Patent ID: 7552234

Claim:
A method in an Internet Protocol (IP) based router, the method comprising: receiving by the router a binding update request generated by a mobile router, the router configured for sending packets output from a correspondent node to the mobile router via a wide area network, the binding update request addressed to the router and specifying a home address for the mobile router, a care-of address for the mobile router, and a mobile router flag specifying that the binding update was generated by a mobile router; selectively establishing by the router a bidirectional tunnel between the mobile router and the router, by entering the binding update request in a binding cache entry indicating the home address is reached by the care-of address, based on the router verifying that the home address is reachable via the care-of address, wherein the bidirectional tunnel is terminated by the mobile router and the router; updating by the router a routing table to specify that at least one identified address prefix served by the mobile router is reachable via the home address, the router distinct from a home agent configured for providing reachability to the mobile router via a mobile router-home agent tunnel that is distinct from the bidirectional tunnel; wherein the router executes the verifying that the home address is reachable via the care-of address based on: first sending a first packet, having a first secure key, to the home address for the mobile router; second sending a second packet, having a second secure key, to the care-of address for the mobile router; and verifying the home address is reachable via the care-of address based on detecting the first secure key and the second secure key within the binding update request.