IPv8 Addressing
The IPv8 draft defines a 64-bit address format. The draft writes the structure as two 32-bit fields:
r.r.r.r.h.h.h.hThe r.r.r.r portion is the routing prefix. The h.h.h.h portion is the host field.
Address Space
Section titled “Address Space”The draft states that each ASN holder receives 2^32 host addresses. This is presented as the main mechanism for avoiding IPv4-style address exhaustion while keeping the global routing table bounded by ASN count rather than by individual deaggregated prefixes.
IPv4 As A Subset
Section titled “IPv4 As A Subset”The proposal says IPv4 is a proper subset of IPv8:
0.0.0.0.h.h.h.hWhen the routing prefix is zero, the draft treats the address as an IPv4 address processed by standard IPv4 rules.
ASN Encoding
Section titled “ASN Encoding”The draft maps ASN ownership into the routing prefix field. This is intended to make global routing depend on ASN allocation rather than on arbitrary prefix advertisement.
Special-Use Ranges
Section titled “Special-Use Ranges”| Range or identifier | Draft use |
|---|---|
127.0.0.0/8 | Internal zone prefix space. |
127.127.0.0 | Inter-company interop prefix. |
ASN 65534 | Private inter-company BGP8 peering. |
100.0.0.0/8 | RINE peering prefix. |
222.0.0.0/8 | Interior link convention. |
ASN 65533 | Documentation and testing. |
Address Usage
Section titled “Address Usage”The address model is closely tied to routing policy, Zone Server behavior, and transition support. Do not read the address format in isolation; the draft uses it as part of a managed network architecture.