1. 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

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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

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

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

10. 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

11. 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