Patent ID: 8274924

Claim:
A method for communication in a wireless telecommunications system, the method comprising: retaining, by an access node, a copy of data packets that the access node sends to a relay node, receiving, by the access node, an indication from the relay node that the access node and the relay node perform coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission, wherein, in an architecture in which an S1 interface terminates at the relay node, the method further comprises: receiving, by the access node, additional information from the relay node; using, by the access node, the additional information to identify data packets that will be transmitted using CoMP, wherein the additional information includes at least one of: an identifier for a user equipment (UE) involved in the CoMP transmission; at least one UE bearer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID); and relay node bearer configuration information; and additionally receiving, by the access node, from the relay node a complete medium access control protocol data unit without a payload, and the access node places a payload in the medium access control protocol data unit.