Existing techniques for offloading data traffic and data service flows from a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) (e.g., a 3GPP-LTE or 802.16m (WiMAX) network) to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) (e.g., a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) 802.11a/b/g/n network) include the static mapping of services to either WWAN or WLAN links. Some network-based offloading techniques, such as those specified in various 3GPP standards, require the client to choose whether to receive a particular service over either a WLAN or WWAN link without coordination between the WLAN and WWAN networks. Additionally, these techniques use IP layer offloading and require interworking between 3GPP and WLAN networks, impacting 3GPP core network elements such as Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) servers, the Home Subscriber Server (HSS), policy components, and the like.
Thus, there are general needs for improved methods of coordinating user and control plane solutions for transporting service flows across the WLAN and WWAN networks. There are also general needs for improved methods of controlling WLAN offload based on relevant network conditions and metrics of interest.