The Future of TCP/IP (IPv6)

 Chapter 33
 Evolution of TCP/IP intertwined with
evolution of the global Internet
 Internet is largest installed internet
 Funding comes from organizations that are
Internet users
 Most researchers use Internet daily
 Chapter purpose is to consider ongoing
evolution of TCP/IP
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 1
Why Change?
 New computer and communication
technologies
 New technologies = new possibilities and needs
 New applications
 New ways to use Internet means new protocols
needed
 Increases in size and load
 Massive growth means old ways strained
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 2
Motivation for Changing IPv4
 New countries with differing administrative policies
 IPv4 same for about 20 years
 Since IPv4 designed
 Enhanced processor performance
 Memory size increased
 Network bandwidth for Internet backbone increased
 New LAN technologies
 Number of hosts on Internet risen to over 56 million

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 3

Road to New Version of IP
 Several suggested designs
 Make IP more sophisticated at expense of
increased complexity and processing overhead
 Use a modification of OSI CLNS protocol
 Retain most of ideas in IP but make simple
extensions to accommodate larger addresses
 Simple IP – (SIP)
 Still include new ideas from other suggested protocols

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 4

Features of IPv6
 Despite many conceptual similarities IPv6
changes most protocol details
 Completely revises datagram format
 Replace IPv4 variable length fields with a series
of fixed format headers
 Still supports connectionless delivery
 Allows sender to choose datagram size but
requires sender to specify maximum hops
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 5
Features of IPv6
 Includes facilities for fragmentation and source
routing
 Main changes introduced are
1. Larger Addresses: IPv6 quadruples the size from 32
bits to 128 bits
2. Extended Address Hierarchy: Creates ability to have
additional address levels on an internet
 IPv4 Addresses – 2 levels, Network and Host
 IPv6 Addresses – Can define a hierarchy of ISPs as well
as hierarchy within a site
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 6
Features of IPv6
3. Flexible Header Format: Datagram format
entirely different
 Defines a fixed size (40 octets) header with
optional extended headers
4. Improved Options:
 Has same options as IPv4 plus some new ones
5. Provision for Protocol Extension:
 Move away from protocol that fully specifies all
details to one that permits additional features
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 7
Features of IPv6
6. Support for Autoconfiguration and
Renumbering:
 Allows computers on an isolated network to
assign themselves addresses and begin
communicating without depending on a router or
manual configuration
 Facility to permit a manager to renumber
networks dynamically

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 8

Features of IPv6
7. Support for Resource Allocation:
 Two facilities for pre-allocation of network
resources
 a Flow abstraction
 a Differentiated Services specification

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 9

IPv6 Address Space
 How big is 2128 ?
 So large that everyone on earth will have enough
addresses to have their own internets with as many
addresses as the current Internet has
 So large that there would be 1024 internet addresses
per each square meter on earth
 So large that the address space is greater than 3.4 *
1038
 If addresses are assigned at the rate of 1,000,000 every
microsecond (1/1,000,000th of a second), it would take
more than 1020 years to assign all possible addresses
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 10
IPv6 Colon Hexadecimal Notation
 128 bit number expressed as dotted decimal
 104.230.140.100.255.255.255.255.0.0.17.128.150.10.255.255 becomes
 68E6:8C64:FFFF:FFFF:0:1180:96A:FFFF
 Hex notation allows zero compression
 A string of repeated zeros is replaced with a pair
of colons
 FF05:0:0:0:0:0:0:B3 becomes FF05::B3
 Can be applied only once in any address

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 11

Zero Suppression
 0:0:0:0:0:0:128.10.2.1 becomes ::128.10.2.1
 Looks quite similar to IPv4
 12AB::CD30:0:0:0:0/60 says use first 60 bits
and becomes
 12AB00000000CD3

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 12

Basic IPv6 Address Types
 Unicast – Destination address specifies a
single computer. Route datagram along
shortest path.
 Anycast – Destination is a set of computers,
possibly at different locations, that all share a
single address. Route datagram along shortest
path and deliver to exactly one member of the
group (i.e. closest member)
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 13
Basic IPv6 Address Types
 Multicast - Destination is a set of computers,
possibly at different locations. One copy of
the datagram will be delivered to each
member of the group using hardware
multicast or broadcast if viable.

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 14

Encoding IPv4 Addresses in IPv6

80 zero bits 16 bits 32 bits

0000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000 0000 IPv4 Address

0000 . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0000 FFFF IPv4 Address

• 16-bit field contains 0000 if node also has a conventional IPv6 address
and FFFF if it does not.

RESERVED
DATAGRAM IDENTIFICATION
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General Form of IPv6 Datagram

Optional

Base Extension Extension

 Data
Header Header 1  Header N

40 octets

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 16

IPv6 Base Header Format
 See Base Header figure
 Alignment changed from 32 bit to 64 bit multiples
 Header length eliminated – Replaced with
PAYLOAD LENGTH field
 Size of source and destination addresses changed to
16 octets
 Fragmentation information moved out of fixed fields
in base header to extension header

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 17

IPv6 Base Header Format
 TIME-TO-LIVE field changed to HOP
LIMIT
 SERVICE-TYPE field renamed to TRAFFIC
CLASS and extended with FLOW LABEL
field
 PROTOCOL field replaced with a field that
specifies type of next header

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 18

Base Header Format
0 4 12 16 24 31

VERS TRAFFIC CLASS FLOW LABEL

PAYLOAD LENGTH NEXT HEADER HOP LIMIT

SOURCE ADDRESS

DESTINATION ADDRESS

Base Header Size: 4 + 4 + 16 + 16 = 40 Octets

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Base Header Format
 PAYLOAD LENGTH is length of all
extension headers plus data
 i.e. Total length – 40 octets (Base Header)
 IPv6 datagram can contain up to 64K octets
of data

© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 20

Traffic Class
 IPv4 SERVICE CLASS renamed to TRAFFIC
CLASS
 New IPv6 mechanism allows for resource
reservation!
 A router can associate with each datagram a given
resource allocation
 Abstraction called a FLOW
 A FLOW is a path through an internet along which
intermediate routers guarantee a certain level of
quality of service
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 21
Traffic Class
 FLOW LABEL in the base header contains a
label that routers use to map a datagram to a
certain specific flow and priority
 Flows can also be used within an organization
to manage network resources
 Example
 Two applications that need to send and receive
video can establish a flow over which the
bandwidth and delay are guaranteed
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IPv6 Extension Headers

Base Header TCP Segment

NEXT=TCP
One Base Header

Base Header Route Header TCP Segment

NEXT=ROUTE NEXT=TCP
Two Base Headers

Base Header Route Header Auth Header TCP Segment

NEXT=ROUTE NEXT=AUTH NEXT=TCP
Three Base Headers
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IPv6 Fragmentation
 As with IPv4, IPv6 arranges for destination to
perform re-assembly
 In IPv6 however, changes were made that avoid
fragmentation by routers
 IPv4 requires intermediate routers to fragment any
datagram that is too large for the maximum
transfer/transmission unit (MTU) of network over
which it must travel
 IPv6 fragmentation is end-to-end
© MMII JW Ryder CS 428 Computer Networking 24
IPv6 Fragmentation
 No fragmentation done on intermediate
routers
 Source which is responsible for fragmentation
has two choices
 Use guaranteed minimum MTU (1280 octets)
 Perform Path MTU Discovery
 Identifies minimum MTU along path to the
destination

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IPv6 Fragmentation
 Either case, the source fragments data
 IPv6 fragmentation inserts a small extension
header after the base header in each fragment

0 8 16 24 29 31

NEXT HEADER RESERVED FRAG. OFFSET RS M

DATAGRAM IDENTIFICATION

RS is set t 0 and reserved. M marks last fragment. ID unique for re-assembly.

Fragments must be a multiple of 8 octets.
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