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

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.

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.