Understanding Ipv6
In IPv6, multicast traffic operates in the same way that it does in IPv4. Arbitrarily located IPv6 nodes can listen for multicast traffic on an arbitrary IPv6 multicast address. IPv6 nodes can listen to multiple multicast addresses at the same time. Nodes can join or leave a multicast group at any time.
IPv6 multicast addresses have the FP of 1111 1111. Therefore, an IPv6 multicast address always begins with FF. Multicast addresses cannot be used as source addresses or as intermediate destinations in a Routing header. Beyond the FP, multicast addresses include additional structure to identify flags, their scope, and the multicast group. Figure 3-6 shows the structure of the IPv6 multicast address.
Figure 3-6. The structure of the IPv6 multicast address
The fields in the multicast address are:
Flags — Indicates flags set on the multicast address. The size of this field is 4 bits. As of RFC 2373, the only flag defined is the Transient (T) flag, which uses the low-order bit of the Flags field. When set to 0, the T flag indicates that the multicast address is a permanently assigned (well-known) multicast address allocated by IANA. When set to 1, the T flag indicates that the multicast address is a transient (non-permanently-assigned) multicast address.
Scope — Indicates the scope of the IPv6 network for which the multicast traffic is intended to be delivered. The size of this field is 4 bits. In addition to information provided by multicast routing protocols, routers use the multicast scope to determine whether multicast traffic can be forwarded.
Table 3-3 lists the values for the Scope field assigned in RFC 2373.
Table 3-3. Defined Values for the Scope Field
| Scope Field Value | Scope |
|---|---|
0 | Reserved |
1 | Node-local scope |
2 | Link-local scope |
5 | Site-local scope |
8 | Organization-local scope |
E | Global scope |
F | Reserved |
For example, traffic with the multicast address of FF02::2 has a link-local scope. An IPv6 router never forwards this traffic beyond the local link.
Group ID - Identifies the multicast group and is unique within the scope. The size of this field is 112 bits. Permanently assigned group IDs are in-dependent of the scope. Transient group IDs are relevant only to a specific scope. Multicast addresses from FF01:: through FF0F:: are reserved, well-known addresses.
To identify all nodes for the node-local and link-local scopes, the following addresses are defined:
- FF01::1 (node-local scope all-nodes multicast address)
- FF02::1 (link-local scope all-nodes multicast address)
To identify all routers for the node-local, link-local, and site-local scopes, the following addresses are defined:
- FF01::2 (node-local scope all-routers multicast address)
- FF02::2 (link-local scope all-routers multicast address)
- FF05::2 (site-local scope all-routers multicast address)
For the current list of permanently assigned IPv6 multicast addresses, see http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-multicast-addresses.
IPv6 multicast addresses replace all forms of IPv4 broadcast addresses. The IPv4 network broadcast (in which all host bits are set to 1 in a classful environment), subnet broadcast (in which all host bits are set to 1 in a non-classful environment), and limited broadcast (255.255.255.255) addresses are replaced by the link-local scope all-nodes multicast address (FF02:01) in IPv6.
Recommended Multicast IPv6 Addresses
With 112 bits in the Group ID field, it is possible to have 2112 group IDs. Because of the way in which IPv6 multicast addresses are mapped to Ethernet multicast MAC addresses, RFC 2373 recommends assigning the group ID from the low-order 32 bits of the IPv6 multicast address and setting the remaining original Group ID field bits to 0. By using only the low-order 32 bits, each group ID maps to a unique Ethernet multicast MAC address. Figure 3-7 shows the structure of the recommended IPv6 multicast address.
Figure 3-7. The structure of the recommended IPv6 multicast address
Solicited-Node Address
The solicited-node address facilitates the efficient querying of network nodes during link-layer address resolution—the resolving of a link-layer address of a known IPv6 address. In IPv4, the ARP Request frame is sent to the MAC-level broadcast, disturbing all nodes on the network segment, including those that are not running IPv4. IPv6 uses the Neighbor Solicitation message to perform link-layer address resolution. However, instead of using the local-link scope all-nodes multicast address as the Neighbor Solicitation message destination, which would disturb all IPv6 nodes on the local link, the solicited-node multicast address is used. The solicited-node multicast address is constructed from the prefix FF02::1:FF00:0/104 and the last 24 bits of a unicast IPv6 address.
For example, Node A is assigned the link-local address of FE80::2AA:FF: FE28:9C5A and is also listening on the corresponding solicited-node multicast address of FF02::1:FF28:9C5A. (An underline is used to highlight the correspondence of the last six hexadecimal digits.) Node B on the local link must resolve Node A's link-local address FE80::2AA:FF:FE28:9C5A to its corresponding link-layer address. Node B sends a Neighbor Solicitation message to the solicited-node multicast address of FF02::1:FF28:9C5A. Because Node A is listening on this multicast address, it processes the Neighbor Solicitation message and sends a unicast Neighbor Advertisement message in reply.
The result of using the solicited-node multicast address is that link-layer address resolutions, a common occurrence on a link, are not using a mechanism that disturbs all network nodes. By using the solicited-node address, very few nodes are disturbed during address resolution. In practice, due to the relationship between the link-layer MAC address, the IPv6 interface ID, and the solicited-node address, the solicited-node address acts as a pseudo-unicast address for very efficient address resolution. For more information, see "IPv6 Interface Identifiers" in this chapter.