Method and Network Element for Handover of User Plane Traffic

A method performed in a communication network for handing over user plane traffic for a user equipment (UE) from a serving anchor node to a target anchor node, the method comprising:

• transmitting, to the target anchor node, a user addition request comprising an identifier of the UE;
• receiving, from the target anchor node, a user addition response indicating that the target anchor node is ready for handling the user plane traffic for the UE;
• and
• transmitting, to a Software Defined Networking Controller (SDNC) which serves the UE, a downlink (DL) traffic steering request for steering DL user plane traffic for the UE from the serving anchor node to the target anchor node.

A network element, of a communication network, configured to hand over user plane traffic for a user equipment (UE) from a serving anchor node to a target anchor node for, the network element comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• a memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, configure the network element to:
• transmit, to the target anchor node, a user addition request comprising an identifier of the UE;
• receive, from the target anchor node, a user addition response indicating that the target anchor node is ready for handling the user plane traffic for the UE;
• and
• transmit, to a Software Defined Networking Controller (SDNC) which serves the UE, a downlink (DL) traffic steering request for steering DL user plane traffic for the UE from the serving anchor node to the target anchor node.