The new Internet protocol has been involved in the standardisation process of the Internet Engineering Task Force (<link http: www.ietf.org external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>IETF) for the last 10 years or thereabouts. Now it has attained a level of maturity that makes its commercial use possible.
Due to the shortage of IPv4 addresses and the fact that the introduction of third generation mobile communications is at an advanced stage, there is great demand for an extended address range. The commercial use of IPv6 is being strongly pushed by Asia, followed closely by Europe and the US, where already some defence ministries have declared IPv6 to be necessary for their Network Centric Warfare activities.
Unlike the deployment of IPv6 on terrestrial networks and in the area of mobile communications, the use of IPv6 via satellite has not been researched very extensively. IPv6 compatible satellite networks offer an interesting alternative to customers whose local terrestrial Internet service provider has no native IPv6 Internet connection.
Moreover, satellite networks can connect areas to the Internet where there is only a weak terrestrial infrastructure in place. Precisely in these areas there is often also a shortage of IP addresses. An example for areas of this kind is set by the <link http: www.silkproject.org external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>SILK project which connected 8 countries from the Caucasus and South East Asia by satellite to the European research network <link http: www.geant.net pages home.aspx external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>GEANT. The satellite uplink to the SILK countries is made possible via a teleport in Hamburg by digital video broadcasting satellite technology (DVB-S), while the backward channel operates on the basis of single channel per carrier (SCPC).
IABG – which, as a founding member of the global <link http: www.ipv6forum.org external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>IPv6 forum and the German IPv6 taskforce, has been intensively involved with IPv6 for some years now – has performed a detailed analysis of IPv6 via satellite under the auspices of European Space Agency sponsored research projects. This included an investigation of new IPv6 transmission possibilities via DVB-S based satellite networks, which are currently undergoing IETF standardisation.
The earliest prototypes of this new technology were demonstrated by IABG in cooperation with the SILK project (see <link http: www.heise.de suche external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Heise-News). Thus SILK countries like Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have already got a native IPv6 connection to GEANT via satellite. These IPv6 connections will initially remain in place for a test period of a few months.
Parallel to these research activities the IABG is offering customers commercial IPv6 access to the internet via its own teleport.
Further information regarding this topic can be obtained by e-mail from <link mail ein fenster zum versenden der>advanced-ip@iabg.de or <link mail ein fenster zum versenden der>teleport-services@iabg.de.
1) IABG IPv6-Projekte (ESA)
- <link http: telecom.esa.int telecom www object external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Preparation for IPv6 in Satellite Communication
- <link http: telecom.esa.int telecom www object external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Standardization Support of Enhanced IETF IP Encapsulation Techniques for DVB-S
