IP-v6Drivers for Aviation

&Usage Concepts

Terry L Davis

Boeing Commercial Airplanes(Advisor to the North America IPv6 Task Force)

Aviation IP-v6 Drivers

• ARINC 664 usage of IP-v 4 RFC 1918 private addressing(Ideal for initial deployments but in the longer term...)– Precludes seamless link handoff (mobility)– Not directly routable on the Internet with Network Address

Translation (NAT)– Precludes ground initiated communications– Precludes the use of multiple service providers without complex

address translation gateways for simultaneous use or handoff– Conflicts with airline corporate IT usage of 1918 addressing

(Creates corporate network routing problems)– Requires the use of special non-standard techniques to correctly

identify the aircraft to the Internet– Precludes the common mesh network communication new ATC

systems will require (any to any communication)

Aviation IP-v6 Drivers

• IP-v4 Public (routable) address depletion– http://www.tndh.net/~tony/ietf/IPv4-delegated-

per-RIR.pdf– http://www.apnic.net/meetings/22/program/

panel.html

Simply there will not be addressing available for our aircraft, each aircraft will ultimately require three or more separate public network address ranges.

Other v6 Drivers

• DOD Mandates

• Asian and European government mandates & goals

• Air Traffic Control direction to IP-v6

• Operating System and Hardware support and changes

• 3G, VoIP, and Gaming

• Application compatibility

• Project/program scale

v6 Growth Versus Product Life

Product Life

V6

Uti

liza

tion

25 years

0%

100%

Optimistic

Pessimistic

(Notional)

This means that aviation will LIVE in a mixedV4 & v6 environment in both the air and groundInfrastructures for the next 20+ years!

v6 Equipment/Application Compatibility & Staff Skills

Product Life

V6

Com

pat

ibil

ity

& S

taff

Ski

ll

25 years

0%

100%

Application

Compatibility

Staff Skills

(Notional)

Equipment Compatibility

Preparation for v6

v6 Strategic planning

• Strategic Network Architecture based on the ARINC Domain model

• Early adopter support plans

• v4 and v6 co-existence strategy (air & ground)

• V4 and v6 co-existence architecture planning

• v6 “green field” architectures

• Network implementation planning

• Security Planning

• Equipment planning

• Application planning

V6 QoS & Traffic ManagementArchitecture Example

v6 systems can join multiple networksImplications:• Architecture could assign networks for specific uses• Traffic could be segregated by network

– High QoS can be assigned to “a” network• Voice on one, video on one, etc.

– Special comm priority networks could be created• ATC, FANS, ACARS, etc

• Link capacity could be managed by “network priority” not just “packet priority”

• System capability growth could be managed over time– Older less capable systems assigned to specific networks– Newer capabilities to other networks

Network Partitioning by ServiceArchitecture Example

QoS & Security Service Levels for:• Network Control

• Voice over IP

• High Priority

• Special Projects

• General Purpose

NSPs/Airlines/Framers/Suppliers/etc

PIES

Security Perimeter

VOIP

AOC

Networks are logically partitioned.

Many logical networks share a common physical infrastructure.

QoS can be managed by both network & flow

ATC

Network Infra.

Net-Mgt& Routing

Data Center

Security Mgt

PIES

Security – Architecture Example

IP-v6 Networks could:• Require authentication to join

– Have different authentications (ATC/AOC/PIES)– Have different security levels and encryption

• Utilize Transponder codes – For authentication– For encryption keying

Individual systems with a single interface could:• Join multiple secure networks simultaneously

– With different security levels (MLS) per network– With different encryption per network– With different QoS

IP-v6 Network Overlay ConceptArchitecture Example

Concept: Concept: Enable unified communications Enable unified communications without impacting existing legacy serviceswithout impacting existing legacy services

US Division Europe Home Office Asian Partner

Airline Fleet Network

Airport Networks

Legacy Networks

Priority Command Network

Common Voice Network

Common Application Network

Australian NSP European NSP Asian NSP

Conceptual v6 Strategic ArchitectureSummary

• IP-v6 could provide a seamless NSP control handoffs• Traffic segregation by network could provide better comm

link mgmt and QoS than IP-v4 (+matches Domain model).  • GPS based v6 addressing could potentially allow significant

control and data routing improvements.• Layering of v6 networks could allow segregation of networks

with similar capabilities and security levels. • Security in a v6 architecture could be "network" based.• “capability/compatibility" layers could allow

change/evolution without updates of products, or fleets. 

Conceptual v6 Aviation Strategy

Full conversion is evolutionary over more than 25 years

• Platforms will requires IP-v6 interoperability before end-of-life

• Specific customers will require support for v6

• Timeline to implement is in years from the first start

• Leverage aviation assets and expertise globally

• Grow the base of v6 compatible equipment

• Grow the base of v6 staff skills through industry sponsored training

• Conversions are based on requirements or business case

• Regulatory changes will be needed to both allow and support IP-v6

IP-v6 Summary

IP-v6 WILL HAPPEN!

Aviation must operate in a dual environment of v4 & v6

Full transition to IP-v6 will not happen within 25 years!

V6 can evolve in the industry without major disruptive investments (if we plan for it)!