Mobility management apparatus and methods
First Claim
1. A wireless mobility management system, comprising:
- a visitor location register configured to store a visiting user profile and communicate with a mobile switching center to route a wireless call;
a home location register configured to store a home user profile and update a user location associated with the home user profile;
a wireless media gateway (WMG) configured to create a interconnection between a wireless network and a second network that includes a wireless packet network, including providing physical resources for the call;
a WMG controller integrated with a wireless softswitch and configured to control the WMG to allocate resources, establish connections as required by the call, and further configured to monitor signaling packets associated with the call to generate signaling level performance data; and
a performance-based mobility manager configured to receive the signaling level performance data from the WMG controller, thereafter make a handoff decision to transfer the call from the wireless network to the second network based on the received signaling level performance data, and to initiate the sending of a location update message to the mobile switching center in response to deciding that the call is to be transferred from the wireless network to the second network, wherein the mobile switching center sends a message to the visitor location register and the visitor location register updates the stored user location based on the handoff decision, and sending a handoff message to the WMG controller to transfer the call from the wireless network to the second network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless mobility management system including a visitor location register configured to store a visiting user profile and communicate with a mobile switching center to route a wireless call supporting a user-session, a home location register configured to store a home user profile and update a user location associated with the home user profile, and a wireless media gateway (WMG) configured to create a user-session interconnection between a first wireless network and at least one of a second wireless network, a wireline packet network and a public-switched telephone network, including providing physical resources for the user-session. A WMG controller integrated with a wireless softswitch is configured to control the WMG to allocate resources and establish connections as required by the user session. A performance-based mobility manager is configured to receive user-session performance data from the WMG and make a handoff decision based on the performance data.
47 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A wireless mobility management system, comprising:
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a visitor location register configured to store a visiting user profile and communicate with a mobile switching center to route a wireless call; a home location register configured to store a home user profile and update a user location associated with the home user profile; a wireless media gateway (WMG) configured to create a interconnection between a wireless network and a second network that includes a wireless packet network, including providing physical resources for the call; a WMG controller integrated with a wireless softswitch and configured to control the WMG to allocate resources, establish connections as required by the call, and further configured to monitor signaling packets associated with the call to generate signaling level performance data; and a performance-based mobility manager configured to receive the signaling level performance data from the WMG controller, thereafter make a handoff decision to transfer the call from the wireless network to the second network based on the received signaling level performance data, and to initiate the sending of a location update message to the mobile switching center in response to deciding that the call is to be transferred from the wireless network to the second network, wherein the mobile switching center sends a message to the visitor location register and the visitor location register updates the stored user location based on the handoff decision, and sending a handoff message to the WMG controller to transfer the call from the wireless network to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A wireless media gateway controller, comprising:
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a location management module configured to update a location and profile of a wireless subscriber and determine a serving visitor location register (VLR) and location of a called party in a wireless network; and a handoff management module configured to receive, from a wireless device associated with the wireless subscriber signaling level performance data associated with a call, the signaling level performance data being generated by the wireless media gateway controller by monitoring signaling packets associated with the call, the handoff management module being further configured to initiate a handoff based on the signaling level performance data of the call, establish a new connection for the call, transfer the call from an existing connection over the wireless network to the new connection over a second network that includes a wireless packet network, initiate the sending of a location update message to a mobile switching center in response to a decision made by a mobility manager module that the call is to be transferred from the wireless network to the second network, wherein the mobile switching center sends a message to the visitor location register and the visitor location register updates the location of the wireless subscriber, and receive a handoff message from the mobility manager module to transfer the call from the wireless network to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for performance-triggered handoff of a wireless call, comprising:
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monitoring signaling packets associated with the wireless call and determining signaling level performance data of the wireless call at a wireless media gateway controller; sending, by the wireless media gateway controller, a notification message to a mobility manager module when the monitored signaling level performance data indicates performance deterioration beyond a predetermined threshold; initiating, at the mobility manager module, a handoff decision to transfer the wireless call between a wireless network and a second network that includes a wireless packet network, based on the monitored signaling level performance data and receipt of the notification message by the mobility manager module; initiating, by the mobility manager module, the sending of a location update message to an MSC/VLR module configured to operate as both a mobile switching center and a visitor location register in response to a decision made by the mobility manager module to conduct the transfer of the wireless call from the wireless network to the second network, wherein the MSC/VLR module updates a stored location of the subscriber based on the handoff; and sending, by the mobility manager module, a handoff message to the wireless media gateway controller to transfer the wireless call from the wireless network to the second network. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification