Learning Objectives

After successfully completing this section, you should be able to

  1. explain deferent degrees of mobility.
  2. explain the challenges mobile devices caused to the network layer.
  3. explain how roaming occurs on visited networks.
  4. describe the characteristics of mobile computer networks.
  5. explain the underlying concepts, issues, and technologies of mobile computer networks.

Learning Tasks

Required:

  1. Watch the slideshow for this section
  2. Study the following sections of the textbook:

7.5 Mobility Management: Principles
7.6 Mobility Management in Practice
7.7 Wireless and Mobility: Impact on Higher-Layer Protocols

Terms and Topics

Section 3 – Mobility Management

Mobility
Mobility management principles
Home network
Home agent
Foreign network or visited network
Foreign agent
Addressing in a mobile network
Mobile IP
Handover
Care-of-address (COA)
Permanent address
Foreign address
Routing to a mobile node
Indirect routing (to a mobile node)
Encapsulation and decapsulation in a mobile network
Mobile node to foreign agent protocol
Foreign agent to home agent registration protocol
Home agent datagram encapsulation protocol

Different degree of Mobility
Visited Network
Roaming on visited networks
Direct routing to a mobile device
Indirect routing to a mobile device
Local breakout
Triangle routing problem
Mobility management on 4G/5G networks
Care-of-address (COA)
Foreign agent decapsulation protocol
Direct routing (to a mobile node)
Triangle routing problem
Correspondent agent
Mobile user location protocol
Wireless and mobility

Leading Questions

  1. In order to accommodate mobile users, what considerations should be taken when designing the network layer?
  2. From the standpoint of the network layers, what defines mobility of a network device?
  3. How important is the mobile node’s address?
  4. What supporting wired infrastructure is available for supporting wireless connections?
  5. What is ad hoc networking?
  6. What issues are involved in allowing a mobile user to maintain ongoing connections while moving between networks?
  7. What do the terms home network, home agent, foreign (or visited) network, foreign agent, and correspondent mean?
  8. Why should all traffic addressed to a mobile node’s permanent address be routed to the foreign network when the node is resident of a foreign network? How can this be done?
  9. What roles does a foreign agent play?
  10. What is a care-of-address?
  11. What is a home address? What is a foreign address?
  12. How does indirect routing work?
  13. Suppose a mobile user is watching a streamed HD video on a smartphone connected to a visited 4G/5G network. What major steps are taken when the mobile user moves from one cell to another?
  14. How does the mobile node-to-foreign agent protocol work?
  15. What problem does the indirect routing approach suffer from?
  16. How does the direct routing approach work?
  17. What is a correspondent agent in the direct routing approach?
  18. What is mobile IP? Which standard defines mobile IP?
  19. What are the three main pieces of the mobile IP standard?
  20. What is done in the process of agent discovery?
  21. What is done in the process of agent advertisement?
  22. What does agent solicitation do?
  23. What is the format of an ICMP router discovery message with mobility agent advertisement?
  24. According to the mobile IP standard, how does a mobile node register its care-of address (COA) with its home agent?
  25. How do wireless stations move seamlessly from one BBS to another while maintaining ongoing TCP sessions?
  26. What are the main features of 802.15 wireless networks?
  27. How is Bluetooth network related to 802.15 wireless networks?
  28. What do FHSS and PSTN stand for?
  29. What are the main components of cellular network architecture?
  30. What are some important standards and technologies for cellular networks?
  31. How do TDM and FDM work?
  32. What are the main features of GSM networks?
  33. What are the main features of GPRS networks?
  34. What is the triangle routing problem?
  35. How do mobile user location protocols work?
  36. How do handoffs happen in GSM networks?
  37. How can calls be routed to a mobile user in mobile networks?