Patent ID: 8644298

Claim:
A method of operating an Internet Protocol based multimedia subsystem (IMS) comprising: establishing a first IMS session between a first user element and a second user element, the first IMS session having: at least a portion of an overall bearer path being a circuit-switched (CS) bearer path that extends through a CS access network to the first user element; and a remote signaling leg that extends from the IMS toward the second user element; after the first IMS session is established, establishing an initial service control signaling channel for the first IMS session, wherein the service control signaling channel is for providing IMS services for the first user element, the service control channel extending from the IMS toward the first user element; associating the service control signaling channel with the remote signaling leg; and providing an IMS service for the first IMS session to the first user element via the service control signaling channel and to the second user element via the remote signaling leg.