Patent ID: 8594684

Claim:
A method for bearer establishment in a radio access network ( 120 ), the method comprising: at a system element ( 108 ) having an application function: determining pre-allocation information used to select at least one cell ( 140 ) in the radio access network to which a set of user equipment ( 132 , 134 , 136 ) will connect for exchanging data; sending, to an evolved packet core ( 110 ), a request ( 216 ) to establish a bearer ( 220 ) for at least one user equipment in the set, wherein the request includes the pre-allocation information, wherein the determining and the sending are performed prior to the at least one user equipment in the set coming within a geographic serving area of the at least one cell identified by the pre-allocation information; and receiving a response ( 224 ) from the evolved packet core ( 110 ) indicating that the bearer was established in the at least one cell; wherein: the request to establish the bearer comprises a first message sent on a policy definition interface ( 111 ) between the system element and a Policy Definition Function ( 112 ); and the first message initiates generation of a second message sent on a policy enforcement interface ( 113 ) between the Policy Definition Function and a Policy Enforcement Function ( 114 ), wherein the second message includes the pre-allocation information or a translation of the pre-allocation information.