Mobile Internet Protocol (Mobile IP):
Mobile IP is a protocol that helps mobile devices stay connected to the internet even when they move between different networks. It allows devices like smartphones and laptops to keep the same IP address, so they can continue using services without interruption.
Features of Mobile IP:
- Location Independence: Mobile IP enables devices to change their network attachment point while retaining their IP address, ensuring continuous connectivity.
- Transparency: Users and applications are unaware of changes in the device’s location or network. Services continue without interruption.
- Compatibility: Mobile IP works with existing IP-based applications and infrastructure.
- Scalability: Mobile IP can handle a large number of mobile devices in a network.
- Security: Mobile IP supports security mechanisms to protect data during movement.
Key Mechanism in Mobile IP:
- Home Network: Each mobile device has a home network, where it is assigned a permanent IP address. This is the address others use to reach the device.
- Foreign Network: When a mobile device moves to a new network (foreign network), it is assigned a temporary IP address in that network.
- Home Agent: This is a router in the home network responsible for tracking the location of the mobile device and forwarding its traffic.
- Foreign Agent: This is a router in the foreign network that helps route traffic to and from the mobile device.
- Registration: When the mobile device moves to a foreign network, it registers its temporary IP address with its home agent.
- Tunneling: The home agent forwards incoming traffic to the foreign agent through a tunnel, ensuring traffic is properly directed to the device.
Route Optimization:
Mobile IP allows for connectivity when moving, but it can be inefficient due to tunneling and routing through agents. Route optimization aims to improve efficiency by directly routing traffic to the mobile device’s current location.
Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6):
- A route optimization technique for IPv6.
- Introduces a mobility management entity called the Mobility Anchor Point (MAP).
- MAP is responsible for tracking the mobile device’s location and managing its connectivity.
- Reduces signaling overhead and improves data transmission efficiency.
Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6):
- A mechanism to reduce handover latency during movement.
- Enables a device to perform a handover to a new network quickly without significant disruption.
- Uses pre-configuration and context transfer to speed up the handover process.