Method and Apparatus to Facilitate Mobile Station Communications Using Internet Protocol-Based Communications

• US 20080240037A1
• Filed: 06/19/2006
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Agrawal, Rajeev, Kalyanasundaram, Suresh, Bedekar, Anand S., Gopikanth, Venkat, Ram Ov, Vishnu
• Granted Patent: US 9,357,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0011 for data sessions of end-to-end connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

In a communication network (400), wireless access points (300) utilize one or more agents (302, 306) to support the operating needs of corresponding mobile stations. Pursuant to one approach, the agent supports translation of the mobile station'"'"'s end-to-end protocol-based messages to Internet Protocol-based messages that are readily ported through an Internet Protocol-friendly communication system infrastructure that preferably eschews the use of network elements that rely upon unique and/or proprietary non-Internet Protocol interfaces. Pursuant to another approach the wireless access point is able to interact on a peer-to-peer basis with other wireless access points in order to facilitate, for example, handovers and other mobility management tasks.

Claims

1. A method for use with a communication network having a plurality of geographically differentiated wireless access points and which communication network supports handovers of mobile stations from one wireless access point to another wireless access point during both idle and connected modes of operation in order to support mobile station mobility, wherein the mobile stations use a plurality of wireless protocols and wherein at least one of the plurality of wireless protocols comprises an end-to-end protocol for communicating directly with a counterpart network element that is hierarchically differentiated from the wireless access point, the method comprising:

receiving, at one of the wireless access points, a communication from one of the mobile stations, which communication uses the end-to-end protocol; and

converting the communication from the end-to-end protocol to an Internet Protocol-based communication to provide a converted communication.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the end-to-end protocol used by the communication comprises at least one of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC)-compatible protocol;

a Network Access Server (NAS)-compatible protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting the converted communication to a hierarchically differentiated network element using an Internet Protocol.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

receiving, at a wireless access point, a communication directed to a mobile station from a network element using an Internet Protocol;

converting, at the wireless access point, the communication directed to the mobile station from an Internet Protocol-based communication to an end-to-end protocol-based communication that is directed to the mobile station;

conveying the end-to-end protocol-based communication that is directed to the mobile station to the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

effecting at least one of location updating as corresponds to at least one of the mobile stations and mobile station paging via a peer-to-peer communication between at least two the wireless access points.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

effecting a handover of a given one of the mobile stations from a first one of the wireless access points to a second one of the wireless access points via a peer-to-peer communication between at least two the wireless access points.

7. A wireless access point for use with a communication network having a plurality of geographically differentiated wireless access points and which communication network supports handovers of mobile stations from one wireless access point to another wireless access point during both idle and connected modes of operation in order to support mobile station mobility, wherein the mobile stations use a plurality of wireless protocols and wherein at least one of the plurality of wireless protocols comprises an end-to-end protocol for communicating directly with a counterpart network element that is hierarchically differentiated from the wireless access point, the wireless access point comprising:

a wireless mobile station interface that is compatible with the end-to-end protocol;

a network interface operably coupled to the wireless mobile station interface and having an Internet Protocol-compatible output operably coupled to the communication network; and

an agent operably coupled between the wireless mobile station interface and the network interface.

8. The wireless access point of claim 7 wherein the agent comprises a mobility agent having at least one of:

network-side data-rerouting programming;

wireless access point peer-to-peer mobility support programming.

9. The wireless access point of claim 7 wherein the agent comprises a voice call agent having at least one of:

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) voice call setup programming;

SIP-to-over-the-air conversion of voice call control messages programming;

Voice over Internet Protocol voice frame packing programming;

Voice over Internet Protocol voice frame unpacking programming.

10. The wireless access point of claim 7 wherein the agent comprises mobility management means for facilitating at least one of mobile station location updating and mobile station paging via peer-to-peer interaction with another of the wireless access points of the communication network.

11. The wireless access point of claim 7 wherein the agent comprises handover means for facilitating at least one of:

a handover of a mobile station to another of the wireless access points of the communication network;

a location update;

paging;

via peer-to-peer interaction with another of the wireless access points of the communication network.

12. The wireless access point of claim 7 wherein the agent comprises voice call agent means for interfacing with another network element using Session Initiation Protocol to facilitate a voice call for a mobile station.

13. A wireless access point for use with a communication network having a plurality of geographically differentiated wireless access points and which communication network supports handovers of mobile stations from one wireless access point to another wireless access point during both idle and connected modes of operation in order to support mobile station mobility, wherein the mobile stations use a plurality of wireless protocols and wherein at least one of the plurality of wireless protocols comprises an end-to-end protocol for communicating directly with a counterpart network element that is hierarchically differentiated from the wireless access point, the wireless access point comprising:

means for receiving a communication from one of the mobile stations, which communication uses the end-to-end protocol; and

means for converting the communication from the end-to-end protocol to an Internet Protocol-based communication to provide a converted communication.

14. The wireless access point of claim 13 further comprising:

means for transmitting the converted communication to a hierarchically differentiated network element using an Internet Protocol.

15. The wireless access point of claim 13 further comprising:

means for receiving a communication directed to a mobile station from a network element using an Internet Protocol;

means for converting the communication directed to the mobile station from an Internet Protocol-based communication to an end-to-end protocol-based communication that is directed to the mobile station.

16. The wireless access point of claim 13 further comprising:

means for effecting at least one of;

a handover and change of location management to a second one of the wireless access points;

a location update; and

paging;

via a peer-to-peer communication with the second one of the wireless access points.