Network service selection and authentication and stateless auto-configuration in an IPv6 access network

A method for IPv6 stateless auto-configuration in an access work, characterized in that,

• a. an access node sends RA messages including a NSP Information option and a Prefix Information option pair to a subscriber network, the NSP Information option includes IPv6 address of a NSP edge router and a NSP name, and the NSP Information option always exists in pair with corresponding IPv6 Prefix Information option in the RA messages,
• b. in the subscriber network, a terminal who wants to visit a NSP finds whether there are the NSP Information option and the corresponding Prefix Information option belonging to the NSP in the RA messages,
• c. the terminal obtains the prefix belonging to the NSP through the RA messages, and obtain a global IPv6 address by appending its interface identifier to the prefix.

An IPv6 terminal, including a process module, a network interface module and a store module, characterized in that,

• the process module generates RS messages with Network Service Selection and Authentication (NSSA) Information option which contains user's information for network service selection and authentication, and the terminal sends the RS messages to an access node over the network interface module;
• the RA messages that the terminal receives from the access node over the network interface module contain NSP Information option which includes the address of a NSP edge router and a NSP name and exists in pair with corresponding Prefix Information option in the RA messages, and the process module processes the RA messages and stores the address of the NSP edge router and the NSP name to the store module.

An IPv6 access node, including a process module, a network interface module and a store module, characterized in that,

• the access node receives RS messages over the network interface module, the process module extracts user's information from a Network Service Selection and Authentication (NSSA) Information option of the received RS messages, and contacts with a corresponding AAA server to make authentication, the NSSA Information option containing user's information for network service selection and authentication,
• upon authentication, the obtained information related to the NSP is stored in the store module, the process module generates, based on the information related to the NSP, RA messages containing NSP Information option and Prefix Information option, the NSP Information option contains the address of a NSP edge router and a NSP name and exists in pair with the corresponding Prefix Information option in the RA messages, and the access node sends the NSP information and the prefix information to the subscriber network over the network interface module by the RA messages.

An IPv6 terminal, including a process module, a network interface module and a store module, characterized in that,

• the terminal receives RA messages over the network interface module from an access node, the RA messages include a NSP Information option containing the address of a NSP edge router and a NSP name, the NSP Information option exists in pair with the corresponding Prefix Information option in the RA messages, and the process module process the RA messages and stores the address of the NSP edge router and the NSP name to the store module,
• when the terminal wants to visit a NSP, the process module finds whether there are the NSP Information option and the corresponding Prefix Information option belonging to the NSP,
• the process module of the terminal obtains the prefix belonging to the NSP through the RA messages and obtains the global IPv6 address by appending its interface identifier to the prefix.

An IPv6 access node, including a process module, a network interface module and a store module, characterized in that,

• the process module generates RA messages in accordance with IPv6 addresses and NSP names stored in the store module, the RA messages contain a NSP Information option containing an IPv6 address of a NSP edge router and a NSP name;
• in the RA messages, the NSP Information option always exists in pair with the corresponding IPv6 Prefix Information option,
• and the access node sends out the RA messages over the network interface module to the subscriber network through the NSP Information option and the Prefix Information option pair.