Seamless mobility between current and future IP networks

During the last few years 3G cellular networks are starting to be deployed, but it is not until the next generation of cellular networks, 4G, that the data transfer rates are high enough to motivate users to be mobile at all times. 4G networks will probably transfer data and voice over the next generation Internet Protocol, IPv6, due to the massive amount of IP devices predicted to be used around the world. Mobile users can today use Mobile IPv4 from cellular access networks to connect their laptop or handheld device securely to the home network to use internal services, but Mobile IPv4 cannot be used to deliver IPv4 mobility from IPv6 access networks. The purpose of the work presented in this thesis is to propose and implement a solution for Mobile IPv4 that allow mobile users to roam seamlessly between access networks that are using different versions of the Internet Protocol, while maintaining a secured IPv4 connection to the home network. In the theoretical part the available mechanisms are discussed and together they are combined into a complete solution that can deliver IPv4 and IPv6 mobility from any access network. The proposed solution developed during this thesis is implemented as a prototype in ipUnplugged’s Roaming Gateway and Roaming Client products to demonstrate how the solution can be used. To test the implementation a combined IPv4/IPv6 test network is set up in a controlled lab environment. Also, the functionality, performance and usability of the solution is analyzed.Validerat; 20101217 (root