Patent ID: 8385903

Claim:
A gateway providing a service consistency and continuity (SCC) application server (AS) functionality for use in communicating in a session with at least one user equipment (UE) in a communication network, the gateway comprising: an interface for communicating with the at least one user equipment (UE) in the session, wherein the session includes a media stream and a service control signaling path used to perform service control of the session; a continuous service experience (CSE) module configured to support separate and independent transfer of the media stream and service control across a plurality of user equipment anchored at the SCC AS; an authorization module configured to authorize the transfer of the media stream based upon a media transfer request received from the at least one UE with service control, wherein the media transfer request identifies the media stream to transfer and at least one target UE to which to transfer the media stream, and initiates the transfer of the media stream to the at least one target UE, and to authorize the transfer of the service control based upon a service control transfer request received from the at least one UE with service control, wherein the service control transfer request identifies the session and a target UE to which to transfer the service control.