Minimal Latency Secure Hand-off
draft-calhoun-mobileip-min-lat-handoff-02

Abstract

The Mobile IP Working Group has been working on defining its AAA requirements, which currently supports a Key Distribution Center (KDC) model that issues temporary session keys for use between the mobility nodes. In order to support real-time traffic, the Mobile IP architecture also requires that hand-off be done in a quick and efficient manner, and has provisions to allow new foreign agents to retrieve the session keys from the AAA infrastructure. Although the AAA infrastructure can assist in the hand-off process, this is largely a mobility problem, and should be dealt with in the mobility protocol. This draft describes how the mobile node can assist in the hand-off process by carrying the foreign agent's keying information, providing the keys to new foreign agents (within the same administrative domain) while registering. This proposal is intended to decrease the latency involved in the hand-off process, thereby enabling seamless real time traffic over Mobile IP networks. This draft still allows the foreign agents to get keying information from the AAA infrastructure should that be necessary. At present, authentication in Mobile IP uses shared key cryptography. However, this proposal is general enough to be able to accommodate authentication based on public key digital signatures if and when it becomes feasible.

Authors

Pat R. Calhoun
Emad Qaddoura
Haseeb Akhtar
N Asokan

(Note: The e-mail addresses provided for the authors of this Internet-Draft may no longer be valid.)