Patent ID: 7782818

Claim:
A system, comprising: a radio network controller; and at least one alternatively selectable core network element, wherein the system is configured to establish a connection via the radio network controller and the at least one core network element, wherein at least one of network elements is configured to store a list of core network elements selectable by the radio network controller, the core network elements stored on the list serving a plurality of different routing areas, wherein each of the core network elements stored on the list serves one of the plurality of different routing areas, wherein the at least one of the core network elements is configured to maintain state information about at least one user equipment, wherein at least two core network elements of a same type are assigned to a same area identifier, wherein the radio network controller is configured to select a core network element from a sub-list of core network elements of the core network elements stored on the list to connect to the at least one user equipment, the core network elements in the sub-list serving a particular routing area where the user equipment is currently located, the particular routing area being associated with a corresponding area identifier, the core network elements in the sub-list of core network elements selected based on one or more of: the area identifier associated with the particular routing area where the user equipment is located and a core network element identifier, and wherein the radio network controller is further configured to receive, from the at least one user equipment, a connection initiating message for establishing a connection, the connection initiating message comprising an added core network element identifier, the radio network controller being configured to check the core network element identifier added to the connection initiating message, and further configured to send a connection request to the selected core network element.