Interworking mechanism between wireless wide area network and wireless local area network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A wireless communication system, comprising:
- a wireless wide area network (WWAN) having base transceiver stations (BTSs) spatially distributed to communicate with mobile communication devices via WWAN radio links, base station controllers (BSCs) each coupled to a plurality of base transceiver stations, and a data communication system comprising (1) packet control function (PCF) devices respectively connected to said base station controllers to transmit data packets to and from the mobile communication devices via said base transceiver stations, and (2) a packet data serving node (PDSN) connected to said packet control function devices and a packet data network to provide packet data services to the mobile communication devices;
a wireless local area network (WLAN) having at least one access point (AP) that communicates with a mobile communication device located in an access area via WLAN radio links, and an access point gateway (APGW) connected between said AP and said packet data serving node (PDSN) to allow for continuity of a packet data service to said mobile communication device by switching a packet data service connection for said mobile communication device between said WLAN and said WWAN during a handoff;
a mechanism for authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) common to said WWAN and said WLAN and to assist the handoff; and
a mechanism for IP address allocation,wherein a convergence layer is implemented in the PDSN, the convergence layer including logic configured to encapsulate user data packets and to determine whether to forward the encapsulated user data packets to the WLAN or the WWAN.
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Abstract
Interconnection and integration of a WWAN and a WLAN to provide continuous packet data services to mobile users where each mobile access terminal is configured to support both air links with the WWAN and WLAN. The WWAN may be a CDMA2000 system and the WLAN may be an IEEE 802.11 system.
99 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A wireless communication system, comprising:
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a wireless wide area network (WWAN) having base transceiver stations (BTSs) spatially distributed to communicate with mobile communication devices via WWAN radio links, base station controllers (BSCs) each coupled to a plurality of base transceiver stations, and a data communication system comprising (1) packet control function (PCF) devices respectively connected to said base station controllers to transmit data packets to and from the mobile communication devices via said base transceiver stations, and (2) a packet data serving node (PDSN) connected to said packet control function devices and a packet data network to provide packet data services to the mobile communication devices; a wireless local area network (WLAN) having at least one access point (AP) that communicates with a mobile communication device located in an access area via WLAN radio links, and an access point gateway (APGW) connected between said AP and said packet data serving node (PDSN) to allow for continuity of a packet data service to said mobile communication device by switching a packet data service connection for said mobile communication device between said WLAN and said WWAN during a handoff; a mechanism for authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) common to said WWAN and said WLAN and to assist the handoff; and a mechanism for IP address allocation, wherein a convergence layer is implemented in the PDSN, the convergence layer including logic configured to encapsulate user data packets and to determine whether to forward the encapsulated user data packets to the WLAN or the WWAN. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A wireless communication system, comprising:
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a wireless wide area network (WWAN) having a base transceiver station (BTS) for communicating with a mobile communication device via a WWAN radio link, a base station controller (BSC) coupled to the BTS, and a data communication system comprising; (1) a packet control function (PCF) device connected to the BSC to transmit data packets to and receive data packets from the mobile communication device via the BTS, and (2) a packet data serving node (PDSN) connected to the PCF device and a packet data network, the PDSN providing packet data services to the mobile communication device and performing IP address allocation; a wireless local area network (WLAN) having at least one access point (AP) that communicates with the mobile communication device located in a corresponding access area via WLAN radio links, and an access point gateway (APGW) connected between the AP and the PDSN to allow for continuity of packet data service to the mobile communication device by switching a packet data service connection for the mobile communication device between the WLAN and the WWAN during a handoff; and a server common to the WWAN and the WLAN, the server being configured to perform authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) functions and to assist the handoff; wherein the mobile communication device includes a handoff module configured to control the handoff and the PDSN further includes convergence layer logic configured to determine whether to forward user data packets to the WLAN or within the WWAN. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification