IPv 6 Does it Provide Benefits to Space

IPv 6: Does it Provide Benefits to Space Communications? Brenda L. Ellis, Allen Holtz, Fran Lawas-Grodek, Thong Luu, Larry Mc. Farland, Richard Slywczak, Cindy Tran NASA GRC Cleveland, Ohio June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 for Space? Introduction • IPv 4 vs. IPv 6 • Use of IPv 6 • Advantages/Disadvantages • Conclusion June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 for Space? Differences between IPv 4 and IPv 6 • Address Space • Quality of Service • Security • Mobility • Multicast and Anycast • Reconfiguration Support • Network Management June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 for Space? IPv 4 Header Ver IHL Type of Service Identifier Time to Live Total Length Flags Protocol Fragment Offset Header Checksum Source Address Destination Address Options + Padding IPv 6 Header Ver Priority Payload Length Flow Label Next Header Source Address Destination Address June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV Hop Limit

IPv 6 for Space? Address Space • 128 bit address • Addressing Schemes – Hierarchy – Simple header June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 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

IPv 6 for Space? Why should we use IPv 6 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

IPv 6 for Space? June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 for Space? June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 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 IPv 6 • Test performance in space environment through emulation June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV

IPv 6 for Space? Conclusion • Advantages – At this high level view, the address space appears to be the biggest advantage • Disadvantages – Availability of IPv 6 June 2004 Space Internet Workshop IV