System and method for maintaining a communication session

• US 8,638,717 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2010
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chen, John Anthony, Coughlin, Brian, Filippi, Geoff
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOPATA, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US12/860,021
• Publication Number:
  US 20120044862A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/328, 455/403, 455/422.1, 455/436
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0011 for data sessions of end-to-end connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/25 Maintenance of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Systems and methods for maintaining a communication session. A gateway supports both a local access point (AP) and a virtual AP. The local AP is accessible only to an “owner” of the gateway. The virtual AP (VAP) is accessible to devices associated with the owner of the gateway and to roaming Wi-Fi devices. A datastore conveys information about the roaming Wi-Fi devices to the VAP to permit them to access the VAP without the need for manual configuration of the VAP. A roaming Wi-Fi/cellular device may communicate with a gateway via a tunnel to maintain session connectivity during roaming. A session may be initiated on one network, such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, handed off to another network, such as a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network, and then returned to network on which the session was initiated.

Claims

1. A system for maintaining a communication session comprising:

a home gateway connected to the Internet;

a foreign gateway connected to the Internet comprising a foreign Wi-Fi access point (AP), wherein the home gateway communicates with the foreign gateway via a first tunnel operating over the Internet between the home gateway and the foreign gateway and wherein the foreign gateway communicates with a hybrid device via the foreign Wi-Fi AP;

a cellular data network, wherein the Internet is accessible to the cellular data network; and

the hybrid device comprising;

a Wi-Fi transceiver;

a virtual IP address assigned by the home gateway to the hybrid device and assigned by the hybrid device to the Wi-Fi transceiver; and

a cellular transceiver, wherein the hybrid device is configured to perform operations comprising;

establishing using, the cellular transceiver a second tunnel from the hybrid device to the home gateway over the Internet via the cellular data network upon occurrence of a first transition condition in a Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP while maintaining a communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway via the first tunnel;

reassigning, the virtual IP address from the Wi-Fi transceiver to the cellular transceiver upon occurrence of a second transition condition to transition the communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway from the first tunnel to the second tunnel; and

sending packets to the home gateway over the cellular transceiver via the second tunnel when the transition is complete.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the cellular data network is selected from the group consisting of a General Packet Radio Service network, an EDGE Enhanced Data network, an Evolution Data Optimized network, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System network, a High Speed Packet Access network, a Long Term Evolution and a Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP is established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of IEEE 802.11(a), 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second tunnels are established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of L2TP, L2F and PPTP.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the connection of the home gateway and foreign gateway to the Internet is made via a service provider network.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the service provider network is selected from the group consisting of a fiber network, fiber-hybrid-coax network, a twisted pair network, a coax network, and a wireless network.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the service provider network is selected from the group consisting of a fiber network, fiber-hybrid-coax network, a twisted pair network, a coax network, and a wireless network.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication session is selected from the group consisting of a voice session, a gaming, session, a video session and a messaging session.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein the hybrid, device is configured to perform operations comprising tearing down the first tunnel upon occurrence of a third transition condition.

39. The system of claim 1, wherein occurrence of a first transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a determination that it is moving away from the foreign Wi-Fi AP, a determination that there is only a single foreign Wi-Fi AP within its range, a determination that signal strengths from foreign Wi-Fi APs within its range are decreasing, and a determination using a digital map that it is physically moving to an area in which no accessible foreign Wi-Fi APs are located.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein the second transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using a Class of Service (CoS) assigned to a subscriber at the time the service agreement between the subscriber and the service provider was executed.

7. A method for maintaining a communication session comprising:

establishing a first tunnel over the Internet between a home gateway and a foreign gateway comprising a foreign Wi-Fi access point (AP);

associating a hybrid device with the Wi-Fi AP operating in the foreign gateway, wherein the hybrid device comprises a Wi-Fi transceiver, a cellular transceiver, and a virtual IP address assigned by the home gateway to the hybrid device and assigned by the hybrid device to the Wi-Fi transceiver;

establishing using the cellular transceiver a second tunnel from the hybrid device to the home gateway over the Internet via the cellular data network upon occurrence of a first transition condition in a Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP while maintaining a communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway via the first tunnel;

reassigning the virtual IP address from the Wi-Fi transceiver to the cellular transceiver upon occurrence of a second transition condition thereby transitioning the communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway from the first tunnel to the second tunnel; and

the processor sending packets to the home gateway over the cellular transceiver via the second tunnel when the transition is complete.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cellular data network is selected from the group consisting of a General Packet Radio Service network, an EDGE Enhanced Data network, an Evolution Data Optimized network, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System network, a High Speed Packet Access network, a Long Term Evolution and a Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access network.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP is established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of IEEE 802.11(a), 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the first and second tunnels are established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of L2TP, L2F and PPTP.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the connection of the home gateway and foreign gateway to the Internet is made via a service provider network.

33. The method of claim 7, wherein the communication session is selected from the group consisting of a voice session, a gaming session, a video session and a messaging session.

36. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

tearing down the first tunnel upon occurrence of a third transition condition.

41. The method of claim 7, wherein occurrence of a first transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a determination that it is moving away from the foreign Wi-Fi AP, a determination that there is only a single foreign Wi-Fi AP within its range, a determination that signal strengths from foreign Wi-Fi APs within its range are decreasing, and a determination using a digital map that it is physically moving to an area in which no accessible foreign Wi-Fi APs are located.

42. The method of claim 7, wherein the second transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using a Class of Service (CoS) assigned to a subscriber.

13. A system for maintaining a communication session comprising:

a home gateway connected to the Internet;

a hybrid device comprising;

a Wi-Fi transceiver;

a cellular transceiver, wherein the hybrid device is connected to the cellular data network via the cellular transceiver; and

a virtual IP address assigned by the home gateway to the hybrid device and assigned by the hybrid device to the cellular transceiver; and

a cellular data network, wherein the Internet is accessible to the cellular data network and wherein the home gateway communicates with the hybrid device via a first tunnel operating over the Internet via the cellular data network; and

a foreign gateway connected to the Internet, wherein the foreign gateway comprises a foreign Wi-Fi access point (AP),

wherein the hybrid device is configured to perform operations comprising;

detecting the availability of the foreign Wi-Fi AP;

associating with the foreign Wi-Fi AP via the Wi-Fi transceiver upon occurrence of a first transition condition in a Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP;

establishing a second tunnel from the hybrid device to the home gateway through the foreign gateway'"'"'s Internet connection when the association step is completed while maintaining a communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway via the first tunnel;

reassigning the virtual IP address from the cellular transceiver to the Wi-Fi transceiver upon occurrence of a second transition condition to transition the communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway from the first tunnel to the second tunnel; and

sending packets to the home gateway over the Wi-Fi transceiver via the second tunnel when the transition is complete.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the cellular data network is selected from the group consisting of a General Packet Radio Service network, an EDGE Enhanced Data network, an Evolution Data Optimized network, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System network, a High Speed Packet Access network, a Long Term Evolution and a Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access network.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP is established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of IEEE 802.11(a), 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the first and second tunnels are established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of L2TP, L2F and PPTP.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the operation of associating with the foreign Wi-Fi AP via the Wi-Fi transceiver comprises:

receiving by the foreign AP a probe request frame from the hybrid device, wherein the probe request comprises the MAC address of the roaming wireless AP device and the SSID of the home wireless AP,

accessing by the foreign AP a roaming datastore to determine whether the SSID of the home wireless AP is stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device;

granting by the foreign AP the probe request when the SSID of the home wireless AP is stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device and associating, with the hybrid device; and

denying by the foreign AP the probe request when the SSID of the home wireless AP is not stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the foreign AP is configured to perform operations comprising receiving security credentials of the hybrid device from the hybrid device.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the foreign AP is configured to perform operations comprising retrieving security credentials of the hybrid device from the Wi-Fi roaming datastore.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the connection of the home gateway and foreign gateway to the Internet is made via a service provider network.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the service provider network is selected from the group consisting of a fiber network, fiber-hybrid-coax network, a twisted pair network, a coax network, and a wireless network.

34. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication session is selected from the group consisting of a voice session, a gaining session, a video session and a messaging session.

37. The system of claim 13, wherein the hybrid device is further configured to perform operations comprising tearing down the first tunnel upon occurrence of a third transition condition.

43. The system of claim 13, wherein occurrence of a first transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a determination that the foreign Wi-Fi AP has come within its range, a determination that signal strengths from foreign Wi-Fi APs within its range are increasing, and a determination using a digital map that it is physically moving to an area in which accessible foreign Wi-Fi APs are located.

44. The system of claim 13, wherein the second transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using a Class of Service (CoS) assigned to a subscriber.

22. A method for maintaining a communication session comprising:

establishing a first tunnel between a hybrid device and a home gateway, wherein the home gateway is connected to the Internet, wherein the first tunnel operates over the Internet via a cellular data network, wherein the hybrid device comprises a Wi-Fi transceiver, a cellular transceiver and a virtual IP address assigned by the home gateway to the hybrid device and assigned by the hybrid device to the cellular transceiver and wherein the hybrid device is connected to the cellular data network via the cellular transceiver;

detecting by the hybrid device the availability of a foreign Wi-Fi AP, wherein the foreign AP operates within a foreign gateway and the foreign gateway is connected to the Internet;

associating with the foreign Wi-Fi AP via the Wi-Fi transceiver upon occurrence of a first transition condition in a Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP;

establishing a second tunnel from the hybrid, device to the home gateway through the foreign gateway'"'"'s Internet connection when the association step is completed while maintaining a communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway via the first tunnel;

reassigning the virtual IP address from the cellular transceiver to the Wi-Fi transceiver upon occurrence of a second transition condition to transition the communication session between the hybrid device and the home gateway from the first tunnel to the second tunnel; and

sending packets to the home gateway over the Wi-Fi transceiver via the second tunnel when the transition is completed.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the cellular data network is selected from the group consisting of a General Packet Radio Service network, an EDGE Enhanced Data network, an Evolution Data Optimized network, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Method network, a High Speed Packet Access network, a Long Term Evolution and a Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access network.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the Wi-Fi link between the Wi-Fi transceiver and the foreign Wi-Fi AP is established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of IEEE 802.11(a), 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the first and second tunnels are established using a protocol selected from the group consisting of L2TP, L2F and PPTP.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein associating with the foreign Wi-Fi AP via the Wi-Fi transceiver comprises:

receiving by the foreign Wi-Fi AP a probe request from the hybrid device, wherein the probe request comprises the MAC address of the roaming wireless AP device and the SSID of the home wireless AP;

accessing by the foreign Wi-Fi AP a roaming datastore to determine whether the SSID of the home wireless AP is stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device;

granting by the foreign Wi-Fi AP the probe request when the SSID of the home wireless AP is stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device and associating with the hybrid device; and

denying by the foreign Wi-Fi AP the probe request when the SSID of the home wireless AP is not stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the hybrid device.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising the foreign Wi-Fi AP receiving security credentials of the hybrid, device from the hybrid device.

28. The method of claim 26 further comprising the foreign Wi-Fi AP retrieving security credentials of the hybrid device from the Wi-Fi roaming datastore.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the connection of the home gateway and foreign gateway to the Internet is made via a service provider network.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the service provider network is selected from the group consisting of a fiber network, fiber-hybrid-coax network, a twisted pair network, a coax network, and a wireless network.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the communication session utilizes a protocol selected from the group consisting of a voice session, a gaming session, a video session and a messaging session.

38. The method of claim 22 further comprising tearing down the first tunnel upon occurrence of a third transition condition.

45. The method of claim 22, wherein occurrence of a first transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a determination that the foreign Wi-Fi AP has come within its range, a determination that signal strengths from foreign Wi-Fi APs within its range are increasing, and a determination using a digital map that it is physically moving to an area in which accessible foreign Wi-Fi APs are located.

46. The method of claim 22, wherein the second transition condition is detected by the hybrid device using a Class of Service (CoS) assigned to a subscriber.