Patent ID: 8032652

Claim:
A method of transitioning digital traffic from a first client in communication with a first access node to a second client in communication with a second access node from a controller-terminated tunnel to a peer-to-peer tunnel, comprising: determining by a controller as to whether the first client and the second client are within the same mobility domain, the first client adapted to exchange digital traffic with the second client; evaluating whether the digital traffic is eligible for peer-to-peer forwarding if the first client and the second client are in the same mobility domain; sending traffic from the first client to the second client through the controller-terminated tunnel until the peer-to-peer tunnel is established upon determining by the controller that the digital traffic is eligible for peer-to-peer forwarding; identifying traffic from the first client to the second client; holding selected traffic for the second client in a queue; determining when traffic from the first client to the second client through the controller-terminated tunnel has completed comprises signaling completion when a predetermined period of time has passed; and releasing the queued traffic through the peer-to-peer tunnel when the completion is signaled.