IPv4 addresses exhausted, networking standards must support IPv6: IAB
The slow move to IPv6 has crept past another milestone, with the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) stating on Monday that the pool of unassigned IPv4 addresses have been allocated.
"As a result, we are seeing an increase in both dual-stack (that is, both IPv4 and IPv6) and IPv6-only deployments, a trend that will only accelerate," the IAB said in a blog post. "Therefore, networking standards need to fully support IPv6."
The IAB said existing standards should be reviewed to use IPv6, and provide IPv6 examples, with future protocols set to depend on the updated internet protocol.
"The IAB expects that the [Internet Engineering Task Force] will stop requiring IPv4 compatibility in new or extended protocols," it said. "Backward connectivity to IPv4, via dual-stack or a transition technology, will be needed for some time."
"The key issue for [Standards Development Organizations] is to remove any obstacles in their standards which prevent or slow down the transition in different environments."
In September last year, the American Registry for Internet Numbers said its pool of IPv4 addresses in North America was exhausted.
According to Google's IPv6 Statistics page, worldwide adoption of IPv6 is sitting at 14.6 percent of its user base. By country, the US is almost hitting 30 percent, the UK is at 16 percent, and Germany is on 27 percent. Countries in the Asia Pacific are trailing, with Japan leading the way in the region on 14 percent.
In May, Apple said it would require iOS apps to support IPv6.