Patent ID: 8594094

Claim:
An access node, comprising: at least one component configured to support forwarding of data packets to a user agent connected to a relay node, wherein the relay node is connected to the access node, and wherein the access node is a termination point for a first tunneling path from a core network, wherein the access node is configured to receive a message from the relay node indicating whether one or more of the data packets have been successfully transmitted to the user agent, wherein the access node forwards the data packets to the user agent via the relay node using a mapping of sequence numbers (SNs) of data packets transported on a Un interface between the access node and the relay node to SNs of data packets transported on a Uu interface between the relay node and the user agent, wherein the data packets are transported on the Un interface using a first Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) with SNs corresponding to a first set of PDCP SNs, and wherein the data packets are transported on the Uu interface using a second PDCP with SNs corresponding to a second set of PDCP SNs, wherein the PDCP SNs are mapped using a mapping table comprising at least one counter which indicates the number of consecutive first PDCP packets not successfully transmitted to the user agent on the Uu interface and a corresponding first PDCP SN where the count of the consecutive first PDCP packets starts.