Mobile IP mobile router

• US 6,636,498 B1
• Filed: 01/08/1999
• Issued: 10/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Leung, Kent K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gantt, Alan T.
• Application Number:
  US09/227,396
• Time in Patent Office: 1,747 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/328, 370/401, 370/331, 370/389, 370/392
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/34 Modification of an existing route
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for implementing a Mobile IP mobile router are provided. In accordance with one aspect, the Home Agent receives a registration request packet. The registration request packet may include a care-of address for the mobile router. Networks associated with the mobile router are then identified. The Home Agent then updates a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address. In addition, the Home Agent updates a mobility binding table with the care-of address for the mobile router. In accordance with another aspect, routing information is exchanged between the Home Agent and the mobile router. A routing table associated with at least one of the Home Agent and the mobile router is then updated as appropriate to include the exchanged routing information.

Claims

1. A Home Agent supporting Mobile IP for use with a mobile router which registers with the Home Agent, the Home Agent comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory,

wherein the memory and the processor are adapted to provide;

(a) a routing table having an entry for one or more networks that are coupled to and associated with the mobile router, wherein each entry in the routing table includes a care-of address associated with the one or more networks; and

(b) a mobility binding table that associates the mobile router with the care-of address.

2. The Home Agent as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more networks and the mobile router are each designated by an IP address.

3. The Home Agent as recited in claim 1, wherein the care-of address is a foreign agent address or a collocated care-of address.

4. The Home Agent as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory further includes:

a mapping table associating the mobile router with the one or more networks.

5. The Home Agent as recited in claim 4, wherein the mapping table is static during registration of the mobile router.

6. In a Home Agent, a method for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, the method comprising:

receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

identifying networks associated with the mobile router;

updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein identifying networks includes:

obtaining the networks associated with the mobile router from a mapping table associating the mobile router with the networks.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein identifying networks further includes:

obtaining the networks associated with the mobile router from the registration request packet.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the registration request packet includes an extension specifying the networks linked to the mobile router and a status associated with each network, wherein obtaining the networks includes:

ascertaining each network specified in the extension that has a status indicating that the network is in an active state.

10. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the care-of address is an IP address of a Foreign Agent.

11. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the care-of address is a collocated care-of address.

12. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the registration request packet includes an extension specifying at least one network linked to and associated with a mobile router.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, where each network specified in the extension is associated with a network status.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the network status is in a first state when the network is up, and is otherwise in a second state.

15. In a Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP a method for use with a mobile router which registers with a Home Agent via the Foreign Agent, comprising:

receiving a registration request packet including an extension specifying one or more networks linked to and associated with the mobile router;

obtaining the networks linked to and associated with the mobile router from the registration request packet; and

updating a visitor table to include an entry for the one or more networks that are linked to and associated with the mobile router such that the mobile router is associated with the one or more networks.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more networks are each designated by an IP address.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the mobile router is designated by an IP address.

18. A method for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality in a Home Agent, the method comprising:

receiving a registration request, the registration request including a care-of address associated with a mobile router and an extension specifying at least one network linked to the mobile router;

identifying networks associated with the mobile router from the extension;

updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

updating a mobility binding table to associate the care-of address with the mobile router.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further including:

updating a visitor table at a Foreign Agent with entries for selected networks that are specified in the extension such that the selected networks are associated with the mobile router.

20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the extension further includes a status for each network associated with the mobile router, identifying networks further including:

ascertaining each network specified in the extension that has a status indicating that the network is in an active state.

21. A method for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, the method comprising:

receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router;

exchanging routing information between a Home Agent and a mobile router such that the Home Agent receives information specifying one or more networks coupled to the mobile router; and

updating at least one routing table to include the exchanged routing information such that the one or more specified networks coupled to the mobile router are associated with the care-of address.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, further including:

updating a visitor table at a Foreign Agent with an entry for the specified networks such that the mobile router is associated with the identified networks.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein updating a visitor table is performed when the care-of address is an IP address of a Foreign Agent.

24. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein updating at least one routing table includes:

storing at least a portion of the exchanged routing information in a routing table associated with the Home Agent.

25. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein updating at least one routing table includes:

storing at least a portion of the exchanged routing information in a routing table associated with the mobile router.

26. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein exchanging routing information is performed via an IP routing protocol.

27. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality in a Home Agent, comprising:

instructions for receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

instructions for identifying networks associated with the mobile router;

instructions for updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

instructions for updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router.

28. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

identifying networks associated with the mobile router;

updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router.

29. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, comprising:

means for receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

means for identifying networks associated with the mobile router;

means for updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

means for updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router.

30. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality in a Home Agent, comprising:

instructions for receiving a registration request, the registration request including a care-of address associated with a mobile router and an extension specifying at least one network linked to the mobile router;

instructions for identifying networks associated with the mobile router from the extension;

instructions for updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

instructions for updating a mobility binding table to associate the care-of address with the mobile router.

31. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality in a Home Agent, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

receiving a registration request, the registration request including a care-of address associated with a mobile router and an extension specifying at least one network linked to the mobile router;

identifying networks associated with the mobile router from the extension;

updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

updating a mobility binding table to associate the care-of address with the mobile router.

32. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality in a Home Agent, comprising:

means for receiving a registration request, the registration request including a care-of address associated with a mobile router and an extension specifying at least one network linked to the mobile router;

means for identifying networks associated with the mobile router from the extension;

means for updating a routing table to associate the identified networks with the care-of address; and

means for updating a mobility binding table to associate the care-of address with the mobile router.

33. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, comprising:

instructions for receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

instructions for updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router;

instructions for exchanging routing information between a Home Agent and a mobile router such that the Home Agent receives information specifying one or more networks coupled to the mobile router; and

instructions for updating at least one routing table to include the exchanged routing information such that the one or more specified networks coupled to the mobile router are associated with the care-of address.

34. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router;

exchanging routing information between the Home Agent and a mobile router such that the Home Agent receives information specifying one or more networks coupled to the mobile router; and

updating at least one routing table to include the exchanged routing information such that the one or more specified networks coupled to the mobile router are associated with the care-of address.

35. A Home Agent adapted for providing Mobile IP mobile router functionality, comprising:

means for receiving a registration request packet, the registration request packet including a care-of address for the mobile router;

means for updating a mobility binding table to include the care-of address for the mobile router;

means for exchanging routing information between the Home Agent and a mobile router such that the Home Agent receives information specifying one or more networks coupled to the mobile router; and

means for updating at least one routing table to include the exchanged routing information such that the one or more specified networks coupled to the mobile router are associated with the care-of address.

36. A Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP a method for use with a mobile router which registers with a Home Agent via the Foreign Agent, comprising:

means for receiving a registration request packet including an extension specifying one or more networks linked to and associated with the mobile router;

means for obtaining the networks linked to and associated with the mobile router from the registration request packet; and

means for updating a visitor table to include an entry for the one or more networks that are linked to and associated with the mobile router such that the mobile router is associated with the one or more networks.

37. A Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP a method for use with a mobile router which registers with a Home Agent via the Foreign Agent, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for;

receiving a registration request packet including an extension specifying one or more networks linked to and associated with the mobile router;

obtaining the networks linked to and associated with the mobile router from the registration request packet; and

updating a visitor table to include an entry for the one or more networks that are linked to and associated with the mobile router such that the mobile router is associated with the one or more networks.

38. A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for performing a method for use with a mobile router which registers with a Home Agent via a Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP, comprising:

receiving a registration request packet including an extension specifying one or more networks linked to and associated with the mobile router;

obtaining the networks linked to and associated with the mobile router from the registration request packet; and

updating a visitor table to include an entry for the one or more networks that are linked to and associated with the mobile router such that the mobile router is associated with the one or more networks.