Seamless multistage handoff algorithm to facilitate handoffs between hetergeneous wireless networks

• US 20080310371A1
• Filed: 08/07/2008
• Published: 12/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: incNetworks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: incNetworks, Inc.
• Inventors: Russell, Jesse E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,254,986 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0066 of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network

Abstract

A method for automatically adapting a multi-protocol wireless device to facilitate a seamless multistage handoff according to various embodiments can include initiating a seamless multistage handoff process using a multi-protocol wireless device when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses a boundary area into an overlapping region where the multi-protocol wireless device is capable of simultaneously accessing a plurality of networks; and implementing the seamless multistage handoff process by performing at least a two-stage handoff process comprising a homogeneous handoff and a heterogeneous handoff without interrupting a communication call session conducted using the multi-protocol wireless device. A multi-network client device according to various embodiments can include a controller configured to support multiple independent call sessions, wherein the independent call sessions are concurrently conducted on a single wireless device through the use of parallel communication sessions and simultaneously connect the wireless device to a plurality of different networks hosting different content services.

Claims

1. A method for automatically adapting a multi-protocol wireless device to facilitate a seamless multistage handoff, the method comprising:

(a) initiating a seamless multistage handoff process using a multi-protocol wireless device when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses a boundary area into an overlapping region where the multi-protocol wireless device is capable of simultaneously accessing a plurality of networks;

(b) implementing the seamless multistage handoff process by performing at least a two-stage handoff process comprising a homogeneous handoff and a heterogeneous handoff without interrupting a communication call session conducted using the multi-protocol wireless device;

(c) performing the homogeneous handoff between a first network operating on a first communication protocol and a second network operating on a second communication protocol, wherein the first network is an existing network in use by the multi-protocol wireless device at a time of crossing the boundary area and the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol having compatible transmission technologies, and the first network and the second network are different networks of the plurality of networks; and

(d) performing the heterogeneous handoff within the second network between the second protocol and a third communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol and the third communication protocol having incompatible transmission technologies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the compatible transmission technologies having compatible Common Air Interface (CAI) protocol parameters and the incompatible transmission technologies having incompatible CAI protocol parameters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the homogeneous handoff in step (c) and performing the heterogeneous handoff in step (d) further comprises:

(e) requesting using the multi-protocol wireless device a download of at least a second transmission technology to configure at least one of a plurality of Software Define Radios (SDRs), wherein the transmission technology of the first network is stored as a first transmission technology in one of the plurality of SDRs when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses the boundary area.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of (e) further comprises:

(f) downloading and simultaneously storing multiple transmission technologies to configure respective SDRs for each transmission technology to establish multiple simultaneous communication sessions with each of the plurality of networks.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the multi-protocol wireless device comprises a plurality of Digital Radio Processing platforms for supporting a transmission in each transmission technology.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the transmission technology comprises a technology selected from a group consisting of CDMA, TDMA, CSMA, OFDA, GSM, cdma2000, IS-136, IEEE 802.11x, IEEE 802.16x, a protocol supporting High Speed Internet Access, a protocol supporting a transmission of Video data, a protocol supporting the transmission of audio data, and a protocol supporting a transmission of multimedia data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing the homogeneous handoff followed by the heterogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

utilizing the homogeneous handoff to establish the heterogeneous handoff and two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

terminating the homogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the heterogeneous handoff.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

terminating the homogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the heterogeneous handoff.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks comprises networks selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing the heterogeneous handoff followed by the homogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

utilizing the heterogeneous handoff to establish the homogeneous handoff and two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

terminating the heterogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the homogeneous handoff.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

terminating the heterogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the homogeneous handoff.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks comprises networks selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising implementing the multistage handoff using an update algorithm.

24. A multi-protocol wireless device automatically adaptable to facilitate a multistage handoff, the multi-protocol wireless device comprising:

at least one transceiver configured to transmit a request and receive a download to store at least one program into a plurality of Digital Radio Platforms (DRPs) to configure a plurality of Software Define Radios (SDRs), respectively, to store multiple transmission technologies to establish communication simultaneously with a plurality of networks;

a memory for storing information in at least one database, wherein the at least one database is configured to store network profiles for the plurality of networks to enable the multi-protocol wireless device to simultaneously communicate with the plurality of networks;

a processor configured to initiate a multistage handoff algorithm using the multi-protocol wireless device and the at least one database provides a means to configure a multistage handoff algorithm to select at least one wireless network of the plurality of networks to communicate with when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses a boundary area into an overlapping region where the multi-protocol wireless device is capable of simultaneously accessing the plurality of networks;

the multistage handoff algorithm comprises at least a homogeneous handoff algorithm configured to execute a homogeneous handoff and a heterogeneous handoff algorithm configured to execute a heterogeneous handoff, wherein the multistage handoff algorithm executes the homogenous handoff and heterogeneous handoff without interrupting a communication call session conducted using the multi-protocol wireless device;

the processor instructs the homogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the homogeneous handoff between a first network operating on a first communication protocol and a second network operating on a second communication protocol when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses the boundary area, wherein the first network is an existing network in use by the multi-protocol wireless device at a time of crossing the boundary area and the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol having compatible transmission technologies, and the first network and the second network are different networks of the plurality of networks; and

the processor instructs the heterogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the heterogeneous handoff within the second protocol and a third communication protocol, wherein the second communication protocol and the third communication protocol having incompatible transmission technologies.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the at least one program includes at least one CAI protocol image.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the compatible transmission technologies having compatible Common Air Interface (CAI) protocol parameters and the incompatible transmission technologies having incompatible CAI protocol parameters.

27. The device of claim 24, wherein the multi-protocol wireless device requests the download of at least a second transmission technology to configure at least one of the SDRs, wherein the transmission technology of the first network is stored as a first transmission technology in one of the plurality of SDRs when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses the boundary area.

28. The device of claim 24, wherein the at least one transceiver downloads and the DRPs simultaneously store multiple transmission technologies to configure respective SDRs for each transmission technology to establish multiple simultaneous communication sessions with each of the plurality of networks.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the transmission technology comprises a technology selected from a group consisting of CDMA, TDMA, CSMA, OFDA, GSM, cdma2000, IS-136, IEEE 802.11x, IEEE 802.16x, a protocol supporting High Speed Internet Access, a protocol supporting a transmission of Video data, a protocol supporting a transmission of audio data, and a protocol supporting a transmission of multimedia data.

30. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor instructs the homogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the homogeneous handoff then instructs the heterogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the heterogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the processor instructs the homogeneous handoff algorithm to terminate the homogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the heterogeneous handoff.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks comprises networks selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

33. The device of claim 30, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

34. The device of claim 24, wherein the processor instructs the heterogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the heterogeneous handoff then instructs the homogeneous handoff algorithm to execute the homogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein the processor instructs the heterogeneous handoff algorithm to terminate the heterogeneous handoff and one of the two communication sessions after establishing the homogeneous handoff.

36. The device of claim 34, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks comprises networks selected from contracted networks, non-contracted networks, private networks, and public networks.

37. The device of claim 34, wherein at least one of the plurality of networks is one of a wide area wireless network, an in-building wireless network, a campus wireless network, or an enterprise network.

38. A method for automatically adapting a multi-protocol wireless device to facilitate a seamless multistage handoff, the method comprising:

(a) initiating a seamless multistage handoff process using a multi-protocol wireless device when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses a boundary area into an overlapping region where the multi-protocol wireless device is capable of simultaneously accessing a plurality of networks; and

(b) implementing the seamless multistage handoff process by performing at least a two-stage handoff process comprising a homogeneous handoff and a heterogeneous handoff without interrupting a communication call session conducted using the multi-protocol wireless device.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

performing the homogeneous handoff followed by the heterogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

terminating the homogeneous handoff after establishing the heterogeneous handoff.

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

performing the heterogeneous handoff followed by the homogeneous handoff to establish two simultaneous parallel communication sessions.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

terminating the heterogeneous handoff after establishing the homogeneous handoff.

43. A method for automatically adapting a multi-protocol wireless device to facilitate a seamless multistage handoff, the method comprising:

(a) initiating a seamless multistage handoff process using a multi-protocol wireless device when the multi-protocol wireless device crosses a boundary area into an overlapping region where the multi-protocol wireless device is capable of simultaneously accessing a plurality of networks by establishing multiple simultaneous parallel communication sessions; and

(b) implementing the seamless multistage handoff process by performing at least a two-stage handoff process comprising a homogeneous handoff and a heterogeneous handoff without interrupting an initial communication call session conducted using the multi-protocol wireless device.

44. A multi-network client device:

a controller configured to support multiple independent call sessions, wherein the independent call sessions are concurrently conducted on a single wireless device through the use of parallel communication sessions and simultaneously connect the wireless device to a plurality of different networks hosting different content services.

45. The multi-network client device of claim 44, wherein the controller connects to and controls at least one transceiver;

and

the at least one transceiver is configured to transmit a request and receive a download to store at least one program into a plurality of Digital Radio Platforms (DRPs) to configure a plurality of Software Define Radios (SDRs), respectively, to store multiple transmission technologies to establish the parallel communication sessions simultaneously with the plurality of different networks hosting the different content services.

46. The multi-network client device of claim 45, wherein at least one of the parallel communication sessions transmits at least one transmission of voice, video, multimedia and data services.

47. A method of conducting multiple simultaneous call sessions, the method comprising:

conducting independent call sessions concurrently on a single wireless device using parallel communication sessions; and

simultaneously connecting the wireless device to a plurality of different networks hosting different content services.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the connecting further comprises:

transmitting a request and receiving a download to store at least one program into a plurality of Digital Radio Platforms (DRPs) to configure a plurality of Software Define Radios (SDRs), respectively, to store multiple transmission technologies to establish the parallel communication sessions simultaneously with the plurality of different networks hosting the different content services.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein at least one of the parallel communication sessions transmits at least one transmission of voice, video, multimedia and data services.