Fuji-Keizai’s Report on Upcoming Trends in Mobile Computing and Communications, 1998 1 Mobile IP: A Solution for Transparent, Seamless Mobile Computer Communications b J. Redi a ,P.Bahl a Dept.of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University,
[email protected] b Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA,
[email protected] There is hardly a more pervasive trend in the world today tions. When a mobile computer is not physically connected to than communications. The momentum towards anytime, any- it’s home subnet, IP is incapable of routing packets to it cor- where and any-type of communication is fueled by advances rectly. This then provides the motivation and the fundamen- in radio frequency technology, near-exponential sales of laptop tal objective for Mobile IP: to allow a computer to maintain computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), as well as normal communications with its home network and all other new models of business that expect and rely on instantaneous nodes on the Internet regardless of its point of attachment and information availability. The commonly romanced vision of a while it is moving. traveling executive being able to have uninterrupted, uninhib- ited access to his office mail, office databases, personal files, A fully deployed wide-area Mobile IP system will allow the and video conferencing while moving between geographically nomadic user to plug her palmtop computer into a network separated customer locations, airports and hotels is a reality in a conference room or at a coffee house without a need for that will happen in the next few years. her to reconfigure her machine.