Patent ID: 7505446

Claim:
A method for use by a mobile communication device in switching operation for communications from a wireless wide area network to a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network having a plurality of local area coverage cells which are contained within one or more wide area coverage cells of the wide area wireless network, the method comprising the acts of: providing operation for communications in a wireless wide area network with use of a first wireless transceiver portion adapted for communications in the wireless wide area network, while a second wireless transceiver portion adapted for communications in a wireless local area network is disabled; during operations in the wireless wide area network: continually maintaining, in memory, visited cell site history information which includes a cell site count of visited cell sites of the wireless wide area network that served the mobile communication device over a moving time period of operation of the mobile communication device; determining that the mobile communication device is not permitted to operate for communications in the wireless local area network and maintaining the second wireless transceiver portion as disabled based on identifying that the cell site count is greater than a cell site threshold count; and determining whether that the mobile communication device is permitted to operate for communications in a wireless local area network and enabling the second wireless transceiver portion for communications based on identifying that the cell site count is less than the cell site threshold count, which indicates that the mobile communication device has been contained within a local geographic region in the wireless wide area network over the moving time period of operation.