Patent ID: 9674876
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: H04W

Claim:
1. A method for setting up a connection between an originating mobile entity and a terminating mobile entity in a mobile communications network, wherein the mobile communications network comprises one or more radio access networks and a core network, wherein the core network comprises a control plane and a media plane, wherein the control plane comprises a serving access gateway, and the media plane comprises a media gateway that is handling a media stream of the serving access gateway, wherein the originating mobile entity and the terminating mobile entity are connecting to a same radio access network of the one or more radio access networks, the same radio access network accessing the core network through a the serving access gateway serving one of the two mobile entities, the method performed by the serving access gateway comprising the steps of: receiving, from an other node in the control plane of the core network, a connection setup message for establishing the connection between the originating mobile entity and the terminating mobile entity, wherein the connection setup message is transmitted along a signalling path in the control plane of the core network and comprises an information element storing media plane access needs of at least one other core network node in the signalling path of the control plane of the core network, wherein the media plane access needs indicate whether at least one of the other core network nodes in the signalling path of the control plane of the core network needs to access a the media plane of the connection to be set up; checking the received information element, and if the received information element indicates that none of the other core network nodes in the control plane of the core network needs access to the media plane and if the serving access gateway needs access to the media plane, at least the following steps are carried out: instructing a the media gateway that is handling a the media stream of the serving access gateway to provide an uplink endpoint for the connection to the originating mobile entity and an uplink endpoint for the connection to the terminating mobile entity for the connection to be set up; informing the same radio access network to bi-cast uplink both the media stream of the originating mobile entity and a local shortcut media stream of the terminating mobile entity by transmitting the media stream of the originating mobile entity and 4 the local shortcut media stream of the terminating mobile entity to the media gateway of the serving access gateway needing access to the media plane; and communicating the connection setup message to one of the other nodes in the control plane of the core network in a manner that informs other nodes in the control plane of the core network that the serving access gateway does not require other nodes within the media plane of the core network to handle user plane data for the connection to be set up, wherein the local shortcut media streams between the originating mobile entity and the terminating mobile entity are routed entirely through the same radio access network.