The IP Stack
James Kempf · 2024
Since the early 2000s, the IP stack has come to increasingly dominate communications within the BEMS. In this chapter, the components of the IP stack are examined in detail. After a brief discussion of the Internet network architecture and the history of the Internet standards, the chapter looks at the protocols at the network and transport layers, and at the application layer for application protocols that support the network and transport layers. IP version 4 (IPv4), IP version 6 (IPv6), and IPv6 for Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) – an IPv6 adaptation layer protocol used by some device mesh networks – are presented at the network layer. At the transport layer, UDP and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are discussed. While most application layer protocols are orthogonal to the actual functioning of the network, Domain Name Service (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), two protocols that are critical components of the Internet infrastructure, are then described. The chapter concludes with a section on Wireshark, an important open-source tool for monitoring packet traffic and an important component of the BEMS engineer's toolkit.