packet sent to a unicast address is
delivered to the interface identified by that address.
● Multicast Address : Multicast Address is used by multiple hosts, called as groups, 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. And every node is
configured in the same way. In simple words, one data packet is sent to multiple destinations simultaneously.
● Anycast Address: Anycast Address is assigned to a group of interfaces. Any packet sent to an anycast
address will be delivered to only one member interface (mostly nearest host possible).

Note: Broadcast is not defined in IPv6.

Advantages of IPv6

1. Realtime Data Transmission : Realtime data transmission refers to the process of transmitting data in a very fast manner or
immediately. Example : Live streaming services such as cricket matches, or other tournament that are streamed on web exactly as soon
as it happens with a maximum delay of 5-6 seconds.

2. IPv6 supports authentication: Verifying that the data received by the receiver from the sender is exactly what the sender sent and
came through the sender only not from any third party. Example : Matching the hash value of both the messages for verification is also
done by IPv6.

3. IPv6 performs Encryption: Ipv6 can encrypt the message at network layer even if the protocols of application layer at user level
didn’t encrypt the message which is a major advantage as it takes care of encryption.

4. Faster processing at Router: Routers are able to process data packets of Ipv6 much faster due to smaller Base header of fixed size –
40 bytes which helps in decreasing processing time resulting in more efficient packet transmission. Whereas in Ipv4, we have to calculate
the length of header which lies between 20-60 bytes.
Disadvantages of IPV6
● Transition Period: Due to widespread use of IPv4, shifting completely to IPv6 will take a long time.
● Communication Barrier: IPv4 and IPv6 machines cannot communicate directly with each other.
● No Backward Compatibility: IPv6 cannot run on IPv4-capable computers because it’s not
supported by IPv4 systems.
● Conversion Challenges: IPv6’s inability to uniquely identify each device on the network makes
the transition from IPv4 time-consuming.
● Protocol Isolation: IPv4 and IPv6 cannot communicate with each other directly, preventing cross-
protocol communication.
Let's break down the IPv6 address

IPv6 Address Example: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:733

Let's break down the IPv6 address '2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334' into its basic components:
1. 2001: This is the first section, representing the IPv6 prefix. It indicates the specific network or subnet to which this address belongs.
2. 0db8: This is the second section, which represents the subnet ID. It provides additional subnetting information within the network defined
by the prefix.
3. 85a3: The third section, often referred to as the Interface ID, is unique to each device or interface within the subnet. It's used for host
identification.
4. 0000:0000: These two sections are reserved and usually set to zeros. They may be used for future addressing enhancements.
5. 8a2e: This section is part of the Interface ID, uniquely identifying the device within the subnet.
6. 0370: Another part of the Interface ID, further specifying the device.
7. 7334: The final part of the Interface ID, which, combined with the previous sections, uniquely identifies the device within the subnet.
 Transition from IPv4 to IPv6
● IPv4 header
IPv4 Header

● Version: This is a 4-bit field describing the IP type used in the packet.
● Header length: Header length, also called IHL (Internet Header Length), is a 4-bit field that tells us
about the length of the IPv4 header. The size of the IPv4 header is not always the same, which is why
this field is used.
● TOS: TOS stands for Type of Service. It is an 8-bit field. This field explains the type of service required
for the packet. The most common type of services is reliability, precedence, throughput, and delay.
● Total Length: It is a 16-bit field that indicates the total size of the packet. The highest value a 16-bit
field can store is 65535, which can be the maximum size of the packet.
● Identification: It is a 16-bit field that tells us about the identification number of a packet. If the data
being sent cannot be sent in one packet, the source device fragments the packet and assigns the
pieces the same identification number so the device which receives the packets can reassemble the
fragment to get the entire data.
IPv4 Header(cont.)

● Flag: This is a 3-bit field that enables fragmentation. This first bit in this field is always set to 0. The second bit explains
whether the packet should be fragmented. The last bit indicates whether more fragments are left after the current fragment.
● Offset: This is known as the fragmentation offset. It is a 13-bit field that determines to which part of the original packet this
fragment belongs.
● TTL: TTL stands for Time to Live. It is an 8-bit field that indicates the amount of time or the number of hops a packet can
have before it is discarded.
● Protocol: This is an 8-bit field that specifies the upper layer protocol. It tells the receiver device how to process this packet.
An example of an upper-layer protocol would be UDP.
● Checksum: This is a 16-bit field. The checksum is calculated at every router hop. It is used to check the validity of the
header. So, if the checksum verification at any router fails, that means the header is corrupted, and so the packet is
discarded.
● Source address: This field is used to specify the 32-bit IP address of the source device.
● Destination address: This field is used to specify the 32-bit IP address of the destination device.
● Options: This is an optional field in the header, and its max size is 40 bytes. It is not commonly used. It can be used to
specify options like the path the packet needs to take.
IPv6 Header
The IPv6 header consists of 8 fields. The address size being used in the IPv6 header is about four times bigger than the
IPv4 header, but the header size is just double the size of the IPv4 header. A standard IPv6 header is shown below:
IPv6 Header(cont.)

● Version: This is a 4-bit field that describes the IP type that is being used in the packet.
● Traffic class: This is an 8-bit field. This is similar to the TOS field in the IPv4 header. The first 6-bits represent the
service required for this packet, and the last 2-bits are used for ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification).
● Flow label: This is a 20-bits field. It is used to label the packets belonging to the same sequence. It's to ensure that
the packets are delivered in order. This field is mainly used to deliver real-time data such as audio or video. So, this
field ensures that they are delivered in order.
● Payload length: This is a 16-bit field that indicates the size of the packet. The highest value a 16-bit field can store
is 65535, which can be the maximum size of the packet. If the packet exceeds that size, this field is set to 0.
● Next header: This is an 8-bit field that indicates the type of the first extension header, or in some cases, it just
specifies the upper layer protocol, such as UDP or TCP.
● Hop limit: This is the same as the TTL field in the IPv4 header. It indicates the number of hops a packet can take
before being discarded.
● Source address: This field is used to specify the 128-bit IP address of the source device.
● Destination address: This field is used to specify the 128-bit IP address of the destination device.
Difference between IPv4 and IPv6 header

● IPv6 does not use fields like flags or checksums in its header, unlike IPv4.
● IPv4 header size can range from 20 to 60 bytes, depending on the options field.
● IPv6 header size is fixed at 40 bytes.
● The main difference is the address size:
○ IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, allowing for 4.29 × 10⁹ addresses.
○ IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, allowing for 3.4 × 10³⁸ addresses.
● There are other differences in the protocols, but these are the primary differences in the headers.
Let's break down the IPv6 address
IPv6 Address Example: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:733
'2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334' into its basic components:
1. 2001: This is the first section, representing the IPv6 prefix. It indicates the specific network or subnet to which this address belongs.
2. 0db8: This is the second section, which represents the subnet ID. It provides additional subnetting information within the network
defined by the prefix.
3. 85a3: The third section, often referred to as the Interface ID, is unique to each device or interface within the subnet. It's used for
host identification.
4. 0000:0000: These two sections are reserved and usually set to zeros. They may be used for future addressing enhancements.
5. 8a2e: This section is part of the Interface ID, uniquely identifying the device within the subnet.
6. 0370: Another part of the Interface ID, further specifying the device.
7. 7334: The final part of the Interface ID, which, combined with the previous sections, uniquely identifies the device within the
subnet.
Transition from IPV4 to IPv6
IPv6 overcomes the limitations of IPv4, including address exhaustion and scalability challenges, making it essential for
the ongoing growth and advancement of the internet. The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 utilizes various strategies, such
as dual stack, tunneling, and header translation, to enable the coexistence and compatibility of both IPv4 and IPv6
networks during the migration process.
1. Dual-Stack

In dual-stack router, A router’s interface is attached with IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
configured are used in order to transition from IPv4 to IPv6.

In this above diagram, A given server with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses configured
can communicate with all hosts of IPv4 and IPv6 via dual-stack router (DSR). The
dual stack router (DSR) gives the path for all the hosts to communicate with the
server without changing their IP addresses.
2. Tunneling:

Tunneling is used as a medium to communicate the transit network with the different
IP versions.

In this diagram, the different IP versions such as IPv4 and IPv6 are present. The IPv4
networks can communicate with the transit or intermediate network on IPv6 with the
help of the Tunnel. It’s also possible that the IPv6 network can also communicate
with IPv4 networks with the help of a Tunnel.