Patent ID: 8429719

Claim:
A method of interworking between a first authentication domain and a second authentication domain, comprising: performing, by a bridge module, a first authentication procedure in the first authentication domain for a mobile station, wherein the first authentication domain is part of a wireless access network, wherein the first authentication procedure involves communicating authentication messaging between the wireless access network and an authentication node in a service provider network, wherein the mobile station is associated with a subscriber of the service provider network, wherein the first authentication procedure establishes authentication of the mobile station by the wireless access network; based on a credential collected in the first authentication procedure from the service provider network, performing a second authentication procedure for the mobile station, by the bridge module, in the second authentication domain, wherein said performing the second authentication procedure comprises providing the credential to the service provider network, wherein the second authentication procedure establishes authentication of the mobile station by the service provider network, wherein said performing the second authentication procedure comprises receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) address to assign the mobile station; and communicating the IP address to the mobile station to allocate the IP address to the mobile station.