US 12,317,139 B2
Seamless relocation of a mobile terminal in a wireless network
David Aaron Claassen, Leesburg, VA (US); and Lei Wang, Oak Hill, VA (US)
Assigned to SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLC, Morrisville, NC (US)
Filed by SMARTSKY NETWORKS LLC, Morrisville, NC (US)
Filed on Jan. 29, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/425,477.
Application 18/425,477 is a continuation of application No. 17/683,758, filed on Mar. 1, 2022, granted, now 11,889,371.
Application 17/683,758 is a continuation of application No. 16/721,042, filed on Dec. 19, 2019, granted, now 11,297,552, issued on Apr. 5, 2022.
Application 16/721,042 is a continuation of application No. 15/883,303, filed on Jan. 30, 2018, granted, now 10,548,059, issued on Jan. 28, 2020.
Application 15/883,303 is a continuation of application No. 15/018,278, filed on Feb. 8, 2016, granted, now 9,924,431, issued on Mar. 20, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0334283 A1, Oct. 3, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04W 36/00 (2009.01); H04W 36/14 (2009.01)
CPC H04W 36/0016 (2013.01) [H04W 36/14 (2013.01); H04W 36/142 (2023.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A Software Defined Network (SDN) controller comprising processing circuitry configured to:
receive a handover request at a mobility management entity (MME) from an inflight communication terminal based on relocation of the terminal from a first base station served by a first serving gateway (SGW) among a plurality of SGWs and a first packet data network gateway (PGW) among a plurality of PGWs to a second base station served by a second SGW;
determine, at the MME, whether to conduct a handover from the first base station to the second base station along with execution of a PGW relocation from the first PGW to a second PGW based on which of the first PGW or the second PGW is closer to the inflight communication terminal; and
direct the handover from the first base station to the second base station while maintaining an IP address assigned to the inflight communication terminal the same through the handover.