Method and apparatus for a mobile device to address a private home agent having a public address and a private address

摘要

A method and apparatus for a mobile device (104) to register with a private home agent (106), the method comprising the steps: generating (304) and sending (306) a registration request (700) addressed in the public network (110) to a public address of the private home agent, the request (700) adapted to initiate registration of the mobile device with the private home agent. The mobile device is located within a public network, but belongs to a private network (102) and has a private address. The private home agent is located in the private network and has both a private address and a public address. The request also indicates that the mobile device is in the public network. In preferred form, the request includes an extension (704) that provides this indication. The home agent receives and processes the request, then forwards an appropriate reply (800) back to the mobile device.