New Field Added to the IPv6 Header

D

IPv6 is the successor to IPv4 and was designed to address the limitations of IPv4. It introduces several new features and changes to the protocol, including changes to the header format.

The IPv6 header is larger than the IPv4 header, and it includes several new fields. The IPv6 header is 40 bytes in length, compared to the 20-byte IPv4 header.

The new fields that are added to the IPv6 header when compared to IPv4 are:

1. Version: This field indicates the version of the IP protocol being used. In IPv4, this field is a 4-bit field that indicates the version of the IP protocol being used. In IPv6, this field is an 8-bit field that indicates the version of the IP protocol being used.

2. Flow Label: The Flow Label field in IPv6 is a 20-bit field that is used to provide a way for a source node to request special handling for a particular packet. This can be used for Quality of Service (QoS) or other types of traffic management.

3. Checksum: In IPv6, the checksum field in the header is removed. This is because the checksum calculation is done at the link layer in IPv6, rather than at the network layer as it is in IPv4. This helps to reduce the processing overhead at the network layer.

4. Fragment Offset: In IPv4, this field is used to identify the offset of the data in a fragmented packet. In IPv6, fragmentation is typically done at the source node rather than along the path, and therefore this field is not included in the IPv6 header.

In conclusion, the correct answer to the given question is D. Flow Label.