Module-05 Mobility Management

Mobility Management

• Introduction
• IP Mobility
• Optimization
• IPv6

Macro Mobility: 1. MIPv6 2. FMIPv6

Micro Mobility: 1. Cellular IP 2. HAWAII 3. HMIPv6

5M Questions

1. Describe use of cellular IP

2. Note on IPv6
3. Short note on IP mobility

10M Questions

1. Explain micro mobility and its approaches.

2. What is the need of micro mobility? Explain cellular IP in detail.
IP MOBILITY:

• In normal Internet communication, an IP address has two purposes. First, it

identifies a device, and second, it tells the network where the device is located.
This works well when the device is fixed in one place. However, in mobile
communication, a device may move from one network to another network while
communication is still going on. In such cases, the device’s point of attachment
to the Internet changes. If its IP address changes, ongoing communication may
break. To solve this problem, IP Mobility is used.
• IP Mobility is the ability of a mobile node to move from one IP network to another
IP network without losing its ongoing communication session.
• Need of IP Mobility

IP mobility is required because modern users are not fixed at one location. They move
continuously while using network services.

1. Continuous Connectivity- The user should remain connected even when moving
between networks. Without IP mobility, the connection may break whenever the mobile
node changes network.

2. Session Continuity- Applications like voice calls, video calls, file transfer, and online
meetings need continuous sessions. IP mobility helps maintain these sessions even
after handoff.

3. Location Transparency- The correspondent node should not need to know the exact
current location of the mobile node. The network should manage the location changes
internally.

4. Support for Wireless and Mobile Networks- Mobile computing systems, cellular
networks, WLANs, and IoT devices require IP mobility because devices frequently
change their point of attachment.

• Basic Working of IP Mobility

Step 1: Mobile Node in Home Network- Initially, the mobile node is connected to its
home network. It uses its permanent home address for communication. At this stage,
packets are delivered normally because the mobile node is present in its own network.

Step 2: Mobile Node Moves to Foreign Network- When the mobile node moves to
another network, it detects that it is no longer in its home network. It then obtains a
temporary address called Care-of Address (CoA) from the foreign network.

Step 3: Registration with Home Agent- The mobile node informs its Home Agent about
its new Care-of Address. The Home Agent updates its binding table and stores the
current location of the mobile node.
Example:

𝑀𝑁 𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝐴𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 → 𝑀𝑁 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠

This process is called registration or binding update.

Step 4: Packet Delivery- When the Correspondent Node sends packets to the mobile
node, it sends them to the mobile node’s home address. Since the mobile node is not
present in the home network, the Home Agent intercepts these packets.

Step 5: Tunnelling- The Home Agent forwards the packet to the Care-of Address of the
mobile node using tunnelling. In tunnelling, the original packet is encapsulated inside
another packet and sent to the current location of the mobile node.

Step 6: Packet Reception- The mobile node receives the packet in the foreign network.
It decapsulates the packet and obtains the original data. Thus, the mobile node can
continue communication even after changing networks.

• Limitations of IP Mobility

1. Handover Delay- When a mobile node changes network, some delay occurs due to
address configuration, registration, and routing updates.

2. Packet Loss- During movement, some packets may be lost before the new path is
established.

3. Triangular Routing- In basic Mobile IP, packets travel through the Home Agent, which
increases delay.

4. Signalling Overhead- Frequent movement creates many updates and control

messages.

5. Security Issues- Binding updates and location information must be protected to

avoid attacks such as redirection or impersonation.

IP OPTIMIZATION:

In basic Mobile IP, when a Correspondent Node (CN) sends data to a Mobile Node (MN),
the packet is first sent to the Home Agent (HA) and then forwarded to the Care-of
Address (CoA) of the MN.

This creates a triangular routing path, which is inefficient and increases delay. To
overcome this problem, Route Optimization is introduced.
Triangular Routing Problem

In Mobile IP without optimization, the packet path is:

𝐶𝑁 → 𝐻𝐴 → 𝑀𝑁

• Even if CN and MN are close to each other, packets travel through HA

• This increases: Delay, Network load & Bandwidth usage

This inefficient routing is called Triangular Routing.

In route optimization, the Correspondent Node (CN) is informed about the current
location (CoA) of the Mobile Node (MN).

Once CN knows the CoA, it can send packets directly to MN, instead of routing through
HA.

Steps of IP Route Optimization

Step 1: CN sends data to MN- Initially, the Correspondent Node (CN) does not know
the current location of the Mobile Node (MN). So, CN sends data packets to the home
address of MN. The packet first reaches the Home Agent (HA).

Step 2: HA tunnels packet to MN- The HA knows that MN is currently away from home
network. So, HA checks its binding table and finds the current Care-of Address (CoA) of
MN. Then HA encapsulates the packet and tunnels it to the current foreign network. This
creates triangular routing.

Step 3: CN asks HA for MN’s current location- To avoid triangular routing, CN sends a
Binding Request to HA. This message asks:

“Where is MN currently located?”

So Binding Request is used to request the current Care-of Address of MN.

Step 4: HA sends Binding Update- After receiving the request, HA replies with a
Binding Update message. This message contains the current CoA of MN.

Step 5: CN stores the binding- CN stores this mapping in its binding cache. This stored
entry is called a mobility binding. Now CN does not need to send every packet through
HA.

Step 6: CN sends data directly to MN- Now CN sends packets directly to MN’s current
CoA. So, HA is avoided. This is called route optimization because the route becomes
shorter and faster.
Step 07- Now if MN moves to another network it registers with 𝐹𝐴𝑛𝑒𝑤 , the new FA sends
an update message to 𝐹𝐴𝑜𝑙𝑑 .

Step 08- The CN still sends the packet to old FA. If 𝐹𝐴𝑜𝑙𝑑 receives packets for MN but it
is not currently serving MN, it sends a Binding Warning message. This warning informs
CN or HA that the current binding is outdated.

Step 09- After receiving warning, CN sends another Binding Request to HA. HA replies
with a new Binding Update containing the new CoA of MN. CN updates its binding
cache. Now CN sends packets directly to 𝐹𝐴𝑛𝑒𝑤 .

IPV6:

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) is the next generation Internet Protocol designed to
replace IPv4.

It was developed to overcome the limitations of IPv4 such as:

• Limited address space

• Security issues

• Lack of efficient mobility support

✓ Features of IPv6

1. Large Address Space- IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses

• Total addresses: 2128

• Much larger than IPv4 (32-bit)

Allows virtually unlimited devices (IoT, mobiles, etc.)

2. Simplified Header Format- IPv6 header is simpler compared to IPv4. Fixed size of 40
bytes. Improves processing speed and routing efficiency

3. Built-in Security- IPv6 supports IPSec by default

• Provides: Authentication, Data integrity & Confidentiality

4. Stateless Address Autoconfiguration- Devices can automatically configure IP
address. No need for DHCP

5. Improved Mobility Support- Supports Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6). Allows devices to move
between networks without changing permanent IP

✓ IPv6 Address Format

IPv6 address is 128-bit, written in hexadecimal form.

Example:

2001: 0𝑑𝑏8: 85𝑎3: 0000: 0000: 8𝑎2𝑒: 0370: 7334

Rules:

• Each block = 16 bits

• Leading zeros can be removed

• Continuous zeros can be replaced by "::"

✓ IPV6 address format

1. Unicast Address- One-to-one communication. Packet sent to a single destination

2. Multicast Address- One-to-many communication. Packet delivered to multiple

nodes

3. Anycast Address-One-to-nearest communication. Packet delivered to nearest node

✓ IPv6 Header

The IPv6 header is used to carry information required for packet delivery across
networks.

• It has a fixed size of 40 bytes (320 bits)

• Unlike IPv4, it is simpler and more efficient

• It removes unnecessary fields like checksum to improve speed

1. Version (4 bits)- Indicates the IP version. For IPv6, value is always: 6

2. Traffic Class (8 bits)- Used for QoS (Quality of Service). Similar to Type of Service in
IPv4

Purpose:

• Prioritize packets (e.g., voice > email)

• Control congestion

3. Flow Label (20 bits)

• Used to identify a flow of packets

A flow is a sequence of packets that belong to the same communication session (like a
video stream).

Purpose:

• Routers can treat packets of same flow similarly

• Improves performance for real-time traffic

4. Payload Length (16 bits)- Indicates the size of data after the header

𝑃𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 𝑆𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 + 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠

5. Next Header (8 bits)- Indicates what comes after IPv6 header

It can point to: TCP, UDP, ICMPv6 and Extension headers

6. Hop Limit (8 bits)- Limits how many routers the packet can pass through

Working:

• Each router decreases this value by 1

• If it becomes 0 → packet is discarded

Prevents packets from looping infinitely

7. Source Address (128 bits)- IPv6 address of sender

8. Destination Address (128 bits)- IPv6 address of receiver

MACRO MOBILITY:

Macro mobility refers to the movement of a mobile node (MN) across different
networks or administrative domains.

Example:

• Moving from one city network to another

• Switching from Wi-Fi to cellular network

• Moving between different service providers

In such cases, the IP address of the mobile node may change, which can break
communication.
Macro mobility protocols ensure that the mobile node maintains connectivity and
ongoing sessions even when moving across networks.

✓ Need of Macro Mobility

1. Users move across large geographic areas

2. Network attachment point changes frequently

3. Continuous communication must be maintained

4. Real-time services like VoIP require uninterrupted connectivity

✓ Approaches for Macro Mobility

1. MIPv6

MIPv6 is an extension of IPv6 that provides mobility support at the network layer. It
allows a mobile node to maintain its permanent IP address (Home Address) even
when moving across networks.

Working- same as optimization

Advantages of MIPv6

• Supports seamless mobility

• Maintains session continuity

• Supports route optimization

Limitations of MIPv6

• High handover latency

• Packet loss during movement

• Delay due to address configuration and updates

2. FMIPv6

FMIPv6 is an enhancement of MIPv6 designed to reduce handover delay and packet

loss. FMIPv6 uses prediction and preparation before movement. It prepares the new
connection before the mobile node actually moves

Working Steps of FMIPv6

Step 1: MN is connected to Previous Access Router

Initially, MN is connected to the old network through the Previous Access Router (PAR).
Communication is going on normally.

Step 2: MN detects movement

MN detects that it is moving towards a new network. This may happen by receiving
signals from a new access point or router.

Step 3: MN receives information about the New Access Router (NAR) before actually
moving. This helps MN prepare for handover in advance.

Step 4: MN forms or obtains a new Care-of Address for the new network. This is done
before MN completely disconnects from the old network.

Step 5: PAR and NAR communicate

Previous Access Router and New Access Router exchange messages. They check
whether the new CoA is valid and prepare the new route.

Step 6: PAR starts forwarding packets meant for MN to NAR. So even before MN
attaches to the new network, packets are not lost.

Step 7: NAR buffers packets

NAR stores packets temporarily until MN arrives. This reduces packet loss during
handover.

Step 8: MN disconnects from PAR and connects to NAR. This is the actual handover
stage.
Step 9: After MN connects to NAR, NAR sends the buffered packets to MN. So
communication continues smoothly.

Step 10: Binding Update

MN sends Binding Update to HA and CN with its new CoA. After this, future packets are
sent directly to the new location.

Advantages of FMIPv6

1. Reduced handover latency

2. Reduced packet loss

3. Better performance for real-time applications

4. Faster connection setup

Limitations of FMIPv6

• Requires additional signalling

• More complex implementation

• Depends on accurate movement prediction

MICRO MOBILITY:

In mobile communication, users frequently move while staying within a small

geographic area or same administrative domain (like a campus, city network, or cellular
region).

Handling such frequent local movements using global mobility protocols (like Mobile IP)
creates high delay and signalling overhead. To solve this, Micro Mobility is introduced.

Need of Micro Mobility

1. Frequent Local Movement

Mobile users move frequently within small areas. If every movement is handled by
global mobility protocols (like MIPv6), it creates unnecessary signalling overhead. Micro
mobility handles these movements locally.
2. Reduction in Signalling Overhead

In macro mobility, every movement requires:

• Binding updates to Home Agent

• Updates to Correspondent Node

This creates heavy signalling traffic. Micro mobility reduces this by handling updates
within the local network only.

3. Reduced Handover Delay

Global mobility protocols take time to: Detect movement, Configure new address

& Update network. Micro mobility reduces this delay, enabling fast handover.

4. Less Packet Loss

During handover in macro mobility, packets may be lost. Micro mobility uses Buffering

& Local forwarding. Reduces packet loss significantly.

5. Improved Performance for Real-Time Applications

Applications like: VoIP and Video streaming require low delay and minimal packet loss.

Micro mobility ensures smooth communication for such applications.

CELLULAR IP:

Cellular IP is a micro-mobility protocol used to manage the movement of mobile hosts

inside a local access network.

Mobile IP is useful for macro mobility, but it becomes slow when a large number of
mobile devices move frequently inside the same network. This is because every
movement may require registration and binding update messages.

To reduce this problem, Cellular IP handles local mobility inside the access network,
while Mobile IP handles mobility outside the local network.
 ✓ Cellular IP Architecture

The Cellular IP architecture consists of three main components:

1. Cellular IP Gateway

The Cellular IP gateway connects the Cellular IP access network to the Internet. It acts
as the entry and exit point of the local Cellular IP network. For mobile hosts inside the
Cellular IP network, the gateway address acts as the Care-of Address.

Thus, external networks do not need to know the exact base station where the mobile
host is currently connected.

2. Cellular IP Base Station

The base station is an important component of Cellular IP.

It performs two main functions:

• Communicates with mobile hosts through wireless interface

• Routes IP packets inside the Cellular IP network

Base stations are built using normal IP forwarding engines, but normal IP routing is
replaced by Cellular IP routing and location management.

3. Cellular IP Mobile Host

The mobile host is the wireless device moving inside the Cellular IP access network. It
may move from one base station to another. Cellular IP maintains routing information
so that packets can reach the mobile host even when it changes base station.

✓ Routing in Cellular IP

Routing in Cellular IP is based on routing cache mappings stored in base stations.

Uplink Routing- Uplink packets are packets sent from the mobile host to the gateway.
When a mobile host sends packets, these packets are routed hop-by-hop from the
mobile host’s current base station towards the gateway. During this process, each base
station on the path stores the route taken by the packet. This stored route is called the
routing cache.
Downlink Routing- Downlink packets are packets sent from the gateway to the mobile
host. For downlink packets, the path is obtained by reversing the cached uplink path.
So, the gateway sends the packet towards the base station using the routing cache
entries created by previous uplink packets. This avoids the need for global routing
updates.

✓ Route Update Packets

If a mobile host does not have data to send, its routing cache entries may expire. To
prevent this, the mobile host sends route-update packets at regular intervals.

These packets:

• Are empty data packets

• Are sent towards the gateway

• Refresh routing cache entries

• Keep the route valid for future downlink packets

Thus, even if the mobile host is not sending actual data, the network still knows its
current route.

✓ Paging in Cellular IP

Paging is used to efficiently locate idle mobile hosts. An idle mobile host is a host that
has not received or transmitted data for a certain time. Maintaining routing cache for
every idle host waste resources. Therefore, Cellular IP uses a separate paging cache.

Paging Cache

For idle hosts, route information is stored in the paging cache instead of routing cache.
Idle mobile hosts send paging-update packets at regular intervals.

Paging-update packets:

• Are empty IP packets

• Are addressed to the gateway

• Are used to update the paging cache

• Are routed hop-by-hop towards the gateway

How Paging Works

When a packet arrives for an idle mobile host, the network first checks the routing
cache.

If the routing cache does not contain entry for that host, the paging cache is checked.

If the paging cache has an entry, the packet is forwarded using paging information.

If there is no entry in paging cache, the packet is broadcast in the access network to find
the mobile host.

When the idle mobile host receives a packet, it changes from idle state to active state
and sends a route-update packet.

✓ Handover in Cellular IP

Cellular IP uses Mobile Host Controlled Handover (MHCO). This means the mobile
host itself initiates handover.

Working of Handover

The mobile host continuously listens to signals transmitted by base stations. When the
mobile host detects a stronger signal from a new base station, it decides to handover.

Then the mobile host tunes its radio to the new base station and sends a route-update
packet through the new base station.

This creates a new routing cache entry on the new path from the mobile host to the
gateway.

During this time, packets may still be sent to the old base station. Therefore, old routing
mappings are not removed immediately. They are cleared only after a timer [Link]
the old timer expires, packets may be delivered through both old and new base stations.
This is called semisoft handover, and it reduces packet loss during handoff.

✓ Advantages of Cellular IP

1. Cellular IP efficiently supports movement within a local access network.

2. It avoids frequent Mobile IP registrations for every small movement.

3. Since handover is handled locally, delay is reduced.

4. Semisoft handover allows packets to be delivered through both old and new paths for
some time.
HAWAII:

HAWAII stands for Handoff-Aware Wireless Access Internet Infrastructure. It is a micro-

mobility protocol designed to manage the movement of mobile nodes within a local
domain.

The main aim of HAWAII is to:

• Provide fast handoff

• Reduce signalling to the Home Agent (HA)

• Keep mobility handling transparent to Mobile IP

HAWAII works inside a domain, while Mobile IP handles movement between domains.

✓ Architecture of HAWAII

HAWAII network consists of:

1. Base Stations (BS)- Provide wireless connectivity to mobile nodes. Forward packets
inside the domain

2. Crossover Router- Common router between old and new path. Used during handoff
Helps in updating routing paths efficiently

3. Domain Root Router / Gateway. Connects HAWAII domain to Internet. Works similar
to Foreign Agent

4. Mobile Node (MN)- Moves between base stations within domain

5. Backbone Router- Connects domain to Home Agent via Internet

✓ Working of HAWAII (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: MN enters HAWAII domain

• Mobile Node enters a foreign domain

• It obtains a co-located Care-of Address (CoA) (usually via DHCP)

Step 2: Registration with Home Agent

• MN registers this CoA with Home Agent (HA) using Mobile IP

• HA now knows MN’s location

Step 3: Normal Communication

• Data packets flow from HA → gateway → base station → MN

Step 4: MN moves to another cell within same domain

• MN moves from old base station to new base station

• It does not change its CoA

This is key feature of HAWAII

Step 5: MN sends registration request to new base station

Step 6: New BS sends request to update routing paths

Step 7: Path reconfiguration

• Routers between old BS and new BS are reconfigured

• This happens up to the crossover router

Only part of the network is updated, not entire network

Step 8: New path from gateway to MN is created. Old path is removed

Step 9: Packets are now delivered via new base station. No need to contact HA again

✓ Advantages of HAWAII

1. Fast Handover- Only local path updates required. No global updates

2. Reduced Signalling Overhead-HA is not contacted for every movement

3. Transparency- Mobile node and HA are not affected. Works transparently with
Mobile IP
 ✓ Disadvantages of HAWAII

1. DHCP Security Issues- Co-located CoA is obtained using DHCP. DHCP has weak
authentication

2. Complex Implementation- Requires path reconfiguration in routers

3. Limited Security in Updates- Some protocol messages lack strong authentication

HMIPv6:

HMIPv6 stands for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6. It is a micro-mobility protocol used to

manage the movement of a mobile node within a local domain.

In normal MIPv6, whenever a mobile node moves to a new network, it must send
binding updates to the Home Agent (HA) and sometimes to the Correspondent Node
(CN). If the mobile node moves frequently, this creates delay and signalling overhead.

To reduce this problem, HMIPv6 introduces a special local entity called MAP.

✓ Addresses Used in HMIPv6

1. Regional Care-of Address (RCoA)

RCoA is assigned on the MAP’s network. It represents the mobile node’s location at the
regional or domain level. The HA and CN know this address.

2. Link Care-of Address (LCoA)

LCoA is assigned on the current access router link. It represents the mobile node’s
exact current point of attachment inside the local domain. The MAP knows this address.

✓ Working of HMIPv6

Step 1: MN enters a new MAP domain

When the mobile node enters a new visited network, it discovers the available MAP. It
receives information about MAP from router advertisements.

Step 2: The mobile node configures:

• RCoA using MAP prefix

 • LCoA using current Access Router prefix

RCoA is used for external communication, and LCoA is used for local delivery.

Step 3: The mobile node sends a Binding Update to the MAP.

This update tells the MAP: 𝑅𝐶𝑜𝐴 → 𝐿𝐶𝑜𝐴

So MAP now knows the current access router location of the mobile node.

Step 4: MN registers RCoA with HA and CN

The mobile node sends Binding Update to: Home Agent & Correspondent Node

But here it sends RCoA, not LCoA. So HA and CN only know the regional address of MN.

Step 5: Packets reach MAP

When CN sends packets to MN, packets are sent to the MN’s RCoA. Since RCoA
belongs to MAP domain, the packets first reach the MAP.

Step 6: MAP forwards packets to MN

MAP checks its binding table and finds the current LCoA of MN. Then MAP encapsulates
and forwards packets to the current LCoA.

Path becomes: 𝐶𝑁 → 𝑀𝐴𝑃 → 𝑀𝑁

Step 7: MN moves inside same MAP domain

Now suppose MN moves from one Access Router to another within the same MAP
domain. The MN gets a new LCoA. But the RCoA remains the same.

Step 8: Only MAP is updated

Since RCoA is unchanged, there is no need to update HA or CN.

MN sends Binding Update only to MAP: 𝑅𝐶𝑜𝐴 → 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝐿𝐶𝑜𝐴

This reduces signalling delay and improves handover performance.
Step 9: Packets continue through MAP

Now MAP forwards packets to the new LCoA. The outside network still sends packets to
the same RCoA. So communication continues smoothly.

✓ Advantages of HMIPv6

1. Reduced Signalling- Local movements are updated only at MAP, not at HA or CN.

2. Faster Handover- Since only local binding update is required; handover delay is
reduced.

3. Location Privacy- The Home Agent and Correspondent Node know only RCoA.
The exact LCoA can be hidden.

✓ Disadvantages of HMIPv6

1. HMIPv6 requires an extra component called MAP.

2. If MAP fails, communication of many mobile nodes may be affected.

3. Binding updates sent to MAP must be protected. Otherwise attackers may create
false bindings.