Case Study - IPv 6 Building automation solution introduction into an IPv 4 Network Service Provider infrastructure

The article presents a case study describing an Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (v6) introduction to an IPv4 Internet Service Provider (ISP) network infrastructure. The case study driver is an ISP willing to introduce a new “killer” service related to Internet of Things (IoT) style building automation. The service will be sold and provided by the provider and cooperation of third party companies specialized in building automation. The ISP has to deliver the network access layer and to accommodate the building automation solution traffic throughout its network infrastructure. The third party companies are system integrators and building automation solution vendors. The solution has to be IPv6 based because of the following facts. The operator’s current network can’t accommodate large number of IPv4 embedded devices due to the lack of address space. The manufacturing costs for an embedded device with a dual IP stack are higher then the same one for a device with a single stack. The Authors propose a strategy for IPv6 introduction into operator infrastructure based on the current network architecture present service portfolio and several transition mechanisms. The strategy has been applied in laboratory with setup close enough to the current operator’s network. The criterion for a successful experiment is full two-way IPv6 application layer connectivity between the IPv6 server and the IPv6 Internet of Things (IoT) cloud.