Roaming in a Communications Network

Abstract

Communicating over a network may include a mobile proxy device to receive a request for a home agent from a mobile device. The mobile proxy device can assign a home agent to the mobile device and send a reply including a home-address associated with the assigned home agent to the mobile device.

1 . A method comprising: 
 receiving, at a mobile proxy device, from a mobile device that has moved into a foreign network, a request for a routable home-address via a network address translation (NAT) gateway;    in response to the request, assigning a routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway as a care-of-address for the mobile device;    sending to the mobile device a reply including the routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway for use as a care-of-address for the mobile device;    receiving from the mobile device a request for a home agent;    dynamically assigning one of a plurality of home agents to the mobile device; and    sending to the mobile device a reply having a home-address associated with the assigned home agent.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising assigning the routable home-address based on a source address of the request.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 receiving from the mobile device a subsequent request including the assigned routable home-address;    forwarding the subsequent request to a home agent associated with the mobile device;    receiving from the home agent a reply indicating that the routable home-address has been registered; and    forwarding the reply from the home agent to the mobile device.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the mobile proxy device receives requests in a home network.  
   
   
       5 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a network interface adapter; and    a processor coupled to the network adapter, wherein the processor is adapted to: 
 receive a request for a routable home-address from a mobile device via a network address translation (NAT) gateway, when the mobile device moves into a foreign network,  
 in response to the request, assign a routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway as a care-of-address for the mobile device, and  
 send through the network interface adapter a reply to the mobile device, the reply including the assigned one of plurality of routable home-addresses associated with the NAT gateway for use as a care-of address for the mobile device;  
 wherein the processor and network interface adapter are located in a home network.  
   
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is adapted to assign the routable home-address based on a source address of the request.  
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is adapted to: 
 receive from the mobile device a subsequent request having the routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway as the care-of-address for the mobile device;    forward the subsequent request to a home agent in a home network associated with the mobile device;    in response to the forwarded request, receive a reply from the home agent indicating that the routable home-address has been registered; and    forward the reply to the mobile device.    
   
   
       8 . An article comprising a computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to: 
 receive, at a mobile proxy device, a request for a routable address from a mobile device via a network address translation (NAT) gateway, when the mobile device moves into a foreign network;    in response to the request, assign a routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway as a care-of-address for the mobile device in response to receiving the request;    send to the mobile device a reply including the routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway for use as the care-of address for the mobile device, and    dynamically assign one of a plurality of home agents to the mobile device.    
   
   
       9 . The article of  claim 8  further comprising instructions for causing the computer to assign the routable home-address based on a source address of the request.  
   
   
       10 . The article of  claim 8  further comprising instructions for causing the computer to 
 in response to receipt from the mobile device of a subsequent request having the routable home-address, forward the subsequent request to the home agent associated with the mobile device;    in response to the forwarded subsequent request, receive a reply from the home agent indicating that the routable home-address has been registered; and    forward the reply to the mobile device.    
   
   
       11 . The article of  claim 8  wherein the mobile proxy device is located in a home network.  
   
   
       12 . A system comprising: 
 a mobile device; and    a mobile proxy including a processor and instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to: 
 receive a request for a routable address, via a network address translation (NAT) gateway from the mobile device, when the mobile device moves into a foreign network,  
 in response to the request, assign a routable home-address associated with the NAT gateway for use as a care-of-address by the mobile device,  
 send to the mobile device a reply including the routable home-address, and  
 dynamically assigning one of plurality of home agents to the mobile device.  
   
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the mobile proxy further comprises instructions to cause the processor to assign a routable home-address based on a source address of the request.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the mobile proxy further comprises instructions to cause the processor to: 
 in response to receipt from the mobile device a subsequent request having the routable home-address, forward the request to the home agent associated with the mobile device;    in response to the forwarded request, receive a reply from the home agent indicating that the routable home-address has been registered; and    forward the reply to the mobile device.    
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the mobile proxy device is located in a home network.