For those who are excited about the prospect of mobile data and internet-based mobile networks, then IPv6 is something they should pay attention to. Future mobile networks are being designed around IP frameworks, by which we mean using Internet technology to run mobile services. We’re standing on the cusp of a huge update of one of the underlying technologies of the internet - from IPv4 to IPv6. To help understand what all this means, and the impact of IP on the future of mobile networks, GoMo News interviewed Mícheál Ó Foghlú, Executive Director of Research at the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG), and Chair of the Irish IPv6 Task Force.
Before that, what’s difference between IPv4 and IPv6?
It’s a question of scale, really.
Any time you use the Internet, you’re accessing data through IPv4. We’re not going to get into the specifics of how it works here, but it’s at the core of the structure that allows data to be communicated across the Internet. Your computer has an IP address, and so does any other computer that you want it to communicate with. The big problem is that it was designed back in the 80’s. When IPv4 was released, there was no conception of what the Internet would one day look like. There are services today with vast numbers of users, that transmit colossal amounts of data (YouTube, Facebook… not even to mention pornography). IPv4 was never intended to handle that kind of service. It has been kept going by botch jobs and quick fixes as the demands put upon it have increased, but for many years now the demand for IPv4 to be improved has been growing. And the number of users has increased. And the number of IP addresses available is now scrolling towards zero with great swiftness. This problem was made even worse by the sudden proliferation of mobile devices in the last few years.
And IPv6 is what will come next. It’s the upgrade to IPv4. Its main feature will be to increase the number of possible IP addresses massively. It’s not new… not precisely. It was designed back in the 90s. It’s just that it has never been implemented - but current trends put “IPv4 exhaustion” at somewhere near the end of 2011. Time is very definitively running out, and IPv6 is generally acknowledged as being the only thing that will save the day (and even then it may be a bit late - see below!)
But I wanted to find out what effect, if any, IPv6 would have on the role of mobile devices on the internet. In the run up to the Irish IPv6 Task Force Summit, which will be fall on May 19th, GoMo News contacted the TSSG to find out more about this:
GoMo News: Firstly, what is the Irish IPv6 Task Force Summit, and what does the TSSG do there?
Mícheál Ó Foghlú: The Irish IPv6 Summit is the second in a series of events organised by the Irish IPv6 Task Force aimed at raising awareness of the impending IPv4 depletion, and of the need to deploy IPv6 as a solution to the problems that this raises. The TSSG chairs and co-founded the Irish IPv6 Task Force, with the support of HEAnet (Ireland’s national research network) and the Department of Communications.
GoMo: How has the sudden proliferation of mobile Internet devices and smartphones affected IPv4? Has it sped up the problems?
MoF: One of the many factors influencing IPv4 depletion has been the proliferation of Internet connected mobile phones. However, It is quite hard to say exactly how many addresses were consumed directly due to mobile phone usage. In fact the recent economic downturn has slowed the projected deadline for use of all IPv4 addresses (but only by a few months).
GoMo: If the issues with IPv4 aren’t tackled, what could the impact be on service providers - both in general, and for those who are primarily mobile based?
MoF: The main problem is for new service providers, at least initially. New end users can share addresses using NAT, but new service providers, especially of secure websites (including every eCommerce site) require new dedicated public addresses. So the most likely impact on service providers will be that there will be increased costs, as they will have to purchase IPv4 address space either sanctioned legally or via some unsanctioned black market - it is too early to say yet what these costs will actually be, other than to say it will be more than it currently costs to get an address.
GoMo: What kind of new or exciting possibilities could IPv6 open up for mobile Internet use?
MoF: If all Internet devices used public IPv6 it would open up a large potential for direct peer-to-peer communication between any end devices. V6 enables a much richer ecosystem for peer to peer services (P2P), by-passing many middle boxes, and potentially improving performance and reducing costs. So any user of a phone to offer a service to any other user, directly, with no intermediary.
GoMo: If your dreams were to come true, how would you like to see IPv6 being handled/rolled-out on a global scale?
MoF: Well, to be honest we’ve already missed the boat. There is no way we can deploy IPv6 fast enough to have a valid parallel network before IPv4 depletion kicks in. That means we are going to experience painful problems, with some service providers finding it impossible, difficult, or very expensive to deploy new services. I would be very happy indeed if the majority of websites and other IP-based services that I use every day ran in dual stack mode by the end of next year, just before the RIRs start to run out of addresses to allocate to end users, but I do not think is likely to happen. Instead I think the pain will bite before people actually migrate their systems.
What we think?
It’s the peer-to-peer potential of IPv6 that I find really exciting when it comes to mobile. That could potentially affect almost every part of the mobile industry. File transfers would become faster, mobile payments easier to process, and even communications would be improved. As the move towards “All IP” mobile networks increases, fast and direct P2P communications will tie in wonderfully with increasingly popular data-based mobile channels like VoIP and Instant Messaging
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