Patent ID: 8264956

Claim:
A method of providing geographic redundancy from a MME implemented on a chassis to a plurality of remote mobility management entities (MME), the method comprising: receiving, at the MME, a configuration message from a first remote MME, which is used by the MME to configure the MME to provide geographic redundancy to the first remote MME; receiving, at the MME, a configuration message from a second remote MME, which is used by the MME to configure the MME to provide geographic redundancy to the second remote MME; receiving, at the MME, from the first remote MME, backup information that corresponds to active sessions on the first remote MME; receiving, at the MME, from the second remote MME, backup information that corresponds to active sessions on the second remote MME; creating, at the MME, redundant sessions corresponding to the sessions on the first remote MME and the second remote MME using the backup information received from the first remote MME and the second remote MME; activating the redundant sessions on the MME for at least one of the first remote MME and the second remote MME when the MME detects a trigger from at least one of the first remote MME and the second remote MME; and exchanging control signaling at the MME with at least one eNodeB and at least one serving gateway (SGW), wherein the MME takes over providing evolved mobility management and evolved session management in place of the at least one of the first remote MME and the second remote MME using the activated redundant sessions.