Methods and systems for selecting a user plane function in a wireless communication network

A system, comprising:

• a wireless communication network including a random access network (RAN) and a core network;
• and
• a management function in the core network including a computer system, the computer system including a processor, a memory, and an input-output circuit, the processor being configured according to computer-executable instructions for:
• determining a data throughput limit associated with a user equipment (UE) when the UE attempts to attach to the wireless communication network,
• determining a data throughput capacity of a first user plane function in the wireless communication network,
• determining a data throughput capacity of a second user plane function in the wireless communication network, the data throughput capacity of the first user plane function being higher than the data throughput capacity of the second user plane function,
• if the data throughput limit of the UE is above a predetermined value, selecting the first user plane function, and
• if the data throughput limit of the UE is below the predetermined value, selecting the second user plane function.

A computer-implemented method for selecting a user plane function when a user equipment (UE) attaches to a wireless communication network, comprising:

• at a computer system associated with a management function of a core network of the wireless communication network,
• determining a data throughput limit of the UE,
• receiving an indication of throughput capacities for each of a plurality of user plane functions associated with the wireless communication network, the indication informing the management function whether each respective user plane function is at least one of a low throughput user plane function having a throughput capacity below a threshold value or a high throughput user plane function having a throughput capacity above a threshold value,
• selecting one of the low throughput user plane functions or one of the high throughput user plane functions for a session based on the data throughput limit of the UE, and
• sending a session request to the selected low throughput user plane function or high throughput user plane function.