Patent ID: 8867491

Claim:
A mobile node configured to maintain multiple PDN connections during an idle mode handover from a source network operating under the 3GPP communications protocol to a target network operating under a non-3GPP communications protocol, comprising: communication circuitry configured to communicate with the source network and the target network; and hardware coupled to the communication circuitry, wherein the hardware is configured to generate a connection request message, wherein the connection request is configured to establish the presence of the mobile node with the target network and wherein the connection request message comprises an indication that multiple PDN connections are currently in use by the mobile node; wherein the communication circuitry is configured to transmit the connection request message to an access node on the target network; wherein the access node is configured to transmit a request message to a home subscriber storage entity on a home network assigned to the mobile node; wherein the access node is configured to receive a response message from the home subscriber storage entity on the home network assigned to the mobile node, said response message including addresses for all PDN gateways currently in use by the mobile node; wherein the access node is configured to transmit the PDN gateway addresses to a control entity on the target network so that access can be established with the PDN gateways to maintain the PDN connections with the mobile node after the handover of mobile node communications to the target network.