RFC 3307 (rfc3307) - Page 3 of 8
Allocation Guidelines for IPv6 Multicast Addresses
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 3307 IPv6 Multicast Addresses Guidelines August 2002 bits (henceforth called the group ID) of the IPv6 multicast address and including them in the link-layer destination address. Group IDs, less than or equal to, 32 bits long will generate unique link-layer addresses within a given multicast scope. These guidelines specify how the group ID of the IPv6 multicast address are chosen and assigned. The guidelines specify several mechanisms that can be used to determine the group ID of the multicast address, based on the type of allocation being done. 3. Applicability These guidelines are designed to be used in any environment in which IPv6 multicast addresses are delegated, assigned, or selected. These guidelines are not limited to use by MADCAP [RFC 2730] servers. The following is a non-exhaustive list of applications of these guidelines: - Source-specific multicast application servers can generate an SSM group address by generating a 96-bit multicast prefix, as defined in [UNIMCAST] (i.e. FF3x::/96) and concatenating that with a group ID, as defined in this document. - A MADCAP server allocates IPv6 multicast addresses conforming to section 2.7 of [ADDRARCH], creating the group ID using the rules defined in this document. - Nodes supplying multicast services in a zeroconf environment generate multicast addresses without the need of centralized control. - IANA can assign permanent multicast addresses to fulfill requests via the protocol standardization process. 4. Group ID Selection Guidelines The Group ID selection process allows for three types of multicast address assignments. These are permanent IPv6 multicast addresses, dynamic IPv6 multicast addresses, and permanent IPv6 multicast group IDs. The following guidelines assume that the prefix of the multicast address has been initialized according to [ADDRARCH] or [UNIMCAST]. Haberman Standards Track
