Patent ID: 6973308

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a base transceiver station engaged in wireless communication with a first mobile unit and carrying data being transmitted between the first mobile unit and a second mobile unit; and a communication device in communication with the base transceiver station over a local network, wherein one of the base transceiver station and the communication device are dynamically selected, by a selection procedure, to perform a call anchor function for the data, the selection procedure comprising: determining a communication characteristic comprising at least one of a traffic characteristic of the data and a characteristic of wireless communication between the base transceiver station and at least one of the first and second mobile units; using the communication characteristic to determine a wireless savings amount comprising an amount of wireless resource savings associated with performing the call anchor function by the communication device; using the communication characteristic to determine a backhaul cost amount comprising an amount of backhaul resource cost associated with performing the call anchor function by the communication device; selecting the communication device if the wireless savings amount exceeds the backhaul cost amount; and selecting the base transceiver station if the backhaul cost amount exceeds the wireless savings amount.