How does IPv6 compare to IPv4 and why is it better for WSNs?
IPv6 is better suited to wireless sensor networks than IPv4 even though it has larger headers and defines more functionality. The large address space not only supports a huge number of devices, but it also eliminates many of the artificial naming constraints of IPv4. As a result, an adaptation layer in RFC 4944 (6LoWPAN) was defined that carried the meaning of IPv6 addresses in a very compact form using small IEEE 802.15.4 addresses. Additionally, the various Layer 2 bootstrapping and discovery mechanisms were consolidated in ICMPv6, bringing them into the same IPv6 architecture. Lastly, IPv6 defines link-local communication to enable simple, single-hop networks.
