Global Connectivity for Mobile IPv6–Based Ad Hoc Networks

The IPv6-enabled network architecture has recently attracted much attention. In this paper, we address the issue of connecting MANETs to global IPv6 networks while supporting IPv6 mobility. Specifically, we propose a self-organizing, self-addressing, self-routing IPv6-enabled MANET infrastructure, referred to as IPv6-based MANET. The proposed self-organization addressing protocol automatically organizes nodes into tree architecture and configures their global IPv6 addresses. Novel unicast and multicast routing protocols, based on longest prefix matching and soft state routing cache, are specially designed for the IPv6-based MANET. Mobile IPv6 is also supported such that a mobile node can move from one MANET to another. Moreover, a P2P information sharing system is also designed over the proposed IPv6-based MANET. We have implemented a prototyping system to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiently of the IPv6-based MANET and the P2P information sharing system. Simulations are also conducted to show the efficiency of the proposed routing protocol and the P2P file sharing system. 1