Abstract: In a method for operation of a device in a radio access network of a radio communication system, the device is arranged between a first network element and a second network element of a radio access network, receives at a first point in time from the first network element a first heartbeat and sends to the first network element at a second point in time a first acknowledgement signal as a response to the first heartbeat, with the first acknowledgement signal signaling to the first network element that a connection exists between the first network element and the second network element. At a third point in time the device sends a second heartbeat to the second network element, with the second network element, on receiving the second heartbeat sending as a response a second acknowledgement signal to the device in order to signal to the device the existence of a connection between the device and the second network element.

Abstract: A device receives from a base station speech data encoded with a first speech codec, transcodes the speech data into a second speech codec and transmits the speech data encoded with the second speech codec toward a base station controller used for controlling the transmission of the speech data.