RFC 6971 · EXPERIMENTAL · 2013

Depth-First Forwarding in Unreliable Networks

Overview

RFC 6971, “Depth-First Forwarding in Unreliable Networks”, is an Experimental document published in June 2013 by U. Herberg, A. Cardenas, T. Iwao, M. Dow, S. Cespedes. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This document specifies the Depth-First Forwarding (DFF) protocol for IPv6 networks, a data-forwarding mechanism that can increase reliability of data delivery in networks with dynamic topology and/or lossy links. The protocol operates entirely on the forwarding plane but may interact with the routing plane. DFF forwards data packets using a mechanism similar to a "depth-first search" for the destination of a packet. The routing plane may be informed of failures to deliver a packet or loops. This document specifies the DFF mechanism both for IPv6 networks (as specified in RFC 2460) and for "mesh-under" Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (LoWPANs), as specified in RFC 4944. The design of DFF assumes that the underlying link layer provides means to detect if a packet has been successfully delivered to the Next Hop or not. It is applicable for networks with little traffic and is used for unicast transmissions only.

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Experimental” means

Describes a specification that is part of a research or development effort, published so the community can gain experience with it.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 6971 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Other RFCs from 2013

Who Is Online

In total there are 46 users online: 0 registered, 40 guests and 6 bots.

Most users ever online was 1,226 on 13 Jun 2026, 3:56 am.

Bots: AhrefsBot Applebot Facebook Other Bot Other Crawler SemrushBot

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 354