Subject: [mobile-ip] Follow-up: Request for advice using MIPv4 on satellites

From: Francis Hallahan <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 11:53:30 -0500

On Thursday, Jan 16, The OMNI project successfully began
Mobile-IP tests with the CANDOS experiment from the payload bay of
the Shuttle Columbia. Initial results showed Mobile-IP linking up
from orbit every time, even over links that were too poor to use
otherwise. In addition, there was one opportunity for a handover test.

CANDOS is one of the experiments on the NASA Goddard FreeStar
HitchHiker payload flying on the shuttle. CANDOS is a combination of
the Low Power Transceiver (LPT) and an PC-104 processor running Linux.
CANDOS was designed to communicate either directly to NASA Ground
Stations or through the TDRS satellites in geosynchronous orbit. In
addition to other experiments being performed with CANDOS, the OMNI
team is using CANDOS to demonstrate the use of internet protocols to
an unmanned satellite, including tests with Mobile-IP.

Our very first communication, was an unscheduled opportunity with a
ground station. Because it was unscheduled, the experiments antenna
pointing was not optimized for this pass. However, Mobile-IP was able
to lock up and establish a tunnel for our use. This was an
unqualified success for Mobile-IP.

In a later IP experiment we were transferring files using Secure
Copy(SCP) using a link through the TDRS satellite to a NASA Ground
station. This contact was followed by another contact 12 minutes
later to a different TDRS using a different NASA Ground Station. The
file transfer did not complete by the end of the first contact; it
was left running over the handover and successfully completed after
Mobile-IP reestablished the tunnel to the new ground station.

In all, Mobile IP performance has exceeded our requirements. Results
from these tests are being evaluated and additional tests are planned
while the shuttle is in orbit.

Thank you to those who responded to my original post.  Your input was helpful.

-- 
/------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Francis Hallahan                      |  [email-masked]        |
|  Computer Scientist - Code 588        |  [email-masked]              |
| Computer Sciences Corporation         |                                |
| at Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center   |  Phone (301) 286 7064          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet(OMNI)                      |
|           http://ipinspace.gsfc.nasa.gov                               |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 10:53:42 -0600

Good to hear about the success of Mobile-IP on Columbia. The WG
would be glad to answer questions related to Mobile IP. We would
also appreciate any feedback about the protocol itself.

-Basavaraj