Multicasting

IPV6 Addressing:

1. Unicast:

The destination address specifies a single computer (host or router); the datagram should be routed to the destination along the shortest path. A relation between source and destination is one-to-one.

Types: global, link local and site local unicast.

2. Anycast:

The destination is a set of computers, possibly at different locations, that all share a single address; the datagram should be routed along the shortest path and delivered to exactly one member of the group (i.e. the closest member).

3. Multicast:

The destination is a set of computers, possibly at multiple locations. One copy of the datagram will be delivered to each member of the group using hardware multicast or broadcast if viable. The relation between source and destination is one-to-many.

IPv6 Multicasting

IP multicast address has a prefix FF00:/8. The second octet defines the lifetime and scope of the multicast address.

IPv6 Multicasting Examples:

RIPng:

The multicast address AIIRIPRouters is FF02::9

(Note that 02 means that this is a permanent address and has link scope)

OSPFv3

The multicast address AIISPFRouters is FF02::5

The multicast address AIIDRouters is FF02::6

EIGRP

The multicast address AIIEIGRPRouters is FF02::A

References:

1. A.S. Tanenbaum, “Computer Networks”, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall India, 1997.
2. W. Stallings, “Data and Computer Communication”, Macmillan Press, 1989.
3. Kurose Ross, “Computer Networking: A top-down approach”, 2nd Edition, Pearson Education
4. Larry L. Peterson, Bruce S. Davie, “Computer Networks: A Systems Approach”, 3rd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers