Patent ID: 8238309

Claim:
One or more tangible non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method to pre-empt an active home agent included in a SHARP group having at least one non-active home agent, the method comprising: adding a new home agent to the SHARP group, wherein the new home agent is configured through a SHARP group identifier, hello time, failure threshold, multicast address, virtual media access control address, or priority attributes; checking the active home agent to determine if preemption is allowed when preemption is not allowed, copying a binding table of the active home agent to the inactive binding table of the new home agent and setting a status of the new home agent to non-active; when preemption is allowed, pre-empting the active home agent if the new home agent provides better communication metrics than the active home agent or has a higher priority than the active home agent, copying the binding table of the active home agent in the active binding table of the new home agent, updating a status of the active home agent to inactive, and setting the status of the new home agent to active.