Patent ID: 7848338

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an interface, at a gateway node, configured to provide an interface connectivity between communication networks, a connector, at the gateway node, configured to be operably connected to another gateway node, wherein each of the gateway node and the another gateway node are active by providing an interface connectivity between communication networks and to at least one base station that provides connectivity for a plurality of mobile terminals over a radio interface and by providing one or more peer status report messages; a sender, at the gateway node, configured to send to the another gateway node a first peer status report message indicating a first status of a first group of predetermined functions of the gateway node, wherein the sender is configured to send one or more first peer status report messages to the another gateway node, wherein a failure of the another gateway node is determined based on an absence of one or more second peer status report messages, the absence causing an indication to be sent to the at least one base station to trigger a network reentry of one or more of the plurality of mobile terminals assigned to the another gateway node associated with the absence of the one or more second peer status report messages; and a receiver configured to receive periodically the one or more second peer status report messages from the another gateway node to indicate a second status of the second group of predetermined functions of the another gateway node.