Mobile IPv6
This article describes how Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), defined in RFC 3775, allows an IPv6 node to change its location on an IPv6 network and still maintain existing connections. Connection maintenance for mobile nodes is not done by modifying Transport layer protocols, but by handling the changes of addresses at the Internet layer using Mobile IPv6 messages, options, and processes that ensure the correct delivery of data regardless of the mobile node's location.
Overview
Mobile IPv6 allows an IPv6 node to be mobile-to arbitrarily change its location on an IPv6 network-and still maintain existing connections. When an IPv6 node changes its location, it might also change its link. When an IPv6 node changes its link, its IPv6 address might also change in order to maintain connectivity. There are mechanisms to allow for the changes in addresses when moving to a different link, such as stateful and stateless address autoconfiguration for IPv6. However, when the address changes, the existing connections of the mobile node that are using the address assigned from the previously connected link cannot be maintained and are ungracefully terminated.
The key benefit of Mobile IPv6 is that even though the mobile node changes locations and addresses, the existing connections through which the mobile node is communicating are maintained. To accomplish this, connections to mobile nodes are made with a specific address that is always assigned to the mobile node, and through which the mobile node is always reachable. Mobile IPv6 provides Transport layer connection survivability when a node moves from one link to another by performing address maintenance for mobile nodes at the Internet layer.
Mobile IPv6 Components
Figure below shows the components of Mobile IPv6.
The components of Mobile IPv6 are the following:
- Home link:
The link that is assigned the home subnet prefix, from which the mobile node obtains its home address. The home agent resides on the home link. - Home address:
An address assigned to the mobile node when it is attached to the home link and through which the mobile node is always reachable, regardless of its location on an IPv6 network. If the mobile node is attached to the home link, Mobile IPv6 processes are not used and communication occurs normally. If the mobile node is away from home (not attached to the home link), packets addressed to the mobile node's home address are intercepted by the home agent and tunneled to the mobile node's current location on an IPv6 network. Because the mobile node is always assigned the home address, it is always logically connected to the home link.
- Home agent:
A router on the home link that maintains registrations of mobile nodes that are away from home and the different addresses that they are currently using. If the mobile node is away from home, it registers its current address with the home agent, which tunnels data sent to the mobile node's home address to the mobile node's current address on an IPv6 network and forwards tunneled data sent by the mobile node.
Although the figures in this article show the home agent as the router connecting the home link to an IPv6 network, the home agent does not have to serve this function. The home agent can also be a node on the home link that does not perform any forwarding when the mobile node is at home. - Mobile node:
An IPv6 node that can change links, and therefore addresses, and maintain reachability using its home address. A mobile node has awareness of its home address and the global address for the link to which it is attached (known as the care-of address), and it indicates its home address/care-of address mapping to the home agent and Mobile IPv6-capable nodes with which it is communicating. - Foreign link:
A link that is not the mobile node's home link. - Care-of address: An address used by a mobile node while it is attached to a foreign link. For stateless address configuration, the care-of address is a combination of the foreign subnet prefix and an interface ID determined by the mobile node. A mobile node can be assigned multiple care-of addresses; however, only one care-of address is registered as the primary care-of address with the mobile node's home agent. The association of a home address with a care-of address for a mobile node is known as a binding. Correspondent nodes and home agents keep information on bindings in a binding cache.
- Correspondent node:
An IPv6 node that communicates with a mobile node. A correspondent node does not have to be Mobile IPv6-capable. If the correspondent node is Mobile IPv6-capable, it can also be a mobile node that is away from home.
Note:
The drawings in this article assume some sort of IPv6 network over which Mobile IPv6 messages or data is sent. This IPv6 network can be the IPv6 Internet, an IPv6-capable portion of a private intranet, or a public or private IPv4 infrastructure when using an IPv6 transition technology.
Mobile IPv6 Transport Layer Transparency
To achieve Transport layer transparency for the home address while the mobile node is assigned a care-of address, Mobile IPv6-capable nodes use the following:
- When a mobile node that is away from home sends data to a correspondent node, it sends the packets from its care-of address and includes the mobile node's home address in a Home Address option in a Destination Options extension header. When the correspondent node receives the packet, it logically replaces the source address of the packet (the care-of address) with the home address stored in the Home Address option.
- When a Mobile IPv6-capable correspondent node sends data to a mobile node that is away from home, it sends the packets to the care-of address and includes a Type 2 Routing extension header containing a single address, the mobile node's home address. When the mobile node receives the packet, it processes the Type 2 Routing header and logically replaces the destination address of the packet (the care-of address) with the home address from the Type 2 Routing header.
If a correspondent node is not Mobile IPv6-capable, packets sent between the correspondent node and the mobile node that is away from home are exchanged via the home agent. The correspondent node sends packets to the mobile node's home address. These packets are intercepted by the home agent and tunneled to the mobile node's care-of address. The mobile node tunnels packets destined for the correspondent node to the home agent, which forwards them to the correspondent node. This indirect method of delivery, known as bidirectional tunneling, although inefficient, allows communication between mobile nodes that are away from home and correspondent nodes that are not Mobile IPv6-capable.
