Patent ID: 7177641

Claim:
A method for identifying a wireless serving node for a mobile unit, comprising: receiving a wireless registration request at a control node for a wireless serving node cluster; determining a control node associated with the registration request by using an algorithm on a mobile unit identifier in the registration request; generating a wireless registration response containing an identifier for the control node associated with the registration request if the control node is not the control node associated with the registration request; determining whether a serving node in the cluster is managing a wireless session associated with the registration request if the control node is the control node associated with the registration request and the registration request is not for a new wireless session; generating, if a serving node in the cluster is managing a wireless session associated with the registration request, a wireless registration response containing an identifier for the serving node managing the wireless session; selecting a serving node in the cluster to manage the wireless session if the control node is the control node associated with the registration request and the registration request is for a new wireless session; and generating a wireless registration response containing an identifier for the selected serving node.