IPV6

 Every computer system and device connected to the Internet

is located by an IP address. The current system of distributing
IP addresses is called IPv4. This system assigns each
computer a 32-bit numeric address, such as 120.121.123.124.
However, with the growth of computers connected to the
Internet, the number of available IP addresses are predicted
to run out in only a few years. This is why IPv6 was
introduced.
 IPv6, also called IPng (or IP Next Generation), is the next
planned version of the IP address system. (IPv5 was an
experimental version used primarily for streaming data.)
While IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses,
which increases the number of possible addresses by an
exponential amount. For example, IPv4 allows 4,294,967,296
addresses to be used (2^32). IPv6 allows for over
340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 IP
addresses. That should be enough to last awhile.
 Because IPv6 allows for substantially more IP
addresses than IPv4, the addresses themselves are
more complex. They are typically written in this
format:
 hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh
 Each "hhhh" section consists of a four-
digit hexadecimal number, which means each digit
can be from 0 to 9 and from A to F. An example IPv6
address may look like this:
 F704:0000:0000:0000:3458:79A2:D08B:4320
IPV6 ADDRESS NOTATION
 IPv6 addresses are denoted by eight groups of
hexadecimal quartets separated by colons in between
them.
 Following is an example of a valid IPv6 address:
2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652
 Any four-digit group of zeroes within an IPv6 address
may be reduced to a single zero or altogether omitted.
Therefore, the following IPv6 addresses are similar and
equally valid:
 2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652
2001:cdba:0:0:0:0:3257:9652
2001:cdba::3257:9652
 Address Structure
 An IPv6 address is made of 128 bits divided into eight 16-
bits blocks. Each block is then converted into 4-digit
Hexadecimal numbers separated by colon symbol.
 For example, the below is 128 bit IPv6 address represented
in binary format and divided into eight 16-bits blocks:
 0010000000000001 0000000000000000 0011001000110100
1101111111100001 0000000001100011 0000000000000000
0000000000000000 1111111011111011
 Each block is then converted into Hexadecimal and
separated by ‘:’ symbol:
 2001:0000:3238:DFE1:0063:0000:0000:FEFB
 Even after converting into Hexadecimal format, IPv6
address remains long. IPv6 provides some rules to shorten
the address.
 These rules are:
 Rule:1 Discard leading Zero(es):
 In Block 5, 0063, the leading two 0s can be omitted,
such as (5th block)
 2001:0000:3238:DFE1:63:0000:0000:FEFB
 Rule:2 If two of more blocks contains consecutive
zeroes, omit them all and replace with double colon
sign :: such as (6th and 7th block)
 2001:0000:3238:DFE1:63::FEFB
 Consecutive blocks of zeroes can be replaced only once
by :: so if there are still blocks of zeroes in the address
they can be shrink down to single zero, such as (2nd
block):
 2001:0:3238:DFE1:63::FEFB
IPv6 Header
 The wonder of IPv6 lies in its header. An IPv6 address
is 4 times larger than IPv4, but surprisingly, the header
of an IPv6 address is only 2 times larger than that of
IPv4. IPv6 headers have one Fixed Header and zero or
more Optional (Extension) Headers. All the necessary
information that is essential for a router is kept in the
Fixed Header. The Extension Header contains optional
information that helps routers to understand how to
handle a packet/flow.
 Fixed Header
 IPv6 fixed header is 40 bytes long and contains the
following information.
 Version (4-bits): It represents the version of Internet
Protocol, i.e. 0110.
 Traffic Class (8-bits) : 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 priority of the packet. If
congestion occurs on router then packets with least
priority will be discarded.
As of now only 4-bits are being used (and remaining
bits are under research), in which 0 to 7 are assigned to
Congestion controlled traffic and 8 to 15 are assigned
to Uncontrolled traffic.
 Priority assignment of Congestion controlled traffic.

 Uncontrolled data traffic is mainly used for Audio/Video

data. So we give higher priority to Uncontrolled data traffic.
Source node is allowed to set the priorities but on the way
routers can change it. Therefore, destination should not
expect same priority which was set by source node.
 Flow Label (20-bits): This label is used to maintain
the sequential flow of the packets belonging to a
communication. The source labels the sequence to
help the router identify that a particular packet
belongs to a specific flow of information. This field
helps avoid re-ordering of data packets. It is designed
for streaming/real-time media.
 Payload Length (16-bits): This field is used to tell the
routers how much information a particular packet
contains in its payload. Payload is composed of
Extension Headers and Upper Layer data. With 16 bits,
up to 65535 bytes can be indicated; but if the
Extension Headers contain Hop-by-Hop Extension
Header, then the payload may exceed 65535 bytes and
this field is set to 0.
 Next Header (8-bits): This field is used to indicate
either the type of Extension Header, or if the
Extension Header is not present then it indicates the
Upper Layer PDU. The values for the type of Upper
Layer PDU(Protocol Data Unit) are same as IPv4’s.
 Hop Limit (8-bits): This field is used to stop packet to
loop in the network infinitely. This is same as TTL in
IPv4. The value of Hop Limit field is decremented by 1
as it passes a link (router/hop). When the field reaches
0 the packet is discarded.
 Source Address (128-bits): This field indicates the
address of originator of the packet.
 Destination Address (128-bits): This field provides
the address of intended recipient of the packet.
 Extension Headers
 In IPv6, the Fixed Header contains only that much
information which is necessary, avoiding those information
which is either not required or is rarely used. All such
information is put between the Fixed Header and the
Upper layer header in the form of Extension Headers. Each
Extension Header is identified by a distinct value
 In order to rectify the limitations of IPv4 Option Field,
Extension Headers are introduced in IPversion 6. The
extension header mechanism is very important part of the
IPv6 architecture. Next Header field of IPv6 fixed header
points to the first Extension Header and this first extension
header points to the second extension header and so on..
 TYPES OF IPV6 ADDRESSES
 IPv6 addresses are broadly classified into three categories:
 1) Unicast addresses: A Unicast address acts as an
identifier for a single interface. An IPv6 packet sent to a
Unicast address is delivered to the interface identified by
that address.
 2) Multicast addresses: A Multicast address acts as an
identifier for a group/set of interfaces that may belong to
the different nodes. An IPv6 packet delivered to a Multicast
address is delivered to the multiple interfaces.
 3) Anycast addresses: Anycast addresses act as identifiers
for a set of interfaces that may belong to the different
nodes. An IPv6 packet destined for an Anycast address is
delivered to one of the interfaces identified by the address