Autoconfiguration and Service Discovery

To be useful, IP networking requires various parameters to be set up. A network node needs at least an IP address, routing information, and name services. In a fixed network this configuration is typically done with a centralized scheme, where a server hosts the configuration information and clients query the server with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Companies, university campuses and even home broadband use the DHCP system to configure hosts. This signaling happens in the background, and users seldom need to think about it; only when things are not working properly, manual intervention is needed. The same protocol can be used in mobile networks, where the client device communicates with the access network provider and his DHCP service. The core information provided by DHCP includes a unique IP address for the host, the IP address of the closest IP router for routing messages to other networks, and the location of domain name servers.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

   Jukka Manner

Editors and Affiliations

1. Fac. Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Université de Lausanne, Dorigny, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

   Benoît Garbinato

2. Fac. Ciencias Depto Informática Campo Grande, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa Bloco C6, Sala 6.3.12, Portugal

   Hugo Miranda

3. Instituto Superior Técnico, INESC-ID, Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000-029, Lisboa, Portugal

   Luís Rodrigues

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