Anycast:   An identifier for a set of interfaces (typically
                belonging to different nodes).  A packet sent to an
                anycast address is delivered to one of the interfaces
                identified by that address (the "nearest" one, according
                to the routing protocols' measure of distance).

     Multicast: An identifier for a set of interfaces (typically
                belonging to different nodes).  A packet sent to a
                multicast address is delivered to all interfaces
                identified by that address.




 
RFC 2373              IPv6 Addressing Architecture             July 1998


   There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6, their function being
   superseded by multicast addresses.

   In this document, fields in addresses are given a specific name, for
   example "subscriber".  When this name is used with the term "ID" for
   identifier after the name (e.g., "subscriber ID"), it refers to the
   contents of the named field.  When it is used with the term "prefix"
   (e.g.  "subscriber prefix") it refers to all of the address up to and
   including this field.

   In IPv6, all zeros and all ones are legal values for any field,
   unless specifically excluded.  Specifically, prefixes may contain
   zero-valued fields or end in zeros.

2.1 Addressing Model

   IPv6 addresses of all types are assigned to interfaces, not nodes.
   An IPv6 unicast address refers to a single interface.  Since each
   interface belongs to a single node, any of that node's interfaces'
   unicast addresses may be used as an identifier for the node.

   All interfaces are required to have at least one link-local unicast
   address (see section 2.8 for additional required addresses).  A
   single interface may also be assigned multiple IPv6 addresses of any
   type (unicast, anycast, and multicast) or scope.  Unicast addresses
   with scope greater than link-scope are not needed for interfaces that
   are not used as the origin or destination of any IPv6 packets to or
   from non-neighbors.  This is sometimes convenient for point-to-point
   interfaces.  There is one exception to this addressing model:

     An unicast address or a set of unicast addresses may be assigned to
     multiple physical interfaces if the implementation treats the
     multiple physical interfaces as one interface when presenting it to
     the internet layer.  This is useful for load-sharing over multiple
     physical interfaces.

   Currently IPv6 continues the IPv4 model that a subnet prefix is
   associated with one link.  Multiple subnet prefixes may be assigned
   to the same link.

2.2 Text Representation of Addresses

   There are three conventional forms for representing IPv6 addresses as
   text strings:

   1. The preferred form is x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x, where the 'x's are the
      hexadecimal values of the eight 16-bit pieces of the address.
      Examples:




 
RFC 2373              IPv6 Addressing Architecture             July 1998


         FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210

         1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A

      Note that it is not necessary to write the leading zeros in an
      individual field, but there must be at least one numeral in every
      field (except for the case described in 2.).

   2. Due to some methods of allocating certain styles of IPv6
      addresses, it will be common for addresses to contain long strings
      of zero bits.  In order to make writing addresses containing zero
      bits easier a special syntax is available to compress the zeros.
      The use of "::" indicates multiple groups of 16-bits of zeros.
      The "::" can only appear once in an address.  The "::" can also be
      used to compress the leading and/or trailing zeros in an address.

      For example the following addresses:

         1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A  a unicast address
         FF01:0:0:0:0:0:0:101        a multicast address
         0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1             the loopback address
         0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0             the unspecified addresses

      may be represented as:

         1080::8:800:200C:417A       a unicast address