Patent ID: 8594104

Claim:
An access gateway comprising: an interface capable of operating in accordance with a plurality of modes of operation, including a 3GPP operating mode and a 3GPP2 operating mode, wherein the interface is configured to: receive a request from a mobile device for a service; determine a mode of operation for the mobile device by inspecting the request; if the mobile device is determined to be operating in the 3GPP operating mode, select an anchor gateway that can provide packet data network gateway (PGW) functionalities based on information obtained from inspecting the request; and provide mobility access gateway (MAG) functionalities; if the mobile device is determined to be operating in the 3GPP2 operating mode, select an anchor gateway that can provide home agent (HA)/local mobility anchor (LMA) functionalities based on the information obtained from the request; and provide packet data serving node (PDSN) functionalities; an interworking module configured to establish a proxy mobile internet protocol (PMIP) connection with the selected anchor gateway based on the determined mode of operation and provide an internet protocol (IP) address to the mobile device based on the mode of operation and parameters associated with the mode of operation; and an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) proxy module that is configured to communicate with a 3GPP2 AAA server in the 3GPP2 operating mode and is configured to communicate with a 3GPP AAA server in the 3GPP operating mode.