IPv6 Packet Flow in Linux Kernel

I'm working on the current issues of Mobile IPv6 implementation on Linux. I had to map the IPv6 packet flow in kernel for outbound and inbound direction. The following graph introduces the most important steps of processing of IPv6 packets. Additionally it contains the MIPv6 signaling and data packets journey from the application level to Layer 2.

Download: PacketFlowInKernel-v1.2.pdf
Used Linux kernel version: 2.6.25

Revision History:

• 1.0
• Gappy inbound processing
• 1.1
• Fix and complete inbound and outbound processing
• Add MIPv6 signaling
• 1.2
• Finalize MIPv6 signaling
• Add data packets with and without IPsec

References:

• Netfilter packet flow graph (Wikipedia)
• kernel_flow (Linuxfoundation - Networking)
• Understanding Linux Networks Internals [Christian Benvenuti; O'Reilly; Dec 2005]
• Professional Linux Kernel Architecture [Wolfgang Mauerer; Wiley; 2008]
• IPv6 IPsec and Mobile IPv6 implementation of Linux [K. MIYAZAWA & M. NAKAMURA; Linux Symposium 2004 - Volume 2]

More details:

• dst_entry Lookup

Posted in: examination,ipv6,kernel,linux,mipv6