I expect heavy new device growth

This case applies to service providers managing heavy growth, typically in wireless or smart grid networks, but also in access upgrades such as VDSL evolution. If the provider has total control of the devices and applications that connect to its network, an IPv6-only and NAT64 solution may make sense.

In this case, the end user devices can be built IPv6-enabled and IPv6 content can be natively accessed through the network. To access IPv4 content, traffic flows can be directed through a nAT64 device in the provider network.

The limitations of this architecture are reached when legacy IPv4 devices or applications (or both) need to get connected to this network. An example of this is a tethered PC connected via a 3g/4g handset. No assumption can safely be made about what kind of application will be run on that PC. These may include IPv4-only applications that will not be able to access the IPv6 wireless network. A dual-stack architecture is a good alternative here; it handles those legacy devices and applications, provides IPv6 natively, and provides IPv4 via a CGNAT NAT44. This is illustrated in the next figure where the dual-stack handset has two simultaneous PDP contexts for each version (IPv4 and IPv6) to the GGSN node Gateway GPRS Support).

To know more about the tools that support this scenario download the paper:
Tools and Strategies for Coping With IPv4 Address Depletion [ 1 MB ]