AVM FRITZ!Box 7360 Installation, Configuration And Operation page 165

Glossary
The IP Internet Protocol is the most important basic protocol
for the control of data exchange in local networks and in the
Internet. The Internet protocol works without a connection; in
other words, data packets are transmitted from the sender to
the recipient without previous consultation. The addresses of
the recipient and the sender in the data packets are given as
IP addresses.
IPv4
short for Internet Protocol version 4
IPv4 is currently the conventional Internet protocol.
IPv4 addresses are 32 bits long, such that IPv4 offers an ad-
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dress space of 2 IP addresses, or just over four billion. The
latest estimates suggest that the last IPv4 addresses will be
assigned by the beginning of 2012.
The successor protocol to IPv4 is IPv6.
IPv6
short for Internet Protocol version 6
The successor protocol to IPv6 is IPv4.
IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long. This means that IPv6
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makes approximately 340 undecillion (~ 3.4 x 10 ) IPv6 ad-
dresses available. Each private user can be allotted over 18
quintillion public IPv6 addresses from her or his Internet Ser-
vice Provider.
The dearth of addresses in IPv4 is only one of the reasons for
introducing IPv6. IPv6 also offers additional advantageous
characteristics in the framework of communication within IP
networks.
IP address
In IP-based networks, for instance in the Internet and local
networks, all connected devices are addressed via their IP ad-
dresses. So that data packets are sure to be delivered to the
right address, each IP address may be assigned only once
within the Internet or a local IP network.
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