Editing IPv6 (section)

==Standardization through RFCs==
===Working-group proposals===
[[file:IPv6 timeline-en.svg|thumb|A timeline for the standards governing IPv6]]
Due to the anticipated global growth of the [[Internet]], the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) in the early 1990s started an effort to develop a next generation IP protocol.<ref name="Rosen kernel networking"/>{{rp|209}} By the beginning of 1992, several proposals appeared for an expanded Internet addressing system and by the end of 1992 the IETF announced a call for white papers.<ref>{{cite web|rfc=1550|title=IP: Next Generation (IPng) White Paper Solicitation|first1=S.|last1=Bradner|first2=A.|last2=Mankin|date=December 1993|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1550}}</ref> In September 1993, the IETF created a temporary, ad hoc ''IP Next Generation'' (IPng) area to deal specifically with such issues. The new area was led by [[Allison Mankin]] and [[Scott Bradner]], and had a directorate with 15 engineers from diverse backgrounds for direction-setting and preliminary document review:<ref name=rfc1752/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://grnlight.net/index.php/programming-articles/103-history-of-the-ipng-effort|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523072903/http://grnlight.net/index.php/programming-articles/103-history-of-the-ipng-effort|archive-date=23 May 2014|work=The Sun|url-status=usurped|title=History of the IPng Effort}}</ref> The working-group members were [[J. Allard]] (Microsoft), [[Steven M. Bellovin|Steve Bellovin]] (AT&T), Jim Bound (Digital Equipment Corporation), Ross Callon (Wellfleet), [[Brian Carpenter (Internet engineer)|Brian Carpenter]] (CERN), [[David D. Clark|Dave Clark]] (MIT), [[John Curran (businessman)|John Curran]] (NEARNET), [[Steve Deering]] (Xerox), Dino Farinacci (Cisco), Paul Francis (NTT), Eric Fleischmann (Boeing), Mark Knopper (Ameritech), Greg Minshall (Novell), Rob Ullmann (Lotus), and [[Lixia Zhang]] (Xerox).<ref>{{cite web|rfc=1752|title=The Recommendation for the IP Next Generation Protocol – Appendix B|date=January 1995 |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1752#appendix-B |last1=Bradner |first1=Scott O. |last2=Mankin |first2=Allison J. }}</ref>

The Internet Engineering Task Force adopted the IPng model on 25 July 1994, with the formation of several IPng working groups.<ref name=rfc1752/> By 1996, a series of [[Request for Comments|RFCs]] was released defining Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), starting with {{IETF RFC|1883}}. (Version 5 was used by the experimental [[Internet Stream Protocol]].)

===RFC standardization===
The first RFC to standardize IPv6 was the {{IETF RFC|1883}} in 1995,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Tao |last2=Gao |first2=Jiaqiong |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Shortcomings of Ipv6 and Upgrade of Ipv4 |journal=International Journal of Advanced Network, Monitoring and Controls |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.21307/ijanmc-2019-029|doi-access=free }}</ref> which became obsoleted by {{IETF RFC|2460}} in 1998.<ref name="Rosen kernel networking"/>{{Rp|209}} In July 2017 this RFC was superseded by {{IETF RFC|8200}}, which elevated IPv6 to "Internet Standard" (the highest maturity level for IETF protocols).{{Ref RFC|8200}}