1-7 
Address resolution 
Similar to the ARP function in IPv4, a node acquires the link-layer address of neighbor nodes on the 
same link through NS and NA messages. 
Figure 1-3 shows how node A acquires the link-layer address 
of node B. 
Figure 1-3 Address resolution 
 
 
The address resolution procedure is as follows: 
2)  Node A multicasts an NS message. The source address of the NS message is the IPv6 address of 
the interface of node A and the destination address is the solicited-node multicast address of node 
B. The NS message contains the link-layer address of node A. 
3)  After receiving the NS message, node B judges whether the destination address of the packet is 
the corresponding solicited-node multicast address of its own IPv6 address. If yes, node B learns 
the link-layer address of node A and returns an NA message containing the link-layer address of 
node B in the unicast mode. 
4)  Node A acquires the link-layer address of node B from the NA message. After that, node A and 
node B can communicate with each other. 
Neighbor unreachability detection 
After node A acquires the link-layer address of its neighbor node B, node A can verify whether node B is 
reachable according to NS and NA messages. 
1)  Node A sends an NS message whose destination address is the IPv6 address of node B. 
2)  If node A receives an NA message from node B, node A considers that node B is reachable. 
Otherwise, node B is unreachable. 
Duplicate address detection 
After a node acquires an IPv6 address, it should perform the duplicate address detection to determine 
whether the address is being used by other nodes (similar to the gratuitous ARP function). The 
duplication address detection is accomplished through NS and NA messages. 
Figure 1-4 shows the 
duplicate address detection procedure.