Active network supports for mobile IP

The basic mobile IP protocol is difficult to implement on the traditional IP network and not flexible and efficient under certain conditions. For example, firewalls or bound- ary routers may drop packets sent by mobile nodes for security reasons. Traditional networking devices such as routers cannot dynamically load and unload extended services to achieve differ- ent qualities of services. In this paper, a new scheme of using the active network to support the mobile IP is presented. The Softnet, a prototype of active networks based on mobile agents, is introduced. The active network is characterized by the programmability of its intermediate nodes and therefore presents dynamic and flexible behaviors. Special services can be dynam- ically deployed onto the active nodes in the Softnet. This property is definitely required in implementing the mobile IP protocols. The Softnet supports not only the basic mobile IP pro- tocol but also other extended mobiIe IP protocols. Virtual networks for mobile IP services are dynamically formed by mobile agents in the Softnet to provide different qualities of services.