Internet Protocol v6

Module IV-CST 303

2001:0000:130F:0000:0000:09C0:876A:130B
Zero compression in IP6
● Zero compression in IPv6 is a technique used to simplify the
representation of IPv6 addresses by replacing consecutive groups of
zeros with a double colon (::).
● Since IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long, written as eight groups of four
hexadecimal digits separated by colons
● The addresses can often contain long sequences of zeroes. Zero
compression allows these sequences to be shortened.
● A sequence of consecutive groups of zeros can be replaced by ::, but
this can only be done once per address to avoid ambiguity.
● Example: 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329 can be
compressed to 2001:db8::ff00:42:8329.
Types of IPv6 addresses
● There are three categories of IPv6 addresses:
○ Unicast address
○ Anycast address
○ Multicast address
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.
Anycast addressing
● Pv6 anycast addressing is a technique where a single IP address is
assigned to multiple devices, typically servers, located in different
geographic or network locations.
● When a packet is sent to an anycast address, the network delivers it to
the nearest device that holds this address.
● This approach can improve response times, reduce latency, and
increase redundancy.
Example
● Google has multiple data centers and servers around the world that
serve requests for [Link]. When we type [Link] in your
browser, your request is directed to one of these servers.
● When we send a request to [Link], the Domain Name System
(DNS) resolves that domain to an IP address. Because of anycast, our
request will be routed to the nearest Google server based on our
geographical location.
Multicast addressing
● 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
IPv6 Header format
Version (4-bits)

The size of this field is 4-bit. It Indicates the version of the Internet Protocol, which is always 6 for IPv6, so
the bit sequence is 0110.

Traffic Class(8-bit)

The Traffic Class field indicates class or priority of IPv6 packet which is similar to Service Field in IPv4 packet.
It helps routers to handle the traffic based on the priority of the packet. If congestion occurs on the router
then packets with the least priority will be discarded.
Flow Label
The Flow Label is a 20-bit field used to identify packets that belong to the same flow, which is a sequence of packets sent from a
particular source to a specific destination. It allows routers to handle packets with similar characteristics in a more efficient manner

Payload Length (16-bits)

It is a 16-bit (unsigned integer) field, indicates the total size of the data
It tells routers about the amount of information a particular packet contains in its payload.
Next Header (8-bits)

Next Header indicates the type of extension header immediately following the IPv6 header.
In some cases it indicates the protocols contained within upper-layer packets, such as TCP, UDP.

Hop Limit (8-bits)

Hop Limit field is the same as TTL in IPv4 packets. It indicates the maximum number of intermediate nodes
IPv6 packet is allowed to travel. Its value gets decremented by one, by each node that forwards the packet
and the packet is discarded if the value decrements to 0. This is used to discard the packets that are stuck in
an infinite loop because of some routing error.
Source Address (128-bits)

Source Address is the 128-bit IPv6 address of the original source of the packet.

Destination Address (128-bits)

The destination Address field indicates the IPv6 address of the final destination.
All the intermediate nodes can use this information in order to correctly route the packet.
 IPv4 IPv6
IPv4 has a 32-bit address length IPv6 has a 128-bit address length
It Supports Manual and DHCP It supports Auto and renumbering
address configuration address configuration
It can generate 4.29×10^9 address The address space of IPv6 is quite
space large it can produce 3.4×10^38
address space
The Security feature is dependent on IPSEC is an inbuilt security feature
the application in the IPv6 protocol
Address representation of IPv4 is in Address representation of IPv6 is in
decimal hexadecimal
In IPv4 checksum field is available In IPv6 checksum field is not
available
Advantages of IPv6
● Larger Address Space: IPv6 offers a substantially bigger address space than IPv4.
● IPv6 may supply roughly 3.41038 unique addresses, compared to the 4.3 billion
unique addresses provided by IPv4.
● Improved Security: IPv6 has built-in security features including IPsec, which
offers data integrity, authentication, and encryption for internet traffic.
● Simplified Header Format: Compared to IPv4, IPv6 features a simpler and more
effective header [Link] reduces the processing overheads and boosts the speed
of the internet connection.
● Prioritize the services: IPv6 offers stronger support for QoS features, allowing internet
service providers to priorities traffic and guarantee that essential applications, like voice
and video, receive the required bandwidth and low latency.
● Improved Support for Mobile Devices: In the modern digital world, where smartphones
and tablets are becoming more and more common, IPv6 offers better support for mobile
devices.