Patent ID: 8259677

Claim:
A handover method for a data packet based wireless mobile communications network, wherein the network comprises a core network and a radio area network, the core network comprising a control plane node intercommunicating with a user plane node, the radio area network comprising a mobile user equipment intercommunicating with a source radio base transceiver station (eNodeB), wherein payload data between the user equipment and the core network in the form of uplink data and downlink data is routed via a tunnel between the user plane node and the source eNodeB, said method comprising: establishing a temporary tunnel between the user plane node and a target eNodeB, the handover being initiated by the target eNodeB transmitting unreliable uplink data signal to the user plane node comprising the information that a handover is about to take place and that the tunnel shall be moved from the source eNodeB to the target eNodeB; wherein the unreliable uplink data information to the user plane node is a GTP-U message or information being embedded in an uplink GTP-U data packet header; wherein the unreliable uplink data information to the user plane node comprises reference material regarding existing TEID referring to the source eNodeB and information that this TEID shall not be used but that new TEID identifying the target eNodeB shall be used instead; and, transmitting, by the target eNodeB, a reliable control signal to the control plane node which in turn forwards the reliable control signal to the user plane node, wherein the reliable signal comprises information that the user plane node shall establish a tunnel between the user plane node and the target eNodeB if no temporary tunnel has been established or to make permanent the temporary tunnel if it has been established.