Patent ID: 9554311
Date: 2017-01-24
CPC Classifications: H04W

Claim:
1. In a wireless communication system comprising a first access network and a second access network, a method comprising, in order: the first access network serving a user equipment device (UE) and allocating a resource of the first access network for use in serving the UE; detecting a transition of the UE from being served by the first access network to being served instead by the second access network, wherein, when the UE is served by the second access network, the UE engages in a call served by the second access network; and when the UE is served by the second access network as a result of the transition and is engaged in the call served by the second access network, (a) detecting handoff of the UE to a particular coverage area of the second access network, the handoff being from another coverage area of the second network to the particular coverage area of the second network, (b) responsive to detecting the handoff, making a determination that the first access network does not have a coverage area that corresponds with the particular coverage area of the second access network, and (c) responsive to the determination, releasing the resource, the method further comprising maintaining correlation data that indicates for each of various coverage areas of the first access network whether the second access network provides corresponding coverage, wherein making the determination that the first access network does not have a coverage area that corresponds with the second coverage area of the second access network comprises performing a lookup in the correlation data to make the determination.