Is the increase in address space afforded by IPv6 the only compelling reason for adopting the new protocol?
According to an IDC report of August 2002, worldwide shipments of mobile telephones and PDAs with digital imaging capabilities will increase to 151 million by the year 2006. Adding to the address demands will be the millions of new users in countries such as China and India, as well as millions of new devices such as, Internet-connected automobiles, home theater PCs and home based appliances such as the refrigerator and microwave. The improvements of IPv6 over IPv4 yield a more intelligent packet for Internet access with high security and better quality of service. The driver for additional IP space for IP mobility based products are much greater in Europe and Asia than in the United States; as they do not have very much IPv4 space allocated to these regions. The principal benefit of IPv6, and the main reason for its initial deployment is the increased address space compared with its IPv4 predecessor. IPv4 has a 32-bit address space, theoretically providing for 232 (approximately 4 bil
