Patent ID: 8301685

Claim:
A network element arranged to transmit a data segment over an interface of a wireless communication network, the network element comprising: transmission management logic to determine a sequence number of a data segment to be transmitted, wherein the transmission management logic is operable to: compare the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted with at least one pending sequence number of a previous data segment, and, based on the comparison, discard the data segment to be transmitted in response to the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted matching the at least one pending sequence number of the previous data segment; and add the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted to the at least one pending sequence number and transmit the data segment over the interface in response to the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted not matching the at least one pending sequence number, and wherein a plurality of pending sequence numbers is stored as a list of pending sequence numbers within a memory element of the network element, and the sequence number of the data segment to be transmitted is considered as matching the at least one pending sequence number if a same sequence number is present within the list of pending sequence numbers, wherein the transmission management logic is operable to remove the sequence number of an acknowledged data segment from the list of pending sequence numbers in response to receipt of an acknowledgement that the acknowledged data segment has been successfully received by a user equipment of the wireless communication network.