Data service apparatus and method in heterogeneous wireless networks

Abstract

Provided are an apparatus and a method for providing a concurrent data service to an Mobile Station (MS) through a plurality of heterogeneous networks. In a method for providing a data service to an MS through different wireless networks, the MS measures channel qualities of at least one accessible wireless network and reports the measured channel qualities to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet controller. The IP packet controller selects wireless networks for data transmission on the basis of the reported channel qualities, distributes data destined for the MS, and transmits the distributed data to the selected wireless networks. The selected wireless networks receive the data from the IP packet controller and transmits the received data to the MS. The MS combines and interprets the data received from the selected wireless networks. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a seamless data service to the MS in service environments with a mixture of different wireless communication systems.