Patent ID: 7826424

Claim:
A wireless communications network with a managed buffer nodes architecture for buffering data packets during handover of a mobile node from a first wireless access point in a first subnet to a second a wireless access point in a second subnet, comprising: at least one controlling buffer node; at least one transition buffer node, including a transition buffer node in the first subnet; and at least one flushing buffer node, including a flushing buffer node in the second subnet; said controlling buffer node being configured to receive a handover start message from said first wireless access point indicating that the mobile node intends to move to the second subnet; said controlling buffer node being configured to extract the addresses of the mobile node, said first wireless access point and said second wireless access point and to transmit a save instruction message to said transition buffer node in the first subnet to intercept and save packets destined for that mobile node; after the mobile node is associated with the second wireless access point and receives the mobile node's new destination address, the controlling buffer node being configured to transmit the mobile node's new destination address to said transition buffer node in the first subnet along with an address of said flushing buffer node in the second subnet for said transition buffer node in the first subnet to forward the saved packets to said flushing buffer node in the second subnet which decapsulates the packets for the second wireless access point that transmits the packets to the mobile node in the second subnet; wherein said managed buffer node architecture is configured to provide transparent buffering service for a mobile node during handoff from the first wireless access point in the first subnet to the second wireless access point in the second subnet without the mobile node soliciting for the buffering service nor negotiating any buffering service parameters.