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I know that ipv4 addresses are 32 bits. But is it possible to extend the ipv4 addresses to 64 bit from 32 bit?

user3330378
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  • You can easily write an IPv4 address as a 64-bit quantity by setting the lower 32 bits to the address and the upper 32 bits to 0. But if any of the upper 32 bits are not zero, then it's not a valid IPv4 address. What are you trying to accomplish? – Wyzard Jan 28 '15 at 14:51
  • @Wyzard Thanks for the answer.I am trying to learn ipv4 and ipv6 addressing and my professor gave me an assignment on how to extend ipv4 addresses to 64 bit.He said there would be papers about it but i havent been able to find one. – user3330378 Jan 28 '15 at 14:54
  • Without more details about your assignment, it's unclear what sort of answer you're looking for. – Wyzard Jan 28 '15 at 14:57
  • By most reasonable definitions, IPv6 is IPv4 extended to 128 bits, with other changes. – ChrisInEdmonton Jan 28 '15 at 15:06

2 Answers2

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The feature is called enhanced-ipv4 or EnIP, take a look at this document (IPv4 with 64 bit Address Space January 2015):

Enhanced IP (EnIP) was designed to minimize impact on core and border routers. ... EnIP packets carry additional address bits and state in an IP option, eliminating routing table updates like IPv6. EnIP supports end-to- end connectivity, a shortcoming of NAT, making it easier to implement mobile networks. Host renumbering is also not required in EnIP as has been the case with other 64-bit protocol proposals

Community
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Leo Chapiro
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You can write a 32-bit IPv4 address as a 64-bit number by passing the beginning of it with all 0's.. but that wouldn't make it a useable or valid IPv4 address.

After all if 192.168.1.1 is 11000000101010000000000100000001 it could also be 0000000000000000000000000000000011000000101010000000000100000001 written as a 64-bit number.. but at the end of the day 0.0.0.0.192.168.1.1 is non-routable and not a valid IP.

IPv6 is a 128-bit address length which is written in shorthand format using Hex and :s.

There are multiple IPv4 to ipv6 transition technologies that you may want to look into such as Teredo, 6to4, ISATAP.. all of which are methods of using the IPv4 Namespace within an IPv6 arena.

Fazer87
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