diff --git a/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/types/IPv6Address.java b/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/types/IPv6Address.java
index 83fb31a..471d0fb 100644
--- a/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/types/IPv6Address.java
+++ b/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/types/IPv6Address.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package org.projectfloodlight.openflow.types;
 
+import java.net.Inet6Address;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
@@ -8,6 +10,7 @@
 import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
 import org.projectfloodlight.openflow.exceptions.OFParseError;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.hash.PrimitiveSink;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Longs;
 
@@ -102,19 +105,17 @@
 
     @Override
     public IPv6Address and(IPv6Address other) {
-        if (other == null) {
-            throw new NullPointerException("Other IP Address must not be null");
-        }
-        IPv6Address otherIp = (IPv6Address) other;
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(other, "other must not be null");
+
+        IPv6Address otherIp = other;
         return IPv6Address.of((raw1 & otherIp.raw1), (raw2 & otherIp.raw2));
     }
 
     @Override
     public IPv6Address or(IPv6Address other) {
-        if (other == null) {
-            throw new NullPointerException("Other IP Address must not be null");
-        }
-        IPv6Address otherIp = (IPv6Address) other;
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(other, "other must not be null");
+
+        IPv6Address otherIp = other;
         return IPv6Address.of((raw1 | otherIp.raw1), (raw2 | otherIp.raw2));
     }
 
@@ -123,10 +124,27 @@
         return IPv6Address.of(~raw1, ~raw2);
     }
 
-    public static IPv6Address of(final byte[] address) {
-        if (address == null) {
-            throw new NullPointerException("Address must not be null");
-        }
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     * IP address. The argument is in network byte order: the highest
+     * order byte of the address is in {@code address[0]}.
+     * <p>
+     * The address byte array must be 16 bytes long (128 bits long).
+     * <p>
+     * Similar to {@link InetAddress#getByAddress(byte[])}.
+     *
+     * @param address  the raw IP address in network byte order
+     * @return         an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     *                 raw IP address
+     * @throws NullPointerException      if the given address was {@code null}
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException  if the given address was of an invalid
+     *                                   byte array length
+     * @see InetAddress#getByAddress(byte[])
+     */
+    @Nonnull
+    public static IPv6Address of(@Nonnull final byte[] address) {
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(address, "address must not be null");
+
         if (address.length != LENGTH) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                     "Invalid byte array length for IPv6 address: " + address.length);
@@ -171,25 +189,30 @@
 
     private final static Pattern colonPattern = Pattern.compile(":");
 
-    /** parse an IPv6Address from its conventional string representation.
-     *  <p>
-     *  Expects up to 8 groups of 16-bit hex words seperated by colons
-     *  (e.g., 2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348).
-     *  <p>
-     *  Supports zero compression (e.g., 2001:db8::7348).
-     *  Does <b>not</b> currently support embedding a dotted-quad IPv4 address
-     *  into the IPv6 address (e.g., 2001:db8::192.168.0.1).
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     * IP address. The argument is in the conventional string representation
+     * of IPv6 addresses.
+     * <p>
+     * Expects up to 8 groups of 16-bit hex words seperated by colons
+     * (e.g., 2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348).
+     * <p>
+     * Supports zero compression (e.g., 2001:db8::7348).
+     * Does <b>not</b> currently support embedding a dotted-quad IPv4 address
+     * into the IPv6 address (e.g., 2001:db8::192.168.0.1).
      *
-     * @param string a string representation of an IPv6 address
-     * @return the parsed IPv6 address
-     * @throws NullPointerException if string is null
-     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if string is not a valid IPv6Address
+     * @param string  the IP address in the conventional string representation
+     *                of IPv6 addresses
+     * @return        an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     *                IP address
+     * @throws NullPointerException      if the given string was {@code null}
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException  if the given string was not a valid
+     *                                   IPv6 address
      */
     @Nonnull
     public static IPv6Address of(@Nonnull final String string) throws IllegalArgumentException {
-        if (string == null) {
-            throw new NullPointerException("String must not be null");
-        }
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(string, "string must not be null");
+
         IPv6Builder builder = new IPv6Builder();
         String[] parts = colonPattern.split(string, -1);
 
@@ -242,19 +265,104 @@
         return builder.getIPv6();
     }
 
-    /** construct an IPv6 adress from two 64 bit integers representing the first and
-     *  second 8-byte blocks of the address.
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     * IP address. The arguments are the two 64-bit integers representing
+     * the first (higher-order) and second (lower-order) 64-bit blocks
+     * of the IP address.
      *
-     * @param raw1 - the first 8 byte block of the address
-     * @param raw2 - the second 8 byte block of the address
-     * @return the constructed IPv6Address
+     * @param raw1  the first (higher-order) 64-bit block of the IP address
+     * @param raw2  the second (lower-order) 64-bit block of the IP address
+     * @return      an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     *              raw IP address
      */
+    @Nonnull
     public static IPv6Address of(final long raw1, final long raw2) {
         if(raw1==NONE_VAL1 && raw2 == NONE_VAL2)
             return NONE;
         return new IPv6Address(raw1, raw2);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the given
+     * IP address. The argument is given as an {@code Inet6Address} object.
+     *
+     * @param address  the IP address as an {@code Inet6Address} object
+     * @return         an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the
+     *                 given IP address
+     * @throws NullPointerException  if the given {@code Inet6Address} was
+     *                               {@code null}
+     */
+    @Nonnull
+    public static IPv6Address of(@Nonnull final Inet6Address address) {
+        Preconditions.checkNotNull(address, "address must not be null");
+        return IPv6Address.of(address.getAddress());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the
+     * CIDR subnet mask of the given prefix length.
+     *
+     * @param cidrMaskLength  the prefix length of the CIDR subnet mask
+     *                        (i.e. the number of leading one-bits),
+     *                        where {@code 0 <= cidrMaskLength <= 128}
+     * @return                an {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the
+     *                        CIDR subnet mask of the given prefix length
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException  if the given prefix length was invalid
+     */
+    @Nonnull
+    public static IPv6Address ofCidrMaskLength(final int cidrMaskLength) {
+        Preconditions.checkArgument(
+                cidrMaskLength >= 0 && cidrMaskLength <= 128,
+                "Invalid IPv6 CIDR mask length: %s", cidrMaskLength);
+
+        if (cidrMaskLength == 128) {
+            return IPv6Address.NO_MASK;
+        } else if (cidrMaskLength == 0) {
+            return IPv6Address.FULL_MASK;
+        } else {
+            int shift1 = Math.min(cidrMaskLength, 64);
+            long raw1 = shift1 == 0 ? 0 : -1L << (64 - shift1);
+            int shift2 = Math.max(cidrMaskLength - 64, 0);
+            long raw2 = shift2 == 0 ? 0 : -1L << (64 - shift2);
+            return IPv6Address.of(raw1, raw2);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6AddressWithMask} object that represents this
+     * IP address masked by the given IP address mask.
+     *
+     * @param mask  the {@code IPv6Address} object that represents the mask
+     * @return      an {@code IPv6AddressWithMask} object that represents this
+     *              IP address masked by the given mask
+     * @throws NullPointerException  if the given mask was {@code null}
+     */
+    @Nonnull
+    @Override
+    public IPv6AddressWithMask withMask(@Nonnull final IPv6Address mask) {
+        return IPv6AddressWithMask.of(this, mask);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns an {@code IPv6AddressWithMask} object that represents this
+     * IP address masked by the CIDR subnet mask of the given prefix length.
+     *
+     * @param cidrMaskLength  the prefix length of the CIDR subnet mask
+     *                        (i.e. the number of leading one-bits),
+     *                        where {@code 0 <= cidrMaskLength <= 128}
+     * @return                an {@code IPv6AddressWithMask} object that
+     *                        represents this IP address masked by the CIDR
+     *                        subnet mask of the given prefix length
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException  if the given prefix length was invalid
+     * @see #ofCidrMaskLength(int)
+     */
+    @Nonnull
+    @Override
+    public IPv6AddressWithMask withMaskOfLength(final int cidrMaskLength) {
+        return this.withMask(IPv6Address.ofCidrMaskLength(cidrMaskLength));
+    }
+
     private volatile byte[] bytesCache = null;
 
     public byte[] getBytes() {