Live migration is a mechanism that allows a VM to be moved from one host to another while the guest operating system is running. Current live migration implementations are able to maintain network connectivity in a LAN. However, the same techniques cannot be applied for live migration over the Internet. We present a solution based on PMIPv6, a light-weight mobility protocol standardized by IETF. PMIPv6 handles node mobility without requiring any support from the moving nodes. In addition, PMIPv6 works with IPv4, IPv6 and dual-stack nodes. We have setup a testbed to measure the performance of live migration in a PMIPv6 network. Our results show that network connectivity is successfully maintained with little signaling overhead and short VM downtime. As far as we know, this is the first time PMIPv6 is used to enable live migration beyond the scope of a LAN.

The inherent broadcast nature of satellites, their global coverage and direct access to a large number of subscribers give satellites unrivalled advantages in supporting IP multicast applications. A new generation of satellite systems that support regenerative on-board processors and multiple spot beam technology have opened new possibilities of implementing IP multicast communication over satellites. These new features enable satellites to make efficient use of their allocated bandwidth resources and provide cost effective network services but equally, create new challenges for mobile satellite terminals. IP mobility support in general and IP mobile multicast support in particular on mobile satellite terminals like the ones mounted on continental flights, maritime vessels, etc., still remain big challenges that have received very little attention from the research community. Up till now, there are no proposed mechanisms to support IP multicast for mobile receivers/sources in multi-beam satellite networks in open literature. This study explores the suitability of IP multicast mobility support schemes defined for terrestrial networks in a satellite environment and proposes novel schemes based on the concepts of Home and Remote subscription-based approaches, multiple interface and PMIPv6 protocol. Detailed analysis and comparison of results obtained from the proposed schemes, Mobile IP (MIP) Home and Remote subscription-based approaches (for terrestrial networks) when implemented on a reference multi-beam satellite network are presented. From these results, the proposed schemes outperform the MIP Home and Remote subscription-based approaches in terms of gateway handover latency, number of multicast packets lost and signalling cost over the satellite air interface.

Current network architectures, as well as mobility management protocols, are generally deployed in a centralized manner. Moreover, these protocols are designed to be always activated, even when not needed. As the number of mobile users and the volume of their traffic increase, such centralized architectures are expected to encounter scalability issues as well as performance issues. Recently, mobile network operators are experiencing a rapid increase in mobile data traffic. In order to cope with this, a new trend is to flatten networks architectures and hence IP mobility management protocols need to be adapted for such evolution. Therefore, there is a need to define novel mobility management mechanisms that are both distributed and offered dynamically. In order to cope with this context, the thesis concerns designing, analyzing, and evaluating novel IPv6 network architectures and mobility protocols that are distributed and dynamic, and in particular Distributed Mobility Management (DMM). Before proposing any extension, we categorize the existing mobility schemes and carry out a comparative analysis on each category. Then, we propose a new distributed dynamic mobility management scheme based on the Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) protocol, with an optional extension for the joint use with the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). After, we carry out a performance analysis in terms of mobility costs, handover, and quality-of-service. Finally, we study the impacts on other aspects such as security considerations and location management.