Mobile Networks Considerations for IPv6 Deployment
RFC 6342

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         R. Koodli
Request for Comments: 6342                                 Cisco Systems
Obsoletes: 6312                                              August 2011
Category: Informational
ISSN: 2070-1721

           Mobile Networks Considerations for IPv6 Deployment

Abstract

   Mobile Internet access from smartphones and other mobile devices is
   accelerating the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.  IPv6 is widely seen
   as crucial for the continued operation and growth of the Internet,
   and in particular, it is critical in mobile networks.  This document
   discusses the issues that arise when deploying IPv6 in mobile
   networks.  Hence, this document can be a useful reference for service
   providers and network designers.

RFC Editor Note

   This document obsoletes RFC 6312.

   Due to a publishing error, RFC 6312 contains the incorrect RFC number
   in its header.  This document corrects that error with a new RFC
   number.  The specification herein is otherwise unchanged with respect
   to RFC 6312.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6342.

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RFC 6342                 IPv6 in Mobile Networks             August 2011

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Reference Architecture and Terminology ..........................3
   3. IPv6 Considerations .............................................4
      3.1. IPv4 Address Exhaustion ....................................4
      3.2. NAT Placement in Mobile Networks ...........................7
      3.3. IPv6-Only Deployment Considerations .......................10
      3.4. Fixed-Mobile Convergence ..................................13
   4. Summary and Conclusion .........................................14
   5. Security Considerations ........................................16
   6. Acknowledgements ...............................................16
   7. Informative References .........................................16

1.  Introduction

   The dramatic growth of the Mobile Internet is accelerating the
   exhaustion of the available IPv4 addresses.  It is widely accepted
   that IPv6 is necessary for the continued operation and growth of the
   Internet in general and of the Mobile Internet in particular.  While
   IPv6 brings many benefits, certain unique challenges arise when
   deploying it in mobile networks.  This document describes such
   challenges and outlines the applicability of the existing IPv6
   deployment solutions.  As such, it can be a useful reference document
   for service providers as well as network designers.  This document
   does not propose any new protocols or suggest new protocol
   specification work.

   The primary considerations that we address in this document on IPv6
   deployment in mobile networks are:

   o  Public and Private IPv4 address exhaustion and implications to
      mobile network deployment architecture;

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RFC 6342                 IPv6 in Mobile Networks             August 2011

   o  Placement of Network Address Translation (NAT) functionality and
      its implications;

   o  IPv6-only deployment considerations and roaming implications; and

   o  Fixed-Mobile Convergence and implications to overall architecture.