Patent ID: 8848702

Claim:
A method, comprising: auto-discovering, by a plurality of automatic transition routers in a network, a plurality of islands of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) coupled to the plurality of automatic transition routers, with the plurality of automatic transition routers being communicatively coupled via one or more Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) networks, wherein said auto-discovering includes each of the plurality of automatic transition routers advertising their respective automatic transition routing capability; responsive to said auto-discovery of the plurality of automatic transition routers and the plurality of IPv6 islands: automatically determining, by one or more of the plurality of automatic transition routers based on an IPv4 routing database, one or more IPv4 tunnels to be established between two or more of the plurality of automatic transition routers for communicatively coupling the plurality of IPv6 islands; responsive to said determination of said one or more IPv4 tunnels: automatically establishing said one or more IPv4 tunnels; and communicating IPv6 packets, between automatic transition routers of the plurality of automatic transition routers, over IPv4 tunnels of said one or more IPv4 tunnels.