Patent ID: 7885231
Filing Date: 2011-02-08
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of communicating information for a mobile station in a wireless mobile communication network, the method comprising: transmitting first information from a handover management module of the mobile station to a first handover management module of a first point of attachment (PoA), wherein the first PoA has a wireless access to the mobile station and is coupled to a first access router, wherein the first information comprises an address of a second PoA which is obtained prior to transmitting the first information to the first handover management module of the first PoA, and wherein the first information indicates that a connection between the mobile station and the first PoA is going down; the first handover management module of the first PoA exchanging second information with a second handover management module of the second PoA in response to receipt of the first information in order to obtain information of the second PoA and information about a second access router, and to provide the second PoA with information necessary for a handover of the mobile station, wherein the information of the second PoA includes a type of a mobility management protocol used by the second PoA; the first handover management module of the first PoA notifying the second PoA that the mobile station is going to initiate a handover to the second PoA through an exchange of the second information; the first PoA informing the first access router via the first handover management module that the mobile station is going to move to the second access router using an Internet Protocol (IP) information request for the second access router, wherein the second access router is coupled to the second PoA after the second information is exchanged in order to establish an association with the second PoA; the first access router transmitting an IP information confirmation to the first PoA in response to the IP information request, wherein the IP information confirmation includes a bitmap field, a single bit field indicating whether a current address needs to be changed when the mobile station moves to the second PoA, and a time stamp field indicating a time difference between receipt and encapsulation of an agent advertisement or a router advertisement; the first access router transmitting a proxy router advertisement for the second access router to the mobile station in response to the informing by the first PoA; the mobile station establishing a new connection with the second PoA at a link layer of the mobile station using the proxy router advertisement while the mobile station maintains the connection to the first PoA; the mobile station informing the first handover management module of the first PoA via the handover management module of the mobile station that the new connection was established with the second PoA; the first PoA triggering a handover management module of the first access router to forward data to the second access router in response to the informing by the mobile station; the first access router forwarding the data to the second access router while the mobile station maintains the connection to the first PoA; and the second access router transmitting the data to the mobile station, wherein the mobile station, the first PoA, the second PoA, the first access router, and the second access router are different entities, wherein the handover management module of the mobile station, the handover management module of the first access router, a handover management module of the second access router, the first handover management module, and the second handover management module each comprise a media independent handover management module, wherein the first PoA and the second PoA each comprise a broadband wireless access network base station, a wireless local area network access point, or a cellular system base station, wherein the first handover management module of the first PoA exchanges the second information with the second handover management module of the second PoA using the address of the second PoA, wherein the mobile station uses Fast Handovers for Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (FMIPv6), and wherein each bit of the bitmap field corresponds to a mobility management protocol support type.