Patent ID: 8954051
Filing Date: 2015-02-10
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for macrocell-to-femtocell hand-in, the method comprising: detecting, with a femto-proxy system, an access terminal in proximity to the femto-proxy system and communicatively coupled with a macro network via a macrocell, the femto-proxy system comprising an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy and a femtocell communicatively coupled with the macro network via a femto convergence system; establishing, by the OOB femto-proxy, an OOB communications link with the access terminal; communicating a service advertisement from the femtocell to the access terminal via the OOB femto-proxy; receiving, from the access terminal, a cell identifier identifying the access terminal on the macro network in response to the service advertisement; and registering the access terminal for hand-in from the macrocell to the femtocell by communicating an OOB presence indication, including at least the cell identifier, from the femtocell to the femto convergence system indicating proximity of the access terminal to the femtocell.