Internet Protocol Version 8 (IPv8) is a managed network protocol
suite that transforms how networks of every scale -- from home
networks to the global internet -- are operated, secured, and
monitored. Every manageable element in an IPv8 network is
authorised via OAuth2 JWT tokens served from a local cache. Every
service a device requires is delivered in a single DHCP8 lease
response. Every packet transiting to the internet is validated
at egress against a DNS8 lookup and a WHOIS8 registered active
route. Network telemetry, authentication, name resolution, time
synchronisation, access control, and translation are unified into
a single coherent Zone Server platform. 
       IPv4 is a proper subset of IPv8. An IPv8 address with the routing
prefix field set to zero is an IPv4 address. No existing device,
application, or network requires modification. The suite is 100%
backward compatible. There is no flag day and no forced migration
at any layer. 
       IPv8 also resolves IPv4 address exhaustion. Each Autonomous System
Number (ASN) holder receives 4,294,967,296 host addresses. The
global routing table is structurally bounded at one entry per ASN. 
       This document is one of the companion specifications: 
       
         draft-thain-ipv8-00          Core protocol (this document) 
         draft-thain-routing-protocols-00 BGP8, IBGP8, OSPF8, IS-IS8, CF 
         draft-thain-rine-00          Regional Inter-Network Exchange 
         draft-thain-zoneserver-00    Zone Server Architecture 
         draft-thain-whois8-00        WHOIS8 Protocol 
         draft-thain-netlog8-00       NetLog8 Protocol 
         draft-thain-support8-00      ARP8, ICMPv8, Route8 
         draft-thain-ipv8-mib-00      IPv8 MIB and SNMPv8 
         draft-thain-wifi8-00         WiFi8 Protocol 
         draft-thain-update8-00       Update8 and NIC Certification

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IPv8 is a proposed managed network protocol suite submitted as an IETF Internet-Draft that aims to replace IPv4 while maintaining full backward compatibility. Key design goals include: IPv4 as a proper subset (an IPv8 address with routing prefix 0.0.0.0 is an IPv4 address), resolution of IPv4 address exhaustion by giving each ASN holder 4.29 billion host addresses, and a structurally bounded global routing table capped at one entry per ASN. The suite unifies DHCP, DNS, NTP, authentication (OAuth2 JWT), telemetry, and access control into a single Zone Server platform. Security is enforced via mandatory WHOIS8 route validation, ACL8 zone isolation for east-west traffic, and DNS-lookup-gated egress for north-south traffic. Routing is extended with a Cost Factor (CF) metric spanning AS boundaries. Transition requires no flag day, no dual-stack operation, and uses 8to4 tunneling for interoperability with IPv4-only networks.