Patent ID: 7903567
Filing Date: 2011-03-08
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of determining availability of a network connection between a public wireless local area network and a home network of a mobile user device, the method comprising: sending a signaling message in parallel from the user device to a plurality of network devices, each network device being associated with a public wireless local area network, the signaling message including a home identifier that identifies the home network of the user device; formulating a protocol signaling message at each network device using the home identifier; for each protocol signaling message, attempting to send the protocol signaling message from the network device to the home network to test availability of a relationship between the network device and the home network; and if a network connection is available between the public wireless local area network and the home network, returning an indication of availability to the user device, the indication of availability being returned before the user device attempts to initiate or authenticate the connection.