APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT PROVIDING INTER-OPERATIBILITY BETWEEN LEGACY AND OTHER RADIO NETWORK SUBSYSTEM

摘要

RNCs are assigned different bit length identifiers, for example 12 bits (legacy) and 16 bits (extended). To enable handovers between adjacent RNCs with different bit length identifiers, several solutions are presented. In a first solution, no logical/direct connection is configured between the adjacent RNCs having different bit length identifiers at least for the case where the value of the longer identifier is not compatible with the shorter identifier. In a second solution, some RNCs are given both a long and a short identifier, and use the one matching the length of the RNC with which a handover occurs. In a third solution, for all adjacent RNCs with an Iur logical connection between them but still having different bit length identifiers, the most significant bits of the longer identifier are not the same as the whole of the shorter bit length identifier. Multiple variations and examples are presented, and implementations include method, apparatus, embodied computer program, and integrated circuit.