Patent ID: 8139571

Claim:
A mobile node operable to communicate with other communication networks, comprising: control circuitry on the mobile node and an input/output communication port to support communications with a home network having one or more home agents and an authentication server supporting communication with the home network and a foreign network, whereby the mobile node is operable to: (a) transmit and/or receive information packets secured using authenticators between the mobile node and one of the selected home agents, said authenticators generated using one or more shared secrets and, (b) generate, using a first algorithm, a first authenticator using a first shared secret, said first authenticator processed in an inverse calculation to derive the first shared secret, said first shared secret used in a second algorithm to generate a security data element at the home agent for securing information packets transmitted between the mobile node and the home agent, wherein the security data element is used to generate a second authenticator at the selected home agent, said second authenticator being transmitted to and processed at the mobile node in an inverse calculation to derive said security data element, which is used as a second shared secret by the mobile node and the home agent to secure communications.