System and method for single radio handover

Abstract

Single radio handovers (SRHOs) between heterogonous networks can be facilitated using several techniques. One such technique includes activating a receiver of a target radio interface in a mobile node without activating a transmitter of the target radio interface, thereby allowing the mobile node to perform target network discovery while the transmitter of the target radio interface remains deactivated. Another such technique includes encapsulating link-layer discovery frames into media independent handover frames (MIH), and then tunneling the MIH frames over a tunnel extending through the source network. This may allow the MN to achieve various handover related tasks without activating the target radio link. Another technique includes establishing a schedule (or delay period) for synchronizing deactivation of the source radio interface with activation of the transmitter in the target radio interface.