Fujitsu Network Ericsson Ericsson Huawei Technologies In a transport network scenario, Data Plane connections controlled by either a Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) Control Plane (Soft Permanent Connections - SPC) or a Management System (Permanent Connections - PC) may independently coexist. The ability of transforming an existing PC into an SPC and vice versa -- without actually affecting Data Plane traffic being carried over it -- is a requirement. The requirements for the conversion between permanent connections and switched connections in a GMPLS Network are defined in RFC 5493. This memo describes an extension to GMPLS Resource Reservation Protocol - Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) signaling that enables the transfer of connection ownership between the Management and the Control Planes. Such a transfer is referred to as a Handover. This document defines all Handover-related procedures. This includes the handling of failure conditions and subsequent reversion to original state. A basic premise of the extension is that the Handover procedures must never impact an already established Data Plane connection. [STANDARDS-TRACK]