Arrangement in a gateway for registering mobile routers of a mobile ad hoc network to respective home agents

• US 6,850,532 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2002
• Issued: 02/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Molteni, Marco, Thubert, Pascal, Wetterwald, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Wellington
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mais, Mark A
• Application Number:
  US10/247,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20040057440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 370/500, 370/503, 370/510, 370/509, 370/515, 370/330, 370/300, 370/365, 370/367, 370/304, 370/400, 370/401, 370/491, 370/436, 370/350, 370/354
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5607 Radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• 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 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/182 Network node acting on behalf of an other network entity, e.g. proxy
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A gateway, configured for providing connectivity between a wide area network and mobile routers within a mobile ad hoc network, is configured for registering the mobile routers with their respective home agents using a prescribed mobile IP protocol. The gateway identifies the mobile routers using a prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol. The gateway locates, for each identified mobile router, its corresponding home agent via the wide area network according to the prescribed mobile IP protocol, and registers the corresponding identified mobile router with the home agent according to the prescribed mobile IP protcol. The gateway can then forward a packet received from a home agent to the corresponding mobile router. Hence, the gateway provides mobile routers within a mobile ad hoc network with access to the wide area network, without any necessity for the prescribed mobile IP protocol to be implemented within the mobile routers.

Claims

1. A method in a gateway, configured for providing connectivity between a wide area network and mobile routers within a mobile ad hoc network, the method comprising:

identifying the mobile routers within the mobile ad hoc network using a prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol;

locating, for each identified mobile router, a corresponding home agent via the wide area network according to a prescribed mobile IP protocol; and

registering each identified mobile router with the corresponding home agent according to the prescribed mobile IP protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding a packet, received from an identified one of the home agents, to the corresponding mobile router within the ad hoc network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step includes:

determining, for each mobile router, an IP address utilized by the corresponding mobile router, the IP address including a corresponding subnet prefix; and

storing the subnet prefix in a table.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining step includes discovering each mobile router based on a prescribed discovery protocol of the prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the locating step includes discovering the home agent associated with the stored subnet prefix, based on mobile IPv6 protocol.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the registering step includes registering each mobile router, associated with the stored subnet prefix, with the corresponding home agent according to mobile IPv6 protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a packet via a tunnel from one of the home agents, the packet having a destination IP address specifying a destination subnet prefix;

accessing the table for identification of one of the mobile routers as a destination for the packet based on destination the subnet prefix; and

outputting the packet to the one mobile router according to a prescribed mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.

8. A gateway configured for providing connectivity between a wide area network and mobile routers within a mobile ad hoc network, the gateway comprising:

means for identifying the mobile routers within the mobile ad hoc network using a prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol;

means for locating, for each identified mobile router, a corresponding home agent via the wide area network according to a prescribed mobile IP protocol; and

means for registering each identified mobile router with the corresponding home agent according to the prescribed mobile IP protocol.

9. The gateway of claim 8, further comprising means for forwarding a packet, received from an identified one of the home agents, to the corresponding mobile router within the ad hoc network.

10. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the identifying means is configured for:

determining, for each mobile router, an IP address utilized by the corresponding mobile router, the IP address including a corresponding subnet prefix; and

storing the subnet prefix in a table.

11. The gateway of claim 10, wherein the identifying means is configured for determining the IP address utilized by the corresponding mobile router by discovering each mobile router based on a prescribed discovery protocol of the prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.

12. The gateway of claim 10, wherein the locating means is configured for discovering the home agent associated with the stored subnet prefix, based on mobile IPv6 protocol.

13. The gateway of claim 12, wherein the registering means is configured for registering each mobile router, associated with the stored subnet prefix, with the corresponding home agent according to mobile IPv6 protocol.

14. The gateway of claim 13, further comprising means for receiving a packet via a tunnel from one of the home agents, the packet having a destination IP address specifying a destination subnet prefix, the receiving means further configured for:

accessing the table for identification of one of the mobile routers as a destination for the packet based on destination the subnet prefix; and

outputting the packet to the one mobile router according to a prescribed mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.

15. A computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions for providing connectivity between a wide area network and mobile routers within a mobile ad hoc network by a gateway, the sequences of instructions including instructions for performing the steps of:

identifying the mobile routers within the mobile ad hoc network using a prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol;

locating, for each identified mobile router, a corresponding home agent via the wide area network according to a prescribed mobile IP protocol; and

registering each identified mobile router with the corresponding home agent according to the prescribed mobile IP protocol.

16. The medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions for performing the step of forwarding a packet, received from an identified one of the home agents, to the corresponding mobile router within the ad hoc network.

17. The medium of claim 15, wherein the identifying step includes:

determining, for each mobile router, an IP address utilized by the corresponding mobile router, the IP address including a corresponding subnet prefix; and

storing the subnet prefix in a table.

18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the determining step includes discovering each mobile router based on a prescribed discovery protocol of the prescribed proactive mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.

19. The medium of claim 17, wherein the locating step includes discovering the home agent associated with the stored subnet prefix, based on mobile IPv6 protocol.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein the registering step includes registering each mobile router, associated with the stored subnet prefix, with the corresponding home agent according to mobile IPv6 protocol.

21. The medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

receiving a packet via a tunnel from one of the home agents, the packet having a destination IP address specifying a destination subnet prefix;

accessing the table for identification of one of the mobile routers as a destination for the packet based on destination the subnet prefix; and

outputting the packet to the one mobile router according to a prescribed mobile ad hoc network routing protocol.