Analysis on the integration of IPv6 and PLC

More than 40 countries around the world have carried out 100 PLC connected lab projects to ensure the feasibility of PLC Technology and commercialization. In order to expand the Power Line Communication Market, current research hotspots focus on the integration of power line access and IPv6.

The feasibility of IPv6 technology and PLC Integration

In recent years, several important fields of communication technology have developed considerably, including IPv6, QoS, PLC, broadband, wireless, and other technologies. At present, IPv6 has become mature, and new applications have emerged almost every day in the market. High-bandwidth PLC technology is already comparable to other broadband technologies, such as Cable and DSL.

First, IPv6 technology provides a series of automatic configuration mechanisms for routers and hosts, which may be plug and play online. Second, IPv6 is a new protocol, it will make the deployment of Power Line Communication Networks faster. Third, IPv6 address space is almost unlimited and can be deployed on large-scale PLC networks, provides end-to-end connections and new applications and services in a transparent manner. In view of the above three points, the research on the integration of IPv6 and Power Line Communication technology has become the target of all. For example, the EU has jointly invested in developing a strategic plan called "6POWER" to study the possibility of running IPv6 and related protocols on the power grid.

Even if PLC is not an application, it is essentially an exchange technology), it still has the potential to cover a wide range of areas, thanks to the integration of IPv6 and PLC. We have reason to think that PLC is the "IPv6 killer application" that we have been struggling to find ".

Of course, there have been considerable development in several important fields of communication technology. IPv6, QoS, PLC, broadband, wireless and other technologies have become mature, and new applications are constantly emerging in the market, high-bandwidth PLC technology has the advantages of integrating with other broadband technologies, such as Cable and DSL. However, the integration of IPv6 and PLC is not easy. However, this convergence allows the two technologies to fully tap their potential, especially in advanced network conditions such as QoS and multicast, in addition, low-level protocols such as NeighborDiscovery or automatic configuration can better exert their potential.

Analysis of existing IPv6 technology and PLC Integration

1. users' rapidly growing IP address demands

In the next few years, several devices supporting PLC services will appear in normal homes. These devices will cover personal computers and information devices, and lead to the birth of "Smart appliances", including refrigerators, air conditioners, and digital cameras. To fully apply the capabilities of these devices, you need to assign them an IP address. Therefore, to enable and implement Smart appliances and other devices, you must overcome the following problems: the most important thing is the lack of IPv4 address space.

Due to the need for end-to-end connections, some devices cannot use personal address space, which is similar to the current situation in the IPv4 field. PLC will accelerate the evolution of service providers and network operators from IPv4 to IPv6, because people will gradually realize that if IP Address resources tend to be exhausted, users will not be able to enjoy more and better services.

2. Most devices supporting PLC will be used in the home environment. One of the requirements of such environments is that the product must be easy to install, use, and maintain. Because the user's expectation is that the product can implement "plug-and-play", the automatic configuration function becomes very important, and this is one of the features that IPv6 technology is better than IPv4.

3. in the future, many services and applications are expected to be used in the PLC network, such as VoIP phones, online games, Email conversion tools, music file downloads, multi-person conferences, and high-resolution video services. These services have different requirements on bandwidth, wait time, and data loss rate, but they must share the same network. In addition, although services and management are provided by service providers and network operators, in many cases, Client installation is performed by individual users at home. Obviously, complicated and powerful QoS and CoS systems are required. Some of these devices adopt the IPv6 system and are already used in the core layer of the IP network, but such applications are not close to users. This is another reason for IPv6 process acceleration.

4. multicast features have always been part of IP addresses, although they have never been provided by ISPs as a commercial service. In fact, although many widely used Internet access technologies, such as dial-up and DSL, do not use Multicast technology because it is point-to-point transmission ), however, the multicasting technology can help ISPs obtain bandwidth and save costs. With the increase of existing content transmission networks and multimedia Internet services, this cost saving effect will be remarkable. In the practical application of PLC, multicast technology is an important part to improve the bandwidth utilization of multimedia services.

Even if PLC is not an application, it is essentially an exchange technology), it still has the potential to cover a wide range of areas, thanks to the integration of IPv6 and PLC. Although IPv6 and PLC integration is not easy. However, this convergence allows the two technologies to fully tap their potential, especially in advanced network conditions such as QoS and multicast. We have reason to think that PLC is a brand new application that people are always looking.

The following reasons are enough to prove its advantages: 1) Currently, QoS systems are built in both IPv6 and PLC technologies, although they are not the same, however, there is no standard boundary between them. 2) PLC Multicast technology is still under development and great efforts are needed to integrate PLC Multicast technology into IPv6 technology, this is because the special nature of power lines makes it difficult to support multicast. 3) Some Characteristics of IPv6 will be particularly concerned, and it will be very beneficial for Ethernet and point-to-point IP layer connections. Some PLC technologies do not have topological applications in a strict sense. In many PLC networks, even if a single cable exists, nodes cannot be seen from each other. In some cases, the PLC simulation layer must be strictly required, so the current situation of IPv6 does not need to be changed.