Mobile internet protocol analysis

Abstract

Mobile Internet Protocol (IP) is a proposed standard that builds on the current Internet Protocol by making the fact that a user is mobile transparent to applications and higher level protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Mobile IP allows mobile computers to send and receive packets addressed with their home network IP address, regardless of the IP address of their current point of attachment on the Internet while maintaining any current connections even if the point of attachment changes while the current connection is still active. Additionally, it is independent of the physical medium over which the mobile computer communicates. In order to meet the goals of location transparency and connection durability each mobile node has a permanent IP address. This unchanging address allows conventional Internet hosts, which are unaware of mobility issues, to communicate with the mobile node. When the mobile node is at home, it functions like a normal non-mobile Internet node. When it is away from home, it communicates through the use of home agents and foreign agents. This thesis will explain Mobile IP and analyze the protocol to determine strengths and weaknesses of the protocol.