METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING VOICE OVER IP (VOIP) TO WIRELESS MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICES

1 . A system, comprising:

a wireless communication device having a short-range wireless interface and a client configured to place and receive voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls through the short-range wireless interface; and

a gateway including a short-range wireless interface configured to communicate with the wireless communication device, a network interface configured to communicated with the Internet, a VOIP service client configured to communicate with a VOIP service by way of the network interface, and a proxy server configured to route the VOIP calls through the short-range wireless interface of the gateway and act as an interface between the client on the wireless communication device and the VOIP service client.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device further comprises a wide-area cellular network interface.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the wireless communication device further comprises a user interface for selecting either the short-range wireless interface or the wide-area cellular network interface to place and receive calls.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device includes a user interface configured to receive a called party number from a user and the client on the wireless communication device is configured to transfer the called party number to the proxy server.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an Internet Protocol (IP) stack resident on the gateway.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device is configured to detect a short-range wireless signal strength and to transmit a hand-off message to the VOIP service when the short-range wireless signal strength is above a predetermined threshold, the hand-off message for causing a wide-area cellular network to hand off an existing cellular call at the wireless communication device to the VOIP service.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the short-range wireless interface is selected from a group consisting of a Wi-Fi interface and a Bluetooth interface.

8 . A wireless communication device, comprising:

a wide-area cellular network interface;

a short-range wireless interface;

a user interface configured to select either the short-range wireless interface or the wide-area cellular network interface to place and receive calls; and

a client configured to place and receive voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls through the short-range wireless interface.

9 . The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the client is configured to communicate with a proxy server running on a gateway, by way of the short-range wireless interface.

10 . The wireless communication device of claim 8 , wherein the proxy server passes the VOIP calls to and from a VOIP service client residing on the gateway.

11 . The wireless communication device of claim 9 , wherein the VOIP service client is configured to communicate with a VOIP service by way the Internet.

12 . The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the user interface is configured to receive a called party number from a user and the client on the wireless communication device is configured to transfer the called party number to a proxy server residing on a gateway.

13 . The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the short-range wireless interface is selected from a group consisting of a Wi-Fi interface and a Bluetooth interface.

14 . The wireless communication device of claim 7 , further comprising:

means for detecting a short-range wireless signal strength; and

means for transmitting a hand-off message to the VOIP service when the short-range wireless signal strength is above a predetermined threshold, the hand-off message for causing a wide-area cellular network to hand off an existing cellular call at the wireless communication device to the VOIP service.

15 . A method of providing voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to a wireless communication device, comprising:

placing a call at the wireless communication device;

transmitting the call through a short-range wireless interface from the wireless communication device to a gateway;

establishing a VOIP call session using a proxy server residing at the gateway; and

the proxy server routing the call through a VOIP service client residing at the gateway.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving a called party number from a user at the wireless communication device; and

transferring the called party number to the proxy server by way of the short-range wireless interface.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

detecting a short-range wireless signal strength; and

transmitting a hand-off message to a VOIP service when the short-range wireless signal strength is above a predetermined threshold, the hand-off message for causing a wide-area cellular network to hand off an existing cellular call at the wireless communication device to the VOIP service.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the short-range wireless interface is selected from a group consisting of a Wi-Fi interface and a Bluetooth interface.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the VOIP service client is configured to communicate with a VOIP service by way of the Internet.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

selecting, at the wireless communication device, either the short-range wireless interface or a wide-area cellular network interface to place and receive calls.