Mobile Network Layer

Mobile network layer

• Idea is that the network layer to support mobility.
• Example is Mobile IP, which adds mobility support to the internet
network layer protocol IP.

• Today’s internet lacks any mechanisms to support users traveling

around the world.

• IP is the common base for thousands of applications and runs over

dozens of different networks.
• This is the reason for supporting mobility at the IP layer.
Mobile network layer
• To merge the world of mobile phones with the internet and to
support mobility in the small more efficiently,
• micro mobility protocols have been developed.

• Another kind of mobility, portability of equipment, is supported by

the dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).
• Today, due to laptops or notebooks, students show up at a
university with their computers, and want to plug them in or use
wireless access.
• A network administrator does not want to configure dozens of
computers every day or hand out lists of valid IP addresses,
DNS servers, subnet prefixes, default routers etc.
• DHCP sets in at this point to support automatic configuration of
computers.
Mobile IP

The internet is the network for global data communication with

hundreds of millions of users. So why not simply use a mobile
computer in the internet?
Mobile IP
• You will not receive a single packet as soon as you leave your home
network, i.e., the network your computer is configured for, and
reconnect your computer (wireless or wired) at another place.
Mobile IP
• if you consider routing mechanisms on the internet.
• A host sends an IP packet with the header containing a destination
address. The destination address not only determines the receiver
of the packet, but also the physical subnet of the receiver.
• For example, the destination address 129.13.42.99 shows that
the receiver must be connected to the physical subnet with the
network prefix 129.13.42.

• Incoming packets are forwarded by routers according to internal

look-up tables storing only prefixes.

• As soon as it moves outside the subnet, a packet will not reach it.

• A host needs a so-called topologically correct address.

Mobile IP
Quick solutions
• A quick solution to this problem would be to assign to the computer
a new, topologically correct IP address.
• This is what many users do with the help of DHCP.
• The problem is that almost impossible to find a (mobile) host on
the internet which has just changed its address.
Mobile IP
Quick solutions
• One could argue that with the help of dynamic DNS an update of the
mapping logical name – IP address is possible.

• Computer users with a dynamic IP addresses but with same logical

name still want to be permanently reachable.
• These considerations, are important if a user wants to offer
services from a mobile node.
• The IP address is of no special interest for service usage: DHCP is
sufficient.

• Another motivation for permanent IP addresses is emergency

communication with permanent and quick reachability via the same IP
address.
Mobile IP
Quick solutions
• So dynamically adapting the IP address with regard to the current
location?
• The problem is that the DNS needs some time to map a logical name
to an IP.
• This approach does not work if the mobile node moves quite often.
• Imagine millions of nodes moving at the same time.
• There is a severe problem with higher layer protocols like TCP which
rely on IP addresses.
• Changing the IP address while still having a TCP connection open
means breaking the connection.
• A TCP connection is identified by the tuple (source IP, source port,
destination IP, destination port).
Mobile IP
Quick solutions
• Another approach is the creation of specific routes to the mobile node

• While it is theoretically possible to change routing tables all over the

world to create specific routes to a mobile node
• This does not scale at all in the internet.

• Allow changes to the routing tables, sacrificing stability, just to

provide mobility for individual users.
Mobile IP
Several requirements accompanied the development of the Mobile IP
standard:
• Compatibility
• Transparency
• Scalability and efficiency
• Security
● Compatibility
• A new standard cannot introduce changes for TCP/IP protocols
(applications or network protocols already in use).
• People still want to use their favorite browser and OS.

• Routers should not necessarily require other software.

• Possible to enhance the capabilities of some routers to support
mobility.
• remain compatible with all lower layers used for the standard,
non-mobile IP.

• Mobile IP must not require special media or MAC/LLC protocols, use

same interfaces.
• Finally, end-systems enhanced with a mobile IP implementation
should still work with fixed systems without mobile IP.
• Same address format and routing mechanisms should be used.
● Transparency
• Mobility should remain ‘invisible’ for many higher layer protocols and
applications.
• Besides maybe noticing a lower bandwidth and some interruption in
service
• higher layers should continue to work even if the mobile node has
changed its point of attachment.

• If the interruption of the connectivity does not take too long, TCP
connections survive the change of the attachment point.

• Applications have not been designed for use in mobile

environments.
• Some applications for which it is better to be ‘mobility aware’
• Additional mechanisms are necessary to inform these
applications about mobility
● Scalability and efficiency
• A new mechanism must not jeopardize its efficiency.
• Enhancing IP for mobility must not generate too many new messages
flooding the whole network.

• Many mobile systems will have a wireless link to an attachment point,

• Some additional packets should be necessary between a mobile
system and a node
• It is clear that myriad devices (car, mobile phones etc.) will participate
in the internet as mobile components
• Many of them will have some IP implementation inside and move
between different networks and require mobile IP

• It is crucial for a mobile IP to be scalable over a large number of

participants in the whole internet, worldwide.
● Security
• Mobility poses many security problems.

• The minimum requirement is that of all the messages related to the

management of Mobile IP are authenticated.

• The IP layer must be sure that if it forwards a packet to a mobile host

that this host receives the packet.
• The IP layer can only guarantee that the IP address of the receiver
is correct.
• There are no ways of preventing fake IP addresses or other
attacks.
• According to Internet philosophy, this is left to higher layers
Mobile IP example network
 Mobile IP Entities

Mobile node (MN)

• A mobile node is an end-system or router that can change its point
of attachment to the internet using mobile IP.

• The MN keeps its IP address and can continuously communicate

with any other system in the internet as long as link-layer
connectivity is given.

• Mobile nodes are not necessarily small devices such as laptops

with antennas or mobile phones
 Mobile IP Entities

Correspondent node (CN)

• At least one partner is needed for communication.

• The CN can be a fixed or mobile node.

Home network
• The home network is the subnet the MN belongs to with respect to
its IP address.

• No mobile IP support is needed within the home network.

 Mobile IP Entities

Foreign network
• The foreign network is the current subnet the MN visits and which
is not the home network.

Foreign agent (FA)

• It can provide several services to the MN during its visit to the
foreign network.
• The FA can have the COA, acting as tunnel endpoint and
forwarding packets to the MN.
• The FA can be the default router for the MN.
• FAs can also provide security services
• For mobile IP functioning, FAs are not necessarily needed.
Typically, an FA is implemented on a router for the subnet the MN
attaches to.
 Mobile IP Entities
Care-of address (COA)
• The COA defines the current location of the MN
• All IP packets sent to the MN are delivered to the COA, not directly
to the IP address of the MN. Packet delivery toward the MN is done
using a tunnel.
• There are two different possibilities for the location of the COA:
• Foreign agent COA: The COA could be located at the FA, i.e.,
the COA is an IP address of the FA. Many MN using the FA can
share this COA as common COA.
• Co-located COA:
• The COA is co-located if the MN temporarily acquired an
additional IP address which acts as COA.
• This address is topologically correct, acquired using DHCP
and the tunnel endpoint is at the MN.
• One problem associated with this approach is the need for
additional addresses
 Mobile IP Entities
Home agent (HA)
• The HA provides several services for the MN and is located in the
home network.

• The tunnel for packets toward the MN starts at the HA.

• The HA maintains a location registry, i.e., it is informed of the MN’s

location by the current COA.
 Mobile IP Entities
Three alternatives for the implementation of an HA exist.
1. The HA can be implemented on a router of the home network.
• This is obviously the best position, because without optimizations to
mobile IP, all packets for the MN have to go through the router
anyway.
2. If changing the router’s software is not possible, the HA could also be
implemented on an arbitrary node in the subnet.
• One disadvantage of this solution is the double crossing of the
router by the packet if the MN is in a foreign network. The HA sends
it through the tunnel which again crosses the router.
3. Finally, a home network is not necessary at all. The HA could be
again on the ‘router’ but this time only acting as a manager for MNs
belonging to a virtual home network.
• All MNs are always in a foreign network with this solution.
 IP packet delivery

• A correspondent node CN
wants to send an IP packet to
the MN. CN does not need to
know anything about the
MN’s current location and
sends the packet as usual to
the IP address of MN (step
1).

• The internet routes the packet to the router responsible for the home
network of MN.
• This is the standard routing mechanisms of the internet.
 IP packet delivery

• The HA now intercepts the

packet, knowing that MN is
currently not in its home
network.
• The packet is not forwarded
into the subnet as usual, but
encapsulated and tunneled to
the COA.
• A new header is put in front of the old IP header showing the COA as
new destination and HA as source of the encapsulated packet (step 2).
 IP packet delivery

• The foreign agent now de-capsulates

the packet, i.e., removes the
additional header, and forwards the
original packet with CN as source
and MN as destination to the MN
(step 3).

• Again, for the MN mobility is not

visible.
 IP packet delivery

• The MN sends the packet as usual

with its own fixed IP address as
source and CN’s address as
destination (step 4).
• The router forwards the packet in the
same way as it would do for any other
node in the foreign network.
• If CN is a fixed node it happens as in the fixed internet.
• If CN is a mobile node residing in a foreign network, mechanism
follows the steps 1 through 3.
Agent discovery
• How to find a foreign agent? How does the MN discover that it has
moved?
• Agent advertisement
• FAs and HAs advertise their presence periodically using special
agent advertisement messages.

• These advertisement messages as a beacon broadcast into the

subnet.

• For these advertisements, Internet control message protocol

(ICMP) messages are used with some mobility extensions.

• Routers in the fixed network implementing this standard also

advertise their routing service periodically to the attached links.
• Agent advertisement
• The upper part represents the
ICMP packet while the lower
part is the extension needed for
mobility.
• The TTL field of the IP packet is
set to 1 for all advertisements to
avoid forwarding them.
• The IP destination address
according to standard router
advertisements can be either
set to 224.0.0.1, which is the
multicast address for all
systems on a link or to the
broadcast address
255.255.255.255. Figure: Agent Advertisement Packet
• Agent advertisement
• The type is set to 9, the code can be 0, if the agent also routes
traffic from non-mobile nodes, or 16, if it does not route anything
other than mobile traffic.

• Foreign agents are at least required to forward packets from the

mobile node.

• The number of addresses advertised with this packet is in

#addresses while the addresses themselves follow as shown.

• Lifetime denotes the length of time this advertisement is valid.

• Preference levels for each address help a node to choose the

router that is the most eager one to get a new node.
• Agent advertisement

• type is set to 16, length depends on the number of COAs provided

with the message and equals 6 + 4*(number of addresses).

• An agent shows the total number of advertisements sent since

initialization in the sequence number.

• By the registration lifetime the agent can specify the maximum

lifetime in seconds a node can request during registration.
• The following bits specify the characteristics of an agent in detail
• The R bit (registration) shows, if a registration with this agent is
required even when using a co-located COA at the MN.

• If the agent is currently too busy to accept new registrations it can

set the B bit.

• if the agent offers services as a home agent (H) or foreign agent

(F) on the link where the advertisement has been sent.

• Bits M and G specify the method of encapsulation used for the

tunnel.
• While IP-in-IP encapsulation is the mandatory standard, M can
specify minimal encapsulation and G generic routing
encapsulation.
• The following bits specify the characteristics of an agent in detail
• In first version of mobile IP the V bit specified the use of header
compression.
• Now the field r at the same bit position is set to zero and must
be ignored.

• The new field T indicates that reverse tunneling is supported by

the FA.

• A foreign agent setting the F bit must advertise at least one COA.

• A mobile node in a subnet can now receive agent advertisements

from either its home agent or a foreign agent.
• This is one way for the MN to discover its location.
• Agent solicitation
• If no agent advertisements are present or the inter-arrival time is
too high, and an MN has not received a COA by other means, e.g.,
DHCP
• The mobile node must send agent solicitations.

• Ensure that these solicitation messages do not flood the network,

but basically an MN can search for an FA endlessly sending out
solicitation messages
• Typically, a mobile node can send out three solicitations, one per
second

• Moving MNs with applications requiring continuous packet streams

even one second intervals between solicitation messages might be
too long.
• Before an MN even gets a new address many packets will be
lost without additional mechanisms.
• Agent solicitation
• In case of no answer to its solicitations
• It must decrease the rate of solicitations exponentially to avoid
flooding the network until it reaches a maximum interval
between solicitations (typically one minute).

• Discovering a new agent can be done anytime, not just if the MN is

not connected to one.
• Consider the case that an MN is looking for a better connection
while still sending via the old path.

• This is the case while moving through several cells of different

wireless networks.
• Agent solicitation
• After these steps of advertisements or solicitations
• The MN can now receive a COA, either one for an FA or a co-
located COA.

• The MN knows its location (home network or foreign network) and

the capabilities of the agent (if needed).

• The next step for the MN is the registration with the HA if the MN is
in a foreign network as described in the following.
Registration

The main purpose of the registration is to inform the HA of the

current location for correct forwarding of packets.
Registration

Registration can be done in two ways:

1. If the COA is at the FA
• The MN sends its registration
request containing the COA to the
FA which is forwarding the request
to the HA.

• The HA now sets up a mobility

binding containing the mobile
node’s home IP address and the
current COA.
Registration

• Additionally, the mobility binding

contains the lifetime of the registration
which is negotiated during the
registration process.

• Registration expires automatically

after the lifetime and is deleted.

• After setting up the mobility binding,

the HA sends a reply message back
to the FA which forwards it to the MN.
Registration

2. If the COA is co-located

• Registration can be simpler

• The MN may send the request

directly to the HA and vice versa

• This, by the way, is also the

registration procedure for MNs
returning to their home network

• However, if the MN received an

agent advertisement from the FA
it should register via this FA if the
R bit is set in the advertisement.
 • UDP packets are used for
registration requests.
• The IP source address of the
packet is set to the interface
address of the MN,
• The IP destination address is
that of the FA or HA (depending
on the location of the COA).
• The UDP destination port is set
Figure: Registration request
to 434.

• UDP is used because of low overheads and better performance compared

to TCP in wireless environments.
• The fields relevant for mobile IP registration requests follow as UDP
data.
• The type = 1 for a registration
request.
• With the S bit an MN can specify if it
wants the HA to retain prior mobility
bindings.
• This allows for simultaneous
bindings.

• B bit indicates that an MN also wants

to receive the broadcast packets
which have been received by the HA
in the home network. Figure: Registration request

• If an MN uses a co-located COA, it also takes care of the de-capsulation

at the tunnel endpoint. The D bit indicates this behavior.
• M and G denote the use of minimal
encapsulation or generic routing
encapsulation, respectively.

• T indicates reverse tunneling, r and x

are set to zero.

Figure: Registration request

• Lifetime denotes the validity of
the registration in seconds.
• A value of zero indicates
deregistration; all bits set
indicates infinity.

• The home address is the fixed

IP address of the MN

• home agent is the IP address of Figure: Registration reply

the HA, and COA represents the
tunnel endpoint.
• The 64 bit identification is
generated by the MN to identify a
request and match it with
registration replies.
• This field is used for protection
against replay attacks of
registrations.

• The extensions must at least

contain parameters for
authentication. Registration reply
• A registration reply, which is conveyed in a UDP packet,
contains a type field set to 3 and a code indicating the result of
the registration request.
• The lifetime field indicates how many seconds the registration is valid
if it was successful.

• Home address and home agent are the addresses of the MN and the
HA, respectively.

• The 64-bit identification is used to match registration requests with

replies. The value is based on the identification field from the
registration and the authentication method.

• Again, the extensions must at least contain parameters for

authentication.