Multiple carrier attachment establishment and maintenance
Systems and methods are described herein that facilitate attaching a mobile station to a target wireless network through a physical connection between the mobile station and a supporting wireless network. Uplink and downlink channels between the mobile station and the target wireless network tunnel through the supporting wireless network. The systems and methods described herein thereby enable a mobile station with a single transceiver to become simultaneously attached to multiple wireless networks. The systems and methods described herein further support the handover of a mobile station from a generic access component of a mobile network to a radio access component and the handover of a mobile station from a radio access component of a mobile network to a generic access component of the mobile network thus facilitating rapid transitions from one mobile network air interface to another.
1. A method, executed by a mobile station (MS) attached to a first wireless wide area network (WWAN), for attaching to a second WWAN while maintaining the attachment to the first WWAN, the method comprising:
prior to a handover request by the MS, transmitting, via a physical uplink channel with a radio access network (RAN) of the first WWAN, an attach request message addressed to a generic access network controller of a generic access network (GAN) of the second WWAN via a third separate network;
receiving, via a physical downlink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, an attach accept message from the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN via the third separate network, the attach accept message including a packet data network (PDN) address; and
storing, at a computer readable storage medium, an association relationship between an identifier of a subscription with the second WWAN and the PDN address.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier of the subscription with the second WWAN is a mobile subscriber integrated services digital network-number (MSISDN).
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a handover request message addressed to the second WWAN.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving, via a physical downlink channel with an RAN of the second WWAN, a transmission confirming a handover of the MS to the RAN of the second WWAN.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the second WWAN, an attach request message addressed to a generic access network controller of a GAN of the first WWAN via the third separate network; and
receiving, via the physical downlink channel with the RAN of the second WWAN, an attach accept message from the generic access network controller of the GAN of the first WWAN via the third separate network.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the physical downlink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a connection integrity check request from the second WWAN; and
transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a connection integrity verification addressed to the second WWAN.
7. A method, executed by a mobile station (MS) attached to a first wireless wide area network (WWAN), for attaching to a second WWAN while maintaining the attachment to the first WWAN, the method comprising:
prior to a handover request by the MS, transmitting, via a physical uplink channel with a radio access network (RAN) of the first WWAN, an attach request message addressed to a generic access network controller of a generic access network (GAN) of the second WWAN via a third separate network;
receiving, via a physical downlink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, an attach accept message from the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN via the third separate network; and
after receiving the attach accept message, transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a handover request message addressed to the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN via the third separate network.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, via a physical downlink channel with a RAN of the second WWAN, a transmission confirming a handover of the MS to the RAN of the second WWAN.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving, via the physical downlink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a connection integrity check request from the second WWAN; and
transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, a connection integrity verification addressed to the second WWAN.
10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
transmitting, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the second WWAN, an attach request message addressed to a generic access network controller of a GAN of the first WWAN via the third separate network; and
receiving, via the physical downlink channel with the RAN of the second WWAN, an attach accept message from the generic access network controller of the GAN of the first WWAN via the third separate network.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the attach accept message includes a packet data network (PDN) address, and the method further comprising:
storing, at a computer readable storage medium, an association relationship between an identifier of a subscription with the second WWAN and the PDN address.
12. A mobile station configured to connect to a generic access network (GAN) of a second wireless wide area network (WWAN) via a radio access network (RAN) of a first WWAN, the mobile station comprising:
a processor configured to construct an attach request message addressed to a generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN;
a radio frequency (RF) transceiver configured to:
prior to a handover request by the mobile station, transmit, via a physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first WWAN, the attach request message addressed to the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN via a third separate network; and
receive, via a physical downlink channel with the RAN of the first network, an attach accept message from the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN via the third separate network;
wherein the processor is further configured to construct a handover request message addressed to the generic access network controller of the GAN of the second WWAN after receiving the attach accept message, and wherein the RF transceiver is further configured to transmit, via the physical uplink channel with the RAN of the first network, the handover request message addressed to the second WWAN via the third separate network.
13. The mobile station of claim 12 , wherein the attach accept message includes a packet data network (PDN) address, and the mobile station further comprising:
a processor readable storage medium configured to store an association relationship between an identifier of a subscription with the second WWAN and the PDN address.