Patent ID: 9648541
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A method for operating a switch in a communication network, comprising: establishing a bearer between a source terminal accessed to a base station and the switch connected to the base station based on an internet protocol (IP) address of the source terminal received from a mobility management entity (MME); transmitting, to a controller, information of the bearer; receiving path information for a packet to be forwarded from the source terminal to a plurality of destination terminals, from the controller; receiving the packet to be forwarded from the source terminal to the plurality of destination terminals, from a base station thorough the bearer; and transmitting the packet along a path determined by the path information to at least one switch that receives the packet, and forwards the packet both to a base station serving at least one of the plurality of destination terminals and to at least one other remaining destination terminal, wherein the path information is determined, by the controller, based on IP addresses of the source terminal and the plurality of destination terminals and bearer information regarding bearers established for the source terminal and the plurality of destination terminals.