51-10 Industrial Communication Systems
opposite.to.40.octets.for.standard.IPv6.headers..Because.the.following.described.header.compression.
is.not.fully.compliant.with.the.IPv6.specication,.compressed.headers.might.be.used.for.messaging.
inside.the.802.15.4.network.only..For.message.exchange.with.external.networks.via.dedicated.edge.rout-
ers,
.compliant.IPv6.headers.might.be.used..If.compressed.headers.are.applied.for.external.messaging.
also,.the.edge.router.is.responsible.for.translating.the.compressed.headers.in.compliant.IPv6.headers..
e.current.6LoWPAN.specication.describes.header.compression.for.IPv6.and.UDP.headers.also..
Compression.schemes.for.TCP.and.further.protocols.are.not.described.yet.
51.5.5.1
IPv6 Header Compression
The
.IPv6.header.compression.is.described.by.the.HC1.encoding..This.HC1.encoding.scheme.is.
independent.from.IPv6.and.unique.for.6LoWPANs..The.128.bit.IPv6.transport.addresses.are.sepa-
rated
.in.64.bit.prefixes.derived.from.the.(edge).router.of.the.subnet.and.64.bit.for.the.interface.
identifier..It.is.possible.to.define.separate.compression.for.the.four.different.address.parts.of.origi-
nator
.and.destination:.prefix.of.originator,.interface.identifier.of.originator,.prefix.of.destination,.
and.interface.identifier.of.destination..Because.6LoWPANs.are.estimated.to.operate.within.one.
subnet.with.one.unique.prefix,.it.is.not.applicable.to.include.the.prefixes.into.the.headers.for.inter-
nal
.communication.and.can.be.elided..For.communication.out.of.the.6LoWPAN,.prefixes.can.be.
carried.in-line..The.interface.identifier.might.be.carried.in-line.also..If.elided,.in.opposite.to.the.
prefixes,.the.interface.identifier.for.the.destination.address.might.be.either.derived.from.the.link.
layer.directly.or.in.meshed.networks.from.the.addressing.fields.in.the.according.MESH.header..
A.compliant.IPv6.header.additionally.includes.the.IPv6.version.identifier,.the.traffic.class.field,.
the.flow.label.field,.the.hop.limit.field,.and.a.payload.length.field..The.length.field.is.omitted.and.
derived.from.the.801.15.4.layers.or.from.fragmentation.frame.header..The.traffic.class.and.the.flow.
label.field.can.be.compressed.and.thereby.defined.as.zero..The.IPv6.version.identifier.is.omitted.
in.general..The.8.bits.long.Hop.Limit.field.is.the.only.field.in.the.IPv6.header.that.cannot.be.com-
pressed
.and.must.be.completely.included.in-line..The.Hop.Limit.defines.the.maximum.number.
of.IP.hops.a.packet.can.be.forwarded.before.it.is.dropped..One.IP.hop.must.not.be.equal.with.a.
physical.hop.because.not.every.intermediate.node.in.a.mesh.network.must.be.an.IP-enabled.node..
The.additional.next.header.field.specifies.the.header.type.following.the.IP.header,.e.g.,.UDP,.TCP,.
or.ICMP..Such.next.header.fields.are.derived.from.the.evolving.IPv6.standard..In.opposite.to.IPv4,.
IPv6.does.not.always.include.all.required.parts,.e.g.,.fragmentation.and.routing.information.in.
the.header..Headers,.known.as.extension.headers.in.IPv6,.are.added.separately.depending.on.the.
scenario.and.refer.to.each.other.with.defined.next.header.fields,.comparable.to.that.ones.used.by.
the.6LoWPAN.compression.formats.(header.chaining)..To.sum.up,.the.complete.RFC4944.HC1.
encoded.IPv6.header.includes.at.least.2.octets.for.8.bit.Hop.Limit.and.8.bit.for.the.LOWPAN_HC1.
field.(cf..Figure.51.8)..The.size.of.the.complete.header.can.be.between.2.octets.and.37.octets.plus.4.
bit.(cf..MTU.of.IEEE.802.15.4.is.102.byte)..The.4.bits.are.necessary.to.complete.the.octet.with.zero.
padding.and.allow.routers.a.more.efficient.and.byte-size-optimized.packet.handling.
Following fields/headers/payload
IPv6 destination address
Preifx carried inline or elided
Interface identifier carried inline or derived from lower layers
Following header compressed per HC2 encoding or not
Next Header (UDP, ICMP, TCP, not compressed)
Traffic class/flow label zero or carried inline
IPv6 source address
Preifx carried inline or elided
Interface identifier carried inline or derived from lower layers
Hop count
FIGURE 51.8 LOWPAN_HC1.encoding.dened.in.RFC4944.
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC