Mobile host tracking and resource discovery

Abstract

In mobile environments, as computers move to unknown networks, they need to discover new services, applications, and other network resources. Since the performance characteristics of such environments are often poor (due mainly to wireless communications and the restricted power of machines), mobile hosts require access to the nearest equivalent of some resource. On the other hand, services and applications located on the fixed part of the network may need to be aware of mobile host locations, in order to redirect messages, replies, references, files, displays, and so on. To achieve such resource discovery and mobile host tracking, a possible solution is to use a mechanism that supports remote object references --- Stub-Scion Pair Chains --- extended to allow host movement, disconnection and reconnection. Given this mechanism, we are able to install on both the fixed and mobile parts of the network some dedicated objects that allow the management of resource accesses and locations of mobile hosts, via tables and chains of references.