Mainstream Transition Technologies Against the Background of IPv4 Address Exhaustion

Abstract

The exhaustion of IPv4 address resources has become a major challenge for the sustainable development of the Internet, driven by the rapid growth of connected devices and network services. Although IPv6 has been proposed as a long-term solution with a significantly larger address space and enhanced functionality, the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 remains complex due to the incompatibility between the two protocols. As a result, both protocols are expected to coexist for an extended period, requiring effective transition mechanisms to ensure interoperability. This paper presents a review of the main IPv4/IPv6 transition and coexistence technologies. It outlines the background of IPv4 exhaustion and the limitations of temporary solutions such as Network Address Translation (NAT). Transition technologies are classified into three categories: dual stack, tunnelling, and translation mechanisms, and their principles are analysed. A comparison is also conducted in terms of performance, complexity, and applicability. The study shows that each mechanism has its own advantages and limitations, and no single solution is universally optimal. Instead, a combination of approaches is often required in practical deployment. †