An Incremental Carrier-Grade NAT (CGN) for IPv6 Transition

Global IPv6 deployment was slower than originally expected. As IPv4 address exhaustion approaches, IPv4 to IPv6 transition issues become more critical and less tractable. Host-based transition mechanisms used in dual-stack environments cannot meet all transition requirements. Most end users are not sufficiently expert to configure or maintain host-based transition mechanisms. CarrierGrade NAT (CGN) devices with integrated transition mechanisms can reduce the operational changes required during the IPv4 to IPv6 migration or coexistence period. This document proposes an incremental CGN approach for IPv6 transition. It can provide IPv6 access services for IPv6 hosts and IPv4 access services for IPv4 hosts while leaving much of a legacy ISP network unchanged during the initial stage of IPv4 to IPv6 migration. Unlike CGN alone, incremental CGN also supports and encourages smooth transition towards dual-stack or IPv6-only ISP networks. An integrated configurable CGN device and an adaptive home gateway (HG) device are described. Both are reusable during different transition phases, avoiding multiple upgrades. This enables IPv6 migration to be incrementally achieved according to real user requirements.