IPv6 Packet

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the successor to IPv4, the first generation of the Internet Protocol (IP) for use on packet-switching networks such as the Internet. An IPv6 packet is the smallest message entity exchanged via the Internet Protocol across one or more IPv6 networks. Packets are the units of information interchanged in datagram services. Packets consist of control information for addressing and routing, and a payload consisting of user data. The control information in IPv6 packets is subdivided into a fixed header, mandatory for all IPv6 packets, and optional extension headers. The payload of an IPv6 packet is in the majority of cases a datagram or segment of the higher-level Transport Layer protocol, but may be data for an Internet Layer (e.g., ICMPv6) or Link Layer (e.g., OSPFv6) protocol as well.