Patent ID: 8213387

Claim:
A method for transmitting a media independent handover (MIH) message, comprising: obtaining the address information of an MIH service entity; dividing the MIH message into segments; encapsulating the segments into transmission control protocol (TCP) segments at a sending end; encapsulating the TCP segments into Internet protocol (IP) data packets at the sending end; and sending out the IP data packets at the sending end; wherein the obtaining the address information of the MIH service entity comprises: defining an address record of the MIH service entity in a domain name service (DNS) server; obtaining, by an entity sending the IP data packet, a query name (QNAME); sending, by the entity sending the IP data packet, a query request to the DNS Server; and returning, by the DNS Server, the address information of the MIH service entity to the entity sending the IP data packet; wherein the QNAME is obtained through one of the following modes: a static configuration mode; a dynamic obtaining mode; and a mode configuring a service name and a protocol name in the QNAME statically, obtaining an access domain name in the QNAME dynamically, and generating the QNAME by concatenating the service name, the protocol name, and the access domain name.