IPv6 protocol – Base principles, deployment and industrial applications

The IPv6 protocol utilizes some principles and mechanisms that are different from the IPv4 protocol. This article describes an addressing architecture of the IPv6 protocol, new mechanisms such as a neighbor discovery, a stateless and stateful automatic configuration and a development of IPv6 protocol standards. Some security problems of the IPv6 protocol are discussed and applications of the IPv6 protocol for embedded systems and sensor networks are briefly mentioned.