Mobile IP communication scheme incorporating individual user authentication
A mobile IP communication scheme capable of authenticating an individual user who is operating the mobile computer when the mobile computer is connected to a visited site network and transmits a current location registration message to the home agent is disclosed. A user authentication to judge a properness of a user of the mobile computer is carried out according to a user input based information, and the current location of the mobile computer is registered at the mobile computer management device (home agent) when the user is judged as a proper user. The user authentication can be carried out either at the mobile computer management device according to a user input based information received from the mobile computer, or at the mobile computer according to an information entered by the user at the mobile computer.
1. A mobile computer management device located in a home network of a mobile computer for enabling the mobile computer to carry out communications while moving over inter-connected networks, the mobile computer management device comprising:
a registration unit for registering an information on a current location of the mobile computer, based on a registration message transmitted from the mobile computer, which is currently located outside the home network;
a transfer unit for transferring packets destined to the mobile computer to the current location of the mobile computer according to the information registered by the registration unit;
a user authentication unit for carrying out a user authentication, prior to a registration of the information on the current location of the mobile computer, to judge a properness of a user of the mobile computer according to a user-input-based information received from the mobile computer, and controlling the registration of the information by the registration unit according to a result of the user authentication; and
a transmission unit for transmitting, prior to the registration of the information, a challenge message that requests returning of a user authentication information to the mobile computer when a new registration message containing the information on the current location of the mobile computer is received from the mobile computer;
wherein the user authentication unit judges the properness of the user according to the user-input-based information which is contained in a response message returned from the mobile computer in response to the challenge message as the user authentication information.
2. The mobile computer management device of claim 1 , wherein the transmission unit also transmits the challenge message that requests returning of the user authentication information to the mobile computer when another registration message for re-registration of an already registered current location is received from the mobile computer and a prescribed condition indicates that the user authentication is required to be executed again, prior to the re-registration by the registration unit.
3. The mobile computer management device of claim 2 , wherein said another message for re-registration is received at a prescribed interval, and the challenge message is transmitted at an interval longer than the prescribed interval.
4. The mobile computer management device of claim 1 , wherein the transmission unit transmits the challenge message that contains a challenge code, and the user authentication unit judges the properness of the user by checking a one-time password based on the challenge code which is returned from the mobile computer as the user-input-based information.
5. The mobile computer management device of claim 1 , wherein the user authentication unit refuses subsequent registration requests from the mobile computer when the user authentication according to the user-input-based information received from the mobile computer fails for a prescribed number of times consecutively.
6. The mobile computer management device of claim 1 , wherein the user authentication unit judges the properness of the user according to whether a password returned from the mobile computer as the user-input-based information coincides with a pre-registered one.