This book introduces the TCP/IP-savvy reader to the design and implementation of Internet protocols useful for maintaining network connections while moving from place to place. It describes the technology that makes mobile networking possible; in particular, it focuses on Mobile IP, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Standard for mobile networking. Written by Charles E. Perkins, a leader in the mobile networking field, this book discusses: mobile IP; route optimization; IP version 6; use of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP); and encapsulation. After reading Mobile IP, a network engineer will be able to produce implementations of Mobile IP for mobile nodes, foreign agents, and home agents. As with any Internet protocol, mobile IP requires precise handling of packetized control data; all of the needed steps for that handling are detailed fully in this book. The necessary control mechanisms for processing advertisements (perhaps received over wireless media) are given first, followed by the main part of the Mobile IP protocol, which addresses how the mobile node registers its current IP attachment information with the support infrastructure on its home network. This book also details how Mobile IP specifies the handling of data packets destined for the mobile node. In addition to the base protocol, this book also presents newly specified enhancements to Mobile IP, and details the protocol support needed for enabling mobile networks using IPv6, the new version of IP with 128-bit addresses. Interactions between Mobile IP and other protocols (such as DHCP) are described, enabling network engineers to get a complete understanding of the system effects of deploying Mobile IP in enterprise networks. Other current trends in protocol development relevant to Mobile IP are also described, such as ways to reduce registration traffic with the home network, and first steps towards integrating Mobile IP with enterprise security installations such as firewalls and border routers.