Hybrid communication terminal

• US 8,798,003 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2011
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Arakawa, Taketoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEN M
• Application Number:
  US13/301,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20120140734A1
• Time in Patent Office: 988 Days
• Field of Search: 370/331, 370/329, 370/328, 370/320, 370/400, 370/401, 455/437
• US Class Current: 370/331
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2525 Translation at a client
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0022 for transferring data sessions between adjacent core network technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0033 with transfer of context information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/18 for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

There is provided a hybrid communication terminal which can overcome a drawback that, in performing switching a system between a 3G network and a WiMAX/LTE is performed under control of a mobile unit, when an IP address allocated to a mobile unit from the network differs before and after system switching, an active session of communication application is disconnected so that it is impossible to continue the communication. In automatically switching connection between different systems during communication, in order to conceal from the communication application that an IP address assigned by the network is changed, an exchange of user data with the communication network is performed via a virtual network device where the IP address is always the same.

Claims

1. A hybrid communication terminal which is connected to a 3G network and a WIMAX network, controls a handover from a handover transmission source network to a handover transmission destination network, is connected to a computer, comprising:

an installer which installs a handover controller to the computer when the hybrid communication terminal is connected to the computer at the first time,

wherein, when that a second IP address assigned to the hybrid communication terminal by the handover transmission destination network differs from a first IP address assigned to the communication terminal by the handover transmission source network,

the hybrid communication terminal is controlled by the handover controller in accordance with an instruction from the computer,

a virtual network device is set on an operating system of the computer, a dummy IP address is set in the virtual network device during communication connection processing with the handover transmission source network, and the first IP address assigned by the handover transmission source network is set in a network device corresponding to the handover transmission source network,

a virtual driver of the virtual network device rewrites a transmission source IP address of user data transmitted from a communication application to the first IP address from the dummy IP address during user data communication, and

a driver of the network device rewrites a transmission destination IP address of data from the handover transmission source network to the dummy IP address from the first IP address during the user data communication.