Patent attributes
A gateway for X2 interface communication is provided, including: an X2 internal interface for communicating with, and coupled to, a plurality of radio access networks (RANs); and an X2 external interface for communicating with, and coupled to, a destination outside of the plurality of RANs, the X2 external interface further including a single X2 endpoint for the plurality of radio access networks, such that the X2 external interface provides a single interface for an external macro cell or core network to interact with the plurality of radio access networks. The gateway may further include a handover module for maintaining X2 signaling associations and transactions for incoming and outbound handovers, including X2 to S1 and S1 to X2 translation.