Mechanism for hand off using subscriber detection of synchronized access point beacon transmissions

A method for handing over a mobile station from a Wide Area Network to a Wireless Local Area Network access point comprising:

• transmitting to the access point by the Wide Area Network a synchronization signal;
• transmitting a timing message by the Wide Area Network to the access point specifying a time window in which the access point is to broadcast a beacon signal;
• transmitting a network message by the Wide Area Network to the mobile station specifying the time window such that the mobile station can monitor for the beacon signal during the time window;
• and
• receiving a notification from the mobile station that the access point beacon signal has been detected.

A mobile station comprising:

• a first transceiver for communicating via at least one of IS-95, GSM, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA and CDMA2000;
• a second transceiver for communicating via at least one of 802.11x, 802.15x, 802.16x, Bluetooth, and HomeRF;
• and
• a processor and memory configured to receive a network message using the first transceiver, specifying a time window in which to monitor for a beacon signal using the second transceiver, wherein the second transceiver is powered on initially only during the time window, and further configured to transmit a notification using the first transceiver that a connection is available using the second transceiver, powering on the second transceiver and establishing a connection using the second transceiver.