Patent ID: 7123598

Claim:
A method for efficient QoS signaling for Mobile IP protocol using RSVP framework in which mobile nodes are connected to correspondent nodes via a plurality of intermediate nodes, comprising the steps of: initiating in the mobile node a first PATH message for upstream data; sending the first PATH message for upstream data from the mobile node to the correspondent node via intermediate nodes; initiating in the correspondent node a first RESV message for upstream data; sending this RESV message for upstream data from the correspondent node to the mobile node via the intermediate nodes; thereafter sending REFRESH (periodic PATH and RESV) messages only between intermediate nodes; initiating in the correspondent node a first PATH message for downstream data; sending the first PATH message for downstream data from the correspondent node to the mobile node via intermediate nodes; initiating in the mobile node a first RESV message for downstream data; sending the first RESV message for downstream data from the mobile node to the correspondent node via the intermediate nodes; thereafter sending REFRESH (periodic PATH and RESV) messages for downstream data only between intermediate nodes; handing over the mobile node from an old access router to a new access router; and transferring, as part of the handover, PATH and RESV state block information from the old access router to the new access router, whereby an RSVP resource allocated to the mobile node prior to the handover is reused for the mobile node after the handover wherein REFRESH messages are exchanged between the intermediate nodes, wherein the mobile node is attached to a first node of the intermediate nodes by a wireless link, and wherein subsequent REFRESH message do not traverse the wireless link.