METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTING A SERVING GATEWAY FOR A SESSION OF A USER EQUIPMENT (UE) IN A MOBILE NETWORK HAVING 5G NON-STANDALONE (NSA) ARCHITECTURE DEPLOYMENTS

摘要

One or more controllers of a control plane, CP, entity, e.g. a mobility management entity or MME, for use in a mobile network is configured to receive or obtain an indication (504) which indicates whether an eNodeB, eNB, is configured to support Dual Connectivity with New Radio, DCNR, for a 5G Non-Standalone architecture, NSA, deployment. The one or more controllers may be further configured to select (512), based on the indication, one of a plurality of serving gateways, SGWs, for a session of a user equipment, UE, served by the eNB. Additional information may be used as a basis for the SGW selection, including UE capability and UE subscription data. For example, when the indication indicates that the eNB is configured to support DCNR and the UE capability and subscription data indicate 5G capability, a 5G-capable SGW may be selected but otherwise a legacy, i.e. non-5G, SGW may be selected. Accordingly, the present techniques may provide for a more optimal assignment and utilization of, e.g. potentially limited, 5G network resources in such mobile networks.