Researchers:
Assoc. Prof. Sureswaran Ramadass
(Contact details available to registered journalists – click on link below)
Dr. Rahmat Budiarto
Gopinath Rao
Wafaa A-H Ali Al-Salihy
Norman Maraddin
IPv6 provides strength over IPv4 in terms of address space, option support and security. By using the 128 bit addressing space in IPv6, we can generate up to 2^128 (2 to the power of 128) IP addresses which is equivalent to 3.4 x 10^38 unique IP. This large amount of address can make every host, including computer, PDA and mobile phone to gain an identical IP.
Because of IPv4 is not sufficient in IP address, they need a MAC address in order to identify every host. This MAC address is provided by Data Link Layer (Layer 2 in OSI Model). But, since IPv6 has provided a large enough address space for every host on the earth, there is no point to use MAC address anymore when IPv6 is implemented in Network Layer.
Proposed OSI Model
The ordinary OSI (Open System Interconnection) model, consists of seven layers. In order to remove the Data Link Layer from the OSI model, it is essential to include the major functionality (e.g. error control, flow control and medium access control) of the Data Link Layer into the new OSI model.
IPv6 over Fiber objectives
IPv6 over Fiber is a project to make use of the IPv6technology for the benefits of Internet communities. The overall objectives of the project are:
- To simplify the OSI layered architecture by reducing the size, or removing the data link header.
- To maximize the performance of data transmission for better efficiency.
- To reduce the bandwidth of the data transmission and hence to transfer the data in lesser time.
With the exclusion of the data link header, the size of the packet that is being transmitted will be reduced and eventually this will increase the performance of packet transmission in a network. The project will be an added advantage for all Internet applications especially for real time applications.
There are several aspects that are crucial for the development of this new international prototype. Below is the breakdown of the project:
- Regulating Data Flow
- Layer 2 / Layer 3 switches
- Router handling
- Dual stack
- Handling Transmission Errors
- Performance and Bandwidth Measurement
- ICMP Packet Handling
- ARP Removal
- Wireless
- Security
