Mobility support in IPv6

Abstract

IP version 6 (IPv6) is being designed within the IETF as a replacement for the current version of the IP protocol used in the Internet (IPv4). We have designed protocol enhancements for IPv6, known as Mobile IPv6, that allow transparent routing of IPv6 packets to mobile nodes, taking advantage of the opportunities made possible by the design of a new version of IP. In Mobile IPv6, each mobile node is always identified by its home address, regardless of its current point of attachment to the Internet. While away from its home IP subnet, a mobile node is also associated with a care-of address, which indicates the mobile node's current location. Mobile IPv6 enables any IPv6 node to learn and cache the care-of address associated with a mobile node's home address, and then to send packets destined for the mobile node directly to it at this care-of address using an IPv6 Routing header.