Patent ID: 8121607

Claim:
A method for providing load balancing across heterogeneous-access networks in wireless communication, comprising: periodically broadcasting from each network of at least two heterogeneous-access networks based on different wireless access technologies an Available Capacity message to indicate available capacity at each Base Station; using a mobile station to wirelessly access the heterogeneous-access networks to receive an Available Capacity message from each Base Station in wireless communication with the mobile station; initiating, at the mobile station, a handoff from a first base station in a first access network to a second base station in a second, different access network when the mobile station determines that information on loading at the first and the second base stations in received available capacity messages from the first and the second base stations meets a condition for inter-network handoff between the first and second access networks; using the mobile station to initiate a handoff from a first base station in a first access network to a different base station in the first access network when information on loading at the first base station and the different base station in the first access network in received available capacity messages from the first base station and the different base station meets a condition for intra-network handoff in the first access network; and operating the mobile station to simultaneously monitor two or more layer 2 (L2) air links with different base stations in the first access network to acquire Available Capacity messages from the different base stations to reduce handoff latency and to establish a single layer 3 (L3) connection to a core network via a best air link selected from the monitored air links.