IPv6: Does it Provide Benefits to Space Communications? Brenda L. Ellis, Allen Holtz, Fran Lawas-Grodek, Thong Luu, Larry McFarland, Richard Slywczak, Cindy Tran NASA GRC Cleveland, Ohio June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Introduction IPv4 vs. IPv6 Use of IPv6 Advantages/Disadvantages Conclusion June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Differences between IPv4 and IPv6 Address Space Quality of Service Security Mobility Multicast and Anycast Reconfiguration Support Network Management June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? IPv4 Header Ver IHL Type of Service Total Length Identifier Flags Fragment Offset Time to Live Protocol Header Checksum Source Address Destination Address Options + Padding IPv6 Header Ver Priority Flow Label Payload Length Next Header Hop Limit Source Address Destination Address June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Address Space 128 bit address Addressing Schemes Hierarchy Simple header June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Quality of Service “Flow” field Hosts can identify packets of a particular traffic stream Security IPSec is standard Provides AH and ESP June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Why should we use IPv6 for space? In a IP-based space communication network, more IP addresses are needed NAT is no longer needed Peer-to-peer communication will be possible June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Future Work IPSec has already been installed on 2 nodes in SCEF Security will be incorporated into emulation facility to accommodate scenarios using IPv6 Test performance in space environment through emulation June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

Space Internet Workshop IV IPv6 for Space? Conclusion Advantages At this high level view, the address space appears to be the biggest advantage Disadvantages Availability of IPv6 June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV