A DHCPv6 Based IPv6 Autoconfiguration Mechanism for Subordinate MANET

Abstract

In order to communicate among themselves and with the devices on the Internet, a Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET) node needs to configure its interface(s) with IP address(es). MANET is a multi-hop network often consisting of mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, laptops with wireless interface(s). Due to some of the MANET inherent characteristics such as mobility, multi-hop and ad hoc, manual configuration of IP address(es)/prefix(es) is not desirable and practical. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 (DHCPv6) is Internet Engineering Task Force defined standard mechanism to autoconfigure IPv6 address in a stateful manner. This paper discusses subordinate MANET scenario and applicability of DHCPv6 in such scenario. The paper then proposes a novel approach to dynamically configure DHCPv6 relay agents in order to make DHCPv6 message exchange possible between MANET nodes DHCPv6 clients) and DHCPv6 server ensuring minimal control overhead. Proposed solution facilitates seamless integration of MANET with the Internet. Operation of the relay agent is kept transparent to the client and server as required by the DHCPv6 specification. The optimization helps to reduce configuration latency and signal overhead. The proposed mechanism is evaluated and analyzed using ns-2.31 over IEEE 802.11 MAC/PHY layer and Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector routing protocol.