RFC 1683 (rfc1683) - Page 1 of 12
Multiprotocol Interoperability In IPng
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group R. Clark
Request for Comments: 1683 M. Ammar
Category: Informational K. Calvert
Georgia Institute of Technology
August 1994
Multiprotocol Interoperability In IPng
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
This document was submitted to the IETF IPng area in response to RFC
1550. Publication of this document does not imply acceptance by the
IPng area of any ideas expressed within. Comments should be
submitted to the mailing list.
1. Executive Summary
The two most commonly cited issues motivating the introduction of
IPng are address depletion and routing table growth in IPv4. Further
motivation is the fact that the Internet is witnessing an increasing
diversity in the protocols and services found in the network. When
evaluating alternatives for IPng, we should consider how well each
alternative addresses the problems arising from this diversity. In
this document, we identify several features that affect a protocol's
ability to operate in a multiprotocol environment and propose the
incorporation of these features into IPng.
Our thesis, succinctly stated, is: The next generation Internet
Protocol should have features that support its use with a variety of
protocol architectures.
2. Introduction
The Internet is not a single protocol network [4]. While TCP/IP
remains the primary protocol suite, other protocols (e.g., IPX,
AppleTalk, OSI) exist either natively or encapsulated as data within
IP. As new protocols continue to be developed, we are likely to find
that a significant portion of the traffic in future networks is not
from single-protocol communications. It is important to recognize
that multiprotocol networking is not just a transition issue. For
instance, we will continue to see tunneling used to carry IPX traffic
Clark, Ammar & Calvert