CELLULAR NETWORK INTERWORKING INCLUDING RADIO ACCESS NETWORK EXTENSIONS

1 . A base station, comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate with a communication device via a first communication network; and

a controller configured to:

receive one or more network characteristics associated with a second communication network from the communication device; and

provide an offloading command to the communication device to instruct the communication device to offload a communication on the first communication network to the second communication network, wherein the offloading command is based on the received one or more network characteristics.

2 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

analyze the one or more network characteristics; and

generate the offloading command based on the analysis of the one or more network characteristics.

3 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

generate a measurement command based on capability information received from the communication device, the capability information including one or more wireless capabilities of the communication device; and

provide the measurement command to the communication device to instruct the communication device to provide the one or more network characteristics to the base station.

4 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a measurement report generated by the communication device, the measurement report including an identification associated with the second communication network and the one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network.

5 . The base station of claim 4 , wherein the measurement report further includes an analysis of the one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network.

6 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the one or more network characteristics comprise: network identification information, signal strength information, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), wireless load information, wide area network (WAN) information, service provider identification information, data rate information, quality of service (QoS) information, network type information, or venue information.

7 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

select one or more approved communication networks to generate a list of the one or more approved communication networks; and

provide the communication device with the list of the one or more approved communication networks, wherein the second communication network is included in the list of the one or more approved communication networks.

8 . The base station of claim 1 , wherein the first communication network is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) communication network and the second communication network is a non-3GPP communication network.

9 . A method for communicating with a communication device and a base station, the method comprising:

receiving, at the base station, capability information from the communication device via a first communication network, the capability information being associated with a second communication network;

providing a measurement command via the first communication network to the communication device based on the capability information;

receiving one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network from the communication device based on the measurement command;

determining, by the base station, whether to offload a communication on the first communication network to the second communication network based on the received one or more network characteristics; and

providing an offloading command to the communication device via the first communication network when a determination is made to offload the communication to the second communication network.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the capability information indicates that the communication device is configured to communicate via the second communication network.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

analyzing the received one or more network characteristics; and

generating the offloading command based on the analysis of the one or more network characteristics.

12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving a measurement report generated by the communication device, the measurement report including an identification associated with the second communication network and the one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the measurement report further includes an analysis of the one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more network characteristics comprise: network identification information, signal strength information, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), wireless load information, wide area network (WAN) information, service provider identification information, data rate information, quality of service (QoS) information, network type information, or venue information.

15 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

selecting one or more approved communication networks to generate a list of the one or more approved communication networks; and

providing the communication device with the list of the one or more approved communication networks, wherein the second communication network is included in the list of the one or more approved communication networks.

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first communication network is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) communication network and the second communication network is a non-3GPP communication network.

17 . A communication device, comprising:

a first transceiver configured to communicate with a first communication network;

a second transceiver configured to communicate with a second communication network; and

a controller configured to:

provide capability information to a base station associated with the first communication network, the capability information providing an indication that the communication device is able to communicate with the second communication network;

receive a measurement command from the base station, the measurement command being based on the capability information;

provide a measurement report to the base station based on the measurement command;

receive an offloading command from the base station via the first communication network, the offloading command being generated by the base station based on the measurement report; and

control the first transceiver to offload a communication on the first communication network to the second communication network based on the received offloading command.

18 . The communication device of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the capability information upon the communication device entering a powered-on state.

19 . The communication device of claim 17 , wherein, in response to the measurement command, the controller is further configured to:

determine one or more network characteristics associated with the second communication network;

analyze the one or more network characteristics; and

generate the measurement report based on the analysis of the one or more network characteristics.

20 . The communication device of claim 17 , wherein the measurement report includes one or more network characteristics, comprising: network identification information, signal strength information, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), wireless load information, wide area network (WAN) information, service provider identification information, data rate information, quality of service (QoS) information, network type information, or venue information.