System and method for providing a handoff leg associated with a preexisting leg in a network environment

• US 20060121902A1
• Filed: 12/03/2004
• Published: 06/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pearce, Christopher E., Jagadeesan, Ramanathan T., Nguyen, Bich T., Chung, Andrew C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,539,492 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/439
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0055 Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0069 in case of dual connectivity, e.g. decoupled uplink/downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/144 over a different radio air interface technology
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/185 using make before break

Abstract

A method for facilitating communications between wireless networks is provided that includes communicating with a mobile station and transferring a communication session from a first wireless link to a second wireless link. The mobile station is operable to negotiate a first wireless link with a first wireless network, to establish a communication session with a device using the first wireless link, and to facilitate a session handoff with a second wireless link with the second wireless network using the second wireless interface. The handoff is enabled by associating the first wireless link to the second wireless link.

Claims

1. A mobile station, comprising:

a first wireless interface operable to couple to a first wireless network;

a second wireless interface operable to couple to a second wireless network; and

a controller operable to negotiate a first wireless link with the first wireless network using the first wireless interface, to establish a communication session with a device using the first wireless link, to facilitate a session handoff with a second wireless link with the second wireless network using the second wireless interface, and to invoke a selected one of a plurality of private branch exchange features, wherein the handoff is enabled by a mobility application that is operable to communicate with the mobile station, and wherein the mobility application is operable to associate the first wireless link to the second wireless link.

2. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique handoff number.

3. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique session ID.

4. The mobile station of claim 3, wherein the unique session ID is implemented in conjunction with one or more dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) codes.

5. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a common handoff number and a caller ID.

6. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the association between the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed in conjunction with one or more SMS signals.

7. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the session handoff is executed using a make-before-break operation.

8. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the controller is further operable to monitor a quality of the first wireless link and to trigger the handoff when a signal quality drops below a threshold.

9. A system for effecting handoff between wireless networks, comprising:

a mobility application operable to communicate with a mobile station and to transfer a communication session from a first wireless link to a second wireless link, wherein the mobile station is operable to negotiate a first wireless link with a first wireless network, to establish a communication session with a device using the first wireless link, and to facilitate a session handoff with a second wireless link with the second wireless network using the second wireless interface, and wherein the handoff is enabled by the mobility application that is operable to communicate with the mobile station, and wherein the mobility application is operable to associate the first wireless link to the second wireless link.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique handoff number.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique session ID.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the unique session ID is implemented in conjunction with one or more dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) codes.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a common handoff number and a caller ID.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the association between the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed in conjunction with one or more SMS signals.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the mobility application is further operable to execute an authentication operation using an auth-code that is communicated between the mobile station and the mobility application.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein session handoff is executed using a make-before-break operation handoff.

17. A method facilitating communications between wireless networks, comprising:

negotiating, by a mobile station, a first wireless link with a first wireless network using a first wireless interface;

establishing a communication session between the mobile station and a device using the first wireless link; and

facilitating a session handoff with a second wireless link with a second wireless network using a second wireless interface, wherein the handoff is enabled by a mobility application that is operable to communicate with the mobile station, and wherein the mobility application is operable to associate the first wireless link to the second wireless link.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique handoff number.

19. The method of claim 17, association between the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed in conjunction with one or more SMS signals.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique session ID.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the unique session ID is implemented in conjunction with one or more dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) codes.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a common handoff number and a caller ID.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the handoff is executed in response to the mobile station monitoring data associated with the first network until the data exceeds a selected one of a plurality of session handoff thresholds, the selected session handoff threshold causing the mobile station to utilize the second network.

24. A method for facilitating communications between wireless networks, comprising:

communicating with a mobile station;

transferring a communication session from a first wireless link to a second wireless link, wherein the mobile station is operable to negotiate a first wireless link with a first wireless network, to establish a communication session with a device using the first wireless link, and to facilitate a session handoff with a second wireless link with the second wireless network using the second wireless interface; and

enabling the handoff by associating the first wireless link to the second wireless link.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique handoff number.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a unique session ID.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the unique session ID is implemented in conjunction with one or more dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) codes.

28. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

providing one or more telephony services to the mobile station.

29. The method of claim 24, association between the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed in conjunction with one or more SMS signals.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein, based on a quality of the first wireless link, the handoff is triggered.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the association of the first wireless link to the second wireless link is executed using a common handoff number and a caller ID.

32. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

executing an authentication operation using an auth-code that is communicated to the mobile station.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the session handoff is executed using a make-before-break operation that does not use one or more of the features for the session handoff.