Patent ID: 8027681
Filing Date: 2011-09-27
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for handoff of a mobile station from a macrocell base station transceiver subsystem (BTS) to a target femtocell BTS, comprising: a) receiving a facilities directive message at a handoff application server (HOAS) requesting allocation of resources for a handoff of a mobile station from a macrocell BTS to a target femtocell BTS, wherein the mobile station is being served by the macrocell BTS and an associated mobile switching center (MSC), wherein the target femtocell BTS is associated with a group of femtocell BTSs among a plurality of femtocell BTSs within a communication infrastructure associated with the macrocell BTS, wherein each femtocell BTS in the femtocell group is associated with a group identifying code and the mobile station is associated with a station identification number, wherein the facilities directive message includes the group identifying code and the station identification number; b) sending a first invitation message from the HOAS to a media gateway requesting the media gateway to allocate resources for the handoff to the target femtocell BTS based at least in part on the group identifying code; c) collecting femtocell information at the HOAS from a femtocell database for at least a portion of the femtocell group, the femtocell database storing femtocell information for the plurality of femtocell BTSs, the femtocell information facilitating identification of the target femtocell BTS from the femtocell group, the femtocell portion of the femtocell group being within or adjacent to a coverage area associated with the macrocell BTS, wherein the collected femtocell information is based at least in part on the group identifying code and the station identification number; d) selecting a first femtocell BTS from the femtocell portion as a candidate for the target femtocell BTS based at least in part on the collected femtocell information; and e) sending a second invitation message to the first femtocell BTS requesting the first femtocell BTS to allocate resources for the handoff.