What Is An IP Address?

Anyone who uses a computer has heard the term “IP Address”, but what exactly does that mean?  What is an IP Address?

 

An IP Address, or Internet Protocol Address, is the digital “address” assigned to every device connected to the Internet. Internet Protocol is the technical standard that should be followed while using the Internet.  This protocol was developed in the 1970s.

There are two versions of IP that support the computer network addressing.  They are:  Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).  The most commonly used version is IPv4.  With this version, the IP Addresses are four bytes (or 32 bits) long.  IPv6 is the newer version, which allows IP Addresses of 16 bytes (or 128 bits) long.  Whichever version is used, the IP Address has two main purposes:  host or network interface identification and location addressing. 

IPv4 addresses are typically shown in a “dot-decimal” sequence.  They are made up of four parts, using numbers that range from 0 to 255.  Each part is separated by a decimal (or dot) and each group consists of 8 bits.  An example of this is shown below:

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for coordinating the global pool of IP Addresses and then providing them to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) so they can be assigned to end users, including Internet service providers.  The main address pool used by IANA was depleted on February 3, 2011.  This is the date that the last blocks were assigned to the 5 RIRs.

IPv4 addresses were depleting so rapidly due to the explosive growth of the Internet, that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) was forced to look into new technologies in order to expand the address capacities.  The solution they decided on was to completely redesign the Internet Protocol.   In 1995, IPv6 was named as a means to replace IPv4.

In this new version, the address size was increased to 128 bits from the original 32 bits.  Even considering a growth explosion, this should give a sufficient amount of available addresses well into the future.  A typical IPv6 address would look like this:

This new formula is capable of automatically changing the routing prefix of whole networks without the need to redesign or renumber the system.  This will be necessary if global routing policy changes. 

Grocery Shelves Will Now be Spying on Us

As if we don’t have enough to worry about, now we need to start thinking about being spied on while we do our grocery shopping.  Food giant Mondelez International, parent company of Nabisco, Kraft and Cadbury, is said to be planning on introducing “smart shelves” to grocery stores by the year 2015. 

Working with Microsoft Kinect, Mondelez International is said to be working on a system to identify shoppers walking down the food aisle.  Using facial recognition, these “smart shelves” will be able to identify shoppers by age and gender.  Once identified, a coupon will appear near a food or snack targeted to that particular shopper.  For example:  If a woman in her early 30s walks by, there’s a good chance she may be thinking about chocolate.  As she approaches the shelf for Cadbury chocolates, a coupon will pop up.

Along with facial recognition, the smart shelves will also have weight sensors installed.  This way, if a shopper over the age of 18 picks a box up from the shelf, a coupon could be sent to “persuade” the shopper into buying that product.  The coupon will come by way of either a dispenser or a display screen.  Tech writer Brian Fung of the Washington Post says of this technology, “it’s not quite Minority Report levels of creepiness, but it’s getting there.”, while Neal Ungerleider of Fastcompany.com said it’s “the ultimate in creepy, yet inevitable marketing tech.”  Personally, I have to agree with Neal about it being the ultimate in creepy.

According to Mondelez’s CIO Mark Dajani, no videos or photos of specific shoppers will be saved.  The information will only be used to collect information about the types of shoppers looking at the products or walking down the grocery store aisles.  It could help food companies with product placement so as to maximize sales.