As an example of the effects of the above algorithm, consider the
case of a source node S sending a packet to destination node D, using
a Routing header to cause the packet to be routed via intermediate
nodes I1, I2, and I3. The values of the relevant IPv6 header and
Routing header fields on each segment of the delivery path would be
as follows:
As the packet travels from S to I1:
Source Address = S Hdr Ext Len = 6
Destination Address = I1 Segments Left = 3
Address[1] = I2
Address[2] = I3
Address[3] = D
As the packet travels from I1 to I2:
Source Address = S Hdr Ext Len = 6
Destination Address = I2 Segments Left = 2
Address[1] = I1
Address[2] = I3
Address[3] = D
As the packet travels from I2 to I3:
Source Address = S Hdr Ext Len = 6
Destination Address = I3 Segments Left = 1
Address[1] = I1
Address[2] = I2
Address[3] = D
As the packet travels from I3 to D:
Source Address = S Hdr Ext Len = 6
Destination Address = D Segments Left = 0
Address[1] = I1
Address[2] = I2
Address[3] = I3
RFC 2460 IPv6 Specification December 1998
4.5 Fragment Header
The Fragment header is used by an IPv6 source to send a packet larger
than would fit in the path MTU to its destination. (Note: unlike
IPv4, fragmentation in IPv6 is performed only by source nodes, not by
routers along a packet's delivery path -- see section 5.) The
Fragment header is identified by a Next Header value of 44 in the
immediately preceding header, and has the following format:
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Next Header | Reserved | Fragment Offset |Res|M|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Identification |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Next Header 8-bit selector. Identifies the initial header
type of the Fragmentable Part of the original
packet (defined below). Uses the same values as
the IPv4 Protocol field [RFC-1700 et seq.].
Reserved 8-bit reserved field. Initialized to zero for
transmission; ignored on reception.
Fragment Offset 13-bit unsigned integer. The offset, in 8-octet
units, of the data following this header,
relative to the start of the Fragmentable Part
of the original packet.
Res 2-bit reserved field. Initialized to zero for
transmission; ignored on reception.
M flag 1 = more fragments; 0 = last fragment.
Identification 32 bits. See description below.
In order to send a packet that is too large to fit in the MTU of the
path to its destination, a source node may divide the packet into
fragments and send each fragment as a separate packet, to be
reassembled at the receiver.
For every packet that is to be fragmented, the source node generates
an Identification value. The Identification must be different than
=10= |