Patent ID: 8116769

Claim:
A method for anchoring a communication session, comprising: receiving, at a handoff server, a plurality of associations discovered by a target mobile phone, an association indicating that coverage of a first access node at least partially overlaps coverage of a second access node; identifying a current access node for a communication session for the target mobile phone, the current access node operable to provide the target mobile phone access to a first network of a first network type; identifying one or more potential access nodes, a potential access node operable to provide the target mobile phone access to a second network of a second network type; determining, by the handoff server, from the plurality of associations if coverage of the potential access node at least partially overlaps coverage of an access node of a set of access nodes, the set of access nodes providing contiguous coverage that at least partially overlaps coverage of the current access node; deciding, by the handoff server, that the communication session can be handed off from the current access node to a potential access node if coverage of the potential access node at least partially overlaps coverage of an access node of the set of access nodes; and initiating anchoring of the communication session in the second network only if the communication session can be handed off to a potential access node of the one or more potential access nodes.