Patent ID: 6233463
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
A dual mode user terminal, comprising:a first transceiver for communicating with a satellite communications network that comprises at least one satellite and at least one terrestrial gateway;a second transceiver for communicating with a terrestrial cellular communications network comprising at least one repeater and at least one mobile switching center; anda processor, responsive to one of a user selected protocol or a gateway selected protocol, for enabling either said first or said second transceiver for registering said user terminal with one of said satellite communications network or said terrestrial cellular communications network, wherein one of said satellite communications network or terrestrial cellular communications network is assigned a higher priority than the other for first attempting registration, and wherein said gateway instructs said processor to initiate a registration into the other network after registering with the highest priority network while remaining registered with the highest priority network.