from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Internet Protocol version 6
IPv6
<networking, protocol> (IPv6, IPng, IP next generation) The
most viable candidate to replace the current {Internet
Protocol}. The primary purpose of IPv6 is to solve the
problem of the shortage of {IP addresses}.
The following features have been purposed: 16-byte addresses
instead of the current four bytes; embedded {encryption} - a
32-bit {Security Association ID} (SAID) plus a variable length
initialisation vector in {packet} headers; user
{authentication} (a 32-bit SAID plus variable length
{authentication} data in headers); autoconfiguration
(currently partly handled by {Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol}); support for {delay-sensitive traffic} - a 24 bit
flow ID field in headers to denote voice or video, etc.
One possible solution is based on the {TUBA} protocol (RFC
1347, 1526, 1561) which is itself based on the {OSI}
{Connectionless Network Protocol} (CNLP). Another is {TP/IX}
(RFC 1475) which changes {TCP} and {UDP} headers to give a
64-bit {IP address}, a 32-bit {port} number, and a 64 bit
sequence number.
{RFC 1550} is a white paper on IPng.
IPv6.org (http://ipv6.org/).
["Doubts About IPng could create TCP/IP chaos", Johna Till
Johnson, Data Communications, Nov 1994].
(2004-06-17)