RFC 3142 (rfc3142) - Page 1 of 11
An IPv6-to-IPv4 Transport Relay Translator
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group J. Hagino
Request for Comments: 3142 K. Yamamoto
Category: Informational IIJ Research Laboratory
June 2001
An IPv6-to-IPv4 Transport Relay Translator
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
The document describes an IPv6-to-IPv4 transport relay translator
(TRT). It enables IPv6-only hosts to exchange {TCP,UDP} traffic with
IPv4-only hosts. A TRT system, which locates in the middle,
translates {TCP,UDP}/IPv6 to {TCP,UDP}/IPv4, or vice versa.
The memo talks about how to implement a TRT system using existing
technologies. It does not define any new protocols.
1. Problem domain
When you deploy an IPv6-only network, you still want to gain access
to IPv4-only network resources outside, such as IPv4-only web
servers. To solve this problem, many IPv6-to-IPv4 translation
technologies are proposed, mainly in the IETF ngtrans working group.
The memo describes a translator based on the transport relay
technique to solve the same problem.
In this memo, we call this kind of translator "TRT" (transport relay
translator). A TRT system locates between IPv6-only hosts and IPv4
hosts and translates {TCP,UDP}/IPv6 to {TCP,UDP}/IPv4, vice versa.
Advantages of TRT are as follows:
o TRT is designed to require no extra modification on IPv6-only
initiating hosts, nor that on IPv4-only destination hosts. Some
other translation mechanisms need extra modifications on IPv6-only
initiating hosts, limiting possibility of deployment.
Hagino & Yamamoto Informational