IPv8 Transition
The IPv8 draft puts strong emphasis on transition behavior. It says IPv4 devices and applications do not need modification to participate in an IPv8 network.
ARP8-Driven Version Selection
Section titled “ARP8-Driven Version Selection”draft-thain-ipv8-02 adds a section on ARP8-driven version selection. The draft describes how neighbor capability discovery allows a sender to choose IPv4 or IPv8 at transmit time.
The intended result is that mixed IPv4/IPv8 environments can communicate without a network-wide cutover.
IPv4 Compatibility
Section titled “IPv4 Compatibility”The draft defines IPv4 as a subset of IPv8. An IPv8 address with a zero routing prefix is treated as an IPv4 address.
This is the central compatibility claim:
IPv8 address with r.r.r.r = 0.0.0.0 = IPv4 addressSingle-Stack Operation
Section titled “Single-Stack Operation”The draft describes IPv8 as a single-stack model that can still process IPv4 behavior. This differs from the common IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack transition model.
The draft includes 8to4, described as IPv8 across IPv4-only networks. This is separate from the older IPv6 transition mechanism with a similar name.
CGNAT And XLATE8
Section titled “CGNAT And XLATE8”The draft discusses CGNAT behavior and XLATE8 translation. In -02, the CGNAT section includes XLATE8 even/odd load balancing language.
XLATE8 is also part of the Zone Server service set, where it supports translation between IPv4 and IPv8 traffic.