US6466964B1 — Methods and apparatus for providing mobility of a…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 111 words

A server configured to store and provide authentication keys upon request, the server comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the memory and the processor are adapted to provide a plurality of authentication keys, the plurality of authentication keys being associated with a plurality of nodes, wherein the server is adapted for providing one of the plurality of authentication keys associated with one of the plurality of nodes to a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP in response to a request received from the Foreign Agent, the request identifying a node that does not support Mobile IP, thereby enabling the Foreign Agent to generate an authentication extension.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 111 words

A server configured to store and provide authentication keys upon request, the server comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the memory and the processor are adapted to provide a plurality of authentication keys, the plurality of authentication keys being associated with a plurality of nodes, wherein the server is adapted for providing one of the plurality of authentication keys associated with one of the plurality of nodes to a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP in response to a request received from the Foreign Agent, the request identifying a node that does not support Mobile IP, thereby enabling the Foreign Agent to generate an authentication extension.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 21 words

The server as recited in claim 1 , wherein the authentication extension is a Mobile Node to Home Agent Authentication Extension.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 59 words

The server as recited in claim 1 , wherein the server is further adapted to provide one of the plurality of authentication keys associated with one of the plurality of nodes in response to a request received from a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP to enable the Home Agent to authenticate the one of the plurality of nodes.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 17 words

The server as recited in claim 1 , wherein the server is a TACACS+ or RADIUS server.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 77 words

In a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a packet; and ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; wherein when a node has been detected, composing a registration request on behalf of the node; and sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 77 words

In a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a packet; and ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; wherein when a node has been detected, composing a registration request on behalf of the node; and sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: receiving a registration reply from the Home Agent; and examining the registration reply to determine success or failure of the registration.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein receiving a packet comprises at least one of receiving an ARP request, receiving a data packet, and receiving an access point control packet.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further including: determining that the node has not registered with its Home Agent via the Foreign Agent.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein determining that the node has not registered with its Home Agent via the Foreign Agent includes comparing a node ID identifying the node with one or more entries in a visitor table associated with the Foreign Agent.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 81 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: associating a MAC address with an interface of the Foreign Agent; and associating a dummy interface IP address with the interface of the Foreign Agent, wherein the dummy interface IP address is associated with the interface of each one of a plurality of Foreign Agents, thereby facilitating communication between a node that does not support Mobile IP with one of the plurality of Foreign Agents via the dummy interface IP address.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein ascertaining whether the node has been detected includes at least one of receiving an ARP request, receiving a data packet, and receiving an access point control packet.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further including: checking if the node needs to be registered with the Home Agent; wherein generating a registration request is performed if the node needs to be registered.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the node needs to be registered when the node is permitted to roam in a network associated with the Foreign Agent.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the node needs to be registered if a node ID associated with the node is in an access list of the Foreign Agent.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein composing a registration request includes: composing an authentication extension using an authentication key for the node; and appending the authentication extension to the registration request.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the authentication extension is a Mobile-Home Authentication Extension.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method as recited in claim 15 , further including: determining whether the Foreign Agent has the authentication key for the node; and if it is determined that the Foreign Agent does not have an authentication key for the node, obtaining the authentication key for the node.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method as recited in claim 17 , wherein obtaining the authentication key for the node includes: obtaining the authentication key from a TACACS+ server or a RADIUS server.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 67 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: determining whether the Foreign Agent has an authentication key for the node; wherein when it is determined that the Foreign Agent does not have the authentication key for the node, obtaining the authentication key for the node, generating an authentication extension from the authentication key for the node, and appending the authentication extension to the registration request.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the authentication extension is a Mobile-Home Authentication extension.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: indicating in the registration request that the node has registered with its Home Agent via the Foreign Agent.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 72 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the node is configured to have a default gateway, wherein the default gateway specifies a virtual agent IP address, the virtual agent IP address being an IP address that is associated with a plurality of Foreign Agents including the Foreign Agent, thereby enabling the node to roam to each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents and send packets via the default gateway.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method as recited in claim 22 , wherein each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents are further configured to have a common MAC address.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 69 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: assigning an IP address to an interface of the Foreign Agent, the interface of the Foreign Agent being associated with a MAC address, wherein the IP address is assigned to an interface of a plurality of foreign agents; and updating an ARP table with a mapping of the IP address to the MAC address associated with the Foreign Agent.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method as recited in claim 24 , wherein updating an ARP table is performed on a periodic basis.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 83 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: assigning an IP address to an interface of the Foreign Agent, the interface of the Foreign Agent being associated with a MAC address; and wherein the IP address is assigned to an interface of one or more additional Foreign Agents, each interfare having an associated MAC address thereby enabling the node to roam to the Foreign Agent by accessing an ARP table in which the IP address is mapped to the MAC address.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method as recited in claim 26 , further comprising: updating the ARP table with a mapping of the IP address to the MAC address associated with the Foreign Agent.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method as recited in claim 27 , wherein updating is performed by the Foreign Agent such that the MAC address is being mapped to the IP address in the ARP table.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method as recited in claim 28 , wherein updating includes: sending a gratuitous ARP to update the ARP table.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method as recited in claim 26 , further comprising: notifying the node that the ARP table needs to be modified to reflect a mapping of the MAC address to the IP address.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method as recited in claim 30 , further comprising: determining that the node has not registered with its Home Agent via the Foreign Agent.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 46 words

The method as recited in claim 31 , wherein determining that the node has not registered with its Home Agent via the Foreign Agent comprises comparing a node ID identifying the node with one or more entries in a visitor table associated with the Foreign Agent.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method as recited in claim 30 , wherein notifying comprises performing a gratuitous ARP in response to detecting the node such that the MAC address is mapped to the virtual IP address in the ARP table.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 43 words

The method as recited in claim 21 , wherein the registration request includes a Time to Live field and wherein indicating in the registration request includes decrementing the Time to Live field upon completion of registration of the node with the Home Agent.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 39 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the packet is a data packet, the method further comprising: examining the data packet to ascertain whether the node has previously registered with its Home Agent via another Foreign Agent.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method as recited in claim 35 , wherein the data packet includes a Time to Live field and examining the data packet comprises determining whether the Time to Live field has previously been decremented to indicate that registration has been completed.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method as recited in claim 35 , wherein the data packet includes a header identifying a source MAC address and examining the data packet to ascertain whether the node has previously registered with its Home Agent via another Foreign Agent comprises ascertaining whether the source MAC address identifies a router.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 88 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , further comprising: examining a pending registrations list to determine whether a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within a first specified period of time; wherein when it is determined that a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within the first specified period of time, the Foreign Agent forwards traffic generated by the node and avoids registration on behalf of the node for a second specified period of time.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the packet is sent in response to a signal received from an access point associated with the Foreign Agent, the signal indicating that the node is in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the packet is sent to the Foreign Agent when it is detected that the signal from an access point associated with the Foreign Agent is greater than a signal from another access point associated with another Foreign Agent.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 67 words

The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the node is associated with a default gateway, the default gateway associating a virtual IP address with a MAC address of the Foreign Agent, the virtual IP address being associated with an interface of a plurality of Foreign Agents including the Foreign Agent, thereby enabling the node to roam to each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 138 words

In a Home Agent supporting Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the registration request being composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and identifying the node; updating a mobility binding table to associate the first Foreign Agent with the node; updating the mobility binding table to perform de-registration of the node such that movement of the node from a second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent is recorded, wherein performing de-registration is performed without a de-registration message from the node indicating that the node requests de-registration; and notifying the second Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 138 words

In a Home Agent supporting Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the registration request being composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and identifying the node; updating a mobility binding table to associate the first Foreign Agent with the node; updating the mobility binding table to perform de-registration of the node such that movement of the node from a second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent is recorded, wherein performing de-registration is performed without a de-registration message from the node indicating that the node requests de-registration; and notifying the second Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 39 words

The method as recited in claim 42 , wherein notifying comprises sending a message to the second Foreign Agent such that an entry associated with the node is removed from a visitor table associated with the second Foreign Agent.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method as recited in claim 42 , wherein notifying is performed without a message from the node indicating that the node requests de-registration.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 66 words

The method as recited in claim 42 , further comprising: updating the mobility binding table to remove the association between the first Foreign Agent and the node when the node roams from the first Foreign Agent to its Home Agent; and notifying the first Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the first Foreign Agent to the Home Agent.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 152 words

In a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a first registration request identifying the node from a first Foreign Agent composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node that does not support Mobile IP; receiving a second registration request identifying the node from a second Foreign Agent composed by the second Foreign Agent on behalf of the node that does not support Mobile IP; updating a mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a first tunnel between the Home Agent and the first Foreign Agent; and updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a second tunnel between the Home Agent and the second Foreign Agent, wherein updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying the second tunnel is performed without removing the entry specifying the first tunnel.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 152 words

In a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a first registration request identifying the node from a first Foreign Agent composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node that does not support Mobile IP; receiving a second registration request identifying the node from a second Foreign Agent composed by the second Foreign Agent on behalf of the node that does not support Mobile IP; updating a mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a first tunnel between the Home Agent and the first Foreign Agent; and updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a second tunnel between the Home Agent and the second Foreign Agent, wherein updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying the second tunnel is performed without removing the entry specifying the first tunnel.

Claim 51

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method as recited in claim 46 , further including: forwarding a data packet through at least one of the first and second tunnels specified in the mobility binding table.

Claim 52

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method as recited in claim 46 , further including: forwarding a data packet through the first and the second tunnels specified in the mobility binding table.

Claim 53

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method as recited in claim 46 , further including: forwarding a data packet through only one of the first and the second tunnels specified in the mobility binding table.

Claim 54

Dependent Claim 105 words

In a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a first registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and including a node ID of the node; receiving a second registration request from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed by the second Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and including the node ID of the node; and denying registration from the first Foreign Agent for a specified period of time.

Claim 55

Dependent Claim 105 words

In a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, a method of registering a node that does not support Mobile IP, the method comprising: receiving a first registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed by the first Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and including a node ID of the node; receiving a second registration request from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed by the second Foreign Agent on behalf of the node and including the node ID of the node; and denying registration from the first Foreign Agent for a specified period of time.

Claim 56

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method as recited in claim 50 , wherein denying registration comprises: composing a registration reply including an indication that registration of the node is denied.

Claim 57

Dependent Claim 78 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a packet; instructions for ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP; instructions for composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and instructions for sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 58

Dependent Claim 78 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a packet; instructions for ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP; instructions for composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and instructions for sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 59

Dependent Claim 79 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , further comprising: instructions for determining whether a Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP has an authentication key for the node; instructions for obtaining the authentication key for the node when it is determined that the Foreign Agent does not have the authentication key for the node; instructions for generating an authentication extension from the authentication key for the node; and instructions for appending the authentication extension to the registration request.

Claim 60

Dependent Claim 86 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , further comprising: instructions for associating a MAC address with an interface of the Foreign Agent; and instructions for associating a dummy interface IP address with the interface of the Foreign Agent, wherein the dummy interface IP address is associated with the interface of each one of a plurality of Foreign Agents thereby facilitating communication between a node that does not support Mobile IP with one of the plurality of Foreign Agents via the dummy interface IP address.

Claim 61

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , further comprising: instructions for notifying the node that its ARP table needs to be modified to reflect a mapping of the MAC address to the virtual Foreign Agent IP address.

Claim 62

Dependent Claim 25 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , wherein the packet is an ARP request, a data packet, or an access point control packet.

Claim 63

Dependent Claim 33 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , further comprising: instructions for examining the data packet to ascertain whether the node has previously registered with its Home Agent via another Foreign Agent.

Claim 64

Dependent Claim 90 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , further comprising: instructions for examining a pending registrations list to determine whether a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within a first specified period of time; and instructions for forwarding traffic generated by the node and avoiding registration on behalf of the node for a second specified period of time when it is determined that a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within the first specified period of time.

Claim 65

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , wherein the packet is sent in response to detection of a signal from an access point, the packet indicating that the node is in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent.

Claim 66

Dependent Claim 53 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 52 , wherein a default gateway is associated with the node, the default gateway associating a virtual IP address with a MAC address of the Foreign Agent, the virtual IP address being associated with an interface of a plurality of Foreign Agents including the Foreign Agent.

Claim 67

Dependent Claim 145 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP in a Home Agent supporting Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent and identifying the node; instructions for updating a mobility binding table to associate the first Foreign Agent with the node; instructions for performing de-registration of the node to update the mobility binding table such that movement of the node from a second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent is recorded, wherein performing de-registration is performed without a de-registration message from the node indicating that the node requests de-registration; and instructions for notifying the second Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent.

Claim 68

Dependent Claim 145 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP in a Home Agent supporting Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent and identifying the node; instructions for updating a mobility binding table to associate the first Foreign Agent with the node; instructions for performing de-registration of the node to update the mobility binding table such that movement of the node from a second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent is recorded, wherein performing de-registration is performed without a de-registration message from the node indicating that the node requests de-registration; and instructions for notifying the second Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the second Foreign Agent to the first Foreign Agent.

Claim 69

Dependent Claim 71 words

The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 61 , further comprising: instructions for updating the mobility binding table to remove the assocation between the first Foreign Agent and the node when the node roams from the first Foreign Agent to its Home Agent; and instructions for notifying the first Foreign Agent to update its visitor table to reflect roaming of the node from the first Foreign Agent to the Home Agent.

Claim 70

Dependent Claim 157 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP by a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a first registration request identifying the node from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent; instructions for receiving a second registration request identifying the node from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the second Foreign Agent; instructions for updating a mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a first tunnel between the Home Agent and the first Foreign Agent; and instructions for updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a second tunnel between the Home Agent and the second Foreign Agent, wherein updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying the second tunnel is performed without removing the entry specifying the first tunnel.

Claim 71

Dependent Claim 157 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP by a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a first registration request identifying the node from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent; instructions for receiving a second registration request identifying the node from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the second Foreign Agent; instructions for updating a mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a first tunnel between the Home Agent and the first Foreign Agent; and instructions for updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying a second tunnel between the Home Agent and the second Foreign Agent, wherein updating the mobility binding table to include an entry specifying the second tunnel is performed without removing the entry specifying the first tunnel.

Claim 72

Dependent Claim 110 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP in a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a first registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent and including a node ID of the node; instructions for receiving a second registration request from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the second Foreign Agent and including the node ID of the node; and instructions for denying registration from the first Foreign Agent for a specified period of time.

Claim 73

Dependent Claim 110 words

A computer-readable medium for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP in a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: instructions for receiving a first registration request from a first Foreign Agent, the first registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the first Foreign Agent and including a node ID of the node; instructions for receiving a second registration request from a second Foreign Agent, the second registration request being composed on behalf of the node by the second Foreign Agent and including the node ID of the node; and instructions for denying registration from the first Foreign Agent for a specified period of time.

Claim 74

Dependent Claim 92 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: a processor; and a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for: receiving a packet; ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 75

Dependent Claim 92 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for registering a node that does not support Mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: a processor; and a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for: receiving a packet; ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 76

Dependent Claim 109 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for generating a registration request for a node that does not support Mobile IP, comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memory storing therein: instructions for determining whether the Foreign Agent has an authentication key for the node; instructions for obtaining the authentication key for the node when it is determined that the Foreign Agent does not have the authentication key for the node; instructions for composing a registration request identifying the node; instructions for generating an authentication extension from the authentication key for the node; and instructions for appending the authentication extension to the registration request.

Claim 77

Dependent Claim 109 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for generating a registration request for a node that does not support Mobile IP, comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memory storing therein: instructions for determining whether the Foreign Agent has an authentication key for the node; instructions for obtaining the authentication key for the node when it is determined that the Foreign Agent does not have the authentication key for the node; instructions for composing a registration request identifying the node; instructions for generating an authentication extension from the authentication key for the node; and instructions for appending the authentication extension to the registration request.

Claim 78

Dependent Claim 131 words

A Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for implementing a virtual Foreign Agent in a network having a plurality of Foreign Agents, comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memory storing therein: instructions for associating a MAC address with an interface of the Foreign Agent such that an interface of each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents is associated with a different MAC address; and instructions for associating a dummy interface IP address with the interface of the Foreign Agent, wherein the dummy interface IP address is associated with the interface of each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents thereby facilitating communication between a node that does not support Mobile IP with one of the plurality of Foreign Agents via the dummy interface IP address.

Claim 79

Dependent Claim 131 words

A Foreign Agent supporting Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for implementing a virtual Foreign Agent in a network having a plurality of Foreign Agents, comprising: a processor; and a memory, the memory storing therein: instructions for associating a MAC address with an interface of the Foreign Agent such that an interface of each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents is associated with a different MAC address; and instructions for associating a dummy interface IP address with the interface of the Foreign Agent, wherein the dummy interface IP address is associated with the interface of each one of the plurality of Foreign Agents thereby facilitating communication between a node that does not support Mobile IP with one of the plurality of Foreign Agents via the dummy interface IP address.

Claim 80

Dependent Claim 77 words

The Foreign Agent as recited in claim 65 , the Foreign Agent having a virtual Foreign Agent IP address and a MAC address, the virtual Foreign Agent IP address being associated with a plurality of foreign agents, wherein at least one of the processor and the memory are further adapted for: notifying the node that its ARP table needs to be modified to reflect a mapping of the MAC address to the virtual Foreign Agent IP address.

Claim 81

Dependent Claim 25 words

The Foreign Agent as recited in claim 65 , wherein the packet is an ARP request, a data packet, or an access point control packet.

Claim 82

Dependent Claim 42 words

Foreign Agent as recited in claim 65 , wherein at least one of the processor and the memory are further adapted for: examining the data packet to ascertain whether the node has previously registered with its Home Agent via another Foreign Agent.

Claim 83

Dependent Claim 98 words

The Foreign Agent as recited in claim 65 , wherein at least one of the processor and the memory are further adapted for: examining a pending registrations list to determine whether a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within a first specified period of time; and forwarding traffic generated by the node and avoiding registration on behalf of the node for a second specified period of time when it is determined that a plurality of registration requests have been sent on behalf of the node within the first specified period of time.

Claim 84

Dependent Claim 83 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: means for receiving a packet; means for ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; means for composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and means for sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Claim 85

Dependent Claim 83 words

A Foreign Agent that supports Mobile IP, the Foreign Agent being adapted for registering a node that does not support mobile IP with a Home Agent that supports Mobile IP, comprising: means for receiving a packet; means for ascertaining from the packet whether a node has been detected in a vicinity of the Foreign Agent; means for composing a registration request on behalf of the node when the node has been detected; and means for sending the registration request to the Home Agent.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2005-10-14	2006-04-15	2006-10-15	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2009-10-14	2010-04-15	2010-10-15	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2013-10-14	2014-04-15	2014-10-15	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Methods and apparatus for providing mobility of a node that does not support mobility

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