Patent ID: 8654739

Claim:
A method performed by a foreign agent for providing an IP (Internet Protocol) session from a home agent to a mobile node by offering a virtual care-of address, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting an agent advertisement to the mobile node to advertise one or more IP addresses obtained from a data store of the foreign agent; receiving from the mobile node a registration request specifying a selected one out of the one or more IP addresses listed in the agent advertisement; verifying that the selected IP address is the virtual care-of address and not one of a plurality of regular care-of addresses of the foreign agent, wherein each of the plurality of regular care-of addresses marks the foreign agent's endpoint of each of a plurality of tunnels between the foreign agent and the home agent for the IP session; and dynamically mapping the virtual care-of address to selected one or more of the regular care-of addresses of the foreign agent to thereby bind the virtual care-of address with one or more of the tunnels for the IP session, such that utilization and efficiency of the plurality of tunnels are improved with respect to supporting traffic for multiple mobile nodes.