IPv6 technology for the Internet of tomorrow
An IRISA/INRIA Rennes proposal to European industry:
Test your products for IPv6 certification

 

Paris, March 21, 2005

The Internet must evolve to accommodate ever more users and offer new services. IPv6 technology has been designed to achieve this goal. Industry cannot remain on the sidelines of the Internet of tomorrow and is thus beginning to integrate IPv6 into products and services. IRISA/INRIA Rennes is the only European research department that is entitled to test the conformity of products with IPv6 technology. It is inviting industry to take advantage of the Point6 center. Starting March 31, 2005, a technical platform designed by IRISA/INRIA Rennes research scientists will make it possible for all companies to subject their IPv6 products to all the necessary tests to obtain the IPv6 logo.

The Internet must evolve to be able to face the upcoming, extremely sharp growth in number of users-especially in Asia and South America-services and emerging communication products. IPv6 Internet technology is specified and standardized in order such new needs and is bound to replace the still widely deployed IPv4 technology.

This unavoidable change represents a vital issue for all economic actors in the field and for those whose products and services are based on the Internet. Numerous sectors are concerned: company network infrastructures, still largely dependent on IPv4, development of new applications capable of taking advantage of IPv6 technology-mobile phones and PDAs, house automation, automobile and intelligent transportation systems, distributed industrial systems, home assistance services for disabled persons, and so on.

You must adopt IPv6 today to be ready for the Internet of tomorrow

All of industry should be aware of this situation by now and prepare and adapt their product and service offerings. Most large industrial groups, like Cisco, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Nokia, have already started integrating IPv6 technology into their products and services, and are launching certification procedures. Some companies have even based their strategy on IPv6, like 6WIND in France, and are naturally anxious to obtain such a certification. However, not all businesses have adopted an IPv6 integration or development approach, especially small and medium-sized companies in France, but also in Europe. Time is running out for these companies if they plan to remain competitive with Asia and the United States.

IRISA/INRIA Rennes is the only European research department entitled to certify IPv6 components

An international IPv6 component certification program (IPv6 Ready Logo Program) was launched in September 2003 at the instigation of the IPv6 Forum. IPv6 certification meets a dual need. It is first of all a guarantee of product quality and company credibility because the logo is awarded by independent laboratories. It is also a guarantee of confidence and long lasting investment for clients who can rest assured that products bearing the logo are reliable and will interoperate with all other certified products.

The technical committee of the IPv6 Ready Logo Program consists of three laboratories worldwide that are entitled to certify IPv6 components: project TAHI in Japan for Asia, the IOL-UNH (University of New Hampshire) in the United States and IRISA / INRIA Rennes for Europe.

Point6, a competence center for the development of IPv6 technology in France and in Europe

By pooling IPv6 technology competence from IRISA/INRIA and the ENST Bretagne in Rennes, Point6 intends to assist the various public sector or industry actors in the progressive deployment of IPv6 technology. Point6 is supported by the French government and by the Brittany region.

Point6 is a genuine competence center at the service of public sector and industry partners. The center proposes several skills:

• Providing information on IPv6 technology: Issues, technical expertise, state of standards, state of ongoing developments, and so on.
• Supporting specific projects: Preliminary studies, personnel support for technological platform development carried out in public-private partnership. Such support may concern network infrastructure v4-v6 migration or the development of new v6 applications.
• And starting March 31, 2005: A conformity and interoperability testing platform for emerging IPv6 products. Each European company may have access to the test platform located in Point6 premises and to the locally available expertise capabilities. They will thus be able to take advantage of an environment that is beneficial to product validation and helpful in obtaining the IPv6 Ready Logo.

The ENST Bretagne comes in upstream in the IPv6 product development cycle by inviting industry to deploy IPv6 products, and INRIA/INRIA Rennes comes in downstream by testing the conformity of such products with the IPv6 standards, as well as their interoperability with other certified products. There is thus a genuine complementarity between the two organizations.

About IRISA

IRISA is joint research unit regrouping INRIA (National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control), CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), the University of Rennes 1 and INSA (National Institute for Applied Sciences, an engineering school located in Rennes). IRISA has a staff of 250 persons, including more than 200 scientists, working in 31 research teams.

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