Radio network control

A method for exchanging digital information using mobile access terminals in a wireless network, the method comprising:ntransmitting packets over a first traffic channel, established between a first mobile access terminal and a first radio network controller, via a first radio node without passing through a second radio network controller, the first and second radio network controllers comprising first and second server cards, respectively, the first server card configured to perform signaling between the first radio node and the first radio network controller;transmitting packets over a second traffic channel, established between a second mobile access terminal and the second radio network controller, via a second radio node without passing through the first radio network controller, the second server card configured to perform signaling between the second radio node and the second radio network controller;maintaining the first traffic channel between the first access terminal and the first radio network controller so that packets are received from, or transmitted to, the first access terminal on the first traffic channel via the second radio node;transmitting packets received from the first access terminal to an external network;detecting an overload condition of the first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, selecting a traffic channel served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker; andtransferring the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the selected traffic channel.

A radio access network for wirelessly communicating with mobile access terminals, the radio access network comprising:na plurality of radio nodes interconnected with a plurality of radio network controllers using a network, the radio network controllers comprising respective server cards, the server cards configured to:ndetect an overload condition of a first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, select a traffic channel served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker;transfer the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the selected traffic channel; andperform signaling between one or more radio nodes of the plurality of radio nodes and a respective radio network controller that comprises the server card, wherein the radio nodes can address the radio network controllers and the radio network controllers can address the radio nodes; andan interface for exchanging packets between the radio access network and an external network.

A radio access network for wirelessly communicating with mobile access terminals, the radio access network comprising:na plurality of radio nodes interconnected with a plurality of radio network controllers using a network, wherein the plurality of radio nodes can address the plurality of radio network controllers and the plurality of radio network controllers can address the plurality of radio nodes; andan interface for exchanging packets between the radio access network and an external network,wherein the radio network controllers comprise respective server cards connected to the network and addressable by the plurality of radio nodes, the respective server cards configured to:ndetect an overload condition of a first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, select a traffic channel served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker;transfer the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the selected traffic channel; andperform signaling between one or more radio nodes of the plurality of radio nodes and a radio network controller that comprises the respective server cards,wherein the radio network controllers are configured to establish traffic channels with access terminals on the respective server card.

A method for exchanging digital information using mobile access terminals in a wireless network, the method comprising:ntransmitting packets over a first traffic channel, established between a first mobile access terminal and a first radio network controller, via a first radio node without passing through a second radio network controller;transmitting packets over a second traffic channel, established between a second mobile access terminal and the second radio network controller, via a second radio node without passing through the first radio network controller;maintaining the first traffic channel between the first access terminal and the first radio network controller when packets are received from, or transmitted to, the first access terminal via the second radio node;transmitting packets received from the first access terminal to an external network;wherein the first radio network controller comprises a first server card configured to perform signaling between the first radio node and the first radio network controller;establishing the first traffic channel between the first radio network controller and the first mobile access terminal on the first server card;sending an address of the first server card from the first radio network controller to the first radio node;sending reverse link traffic channel packets from the first radio node to the address of the first server card;sending the address of the server card from the first radio network controller to the second radio node;sending reverse link traffic channel packets from the second radio node to the address of the first server card;detecting an overload condition of the first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, selecting one of the traffic channels served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker; andtransferring the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the selected traffic channel.

A method for exchanging digital information using mobile access terminals in a wireless network, the method comprising:ntransmitting packets over a first traffic channel, established between a first mobile access terminal and a first radio network controller, via a first radio node without passing through a second radio network controller;transmitting packets over a second traffic channel, established between a second mobile access terminal and the second radio network controller, via a second radio node without passing through the first radio network controller;maintaining the first traffic channel between the first access terminal and the first radio network controller when packets are received from, or transmitted to, the first access terminal via the second radio node;transmitting packets received from the first access terminal to an external network;wherein the first and second radio network controllers comprise a first and a second server card, respectively, the first server card configured to perform signaling between the first radio node and the first radio network controller and the second server card configured to perform signaling between the second radio node and the second radio network controller;handling a plurality of traffic channels on the first server card;detecting an overload condition of the first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, selecting a traffic channel served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker; andtransferring the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the traffic channel.

A radio access network for wirelessly communicating with mobile access terminals, the radio access network comprising:na plurality of radio nodes interconnected with a plurality of radio network controllers using a network, the radio network controllers comprising respective server cards, the server cards configured to:ndetect an overload condition of a first server card;upon detecting the overload condition, select a traffic channel served on the first server card for transfer to a target server card, the first server card selecting the target server card from a list of one or more target server cards provided by a central load tracker;transfer the selected traffic channel to the target server card in one of the radio network controllers without dropping the selected traffic channel; andperform signaling between one or more radio nodes of the plurality of radio nodes and a radio network controller that comprises the respective server cards,wherein the radio nodes can address the radio network controllers and the radio network controllers can address the radio nodes; andan interface for exchanging packets between the radio access network and an external network;wherein a radio network controller of the plurality of radio network controllers is configured to maintain a traffic channel regardless of which radio node the traffic channel is flowing.