Address types [was: Last Call: <draft-ietf-6man-rfc2460bis-08.txt> (Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification) to Internet Standard]

[Brian E Carpenter <[e-mail]>]

Hi Fernando,
On 27/02/2017 02:05, Fernando Gont wrote:
> On 02/26/2017 09:55 AM, Sander Steffann wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>>> 2.3.  Address Type Identification
>>>
>>>   The type of an IPv6 address is identified by the high-order bits of
>>>   the address, as follows:
>>>
>>>      Address type         Binary prefix        IPv6 notation   Section
>>>      ------------         -------------        -------------   -------
>>>      Unspecified          00...0  (128 bits)   ::/128          2.4.2
>>>      Loopback             00...1  (128 bits)   ::1/128         2.4.3
>>>      Multicast            11111111             ff00::/8        2.6
>>>      Link-Local unicast   1111111010           fe80::/10       2.4.6
>>>      Global Unicast       (everything else)
>>>
>>>
>>> I wonder if this table should explicitly call out ULAs, and provide a
>>> reference to the corresponding section.
>>
>> ULAs are not an address type, they are Global Unicast. Adding them here might confuse people. And if we include ULAs then there is lots more that we should include as well. So while I understand your question, I think it would be better not to.
> 
> The "confusing" part is that, while globally unique, their scope is not
> really global -- i.e., they are not meant to be globally routable.
> 
> Wasn't there at some point an I-D aiming to clarify what "global" meant?
> -- IIRC, authored by Brian et al.

Not me, but you are thinking of draft-bchv-rfc6890bis

However I think this is totally out of scope for 2460bis, where the above summary
is necessary & sufficient. It's covered in 4291bis (section 2.4.7).

    Brian