INTRODUCTION

What will computers look like in ten years, in the next century?
No wholly accurate prediction can be made, but as a general feature, most
computers will certainly be portable. How will users access networks with
help of computers or other communication devices? An ever increasing
numbers without any wires, that is wireless. How will people spend much of
their work, during vacation? Many people will be mobile already one of the
key characteristics of today’s society. Think, for example, of an aircraft with
800 seats. Modern aircraft already offer limited network access to
passengers, & aircraft of the next generation will offer easy Internet access.
In this scenario, a mobile network moving at a high speed above ground
with a wireless link will be the only means of transporting data to & from
passengers. Furthermore, think of cars with Internet access & billions of
embedded processors that have to communicate with for instance cameras,
mobile phones, CD-players, head sheets, keyboards, intelligent traffic signs
& sensors.
TYPES OF MOBILITY
There are two different kinds of mobility: (i) user mobility &
(ii) device portability.
User mobility refers to a user who has access to the same or
similar telecommunication service at different places, i.e. , the user can be
mobile & the service will follow him/her. Examples for mechanisms
supporting user mobility are simple call forwarding solutions known from
the telephone or computer desktops supporting roaming (i.e. the desktop
looks the same no matter which computer a user uses to log into the
network)
With device portability, the communication device moves.
Many mechanisms in the network & inside the device have to make sure that
communication is still possible while it is moving. A typical example for
systems supporting device portability is the mobile phone system, where the
system itself hands the device from one radio transmitter (also called a base
station) to the next if the signal becomes too big.

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TYPES OF MOBILE DEVICES
Even though many mobile & wireless devices are already available, we will
see many more in the future. There is no precise classification of such
devices, by size, shape, weight or communicating power. Currently laptops
are considered to be the super end of the mobile device range. The following
list gives some examples of mobile & wireless devices graded by increasing
performances (CPU, MEMORY, DISPLAY, INPUT DEVICES, ETC.)
• Sensor: A very simple wireless device is represented by a sensor
transmitting state information. An example for such a sensor could
be a switch sensing the office door. If the door is closed, the switch
transmits this state to the mobile phone inside the office & the
mobile phone will not accept the incoming calls. Thus, without
user interactions the semantics of a closed door is applied to phone
calls.
• Pager: As a very simple receiver, a pager can only display short
text messages, as a tiny display, & can not send any messages.
Pages can even be integrated into watches.
• Mobile Phones: The traditional mobile phone only had a simple
black & white text display & could send \receive voice or short
messages. Today however, mobile phones migrate more & more
towards PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant). Mobile phones with
full color graphic display, touch screen & Internet browser are
available.
• Personal Digital Assistant: PDAs typically accompany user & offer
very simple version of office software (Calendar, Notepad, mail).
The typical input device is a pen, with built in character
recognition translating hand writing into characters. Web browsers
& many other software packages are already available for these
devices.
• Palmtop\Pocket Computer: The next steps towards full computers
are pocket computers offering tiny keyboards, color display, &
simple versions of programs found on desktop computers (test
processing, spread sheets, etc.).
• Note Book\Laptop: Finally, Laptop offer more or less the same
performance as standard desktop computers, use the same

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 software, the only technical difference being size, weight, & the
ability to run on a battery.
The mobile & wireless devices of the future will be more powerful,
less heavy, & comprise new interfaces to the user and to new networks.
However, one big problem, which has not been solved yet, is the energy
supply. The more futures are built into a device, the more power it needs.
The higher the performance of the device, the faster it drains the batteries.

SIMULATION DEVELOPMENT
Interest in mobile computing is growing rapidly and future
networks can expect to support numerous mobile users. Simulation is
essential to test the scalability of mobile computing solutions. The
characteristics of mobile computers differ dramatically from the fixed
network hosts. The mobility, lower bandwidth, and periods of burst errors or
temporary network disconnection greatly impact the performance of mobile
networks.
A mobile routing simulator module is under development. It will be
integrated into the existing routing simulator, MaRS. This will enable
simulation of topology changes, high degrees of mobility, and error
behaviors, which are unique to wireless networking. Simulations with large
numbers of mobile hosts moving through a wide area network can be studied
as well as ad hoc networking topologies. This will enable simulation and
analysis of routing algorithms for mobile networks. The goal of this project
is to study the performance of large scale and highly dynamic mobile
networks.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOBILE COMPUTING & PORTABLE
COMPUTING
Although the Internet offers access to information sources
worldwide, typically we do not expect to benefit from that access until we
arrive at some familiar point--whether home, office, or school. However, the
increasing variety of wireless devices offering IP connectivity, such as
PDAs, handhelds, and digital cellular phones, is beginning to change our
perceptions of the Internet.
To understand the contrast between the current realities of IP
connectivity and future possibilities, consider the transition toward mobility
that has occurred in telephony over the past 20 years. An analogous

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transition in the domain of networking, from dependence on fixed points of
attachment to the flexibility afforded by mobility, has just begun.
Mobile computing and networking should not be confused with
the portable computing and networking we have today. In mobile
networking, computing activities are not disrupted when the user changes
the computer's point of attachment to the Internet. Instead, all the needed
reconnection occurs automatically and non interactively.
Truly mobile computing offers many advantages. Confident
access to the Internet anytime, anywhere will help free us from the ties that
bind us to our desktops. Consider how cellular phones have given people
new freedom in carrying out their work. Taking along an entire computing
environment has the potential not just to extend that flexibility but to
fundamentally change the existing work ethic. Having the Internet available
to us as we move will give us the tools to build new computing
environments wherever we go. Those who have little interest in mobility per
se will still benefit from the ability to resume previous applications when
they reconnect. This is especially convenient in a wireless LAN office
environment, where the boundaries between attachment points are not sharp
and are often invisible.
The evolution of mobile networking will differ from that of
telephony in some important respects. The endpoints of a telephone
connection are typically human; computer applications are likely to involve
interactions between machines without human intervention. Obvious
examples of this are mobile computing devices on airplanes, ships, and
automobiles. Mobile networking may well also come to depend on position-
finding devices, such as a satellite global positioning system, to work in
tandem with wireless access to the Internet.
Another difference may well be rate of adoption. It took many
years for mobile phones to become cheap and lightweight enough to be
perceived as convenient. Because wireless mobile computing devices such
as PDAs and pocket organizers have already found user acceptance, mobile
computing may become popular much more quickly.

APPLICATION OF MOBILE COMPUTING

However, there are still some technical obstacles that must be
overcome before mobile networking can become widespread. The most
fundamental is the way the Internet Protocol, the protocol that connects the

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networks of today's Internet, routes packets to their destinations according to
IP addresses. These addresses are associated with a fixed network location
much as a no mobile phone number is associated with a physical jack in a
wall. When the packet's destination is a mobile node, this means that each
new point of attachment made by the node is associated with a new network
number and, hence, a new IP address, making transparent mobility
impossible.
Mobile IP (RFC 2002), a standard proposed by a working group
within the Internet Engineering Task Force, was designed to solve this
problem by allowing the mobile node to use two IP addresses: a fixed home
address and a care-of address that changes at each new point of attachment.
This article will present the Mobile IP standard in moderate technical detail
and point the reader toward a wealth of further information.
There is a great deal of interest in mobile computing and
apparently in Mobile IP as a way to provide for it. Mobile IP forms the basis
either directly or indirectly of many current research efforts and products.
The Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), for example, has created a widely
deployed communications infrastructure based on a previous draft
specification of the protocol. In addition, most major router vendors have
developed implementations for Mobile IP.
The outlook for Mobile IP in the complex Internet marketplace is far from
clear, and some technical problems remain, security being the most
important. However, once the security solutions are solid, nomadic users
may finally begin to enjoy the convenience of seamless untethered roaming
and effective application transparency that is the promise of Mobile IP.
So the goal of a mobile IP can be summarized as ‘supporting
end system mobility while maintaining scalability, efficiency &
compatibility in all respects with the existing applications & Internet
protocols’.

ENTITIES & TERMINOLOGIES USED FOR MOBILE IP

IN RFC 2002
The following defines several entities & terms needed for
understanding mobile IP as defined in RFC 2002.Fig (1) illustrate an
example scenario.

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• Mobile Node (MN): A mobile node is an end system or router that can
change its point of attachment to the Internet using the mobile IP. The
MN keeps it’s address & can continuously communicate with any
other system in the Internet as long as link layer connectivity is given.
Mobile nodes are not necessarily small devices such as laptops with
antennas or mobile phones, a router on board; an aircraft can be a
powerful mobile node.
• Correspondent Node (CN): At least one partner is needed for
communication. In the following the CN represents this partner for the
MN. The CN can be fixed or mobile node.
• Home Network: The Home Network is the subnet the MN belongs to
with respect to its IP address. With in the home network no mobile IP
support is needed.
• Foreign Network: The foreign network is the current subnet the MN
visits & which is not the home network.
• Foreign Agent (FA): The FA can provide several services to the MN
during its visit in the foreign network. The FA can have the COA
(Care Of Address), thus acting as tunnel end point & forwarding
packets to the MN. Further more the FA can be the default router for
the MN. The FA’s can also provide security service for they belong to
the foreign network as opposite to the MN only visiting. For mobile
IP Functioning, FA’s are not necessarily needed. Typically, an FA is
implemented on a router for the subnet the MN attaches to.
• Care-of Address (COA): The COA defines the current location of the
MN from an IP point of view. All IP packets sent to the MN are
delivered to the COA, not directly to the IP address of the MN. Packet
delivery toward the MN is done using a tunnel. Therefore, to be more
precise the COA marks the tunnel end point, i.e. the address where the
packet exists the tunnel. There are two different possibilities for the
location of COA.
1. Foreign Agent COA: The COA could be located at the FA i.e.
the COA is an IP address of the FA. Thus the FA is the tunnel
end point & for forwards packets to the MN. Many MN using
the FA can share the COA as common COA.

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 2. Co-located COA: The is called co-located if the MN
temporarily acquired an additional IP address which acts as
COA. This address is now topologically correct, & the tunnel
end point is at the MN. Co-located address can be required
using service such as DHCP. One problem associated with this
approach is needed for many additional addresses if many
MN’s request a COA. This is not always a good idea
considering the scarcity of Ipv4 address.
• Home Agent (HA): The HA provides several services for the MN & is
located in the home network. The tunnel for packets toward the MN
starts at the HA. Furthermore the HA maintains a location registry, i.e.
it is informed of the MN’s location by the current COA. Three
alternatives for the implementation of the HA exists.
1. The HA can be implemented on a router that is responsible
for the home network. This is obviously the best position,
because without optimization to mobile IP, all packets for
the MN have to go through the router any way.
2. If changing the router software is not possible, the HA could
also be implemented on a arbitrary node in the subnet. A
disadvantage of this solution is the double of the router by
the packet if the MN is in a foreign network. A packet for
the MN comes in via the router, the HA sends it through the
tunnel which again cross the router.
3. Finally, the home network is not necessary at all. The HA
could be again on the router’ but this time only acting as a
manager for MN’s belonging to a virtual home network. All
MN’s are always in a foreign network with this solution.
The example network in fig (i) shows the illustration: a CN is connected via
a router to the Internet, as are the home network & the foreign network. The
HA is implemented on the router connecting the home network with the
internet, an FA is implemented on the router to the foreign network. The MN
is currently in the foreign network. The tunnel for the packets toward the
MN starts at the HA & ends at the FA, for the FA has the COA in this
example.

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 COA
Home
Router Router MN
HA FA Foreign
Network Network
MN

Internet

Figure(i)
CN Router

(Mobile IP example network)

IP PACKET DELIVERY
Figure (ii) illustrates packet delivery to & from the MN using
the example network (i). A correspondent node CN wants to send an IP
packet to the MN. One of the requirements of the mobile IP was to support
hiding the mobility of the MN. Therefore CN doesn’t need to know anything
about the MN’s current locations & send s the packet as usual to the IP
address of the MN (step-1). This means that CN sends an IP packet with MN
as destination address & CN as source address. The Internet, not having
information on the current location of MN routes the packet to the router
responsible for the home network of MN. This is done using the standard
routing mechanisms of the Internet.
The HA now intercepts the packet, knowing that MN is
currently not its home network. Thus, the packet is not forwarded to the
subnet as usual, but an encapsulated & tunneled to the COA. This is done by
putting a new header in front of the old IP header showing the COA new
destination & HA as source of the encapsulated packet (step-2). The foreign
agent now encapsulates the packet i.e. removes the additional header &
forwards the original packet with CN as source & MN as destination to the
MN (step-3). Again for the MN mobility is not visible. It receives the packet
with the same sender & receiver address, as it would have done in the home
network.

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 At a first look sending packets from the MN to the CN is much
simpler. The MN sends the packet as usual with its own fixed IP address as
source & CN’s address as destination (step-4). The router with the FA acts
as default router & forwards the packet in the same way, as it would do for
any other node in the foreign network. As long as CN is a fixed node the
remainder is in the fixed Internet as usual. If CN were also a mobile node
residing in a foreign network the same mechanisms as described in step-1
through step-3 would apply in other direction

Home
Router Router Foreign
MN
Network HA FA Network
MN

Internet

Figure (ii)
CN Router

(Packet delivery to & from the mobile node)

SUMMARY
Mobility supports on the network layer is a special importance,
as the network layer holds together the huge Internet with the common
protocol IP. Although based on possibly different wireless or wired
technologies, all nodes of the network should be able to communicate.
Therefore, mobile IP has been designed which enables the mobility in the
Internet without changing existing wired system.
References: 1.www.goolie.com,(2).www.rediff.com,(3)www.sify.com.
4.Mobile Communications by Jochechiller.
5.www.mamma.com