Patent ID: 7443880

Claim:
A method in a gateway coupled to an IPv6 network, the method including: receiving from an IPv4 node an IPv4 packet having a source address field specifying an IPv4 address of the IPv4 node, and a destination address field specifying a globally-unique IPv4 address of an IPv4 node reachable via a remote IPv4 network, and an IPv4 payload; translating the IPv4 packet into a new IPv6 packet that includes an IPv6 source address field, an IPv6 destination field, and the IPv4 payload, the IPv6 source address field specifying a first prescribed address prefix assigned to the gateway and the IPv4 address of the IPv4 node, the IPv6 destination address field specifying a second address prefix of a remote gateway and the globally-unique IPv4 address, the remote gateway reachable via an IPv6 network and providing connectivity to a remote IPv4 network; and outputting the new IPv6 packet to the remote gateway via the IPv6 network.