Q5Mobile Computing
Question
2 marks
Define tunneling and encapsulation in Mobile IP.
Answer
Encapsulation is the mathematical wrapping of an original IP packet inside a brand new IP header. Tunneling is the physical act of blasting this encapsulated packet across the network to a hidden endpoint.
In Mobile IP, when a packet arrives at the Home Agent, it cannot be routed normally because the mobile node has moved. The Home Agent violently encapsulates the packet (putting the new Care-of-Address on the outer header) and tunnels it directly to the Foreign Agent.