Patent ID: 7990925

Claim:
A method of wireless communication, comprising: establishing, at an access terminal, a first wireless link with first network access node to receive a first set of packets from a first first-hop router; establishing, at the access terminal, a second wireless link with a second network access node to perform a handoff from the first network access node to the second network access node; establishing, at the access terminal, a protocol tunnel to the first network access node via the second network access node; receiving a second set of packets at the access terminal from the first first-hop router via the protocol tunnel; establishing the second network access node as a foreign agent for the access terminal; and receiving a third set of packets at the access terminal from a second first-hop router via the second network access node while maintaining the protocol tunnel, prior to receiving a last packet of the second set of packets at the access terminal via the protocol tunnel, and after the second network access node has been established as the foreign agent for the access terminal.