Nokia shows off IPv6 phone

Nokia Corp., the world's largest handset maker, has unveiled a prototype mobile phone based on IPv6, the next-generation Internet Protocol (IP) technology.

Nokia demonstrated a dual stack IPv4/IPv6 handset based on CDMA2000 1X (Code Division Multiplex Access) at the 3G World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, a company spokesman at the show said Thursday in a telephone interview.

The company said in a statement that the phone is the world's first to include both IP standards.

CDMA2000 1X is a 3G (third-generation) standard that competes with WCDMA (Wideband CDMA). Nokia is a huge promoter of WCDMA.

Damian Stathonikos, a spokesman at Nokia's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, declined to say if the company also plans to test the new Internet standard on its WCDMA phones, saying only that it "is a big supporter of IPv6."

The Finnish manufacturer is currently offering prototype IPv4/IPv6 CDMA 1X handsets to operators for testing, the Nokia spokesman in Bangkok said. The official declined to disclose the operators.

The prototype handset will help meet the increasing demand for Internet-connected mobile devices, according to the spokesman in Bangkok. While IPv4 addresses are rapidly being depleted, IPv6 offers nearly infinite addresses.

In addition to increased address space, IPv6 provides additional security, including packet encryption and source authentication for end-to-end protection, according to the statement. The technology also supports "flow label," a new capability that labels traffic flow packets for which senders request special handling, such as non-default quality of service and real-time service, between intervening IPv6 routers.

Moreover, IPv6 provides unique and globally routable IP addresses to users, enabling a new generation of peer-to-peer applications and push-based services, according to the statement.

While Network Address Translation, an interim IPv4 solution, works reasonably well for fixed devices, it creates problems for mobile devices, according to the spokesman in Bangkok. "With IPv6, every device receives a unique, globally routable address, meaning that it is globally reachable without translation at any point, at any time."