Report on IPv6 Subnetting and Routing in Computer Networking

This report provides a comprehensive overview of IPv6 subnetting and routing mechanisms. It begins by explaining the structure of IPv6, highlighting its advantages over IPv4, such as increased address space and simplified header structure. The report then delves into the process of IPv6 subnetting, discussing how it is similar to IPv4's variable length subnet masking. Furthermore, it explores different IPv6 routing mechanisms, including routing between stationary nodes, mobile nodes, and combinations thereof, detailing the protocols and methods used in each scenario. The report also presents a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages associated with each routing mechanism, offering insights into their efficiency, flexibility, and security considerations. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the key benefits of IPv6 and its potential as a powerful enhancement over IPv4.

Running head: INTERMEDIATE COMPUTER NETWORKING
Intermediate Computer Networking: Part B
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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INTERMEDIATE COMPUTER NETWORKING
Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................2
2. IPv6 Structure and Subnetting.........................................................................................2
3. IPv6 routing Mechanism..................................................................................................3
4. Pros and Cons of Routing Mechanisms...........................................................................5
5. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................7
References............................................................................................................................8

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1. Introduction
The purpose of the report is to highlight the process and the concept of IPV6 subnetting
and routing. IPv6 can be described as a set of specifications and is developed as an up-gradation
of IP version 4 which is IPv4. Therefore the basic structure of IPv6 is quite similar to IPv4 with
certain much needed variations. As an improvement from its previous version, the bit length is
increased in IPv6 so that more addresses can be stored. This IP version further supports the
feature of auto configuration and increased security features that makes it more advanced (Czyz
et al., 2014). The report discusses the structure and process of subnetting and further sheds light
on the different routing mechanisms of IPv6. The pros and cons of each routing protocols are
discussed in the following paragraphs.
2. IPv6 Structure and Subnetting
IPv6 or Internet Protocol Version is an internet protocol that is mainly used for carrying a
data in form of packets from a source to destination. This mechanism is an enhanced version of
IPv4 and it has the capability of supporting a large number of nodes in comparison to that of
IPv4. IPv6 allows 2128 possible nodes, addresses and combinations. IPv6 was released in June 6,
2012 and was developed in hexadecimal format. IPv6 mainly functions or address broadcasting
but does not contain broadcast addresses in any class. It is the most recent version of internet
protocol.
An IPv6 address is 128 bits long. An IPv6 header is of fixed length that is 40 bytes. The
source and destination address make use 16 bytes which leaves only 8 bytes for general header
information (Wu et al., 2014). Therefore, it can be said that the IPv6 header is comparatively
simple in comparison to IPv4 and thus it allows more efficient processing of information. One of

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the significant advantages of IPv6 over IPv4 is that, it offers larger address space of 128 bits and
therefore has space for 2128 addresses.
An IPv6 address mainly makes use of 128 bits to represent an address. This address
includes bits that can be used in subnetting. The picture below represents the structure of a IPv6
subnet.
Figure 1: Representing IPv6 subnet
The 16 bits of the subnet is actually equivalent to the IPv4’s Class B Network. The IPv6
subnetting is similar to the concept of variable length subnet masking that is followed in IPv4. In
IPv6 subnet masking, 128 bits is reduced to 32 hex digits. The addressing model of IPV6
consists of Unicast, Anycast and multicast. A full length subnet mask of IPv6 makes use of the
same 8nhex word format as followed in IPv6 address. The first 48 bits of IPv6 are for internet
routing and each IPv6 address is represented by eight groups of four hexadecimal digits. The
eight groups are generally separated by colons. An example of an IPv6 subnet mask is
2001:0db8:2231:aaec:0000:0000:4a4a:2100. With IPv6, every device is able to create a unique
local address based on MAC address of a particular device. The IPv6 is generally written in a
certain way so that the interpretation of the address becomes faster and easier.
3. IPv6 routing Mechanism
One of the significant benefits of making use of IPv6 is that it provides a flexible routing
mechanism. IPv6 allows a much flexible addressing in comparison to IPv4 thus reducing the size

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of a routing table. In this mechanism, the intermediate routers must have a track of the local
portion of their network thus providing the messages appropriately. For this, appropriate
neighbor discovery is essential (Lee et al., 2013). In this process, the IPv6 neighbor discovery
includes router advertisement, router solicitation, neighbor solicitation, neighbor advertisement
and redirect. IPv6 routing protocols make use of longest match prefix. The routing protocols that
is supported by IPv6 include RIPng (RIP New Generation), OSPFv3, EIGRP for IPv6, IS-IS for
IPv6 andMP-BGP4 (Multiprotocol BGP-4).
The different types of routing mechanism include, routing of stationary nodes to mobile
nodes, mobile nodes to mobile nodes and stationary nodes to stationary nodes. In routing from
stationary nodes to mobile nodes, the data packets are routed from source to destination using
conventional TCP/IP protocols (Carpenter & Jiang, 2013). In this case the mobile node is
generally restricted to its home network so that the routing is easier. The other correspondent
node is mainly kept stationary in this case.
The mobile to mobile routing on the other hand incorporates different process such as
encapsulation methods and broad cast methods. Since both the points are mobile, it becomes
necessary to follow these methods. In encapsulation method, the both the nodes are available for
the process of encapsulation (Carpenter & Jiang, 2013). Each mobile node is then identified by
two IP addresses one of which is home address while other is its care of address. The home
address is considered to the permanent IP address and it helps in identifying a mobile node
regardless of its location. However, in mobile to mobile node routing, the care of address is
changed at each new point and attachment which provides information about the current
situation of the mobile node. This routing protocol mainly makes use of Ipv6 neighborhood
discovery in order to get the care of address (Hinden, 2017). In mobile to mobile routing, it is

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necessary to keep at least one home agent configured. For mobile to mobile node routing a node
must acquire a care of address which should be used during the time when the mobile node is
under the location of a visited network.
The stationary to stationary routing in IPv6, is configured in the same way in IPv4. In this
routing protocol a router is needed to be determining the link local address of each of the
neighboring routers, which is needed for establishing a connection (Hinds, Atojoko & Zhu,
2013). In stationary to stationary nodes routing, it is essential to specify the next hop router’s
address by making use of link local addresses of the router. The routers are configured with IPv6
route.
All the IPv6 routing mechanisms provide certain benefits, which are efficiency,
flexibility, reactivity and easier bug detection (Carpenter & Jiang, 2013). The routing protocol
allows the addresses belonging to the same destination to be transported with the help of a single
message.
4. Pros and Cons of Routing Mechanisms
There are a number of advantages and disadvantages of each routing mechanism
associated with IPv6. The advantages and disadvantages of each of these mechanisms are
discussed in the following table.
stationary nodes to
stationary nodes
mobile nodes to mobile
nodes
stationary nodes to
mobile nodes
Pros This routing protocol or
mechanism in IPv6
enables to select a path
This routing
protocol or mechanism
in IPv6 enables to
This routing protocol or
mechanism in IPv6
enables to establish a

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for network traffic
between two stationary
or static nodes (Medhi
& Ramasamy, 2017)
establish a path for the
network traffic between
two mobile nodes
network traffic path
between a static node
and a mobile node.
This offers a much
simpler network
configuration in
comparison to the other
two routing mechanism.
Mobile to mobile Ipv6
routing provides greater
efficiency in
establishing connecting
in mobile routers and
reduces the size of
routing tables as well.
Mobile to stationary
routing protocol offers
efficiency in
establishing a static to
mobile traffic
connection in a network.
This routing mechanism
ensures that the internet
traffic reaches the
correct destination and
it is possible as
connection between the
two static nodes is
established in this
routing protocol.
This routing mechanism
is the internet’s next
generation protocol and
has the capability of
replacing the current
protocol.
This routing mechanism
ensures that the data is
directed in the correct
destination and provides
and ensures proper
security of the data that
is to be transmitted.
Cons Stationary to stationary
routing mechanism is
very simple and has
very limited use.
The mobile to mobile
routing mechanism has
certain security issues
associated with this
routing protocol which
is needed to be
Setting up of router and
discovery of the
neighboring routers is a
major issue associated
with stationary to

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addressed. mobile routing.
5. Conclusion
The report gives an idea of the structure of IPv6 and the process of IPV6 subnetting. The
IPv6 is a next generation internet protocol which is developed as a substitute of IPv4. The report
further discusses the routing mechanism of IPv6 and one of the significant benefits of this
protocol is that it provides the flexibility in routing. The IPv6 protocol is quite similar to IPv4.
The pros and cons of different routing mechanism are discussed in the report. The different IPv6
routing mechanism that is discussed in the report includes stationary to mobile nodes, mobile
nodes to mobile nodes and stationary nodes. Therefore IPv6 can be considered as a powerful
enhancement of IPv4 with larger address space, a much simplified header and supporting
security feature. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages associated with the routing
of stationary to stationary routing, mobile to mobile routing and stationary to mobile routing
which is discussed in the report.

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References
Carpenter, B., & Jiang, S. (2013). Transmission and Processing of IPv6 Extension Headers (No.
RFC 7045).
Czyz, J., Allman, M., Zhang, J., Iekel-Johnson, S., Osterweil, E., & Bailey, M. (2014, August).
Measuring ipv6 adoption. In ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review (Vol.
44, No. 4, pp. 87-98). ACM.
Hinden, R. (2017). Internet protocol, version 6 (IPv6) specification.
Hinds, A., Atojoko, A., & Zhu, S. Y. (2013). Evaluation of OSPF and EIGRP routing protocols
for ipv6. International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, 2(4), 287.
Lee, J. H., Bonnin, J. M., You, I., & Chung, T. M. (2013). Comparative handover performance
analysis of IPv6 mobility management protocols. IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Electronics, 60(3), 1077-1088.
Medhi, D., & Ramasamy, K. (2017). Network routing: algorithms, protocols, and architectures.
Morgan Kaufmann.
Wu, P., Cui, Y., Wu, J., Liu, J., & Metz, C. (2013). Transition from IPv4 to IPv6: A state-of-the-
art survey. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 15(3), 1407-1424.