Patent ID: 8818375

Claim:
A method, in a wireless communication network where base stations receive protocol data units from mobile stations for ordered, sequential transfer as service data units to an associated core network, of supporting seamless handover of a mobile station from a source base station to a target base station, the method comprising: during handover execution, receiving at the target base station service data units and sequence number information forwarded from the source base station, wherein: the forwarded service data units comprise service data units being held at the source base station for sequential transfer to the associated core network; and the forwarded sequence number information indicates sequence numbers corresponding to the forwarded service data units; reordering the forwarded service data units as needed at the target base station for sequential transfer from the target base station to the associated core network; wherein the reordering the forwarded service data units comprises the target base station: identifying missing service data units based on the forwarded sequence number information; and requesting retransmission, by the mobile station, of protocol data units regenerated from the missing service data units buffered at the mobile station.