Tim Chown

A scenario-based review of IPv6 transition tools

Momentum for IPv6 transition is on the rise, and many transition tools and techniques are available to ISPs, enterprise networks, and unmanaged networks. From a transitioning perspective, the ISP environment is interesting because the operators migration approaches will define, quite strictly, the extent of IPv6 services that their customers receive. As such, the ISPs (scalable) migration decisions have direct knock-on effects for customers. In the future, customers might require ISPs to offer value-added lPv6 services that not only have performance-based restrictions, but security and mobility considerations, as well.

A survey of IPv6 site multihoming proposals

Site multihoming is a method by which an Internet end-site, for example an enterprise network, may connect to multiple service providers simultaneously. There are many reasons why multihoming is desirable, e.g. service resilience, network load balancing or provider independence. In the IPv4 Internet, multihoming has been achieved by use of relatively simple techniques, including networks advertising their network prefixes - whether such prefixes are independent of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or not - to the Internet global routing infrastructure. With the introduction of IPv6 the vast increase in the number of potential site prefixes means that for scalable site multihom- ing we cannot repeat such IPv4 multihoming practices. Thus new IPv6 multihoming solutions are required. In this paper we present an overview of currently proposed solutions and explore the challenges and motivations of site multihoming. Such a review is timely because multihoming remains a key perceived obstacle to widespread IPv6 deployment in mission-critical environments.

Source Specific Multicast (SSM) with IPv6

Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) is a more recent form of IP Multicast compared to the traditional Any Source Multicast (ASM) model. In making a fundamental assumption that there is only a single source in a specific Multicast group, simplifications can be made that lead to a new form of multicast that should be easier to deploy than ASM. The 6NET and Euro6IX projects have been at the forefront of SSM testing and deployment. In this paper we describe the results of work undertaken in these projects.

IPv6 Campus Transition Experiences

IPv6 is now a mature standard, with the core protocols defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Over the past two years a number of national research networks and academic network backbone providers have deployed IPv6 in production, using dual-stack networking. The challenge ahead now is to push IPv6 deployment into the universities and end sites in the academic networks. This paper presents an overview of the current state of IPv6 transition at one such site, the University of Southampton (UK), drawing on experience gained from participation on the 6NET and Euro6IX projects.

Simulated analysis of connectivity issues for sleeping sensor nodes in the internet of things

The growth in wireless sensor network deployments requires a move towards more standardised systems to improve compatibility and to reduce development times. The technologies being developed as part of the Internet of Things, such as 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks), can greatly assist with this aim. Connecting low power wireless sensor network devices to the Internet of Things presents certain challenges. One of these challenges is the lack of constant connectivity to sensor nodes with sleep states. Current internet technologies expect that devices are always contactable which is not the case in sensor networks. We simulate and evaluate several solutions to this problem in a multitude of different scenarios. We conclude that delay tolerant networking is an effective solution to the challenges created when dealing with sleep states while minimising overheads. However, current standardised delay tolerant technologies are not easily applicable for use with sensor networks, so a new standard needs to be created to meet the requirements described in the paper.

IPv6 initiatives within the European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs)

We present an overview of the IPv6 activities of European National Research and Education Networks, both within the individual national programmes and in joint studies undertaken within the GEANT Task Force for Next Generation Networks working group. The group has an international testbed activity (GTPv6) under which many IPv6 aspects have been studied, including routing, interoperability, DNS, multicast, registries and addressing, firewalls, transition and IPv6 applications. We present a summary of initiatives, including the m6bone multicast IPv6 network, a successful attempt at the IPv6 Land Speed Record, and the migration of two NRENs - SURFnet and Funet - to dual-stack IPv6 operation.

Memetic: Semantic Meeting Memory

This paper introduces the memetic toolkit for recording meetings held over Internet-based video conferencing technologies, and making these navigable in linear and nonlinear ways. We introduce the tools and technologies that form the toolkit and discuss the semantics of the information they capture

Adding Support for Delay Tolerance to IPv6 Networks

Abstract As we continue to connect ever lower power and more power constrained devices to the Internet of Things the problem of main- taining constant end to end connectivity becomes harder. Accepting that continuous end to end connectivity cannot be maintained, we are forced to seek solutions to allow good operating function. Delay Tolerant Networking, an evolution of existing store and forward systems is a candidate for resolving this issue, however, current implementations are not ideal for use in constrained Inter- net of Things environments. We propose a solution to this by integrating the capabilities of Delay Tolerant Networking into the IP layer, in such a way as to maintain compatibility with existing and future systems and minimising additional overhead. This has been achieved by developing a new IPv6 Hop by Hop option header which contains the information required for messages to be delayed. This solution is then demonstrated to be implementable within the limitations of current Internet of Things hardware.

Metadata, traffic data, communications data, service use information… What is the difference? Does the difference matter? An interdisciplinary view from the UK

In the wake of the Snowden revelations, it has become standard practice to rely upon the dichotomies metadata/data or metadata/content of communications to delineate the remit of the surveillance and investigation power of law enforcement agencies as well as the range of data retention obligations imposed upon telecommunications operators and in particular Internet service providers (ISPs). There is however no consensual definition of what metadata is and different routes can be taken to describe what metadata really covers. The key question is whether or to what extent metadata should be treated akin to content data for the purposes of identifying the categories of data which shall actually be retained by telecommunications operators and to which law enforcement agencies can have access. In an attempt to answer the question, this paper provides an understanding of what metadata is and what their diversity is by following two steps. First, adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we argue that three types of metadata should be distinguished in relation to the nature of the activity of the service provider processing them and their level in a network communications—network-level, application-level metadata, and service-use metadata—and we identify three types of criteria to classify these metadata and determine whether they should be deemed as akin to content data. Second, we compare these categories with legal concepts and in particular UK legal concepts to assess to what extent law-makers have managed to treat content data and metadata differently.

IPv6 R&D and commercial activities in Europe

The European Union is supporting a number of IPv6 related research and development activities, which account for over 90 Million Euros of funding, with a matching funding from European industry. While IPv6 is now widely deployed in the European research networks, and many good initiatives have been made - including IPv6 over power line communications and new IPv6 multicast methods - commercial deployment is only just starting. In this paper we review the European research projects, future networking trends and the commercial deployment status in a number of member countries.