Mobile IP Extension to the Click Modular Router

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Introduction

Documentation

• New Elements

  • MIPHomeBinding
  • HomeAgentTable(obsolete from v0.1)
  • MIPForeignList
  • ForeignAgentList(obsolete from v0.1)
  • MIPAdvert
  • MobileIPAdvertise(obsolete from v0.1)
  • MIPMobileState
  • MobileNodeState(obsolete from v0.1.2)
  • SetEtherSrc
  • IPTunneling
  • EtherTunneling
  • GratuARP

• Supporting Elements

  • InputSwitch
  • SwitchSyn

• Supporting Structures

  • mip.h
    This is a header file contains new structures for all the Mobile IP related extensions.
  • icmpext.h
    This is a header file contains new ICMP structures not included in Click itself.
  
  

Examples

• Configuration Examples

  • Case 1
    This is a very simple scheme which only contains:
    1. one Home Network with a Home Agent
    2. one Foreign Network with a Foreign Agent
    3. one Mobile Node with only one NIC
    The Mobile Node (MN(v0.1.2)) can be connected to either the Home Network (HN) or the Foreign Network (FN). It changes its point of attachment by switching to another cable, as shown below:

                ------                                    ------
               |  MN  |                                  |  MN  |
                ------                                    ------
                /                                              \
               /                      ==>                       \
              /                                                  \
        ------            ------               ------            ------
       |  HA  |----------|  FA  |             |  HA  |----------|  FA  |
        ------            ------               ------            ------
    		

    Here the Home Agent (HA(v0.1.2)) is also the gateway on the HN. Foreign Agent (FA(v0.1.2)) acts as the gateway on the FN. The direct line between HA and FA can be looked as a network connecting HN and FN.
    There could be quite some variations to Case 1. For example the direct link between HA and FA can be replaced with networks of any scale, as long as the routing tables of HA and FA are complete. Multiple NICs on the MN is also possible. You can refer to Case 2 to see how it works.
    
    
  • Case 2
    This is a much more complicated scheme which contains:
    1. one Home Network with a Home Agent
    2. two Foreign Networks with a Foreign Agent on each of them
    3. one Mobile Node with three NICs
    The MN (MN(v0.1.2)) can move around and connects to either the HN or one of the FNs. The change in its position can be realized by switching cables (as in case 1), or by connecting all of them at the same time and manually selecting the desired one. The latter is shown as below:

                     ------                                      ------
                    |  MN  |                                    |  MN  |
                     ------                                      ------
                   /    |   \                                  /    |   \
                 /      X     X                              X      |     X
               /        |       \                          /        |       \
        ------       ------       ------            ------       ------       ------
       |  HA  |     | FA 1 |     | FA 2 |   ==>    |  HA  |     | FA 1 |     | FA 2 |
        ------       ------       ------            ------       ------       ------
               \        |       /                          \        |        /
                 \      |     /                              \      |      /
                   \    |   /                                  \    |    /
                    --------                                     --------
                   | Router |                                   | Router |
                    --------                                     --------
    		

    It is realized by a small external program called mipchdev, which communicates with the running Click router via unix socket. The way to use the socket can be found here. The detailed instruction can be found in the .click configuration file of the MN.
    Having even more FNs in the configuration is possible. If not enough NICs are available, MN can be switched among different networks in a similar manner as in Case 1: you can disconnect any inactive link from its currently connected network to the network you want the MN to move to, and then activate it. The reason behind it is that all NICs on the MN are identical to the MN except their MAC addresses, so any NIC can be connected to any network.
  
  NOTE: version number in the parentheses indicates which version of the element set this configuration file uses.

• How to Use These Examples

  Normally the examples should be adjusted to fit your network environment before you can reuse them:
  • MAC Addresses MAC address for each NICs should be correctly set in the .click configuration files.
  • IP Addresses You can just use the IP addresses in the examples, or choose some other ones if you desire. Please note that the IP addresses configured in Linux (using 'ifconfig') can be different from the ones set in the .click files, but only the latter ones are effective.
  • Routing Table If you've changed the IP addresses, or you decide to change the topology, remember to supply a FULL routing table in the .click files. The routing table in Linux (use 'route' to show them) is NOT effective for Click running in the user-level mode. You can even flush this routing table, so that packets will only be processed and routed by the .click configurations.
  When you are familiar with these new elements, you can tailor the examples for your needs, or use these new elements in your own configurations. But please note that MIPHomeBinding, MIPForeignList, MobileNodeState and SwitchSyn need other elements' cooperation to carry out their functions.
  

Downloads

• Source files

  • Package Tarball for Click-CVS (v0.1.2) [TAR] (25/07/2005)
  • Package Tarball for Click-1.4.3 (v0.1.2) [TAR] (25/07/2005)
  • Package Tarball for Click-1.4.1 (v0.1.2) [TAR] (25/07/2005)
    
    

• Help Files

  • Diagram for the Home Agent (v0.1.1 and later) [PS] (26/05/2005)
  • Diagram for the Foreign Agent (v0.1.1 and later) [PS] (27/05/2005)
  • Diagram for the Mobile Node (Case 1) (v0.1.2 and later) [PS] (07/07/2005)
  • Diagram for the Gateway Foreign Agent (v0.1.3) [PS] (12/08/2005)
  
  
  NOTE: shaded elements are controled by MIPHomeBinding/MIPForeignList/MIPMobileNode.

Change Log

• 25/07/2005 Advanced to Version 0.1.2
  * MobileNodeState is replaced by MIPMobileNode.
  * mip.h is splitted into mip.h and icmpext.h, new structures for regional registration are added.
  * MIPHomeBinding and MIPForeignList now have stronger validation check.
  * MIPAdvert supports more flag setting options.
  * Example scripts adapted to the new version of elements.
• 30/05/2005 Available as Click Package
  * Now the source is also available as a separate Click package. The package, named 'mobileip', contains the sample configuration files as well. To use the new elements introduced in this package, you should add a new line 'require(mobileip);' in your configuration files.
• 25/05/2005 Advanced to Version 0.1.1
  * GratuARP is added for sending out gratuitous ARP replies.
  * Minor changes in the syntax of SwitchSyn.
  * Minor changes in MIPHomeBinding: it doesn't send gratuitous ARP any more; output to the Home Network now emits only IP packets, Ethernet header is added afterwards by EtherTunneling.
• 10/05/2005 Upgrade to Version 0.1
  * mip.h is changed to be more consistant with /include/clicknet/icmp.h
  * HomeAgentTable, ForeignAgentList and MobileIPAdvertise are replaced by MIPHomeBinding, MIPForeignList and MIPAdvert. MIPHomeBinding now only handles registrations, while HomeAgentTable takes care of registration, ARP and IP tunneling; The same is true for MIPForeignList replacing ForeignAgentList. MIPAdvert now handles both solicitated and periodically sent advertisements.
  * IPTunneling and EtherTunneling are added to take over the tunneling functionality which is extract from MIPHomeBinding and MIPForeignList.
  * the cooperation between elements is now always through Handlers.
• 25/03/2005 Version 0.0 released
  * New elements are added to the Click Router to support Mobile IPv4
  * Configuration examples are provided

Last update: 12/08/2005 by Dagang LI