Abstract: The invention provides techniques for selecting, on a dynamic basis, an interworking function (IWF) that can modify a communication protocol to a particular format required by bridged terminal equipment in a communication system. The IWF can be selected to ensure compatibility between transmission bandwidth, coding and other format parameters of a call and the corresponding parameters of its destination terminal in the system. An IWF in accordance with the invention may be utilized to allow a user to bind to different terminals having different capabilities over the duration of a given call. An IWF in accordance with the invention may also be used to insert additional data, retrieved from a database of the switch, into a reverse portion of the call directed from the destination terminal to the source terminal. The invention can thus be used to ensure that the established bandwidth between the destination terminal and the source terminal is substantially bidirectionally symmetric.

Abstract: The invention provides dynamic binding and bridging between a mobile terminal and other more complex terminals in a communication system. In an illustrative embodiment, a temporary association is established, in a memory of a system switch, between the mobile and at least one other system terminal. While the mobile is “registered” in this manner to the other terminal, the mobile user can request permission to utilize the functions of the other terminal in order to, for example, receive incoming calls or place outgoing calls. The temporary association may be established based on a determination of the proximity of the mobile to the other terminal, such that the mobile registers to different complex system terminals as it moves between different cells of the system. The invention also provides techniques which allow users to access a user-defined profile for one terminal at another terminal of the system.

Abstract: The invention in an illustrative embodiment provides binding and bridging between a mobile terminal and other more complex terminals in a communication system. The binding is based on a determination of the proximity of the mobile to the other terminal, such that the mobile registers to different complex system terminals as it moves between different cells of the system. In accordance with the invention, a proximity-based temporary association is established, in a memory of a system switch, between the mobile and at least one other system terminal. While the mobile is “registered” in this manner to the other terminal, the mobile user can request permission to utilize the functions of the other terminal in order to, for example, receive incoming calls or place outgoing calls.