PROVIDING CONTINUOUS NETWORK ACCESS TO MOBILE HOSTS USING TCP IP

We present a solution to the problem of providing continuous network access for mobile hosts using the Internet Protocol (IP). Using IP's Loose Source Route option, mobile hosts are able to communicate with their correspondent hosts via an optimal route, no matter how often their location changes. Our solution is fault tolerant, scales well, is easy to administer, is invisible to applications running either on mobile hosts or their servers, and requires no changes to existing systems. Our solution will handle movement between connected networks (e.g., different buildings) without noticeable degradation of performance (except, of course, when the mobile user is out of range of any cell). We show also how our solution adapts to the use of encapsulation. We expect to enable mobility of computers in general, including wired computers.