Patent ID: 8594077

Claim:
A method comprising: wirelessly receiving into a cellular radio access network (RAN) from a wireless communication device (WCD) a radio access registration message seeking to register the WCD for wireless communication service in the RAN; in response to the radio access registration message from the WCD, signaling from the RAN to an entity that includes or has access to an Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment function; the IP address assignment function assigning an IP address to the WCD, for use by the WCD to engage in communications on a packet-switched network; signaling the assigned IP address from the entity to the RAN; and wirelessly transmitting to the WCD from the RAN, in response to the radio access registration message, a radio access registration response message, wherein the radio access registration response message acknowledges registration of the WCD for wireless communication service in the RAN and specifies the assigned IP address for use by the WCD.