Patent ID: 7369856

Claim:
A method for performing a fast hand-over in a broadband wireless network, comprising: identifying a target base station (BS) to which an air interface between a mobile subscriber station (MSS) and a serving BS is to be handed-off; forwarding a first message to the target BS informing the target BS to anticipate a hand-off of the MSS; forwarding a second message to the serving BS to request that the serving BS forward connection context information to the target BS; forwarding a third message including the connection context information corresponding to a current air interface of a serving BS from the serving BS to the target BS; authenticating a target BS prior to handing over the air interface from the serving BS to the target BS by: storing an initial set of authentication credentials for each BS on an authentication server; submitting an authentication request from the serving BS to the authentication server identifying the target BS; sending an authentication challenge to the target BS; returning a current set of authentication credentials for the target BS to the AS; comparing the initial set of authentication credentials with the current set of authentication credentials to authenticate the target BS; and if the target BS is authenticated, returning an authentication confirmation to the serving BS; otherwise returning an authentication denial to the serving BS if the target BS is not authenticated; and pre-provisioning service corresponding to a migrated air interface to the MSS via the target BS using the connection context information.