Patent ID: 8797947

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, in an intermediate network node of each a first logical connection associated with a first user terminal and a second logical connection associated with a second user terminal in a telecommunication network, a data packet transferred over the first logical connection and originating from the first user terminal, wherein the first logical connection and the second logical connection comprise at least one GTP-tunneled connection; comparing a destination address of the received data packet to a service list including addresses of user terminals having data packets conveyed through the intermediate network node, wherein each of the addresses of user terminals is associated with a specific logical connection established between the user terminals and a terminating network node within a core network of the telecommunication network; inserting, by the intermediate network node into the data packet, a shortcut preparation indicator indicating to the terminating network node that the intermediate network node is preparing a shortcut for the first logical connection; receiving, from the intermediate network node, an acknowledgement for the shortcut preparation indicator, the acknowledgement including a shortcut-preparation-approved message or a shortcut-preparation-denied message; and conveying the received data packet towards the second user terminal over the second logical connection using values in tunnel header information associated with the at least one GTP-tunneled connection, if the destination address of the data packet matches with the address of the second user terminal included in the service list.