Method and Apparatus for Determining Coverage and Switching Between Overlay Communication Systems
First Claim
1. A method of switching a terminal between overlay communication systems, the method comprising:
- determining one or more switching criteria for switching the terminal between a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system;
initiating a switch from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a first switching scheme; and
initiating a switch from the second wireless communication system to the first wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a second switching scheme different from the first switching scheme.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques to determine whether or not a terminal is under the coverage of a current wireless communication system (e.g., a packet data system) and to switch from the current system to another wireless communication system (e.g., a voice/data system). In one method, at least one measurement of at least one parameter for at least one base station in the current system is initially obtained. The measurement(s) may be SNR measurements. A metric is derived based on the measurement(s) and used (typically along with a metric threshold and a timer) to determine whether or not the terminal is within the coverage of the current system. A switch to another system is initiated if the terminal is deemed to be outside the coverage of the current system. The two systems provide at least one common service (e.g., packet data service).
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of switching a terminal between overlay communication systems, the method comprising:
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determining one or more switching criteria for switching the terminal between a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system; initiating a switch from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a first switching scheme; and initiating a switch from the second wireless communication system to the first wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a second switching scheme different from the first switching scheme. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A terminal capable of switching between overlay communication systems, the terminal comprising:
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a controller configured to determine one or more switching criteria for switching the terminal between a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system, to initiate a switch from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a first switching scheme, and to initiate a switch from the second wireless communication system to the first wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a second switching scheme different from the first switching scheme; and a memory coupled to the controller for storing the switching criteria. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A terminal capable of switching between overlay communication systems, the terminal comprising:
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means for determining one or more switching criteria for switching the terminal between a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system; means for initiating a switch from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a first switching scheme; and means for initiating a switch from the second wireless communication system to the first wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a second switching scheme different from the first switching scheme. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code, which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform operations for switching a terminal between overlay communication systems, the computer-readable medium comprising:
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code for determining one or more switching criteria for switching the terminal between a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system; code for initiating a switch from the first wireless communication system to the second wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a first switching scheme; and code for initiating a switch from the second wireless communication system to the first wireless communication system based on the switching criteria in accordance with a second switching scheme different from the first switching scheme. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification