Mobile telephony devices utilizing wireless communication protocols are ubiquitous. Many of these devices utilize one of the competing cellular networks (e.g., GSM or CDMA) to place and receive telephone calls to other telephony endpoint devices. A telephony endpoint device may include another mobile telephony device on the same or another cellular network, a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony device, and/or a plain old telephone service (POTS) telephony device. Each of these telephony endpoint devices may use a different access network but all are interfaced at some point to allow for communication among the different networks.
Recently, there has been introduced another type of mobile telephony device, one that is capable of utilizing multiple different networks depending on the current location or network conditions pertaining to the mobile telephony device. Such a mobile telephony device may be characterized as a hybrid mobile device due to its capability of making and receiving telephone calls on at least two distinct networks. Some hybrid mobile devices include the ability to start or establish a telephone call on one network (e.g., an IP based VoIP network over a wireless fidelity (WiFi) connection) and handoff the call to a second network (e.g., a cellular network) when conditions on the original network degrade. Such a handoff may occur, for instance, when the mobile hybrid device moves out of range of the IP based WiFi access point. Rather than dropping the call, the hybrid mobile device, in conjunction with the a network based server, may switch to a cellular connection prior to severing the WiFi VoIP connection thereby ensuring that the hybrid mobile device stays connected to the other telephony endpoint and the call is not dropped.
Determining when to initiate the handoff to avoid dropping a call can vary based on a number of factors, including but not limited to network conditions, signal strength, location and the like and is typically set based on manufacturer or carrier default settings. Incorporating user feedback with respect to actual call quality and network conditions into this determination may improve the user experience and the device and network performance. As such, described herein are methods, systems, and techniques for establishing a handoff profile based on various communication link parameters using user feedback.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds