Patent ID: 8351944

Claim:
A method comprising: identifying, by a mobile device, a target wireless network for a handover, the target wireless network using a different access technology than an existing wireless network being used by the mobile device; determining, by the mobile device, that a strength of a signal for the existing wireless network is less than or equal to an early registration trigger threshold that triggers an early registration of the mobile device with the target wireless network; initiating, by the mobile device, the early registration of the mobile device with a target base station of the target wireless network after determining that the strength of the signal is less than or equal to the early registration trigger threshold and before determining to initiate the handover from an existing base station of the existing wireless network to the target base station of the target wireless network, the early registration being performed a period of time before the handover to the target wireless network, and the period of time being sufficient to eliminate a registration delay associated with the handover to the target wireless network; and initiating, by the mobile device and after the period of time, the handover from the existing base station of the existing wireless network to the target base station of the target wireless network, the early registration of the mobile device with the target base station of the target wireless network being different from procedures of the handover from the existing base station of the existing wireless network to the target base station of the target wireless network.