Patent ID: 8077695

Claim:
An apparatus for supporting mobility in a communications system, comprising: means for operating a routing control node to receive a forwarding control message, said forwarding control message being communicated from a mobile node to the routing control node via an access node, the access node serving as the mobile node's point of attachment to a network via a wireless link, said forwarding control message being forwarded to said routing control node over a control path which does not traverse a data packet forwarding node, the access node comprising a foreign agent; means for operating the routing control node to establish a data packet forwarding path between the data packet forwarding node and one of said access node and said mobile node, said routing control node being outside said data packet forwarding path; means for operating the routing control node to transmit a response message to said mobile node indicating acceptance of a request for establishment of said data packet forwarding path; means for operating the data packet forwarding node to transmit a routing advertisement for an address associated with a first identifier; and means for operating said access node to transmit a routing advertisement for an address associated with a second identifier; wherein said forwarding control message to the routing control node includes a request for installation in a table in said routing control node of a tunnel state entry associating the first and second identifiers; wherein said forwarding control message and said response message are Internet Protocol signals used for mobility signaling; wherein the first identifier is a home address of the mobile node; wherein the routing control node is a home agent which performs packet routing control functions used to support mobile node mobility; wherein the second identifier is one of a colocated care of address of said mobile node and a care of address of a mobility agent located at said access node; and wherein the data packet forwarding node is a tunnel agent.