Patent ID: 8897183

Claim:
A method for providing an anchor point for offloading traffic to and from a mobile user device from a default path to the Internet via a core network onto a breakout path to the Internet not via the core network, comprising: receiving an upstream data packet transported on a backhaul link at a first network element; identifying whether the upstream data packet matches an internet protocol (IP) access control list (ACL) or a tunnel endpoint identifier to determine whether the upstream data packet belongs to traffic to be offloaded onto the breakout path; if the upstream data packet matches the IP ACL or the tunnel endpoint identifier: performing a network address translation on the upstream data packet to assign the first network element as the anchor point for the mobile user device; and offloading the upstream data packet from the backhaul link onto the breakout path using the first network element as the anchor point for routing the traffic to the Internet; receiving a downstream packet transported on the breakout path from the Internet at the first network element; identifying that a service is to be performed for the downstream data packet that cannot be performed at the first network element; and performing the network address translation on the downstream data packet such that the downstream data packet is returned to a gateway node in the core network where the service can be applied to the downstream data packet.