Next generation Internet

In today's connected age, almost everyone knows what the Internet is. However, very few people have an idea about the workings of this worldwide network. The Internet, as we know it today, has had a long history of evolution and like any other interesting and useful invention, is governed by a set of rules and protocols. This blog introduces the reader to the basics of the fundamental protocol behind the workings of the Internet – the Internet Protocol, and the current and upcoming versions of this protocol.

The current Internet Protocol, IPv4, is the original standard Internet Protocol set up for handling IP addresses when the Internet was initial developed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in the early 1970s. The IPv4 uses a 32 bit address field which provides for 4,294,967,296 unique Internet addresses. This number was deemed to be more than enough to last beyond any foreseeable requirements because in the early 1970′s the population of the earth was less than 4 billion people and personal computers did not exist. Now, the rapid explosion of the Internet fueled by the vast number of personal computers attaching to it, made it clear that the IPv4 address space was already consumed to the point that a replacement had to be found. The next generation IP, IPv6, was developed in response to this situation. In this paper, I will try to give a complete overview of this new protocol. I start by giving a history of the internet and its current protocol. Then I will describe the main features of the new protocol, IPv6, and how they have solved the current limitation of the current protocol.