Patent ID: 7333454

Claim:
A system for handing off a mobile node, the system comprising: a mobile node configured to communicate with an anchor agent, and configured to be handed off from the anchor agent; a target agent configured to establish a tunnel between the target agent and the anchor agent such that at least one data packet sent between the mobile node and a correspondent node passes between the target agent and the anchor agent through the tunnel; and a correspondent node configured to communicate with the mobile node, wherein the mobile node is configured to register with the target agent to thereby bind the mobile node to the target agent such that at least one data packet sent between the mobile node and the correspondent node passes through the target agent to the correspondent node independent of the anchor agent and the tunnel, and wherein the target agent is configured to close the tunnel between the target agent and the anchor agent after the mobile node registers with the target agent, wherein the target agent is configured to receive an outgoing data packet from the mobile node, the outgoing data packet being received after the mobile node registers with the target agent, and wherein the target agent is configured to forward the data packet to the correspondent node independent of the anchor agent and the tunnel, and in accordance with a link-layer context at the target agent, the link-layer context having been activated by the target agent, wherein the target agent is configured to receive at least one outgoing data packet, wherein the target agent is configured to forward the data packet by passing the at least one data packet through the tunnel to the anchor agent such that the anchor agent is configured to thereafter forward the at least one data packet to the correspondent node, the at least one data packet being passed through the tunnel until the target agent identifies a data packet including framing information representing a boundary of a link-layer frame, and thereafter passing a first portion of the identified data packet to the anchor agent through the tunnel such that the anchor agent can thereafter forward the first portion to the correspondent node, and passing a second portion of the identified data packet to the correspondent node independent of the anchor agent and the tunnel, wherein the first portion represents an end of a data transmission and the second portion represents a beginning of a subsequent data transmission, and wherein the target agent is configured to close the tunnel after passing the first portion of the identified data packet to the anchor agent through the tunnel.