Patent ID: 7869414

Claim:
A method for determining a transport bearer for sending a data stream between a first network node and a second network node in a telecommunications network, the method comprising: at a first network node, receiving a first message from a second network node, the first message indicating a request for a radio link setup of a radio link, wherein the first network node is a base station configured to communicate with a user equipment and the second network node is a radio network controller; at the first network node, determining if a transport bearer of a plurality of existing transport bearers is available for the requested radio link; if a transport bearer of a plurality of existing transport bearers is available for the requested radio link, sending a second message from the first network node to the second network node, the second message including an identifier of the transport bearer; and if a transport bearer of a plurality of existing transport bearers is not available for the requested radio link setup, establishing a new transport bearer and sending a third message from the first network node to the second network node, the third message including a transport address of the new transport bearer.