As simplified diagram of the Lancaster University MIPv6 testbed is shown in Figure 14-2.

Connectivity to 6NET (via SuperJANET) is achieved through a Cisco 7206 router. The testbed is then divided into Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) with each subnet (generally a ::/60 or a ::/64) comprising its own VLAN. The Extreme Summit Ethernet switch is capable of assigning VLAN tags according to IPv6 prefixes and switching them accordingly (thus, it acts as a virtual IPv6 router). All of the IPv6 VLANs are terminated on the Cisco 7206.

The 802.11 wireless LAN is configured so that each access router (i.e. HA) of the wireless LAN is analogous to one ESSID. Only one Access Point per ESSID is illustrated in the figure, although wireless coverage for each ESSID can be extended with more Access Points. Of course, configuring multiple Mobile IPv6 networks in this manner will eat up the available 802.11b channel space rather quickly. The figure above illustrates how multiple Mobile IPv6 HAs can have their associated Access Points arranged so that a maximum of 3 overlapping channels is seen in one cell footprint. Obviously, this is rather straightforward to accomplish in a lab environment where our main focus is to investigate the interactions between multiple Mobile IPv6 networks. In a real (semi)production environment the close geographical proximity of different distinct Mobile IPv6 networks is much less likely.