Lecture 7: Mobile IP

(Part 1)
Dr. Reynold Cheng

This lecture is based on the textbook “W. Stallings, Wireless Communications

and Networks, Prentice Hall, 2005”, the slides (prepared by Tom Fronckowiak)
and figures provided at the Web site of the textbook and the lecture notes of
Prof. Henry Chan and Prof. Victor Leung (with his permission).

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Class Objectives
 Overview of Mobile IP
 Discovery
 Registration
 Tunneling

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Mobile IP Uses
 Enable computers to maintain Internet connectivity while
moving from one Internet attachment point to another.
 Mobile/Nomadic – user's point of attachment changes
dynamically and all connections are automatically maintained
despite the change.
 Each time an Internet connection is established/changed,
software in the point of attachment (ISP) grants a new,
temporarily assigned IP
 This address is used for FTP, Web connection, etc.
 The user or the application should be hidden from this change.

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IP Address Format

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 Delivery of an IP Datagram
 In an IP address,
 The network portion is used by routers to move a
datagram from the source computer to the network to
which the target computer is attached
 The host portion is used to deliver the IP datgram to
destination
 The IP address is known to higher layers (e.g.,TCP)
 What if the IP address changes but TCP
connections remain active?
 Mobile IP for address forwarding

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Terminology of Mobile IP
 A mobile node is assigned to a particular network –
home network.
 The IP address on the home network is static – home
address.
 The mobile node can move to another network –
foreign network.
 The mobile node registers with a network node on the
foreign network – foreign agent.
 The mobile node gives a care-of address to its home
agent – agent on the home network
A care-off address identifies the foreign agent’s location
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 Mobile IP Scenario
1. Server X transmits a datagram
to mobile node A, the datagram
(with A’s home address) is
routed to A’s home network.
2. Tunneling - A’s home agent
encapsulates the incoming
datagram with A’s care-of
address and retransmits the
datagram. This IP datagram is
routed to the foreign agent.
3. The foreign agent strips off the
outer IP header and delivers the
original datagram to A.
4. When A sends IP traffic to X, it
uses X’s IP address.
5. The datagram from A to X
travels directly across the
Internet to X.
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Capabilities of Mobile IP
 Discovery – a mobile node uses a discovery
procedure to identify prospective home and foreign
agents.
 Registration – a mobile node uses an authenticated
registration procedure to inform the home agent of its
care-of address.
 Tunneling – this mechanism is used to forward IP
datagrams from a home address to a care-of address.

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Protocol Support for Mobile IP

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Mobile IP Terminology (RFC 2002)

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Mobile IP Terminology (RFC 2002)

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Class Objectives
 Overview of Mobile IP
 Discovery
 Registration
 Tunneling

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Discovery
 Each mobile node determines if it is attached to its
home network or a foreign network.
 Transition from the home network to a foreign
network (e.g., handoff) can occur at any time without
notification to the network layer.
 For a mobile node, discovery is a continuous process.

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Process of Discovery
 An agent issues a router advertisement ICMP message
periodically (once every 7-10 minutes).
 ICMP provides feedback messages about problems
during communication.
 e.g., the datagram cannot reach its destination
 Each mobile node listens for agent advertisement
messages.
 Compares the network portion of the router's IP address
with the network portion of the home address.
 If these network portions do not match, then the mobile
node knows it is on a foreign network.
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Mobile IP Agent Advertisement
Message

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Fields for ICMP Router Advertisement

 Type: type of ICMP message

 Code: parameters for the message
 Checksum: for error checking purposes
 Num addrs: number of addresses
 Entry size: Two 32-bit words, for each router (i.e., router
address + preference level)
 Time to live: how long the message will remain valid
 Router address: IP address
 Preference level: preference level for the IP address 16
Fields for ICMP Router Advertisement

 A router typically has 1 single IP address

 Multiple IP addresses needed if the router has multiple
physical connections (interfaces) to the network
 The preference level is used by a host to decide which
router is the best to use
 The preference level is set by the network administrator
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Preference of Routers: Example

•D wants to send data but doesn’t know which router is the best to use
•If most traffic from LAN Z is local, R2 is assigned a higher preference level
•If most traffic is remote, R3 is set a higher preference level 18
Fields for Agent Advertisement

 Type = 16: agent advertisement

 Length = 6+4C bytes (C: number of care-of addresses)
 Sequence number: no. of agent advertisement messages
counted from initialization
 Lifetime (seconds): how long a registration will remain valid
 R: Registration with this foreign agent is necessary
 B: Busy (i.e., cannot handle new mobile nodes)
 H: Can serve as an Home agent
 F: Can serve as a Foreign agent
 M: Can support minimal encapsulation
 G: Can support GRE encapsulation
 V: Can support Van Jacobson header compression (RFC 1144)
 http://www.javvin.com/protocol/rfc1144.pdf
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 Care-of addresses: care-of addresses provided by the agent
Fields for Prefix-length Extension
 Type = 19
 Length = C (C:
number of care-of
addresses)
 Prefix-length:
number of bits that
specifies the network
number

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Agent Solicitation
 Foreign agents are expected to issue agent
advertisement messages periodically.
 If a mobile node needs the agent information
immediately, it can issue an ICMP router
solicitation message.
 Any agent receiving this message will then issue
an agent advertisement.

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ICMP router solicitation message

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Move Detection
 A mobile node may move from one network to
another network due to some handoff mechanisms
without IP level being aware.
 Agent discovery process is intended to detect such a move.
 Algorithms to detect move:
 Lifetimefield
 Network Prefix

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Move Detection Using Lifetime Field

 A mobile node uses the lifetime field as a timer for

agent advertisements.
 If the timer expires before the mobile node receives
another advertisement, then the node assumes it has
lost contact with the agent.
 Meantime, if another advertisement from another
agent is received, the mobile node registers with this
new agent.
 Otherwise, agent solicitation is used to find an agent.

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Move Detection Using Network prefix

 A mobile node checks if any newly received

agent advertisement messages are on the same
network as the node's current care-of address.
 If it is not, the mobile node assumes it has
moved and registers with this agent

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Co-Located Addresses
 If a mobile node moves to a network that has no
foreign agents, or all foreign agents are busy, it can
act as its own foreign agent.
 The mobile node uses a co-located care-of address.
 IP address is obtained by the mobile node associated with
the mobile node's current network interface.
 Means to acquire co-located address:
 Temporary IP address obtained through an Internet service,
such as DHCP.
 May be owned by the mobile node as a long-term address
for use while visiting a given foreign network.
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