Resource assignment for general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP) entities in 5G

1. A Mobility Management Entity (MME) in a wireless communication system, the MME comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller configured to:

cause the transceiver to transmit, to a serving-gateway control-plane function (SGW-C), a modify bearer request message including an address and tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs) of an evolved Node B (eNodeB);

cause the transceiver to receive, from the SGW-C in response to the modify bearer request message received by the SGW-C from the MME, a modify bearer response message including an address and TEIDs of a new SGW-U; and

cause the transceiver to transmit, to the SGW-C, a confirmation message to acknowledge the receipt of the modify bearer response message from the SGW-C.

2. The MME of claim 1 , wherein the address and TEIDs of the new SGW-U are allocated by the new SGW-U.

3. The MME of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

cause the transceiver to receive, from a user equipment, a non-access stratum service request; and

cause the transceiver to transmit the modify bearer request message to the SGW-C upon receipt of the non-access stratum service request.

4. The MME of claim 1 , wherein:

once the confirmation message is received by the SGW-C, a user plane session termination request is initiated toward an old SGW-U; and

buffered packets are released by the old SGW-U toward the new SGW-U.

5. The MME of claim 1 , wherein:

a timer is started by the SGW-C to monitor whether to receive the confirmation message from the MME;

based on the timer expiring without receiving the confirmation message, a user plane session termination request is initiated toward an old SGW-U; and

buffered packets are released by the old SGW-U toward the new SGW-U.

6. A method of a serving gateway-control plane function (SGW-C) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a first modify bearer request message;

selecting a serving gateway-user plane function (SGW-U) based on a location of a terminal;

transmitting, to the selected SGW-U, a request message for the selected SGW-U to allocate tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs);

receiving, from the selected SGW-U, a response message including the TEIDs, wherein the TEIDs are allocated by the selected SGW-U;

transmitting, to the MME in response to the first modify bearer request message, a modify bearer response message including an address and the TEIDs allocated by the selected SGW-U; and

starting a timer for confirmation of the modify bearer response message from the MME.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

transmitting, to a packet-data-network gateway-control plane function (PGW-C), a second modify bearer request message including the TEIDs allocated by the selected SGW-U.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the first modify bearer request message includes an IP address and TEIDs of an eNodeB.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

monitoring whether to receive a modify bearer confirmation message for confirmation of the modify bearer response message from the MME.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

once a modify bearer confirmation message is received, initiating a user plane session termination request toward an old SGW-U that releases buffered packets toward the selected SGW-U.

11. A serving gateway-control plane function (SGW-C) comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller configured to:

cause the transceiver to receive a first modify bearer request message from a Mobility Management Entity (MME);

select a serving gateway-user plane function (SGW-U) based on a location of a user equipment (UE);

cause the transceiver to transmit, to the selected SGW-U, a request message for the selected SGW-U to allocate tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs);

cause the transceiver to receive, from the selected SGW-U, a response message including the TEIDs, wherein the TEIDs are allocated by the selected SGW-U;

cause the transceiver to transmit, to the MME in response to the first modify bearer request message, a modify bearer response message including an address and the TEIDs allocated by the selected SGW-U; and

start a timer for confirmation of the modify bearer response message from the MME.

12. The SGW-C of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

cause the transceiver to transmit, to a packet-data-network gateway-control plane function (PGW-C), a second modify bearer request message including the TEIDs allocated by the selected SGW-U.

13. The SGW-C of claim 11 , wherein the first modify bearer request message includes an IP address and TEIDs of an eNodeB.

14. The SGW-C of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

monitor whether to receive a modify bearer confirmation message for confirmation of the modify bearer response message from the MME.

15. The SGW-C of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

based on the timer expiring without receiving the modify bearer confirmation message, cause the transceiver to initiate a user plane session termination request toward an old SGW-U; and

request the old SGW-U to release buffered packets toward the selected SGW-U.