LNS-SID mobility management in dynamic ad hoc networks

This paper describes a novel mobility management approach for large heterogeneous ad hoc networks. Just as with DNS or SIP we use servers to provide dynamic name-to-address mappings; however, our logical name system (LNS) servers are designed to operate more robustly and efficiently in dynamic environments. LNS enhances robustness by replacing "home" or "fixed hierarchies of" servers by dynamic linkages amongst dynamically elected servers. The dynamic LNS linkages allow any node to be reached provided there is a path available, despite network splits, nodes moving, or nodes switching interfaces. LNS improves efficiency by mapping any abstract logical name to a list of IP addresses in a way that amortizes the cost of maintaining servers in a dynamic environment. An LNS name may refer, for example, to a user, node, multicast group, or service (e.g., to return a list of RservPool servers). Robustness and efficiency are further improved by doing the LNS address mapping only at the network layer and using a session identifier (SID) to support continuous connectivity as nodes change IP addresses.