Patent ID: 8477730

Claim:
A network device comprising: one or more interfaces configured to provide communication with at least one other network device of the same type and with mobile stations; and a processor, in communication with the one or more interfaces, configured to run a module stored in memory that is configured to: send a message to the at least one other network device to request information on real-time load information of the at least one other network device; receive the real-time load information from the at least one other network device; determine an amount of load to be re-routed to the at least one other network device based on the real-time load information of the at least one other network device; upon determining the amount of load to be re-routed to the at least one other network device, send a message to the at least one other network device to request setting aside data transfer capacity; select mobile stations to be re-routed to the at least one other network device; and cause the selected mobile stations to be re-routed to the at least one other network device, which includes modifying a serving network device identifier in a mobile station identifier associated with the selected mobile stations, so that data is communicated between the selected mobile stations and the at least one other network device.