Mobile Computing Unit 3
Mobile Computing Unit 3
Terminologies:
Mobile Node (MN): The user’s handheld device, like a cell phone.
Home Network: The original network to which the mobile node’s IP address
(home address) belongs.
Home Agent (HA): A router in the home network where the mobile node was
originally connected.
Home Address: The permanent IP address assigned to the mobile node in its
home network.
Foreign Network: The network the mobile node is currently visiting, different
from its home network.
Foreign Agent (FA): A router in the foreign network where the mobile node is
currently connected. It receives packets from the home agent and delivers
them to the mobile node.
Care-of Address (COA): A temporary address used by the mobile node while
away from its home network.
Foreign Agent COA: The COA is the IP address of the foreign agent, which
forwards packets to the mobile node. Multiple mobile nodes can share this
COA.
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Co-located COA: The mobile node temporarily acquires an additional IP
address as its COA, making it the tunnel endpoint. This address can be
obtained using services like DHCP.
How It Works:
1. The correspondent node (CN) sends data to the mobile node (MN). The data
packets have the CN's address as the source and the MN's home address as
the destination.
3. Since the MN is now in a foreign network, not the home network, the foreign
agent (FA) informs the HA of the MN's care-of address (COA), where all
packets should be sent.
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4. A tunnel is created between the HA and FA through a process called tunneling.
Tunneling:
Tunneling sets up a virtual path between the tunnel entry (HA) and the
endpoint (FA).
This involves encapsulating the original data packets within new packets.
1. The HA encapsulates the original data packets, setting the source address as
the HA and the destination address as the COA, then sends them through the
tunnel to the FA.
3. The MN receives the data and sends a response back to the FA.
The mobile node (MN) receives these messages and checks if they are
from its home agent.
2. Agent Registration:
The FA forwards this request, along with the care-of address (COA), to the
home agent (HA).
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The FA then sends the registration reply to the MN, completing the
registration process.
3. Tunneling:
Tunneling sets up a virtual path (pipe) for packets between the tunnel
entry (HA) and the endpoint (COA).
Binding Cache: The correspondent node (CN) uses a binding cache, which
stores the mobile node's (MN) home address and current care-of address
(COA).
Binding Update: When the home agent (HA) receives a packet for the MN, it
sends a binding update to the CN to update its binding cache with the MN’s
current COA.
Direct Tunneling: After updating, the CN can directly send packets to the MN
using the COA.
Encapsulation
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In Mobile IP, encapsulation is a method used to add extra headers to IP packets to
help route and forward them between mobile nodes and their home and
correspondent nodes as they move across different networks. There are two main
types of encapsulation in Mobile IP:
1. Tunneling:
Packets sent to the mobile node's home address are tunneled from the
correspondent node to the home agent.
The original packet is wrapped with a new IP header, with the destination
set to the CoA.
This method allows packets to reach the mobile node's new location while
keeping the original packet header for end-to-end communication.
2. IP in IP Encapsulation:
The new outer IP header contains routing information to deliver the packet
to the CoA.
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Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol
used to automatically assign IP addresses and other network configuration
settings to devices on a network. Here’s how it works:
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Default gateway: Specifies the router through which devices can access
external networks.
Time servers: Provide devices with the current time and date.
Ad hoc networks
Ad hoc networks are wireless networks formed by devices that talk directly to
each other, without needing a main hub or control center. They're useful in places
where regular networks aren't possible.
1. Decentralized: These networks don't rely on a main hub. Instead, all the
devices talk to each other directly.
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5. Routing Challenges: Sending messages between devices in these networks
can be tricky because the layout of the network keeps changing.
Ad hoc networks are handy because they can work in places where regular
networks can't, but they also have some special problems that need solving, like
how to manage power, how to send messages around, and how to keep
everything secure.
Localization
Localization in Mobile IP means finding the location of a mobile device within a
network or between networks as it moves around. Knowing where the device is
helps provide location-based services, use network resources better, and ensure
smooth transitions between network areas.
Geolocation Techniques: These are methods used to find the device's location.
They include:
Wi-Fi positioning
Cellular triangulation
Sensor fusion (using data from multiple sensors like GPS, accelerometers,
and gyroscopes)
Location Updates: This means sending the device's current location (latitude and
longitude) to the network. Updates can happen automatically when the device
moves or connects to a different network.
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Location Management: This helps the network send data to the device efficiently
and offer location-based services.
Handover Optimization: Knowing the device's location helps make handovers
between network areas smoother by predicting where the device will move next.
Privacy Considerations: While finding the device's location is useful, it also brings
up privacy issues because it involves tracking where users go.
2. Hidden Terminal Problem: This problem occurs when two devices can
communicate with a third device but can't see each other. They might
unknowingly interfere with each other's transmissions, causing collisions.
MAC protocols like RTS/CTS (Request to Send/Clear to Send) help reduce this
problem by signaling before sending data to reserve the communication
channel.
3. Exposed Terminal Problem: This happens when a device doesn't send data
because it mistakenly thinks another nearby device is using the channel. In
reality, it could send data without causing problems. Protocols like RTS/CTS
help by allowing devices to announce their plans to transmit data, reducing
unnecessary waiting.
4. MAC Layer Attacks: Mobile devices can face attacks like spoofing,
eavesdropping, deauthentication, and denial-of-service. These attacks exploit
weaknesses in MAC protocols to disrupt communication, steal data, or
impersonate devices. Using secure MAC protocols and encryption methods
like WPA2 or WPA3 helps protect against these threats.
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5. Channel Congestion: In crowded areas or networks with heavy traffic, too
many devices trying to use the same channel can cause congestion. This
leads to slower performance and more competition for the communication
medium. MAC protocols need to manage channel access efficiently to avoid
congestion and ensure fair use of resources.
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1. Pro-active Routing Protocols: Also known as table-driven protocols, each
node keeps a routing table with routes to all possible destinations. These
tables are regularly updated as the network changes. However, this method
doesn’t work well for large networks because the tables can get too big.
3. Hybrid Routing Protocols: These combine the benefits of both reactive and
pro-active protocols. They adapt based on the zone and position of the nodes.
One popular hybrid protocol is Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP).
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Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP): The network is divided into zones. If the
source and destination are in the same zone, proactive routing is used. If
they are in different zones, reactive routing is used. This ensures efficient
data transmission.
1. Widely Distributed: The routing protocol should be able to work across the
entire network.
4. Avoid Impermeable Routes: It should not use routes that are likely to become
inaccessible.
5. Fast Convergence: The protocol should quickly find and establish routes.
6. Local Information Storage: Each node should only need to keep information
about the nearby network topology.
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1. Packet Switching: VoIP converts voice signals into small data packets and
sends them using packet-switched technology. This method uses network
bandwidth more efficiently than the circuit-switched systems used in
traditional phones.
3. Protocols: VoIP relies on various protocols for signaling, call setup, and data
transmission. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is widely used for starting,
maintaining, and ending VoIP sessions. Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) are used to securely
transport voice and multimedia data over IP networks.
5. Features: VoIP offers many features beyond basic voice calls, including video
calling, conference calling, instant messaging, presence information,
voicemail, call forwarding, and call recording. These features enhance
communication and collaboration.
7. Challenges: VoIP faces challenges like network latency, packet loss, jitter, and
security threats (e.g., eavesdropping, call spoofing). Quality of Service (QoS)
mechanisms, encryption, and authentication protocols help overcome these
challenges and ensure reliable and secure VoIP communication.
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IP Security (IPSec)
IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is a set of protocols developed by the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) to secure communication between two points over
an IP network. It ensures data authentication, integrity, and confidentiality, and
handles the encryption, decryption, and authentication of data packets. IPSec also
defines protocols for secure key exchange and management.
Uses of IPSec
IPSec can be used for:
2. Securing Routers: Ensuring the security of routing data sent across the public
internet.
Components of IPSec
IPSec consists of the following components:
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like SHA and MD5. It ensures that only authorized packets are delivered to the
receiver by generating a unique identifier for each packet.
IP Security Architecture
The IPSec architecture uses ESP and AH protocols to secure data flow. It includes
protocols, algorithms, Domain of Interpretation (DOI), and key management
components to provide:
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How IP Security (IPSec) Works
1. Packet Check: The host checks if a packet should use IPSec. If yes, it triggers
a security policy and applies the necessary encryption. Incoming packets are
also checked to ensure they are properly encrypted.
2. IKE Phase 1: In this phase, two hosts using IPSec authenticate each other to
create a secure channel. This phase has two modes:
4. IKE Phase 2: Conducted over the secure channel, this phase involves the two
hosts agreeing on the cryptographic algorithms and secret keys to be used for
the session.
5. Data Exchange: Data is exchanged through the IPSec encrypted tunnel. The
hosts use IPSec Security Associations (SAs) to encrypt and decrypt the
packets.
Features of IPSec
1. Authentication: IPSec verifies the identity of IP packets using digital
signatures or shared secrets, ensuring packets are not tampered with or
forged.
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4. Key Management: IPSec manages cryptographic keys, including key
exchange and revocation, to keep keys secure.
Advantages of IPSec
1. Strong Security: Provides robust cryptographic security to protect sensitive
data and ensure network privacy and integrity.
4. Scalability: Can be scaled to secure both small and large networks as needed.
Disadvantages of IPSec
1. Complex Configuration: Can be complicated to set up and requires
specialized knowledge.
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5. Limited Protection: Only secures IP traffic, leaving other protocols like ICMP,
DNS, and routing protocols potentially vulnerable to attacks.
TCP is a really reliable way for mobile devices to talk to each other.
But in mobile situations, TCP can sometimes have hiccups because of things
like switching between different parts of the network, losing packets because
of weak wireless signals, or changing network speeds.
To deal with these issues, there are special ways to make TCP work better on
mobiles, like Fast Handover tricks, tweaking TCP to handle wireless networks
better, and making sure network delays don't slow things down too much.
UDP is a simpler way for devices to talk without all the fuss of making sure
every bit arrives perfectly.
It's great for things that need to happen quickly, like live chatting, video
streaming, gaming, or sending info between smart devices.
While UDP doesn't check for errors or control how fast data flows, mobile
apps can build their own ways to handle mistakes and keep data moving
smoothly.
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Some transport protocols are made just for mobiles to deal with their special
needs.
For example, Mobile TCP (M-TCP) tries to make regular TCP work better on
mobile networks by understanding how devices move around, and SCTP
(Stream Control Transmission Protocol) helps with having more than one way
to connect and keeps going even if parts of the network fail.
1. Fast Handover Support: M-TCP helps reduce disruptions caused when mobile
devices switch between different network cells or access points.
4. Transmission Rate Adaptation: M-TCP can change the data transmission rate
based on available bandwidth, network delay, and signal quality.
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