Patent ID: 8054800

Claim:
A method of performing a handover to at least a homogeneous or heterogeneous network in a multi-mode mobile terminal, the method comprising: receiving a first message from an upper layer module of the multi-mode mobile terminal to command establishment of a connection to a first network at a media independent handover (MIH) module of the multi-mode mobile terminal, wherein the first message includes type information and address information used for indicating the first network to which the connection is to be established, and the MIH module is configured for converging information received from at least two network interface modules of the multi-mode mobile terminal associated with the at least a homogeneous or heterogeneous network into a unified presentation to be provided to the upper layer module; sending a second message from the MIH module to a network interface module among the at least two network interface modules of the multi-mode mobile terminal that is associated with the first network, the second message sent based on the type information and the address information and in response to receipt of the first message at the MIH module, wherein the second message is used to establish the connection to the first network; performing an operation for establishing the connection with an interface module of the first network in response to receipt of the second message at the network interface module associated with the first network; transmitting a first confirmation message from the network interface module associated with the first network to the MIH module as a result of performing the operation for establishing the connection, the first confirmation message indicating a result of the operation to the MIH module, wherein the result of the operation includes at least success, fail, or reject; and transmitting a second confirmation message from the MIH module to the upper layer module in response to receipt of the first confirmation message at the MIH module, the second confirmation message indicating to the upper layer module that the result of the operation is fail when the result of the operation does not include success, wherein the second confirmation message includes type information and address information used for indicating a network related to the result of the operation.