Patent ID: 8265015

Claim:
A dedicated communication path allocating entity for allocating communication paths in communication sessions between a network and a plurality of terminals, each of said terminals being connectable to said network via at least one of said communication paths, said dedicated communication path allocating entity comprising: a receiver for receiving session requests for requesting one or both of an establishment of a new communication session and a change in an existing communication session between said network and said terminals, a processor for processing said session requests and for independently allocating N downlink communication paths from said network to at least one of said terminals and M uplink communication paths from said at least one of said terminals to said network for each session, where N≧0, M≧0 and M+N≧1, where said processor comprises logic for keeping a record of allocated communication paths and their associated sessions in a session data base, and using information from said session data base for the allocating; and where said session requests are not related to handovers based on terminal mobility, wherein once the processor has processed said session requests and completed allocating the communication paths then other system entities are responsible for performing actions that relate to terminal mobility such as handovers; and said processor allocating said one or more communication paths based on information that comprises: preference information, terminal capability information, resource availability information, and network load information.