Continuing its drive to evolve the Internet, Cisco Systems (Quote) Wednesday said it has delivered the industry's first trans-Atlantic transmission of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) (define).
The specification aims to expand IP addresses from 32 bits to 128 bits, in order to accommodate the global surge of Internet usage over a variety of devices. The current version of protocols is version 4 (IPv4).
IPv6 has shown great promise in the lab and on certain parts of the Internet, but has been unusually slow in its adoption in the United States. Currently the networks are managed by multiple organizations and support disciplines such as meteorology, radio astronomy and supercomputing applications.
Working with Dutch computer network SURFnet, San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco used new versions of IP/MPLS internetworking including IPv6 MPLS functions, IPv6-IPv4 internetworking and IP tunnelling technologies. The demo was conducted between SURFnet in Amsterdam and the SuperComputing 2002 demonstration site in Baltimore, using Cisco 12000 Series routers enhanced with IP Services Engine (ISE) line cards.
Cisco is also working with Germany's Deutsches Forschungsnetz (DFN) and SuperSINET, Japan's high-speed Research Network all helped get develop more IPv6 functions.
"Cisco recognizes the importance of this community as a proving ground for new applications and network capabilities," said Cisco High-End Routing Business Unit vice president and general manager Tony Bates. "This community is constantly pushing the technology envelope and have helped fuel the networking vision of our customers and the industry."
Other companies working on the IPv6 include Cisco rival Juniper Networks (Quote) as well as Compaq Computer (Quote).
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