A new kind of wireless network protocol that is based on IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) allows users to link to network no matter which platform.
"What we"ve designed is a system that is platform independent," says Tommi Saarinen of Oulu University, Finland, and 6HOP coordinator. "It can be used with the ordinary 802.11x wireless LAN cards you can buy in shops. The difference is that the 6HOP system was designed around IPv6 from the start, and also supports IPv4 legacy networks."
Today"s wireless LANs commonly uses the IPv4 network protocol. But IPv4 cannot accommodate the ever-expanding computer population much longer, and work-arounds have to be used. Its successor, IPv6, has been designed to handle the forecast computer populations, and has additional measures for improved security.