A method and apparatus for handling a packet. The packet handling may include receiving the packet, associating the packet with configuration information, and performing packet handling operations on the packet according to packet handling instructions defined by the configuration information. A method and apparatus for encapsulating packets, decapsulating packets, or both, at a radio access node. The encapsulation and/or decapsulation operations are performed based on updateable configuration information specifying the operations to be performed without having to process the packet using the protocol with which it has been encoded.