Module 5

Mobility Management

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Mobility Management
(Protocols and mechanisms developed for the network layer to support
mobility.)
IP Mobility
- A set of mechanisms that allow an IP mobile node to move freely between
different IP networks while maintaining IP connectivity in a transparent
way.
- In IPV4, the IP address of a device identifies the network to which it is
attached.
- But when a mobile node moves to a new network, we need to reconfigure
the mobile node with a new IP address representing its new location. (This
is not possible under IPV4 - the device and loses connection and routing)
- IP mobility mechanisms maintains connectivity without interrupting
ongoing communications.
Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering
 Mobile IP
- A communication protocol that is designed to allow mobile device users to
move from one network to another while maintaining a permanent IP
address.
- An enhancement of internet protocol (IP)
- Every host will have a Home Address (Permanent IP) with in a home
network
- Home Agent (HA) in the home network provides different services for
mobile node (MN)
- If the MN has moved to other network (Foreign network), traffic will be IP
tunneled by the HA to a Care-of-Address. COA defines the current location
of MN
- Foreign network has Foreign agent (FA) that provides several services to the
MN during its visit.
Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering
 Mobile IP

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Optimization
Triangular Routing
IPV4 follows a triangular traffic pattern – IP packet from a CN to an MN will
be routed to HA first and then tunneled to the foreign agent of MN.
Even if the CN is very near to MN, then also the IP packet has to travel long
way to reach the MN. This non optimized mobile IP is called triangular
routing
Triangular routing is made of three segments: CN to HA, HA to COA/MN and
MN back to CN.

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Optimization
Route Optimization to avoid triangular routing
The optimized mobile IP protocol needs four additional messages.
● Binding request: Any node that wants to know the current location of an MN can
send a binding request to the HA. If the HA is allowed to reveal the location it sends
back a binding update.
● Binding update: HA reveals CN, the current location of an MN. The message
contains the fixed IP address of the MN and the COA. The binding update can
request an acknowledgement.
● Binding acknowledgement: If requested, a node returns this acknowledgement
after receiving a binding update message.
● Binding warning: If a node decapsulates a packet for an MN, but it is not the
current FA for this MN, this node sends a binding warning. The warning contains
MN’s home address and a target node address (CN). If recipient is HA, HA will send
a binding update to CN that obviously has a wrong COA for the MN.
If CN is the recipient, CN requests the HA for a new binding.

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Optimization
Route Optimization to avoid triangular routing.

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Internet protocol version 6
IPV6
Advantages:
Larger address space – 128 bit long
Better header format – options field is separated from base header and
inserted when needed. This simplifies and speed up routing process
New Options – to allow additional features
Allowance for extension – extension of protocol if required
Support for resource allocation – ‘Flow label’ has been added to enable the
source to request special handling of packet. Support real time audio – video
traffic
Support for more security – encryption and authentication – for confidentiality
and integrity of packet
Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering
 Internet protocol version 6
Features to support mobility
Every IPv6 node masters address auto configuration – the mechanisms for
acquiring a COA are already built in.
Neighbor discovery as a mechanism mandatory for every node is also
included in the specification- special foreign agents are no longer needed to
advertise services.
Combining the features of auto configuration and neighbor discovery means
that every mobile node is able to create or obtain a topologically correct
address for the current point of attachment.
Every IPv6 node can send binding updates to another node, so the MN can
send its current COA directly to the CN and HA.
A soft handover is possible with IPv6. The MN sends its new COA to the old
router servicing the MN at the old COA, and the old router encapsulates all
incoming packets for the MN and forwards them to the new COA.
Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering
 Internet protocol version 6
IPv6 Header

• Version (4-bits): Indicates version of Internet Protocol which contains bit sequence 0110.
• Traffic Class (8-bits): The Traffic Class field indicates class or priority of IPv6 packet which
is similar to Service Field in IPv4 packet.
• Flow Label (20-bits): Flow Label field is used by a source to label the packets belonging to
the same flow in order to request special handling by intermediate IPv6 routers, such as
non-default quality of service or real-time service.

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering

 Internet protocol version 6
IPv6 Header (cont.)
Payload Length (16-bits): It is a 16-bit (unsigned integer) field, indicates the total size of the
payload which tells routers about the amount of information a particular packet contains in
its payload.
Next Header (8-bits): Next Header indicates the type of extension header(if present)
immediately following the IPv6 header
Hop Limit (8-bits): Hop Limit field is the same as TTL in IPv4 packets. It indicates the
maximum number of intermediate nodes IPv6 packet is allowed to travel. Its value gets
decremented by one, by each node that forwards the packet and the packet is discarded if
the value decrements to 0.
Source Address (128-bits): Source Address is the 128-bit IPv6 address of the original source
of the packet.
Destination Address (128-bits): The destination Address field indicates the IPv6 address of
the final destination(in most cases).

Prof. Krishnapriya S Department of Computer Engineering