Interworking gateway for mobile nodes

A method of providing access to a communications network comprising:

• receiving a communication from a first femto cell to establish connectivity to a gateway;
• establishing a secure connection from the gateway to the first femto cell using a security gateway functionality in the gateway, wherein the secure connection provides a secure connection and tunnels different protocols over a broadband network between each femto cell and the gateway;
• aggregating communications from the first and a second femto cell at the gateway and communicating as a proxy with a core network on behalf of the first and second femto cell, so that the first and second femto cell are not directly exposed to the core network;
• and
• communicating with other radio access network equipment to provide for a handoff of a mobile node.

Logic encoded in one or more non-transient media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a communication from a first femto cell to establish connectivity to a gateway;
• establishing a secure connection from the gateway to the first femto cell using a security gateway functionality in the gateway, wherein the secure connection provides a secure connection and tunnels different protocols over a broadband network between each femto cell and the gateway;
• aggregating communications from the first and a second femto cell at the gateway and communicating as a proxy with a core network on behalf of the first and second femto cell, so that the first and second femto cell are not directly exposed to the core network;
• and
• communicating with other radio access network equipment to provide for a handoff of a mobile node.