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6LoWPAN
6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks) was a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It was created with the intention of applying the Internet Protocol (IP) even to the smallest devices, enabling low-power devices with limited processing capabilities to participate in the Internet of Things.
The 6LoWPAN group defined encapsulation, header compression, neighbor discovery and other mechanisms that allow IPv6 to operate over IEEE 802.15.4 based networks. Although IPv4 and IPv6 protocols do not generally care about the physical and MAC layers they operate over, the low-power devices and small packet size defined by IEEE 802.15.4 make it desirable to adapt to these layers.
The base specification developed by the 6LoWPAN IETF group is RFC 4944 (updated by RFC 6282 with header compression, RFC 6775 with neighbor discovery optimization, RFC 8931 with selective fragment recovery and with smaller changes in RFC 8025 and RFC 8066). The problem statement document is RFC 4919. IPv6 over Bluetooth Low Energy using 6LoWPAN techniques is described in RFC 7668.
The targets for IPv6 networking for low-power radio communication are devices that need wireless connectivity to many other devices at lower data rates for devices with very limited power consumption. The header compression mechanisms in RFC 6282 are used to allow IPv6 packets to travel over such networks.
IPv6 is also in use on the smart grid enabling smart meters and other devices to build a micro mesh network before sending the data back to the billing system using the IPv6 backbone. Some of these networks run over IEEE 802.15.4 radios, and therefore use the header compression and fragmentation as specified by RFC6282.[citation needed]
Thread is a standard from a group of more than fifty companies for a protocol running over 6LoWPAN to enable home automation. The specification is available at no cost as of 24 June 2022[update], but paid membership is required to implement the protocol. Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 2015-10-29. The protocol most directly competes with Z-Wave and Zigbee IP. In IoT device communications using the Matter standard, Thread is one of two possible wireless transport layers.
As with all link-layer mappings of IP, RFC4944 provides a number of functions. Beyond the usual differences between L2 and L3 networks, mapping from the IPv6 network to the IEEE 802.15.4 network poses additional design challenges (see RFC 4919 for an overview).
IPv6 requires the link maximum transmission unit (MTU) to be at least 1280 octets. In contrast, IEEE 802.15.4's standard frame size is 127 octets. A maximum frame overhead of 25 octets and an optional but highly recommended security feature at the link layer poses an additional overhead of up to 21 octets are for AES-CCM-128. This leaves only 81 octets for the upper layers. Since this is so much less than 1280, 6LowPAN defines a fragmentation and reassembly layer. Further, the standard IPv6 Header is 40 octets long, so header compression is defined as well.
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6LoWPAN
6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks) was a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It was created with the intention of applying the Internet Protocol (IP) even to the smallest devices, enabling low-power devices with limited processing capabilities to participate in the Internet of Things.
The 6LoWPAN group defined encapsulation, header compression, neighbor discovery and other mechanisms that allow IPv6 to operate over IEEE 802.15.4 based networks. Although IPv4 and IPv6 protocols do not generally care about the physical and MAC layers they operate over, the low-power devices and small packet size defined by IEEE 802.15.4 make it desirable to adapt to these layers.
The base specification developed by the 6LoWPAN IETF group is RFC 4944 (updated by RFC 6282 with header compression, RFC 6775 with neighbor discovery optimization, RFC 8931 with selective fragment recovery and with smaller changes in RFC 8025 and RFC 8066). The problem statement document is RFC 4919. IPv6 over Bluetooth Low Energy using 6LoWPAN techniques is described in RFC 7668.
The targets for IPv6 networking for low-power radio communication are devices that need wireless connectivity to many other devices at lower data rates for devices with very limited power consumption. The header compression mechanisms in RFC 6282 are used to allow IPv6 packets to travel over such networks.
IPv6 is also in use on the smart grid enabling smart meters and other devices to build a micro mesh network before sending the data back to the billing system using the IPv6 backbone. Some of these networks run over IEEE 802.15.4 radios, and therefore use the header compression and fragmentation as specified by RFC6282.[citation needed]
Thread is a standard from a group of more than fifty companies for a protocol running over 6LoWPAN to enable home automation. The specification is available at no cost as of 24 June 2022[update], but paid membership is required to implement the protocol. Version 1.0 of the specification was published on 2015-10-29. The protocol most directly competes with Z-Wave and Zigbee IP. In IoT device communications using the Matter standard, Thread is one of two possible wireless transport layers.
As with all link-layer mappings of IP, RFC4944 provides a number of functions. Beyond the usual differences between L2 and L3 networks, mapping from the IPv6 network to the IEEE 802.15.4 network poses additional design challenges (see RFC 4919 for an overview).
IPv6 requires the link maximum transmission unit (MTU) to be at least 1280 octets. In contrast, IEEE 802.15.4's standard frame size is 127 octets. A maximum frame overhead of 25 octets and an optional but highly recommended security feature at the link layer poses an additional overhead of up to 21 octets are for AES-CCM-128. This leaves only 81 octets for the upper layers. Since this is so much less than 1280, 6LowPAN defines a fragmentation and reassembly layer. Further, the standard IPv6 Header is 40 octets long, so header compression is defined as well.