1. Introduction

1. Introduction

This document describes new options for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) that provide a mechanism for the delegation of IPv6 prefixes [1]. Through these options, a delegating router can delegate prefixes to authorized requesting routers.

The prefix delegation mechanism described in this document is intended for simple delegation of prefixes from a delegating router to requesting routers. It is appropriate for situations in which the delegating router does not have knowledge about the topology of the networks to which the requesting router is attached, and the delegating router does not require other information aside from the identity of the requesting router to choose a prefix for delegation. For example, these options would be used by a service provider to assign a prefix to a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) device acting as a router between the subscriber's internal network and the service provider's core network.

Many applications expect stable addresses. Even though this mechanism makes automatic renumbering easier, it is expected that prefixes have a long lifespan. During renumbering it is expected that the old and the new prefix co-exist for some time.

The design of this prefix delegation mechanism meets the requirements for prefix delegation in Requirements for IPv6 prefix delegation [6].

Note that this use of DHCP is not bound to the assignment of IP addresses or other configuration information to hosts, and that no mechanism is currently available to communicate delegated prefixes to a DHCP server that serves such a function. This may be an item of future work, should usage warrant.