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The Host Identity Protocol is a host identification technology for use on Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet. The Internet has two main name spaces, IP addresses and the Domain Name System. HIP separates the end-point identifier and locator roles of IP addresses. It introduces a Host Identity name space, based on a public key security infrastructure.
The Host Identity Protocol provides secure methods for IP multihoming and mobile computing.
In networks that implement the Host Identity Protocol, all occurrences of IP addresses in applications are eliminated and replaced with cryptographic host identifiers. The cryptographic keys are typically, but not necessarily, self-generated.
The effect of eliminating IP addresses in application and transport layers is a decoupling of the transport layer from the internetworking layer in TCP/IP.