System and method for handoff from a macro access network to a femto access point

摘要

Devices and methods are provided for handing off an access terminal from a macro base station to a femto access point (AP). In one embodiment, the method involves receiving a facilities directive or the like from a communication network entity, such as, for example, a serving mobile switching center (MSC). The method may involve selecting the femto AP based at least in part on femto configuration information, which may include at least one global identifier of the femto AP. The method may involve determining a uniform resource identifier of the femto AP based at least in part on at least one global identifier (e.g., MSC identifier and/or cell identifier).

主权项

1. A method for handing off an access terminal (AT) from a macro base station to a femto access point (AP), comprising:
receiving a handoff message from an Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) entity in operative communication with the macro base station, the handoff message comprising femto configuration information; selecting the femto AP from a plurality of femto APs based at least in part on the femto configuration information, the femto configuration information comprising at least one global identifier of the selected femto AP; determining a session initiation protocol (SIP) uniform resource identifier (URI) of the femto AP based at least in part on the at least one global identifier; and using the SIP URI to transmit a SIP message to the femto AP via a call session control function (CSCF).