An implementation of Mobile IPv6 over theVDL Mode 4 data link for civil aviation

Abstract: The problem to be solved in this thesis is how to transport IPv6 over VDL Mode 4 and how to use Mobile IPv6 with VDL Mode 4. This is needed to extend IPv6 capabilities to aircrafts to facilitate IPv6 based communication with aircrafts. VDL Mode 4 supports addressed communication between an aircraft and a ground station which can be used as the basis for IPv6 transport over VDL Mode 4. The thesis work has been done at the company C.N.S. Systems AB and is part of that company’s deliveries to its customer Luftfartsverket. The use of IPv6 and Mobile IPv6 is a requirement from Luftfartsverket and ICAO. The VDL Mode 4 standards used are by ETSI. For IPv6 and Mobile IPv6, RFCs from IETF are used. This report first has an overview of the technologies involved and then presents several possible solutions to how Mobile IPv6 on VDL Mode 4 can be implemented. Three such solutions were identified: bridging Ethernet over the VDL Mode 4 link, IPv6 directly on top of VDL Mode 4 and IPv6 directly on top of VDL Mode 4 with ground based mobility. The chosen solution was to use IPv6 directly on top of VDL Mode 4 with a separate IPv6 subnet for each VDL Mode 4 Ground station’s VDL Mode 4 interface. The implementation for this solution is described. Results from tests run on the implementation show that the VDL Mode 4 data link is capable of being the link layer under IPv6 and that it can support the intended use for aircrafts. Future works on this can be implementation of solution 3 and optimisations of Mobile IPv6 handover. Header compression is also a possible future work and would be beneficial due to the large header-to-data ratio.