Preventing data outage for user equipment during e-utran new radio dual connectivity procedure

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory comprising computer program code,
• the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to:
• identify a status of a user plane path between the apparatus and a gateway node in a communication network;
• transmit, to a network node, the status of the user plane path;
• and
• setup or disconnect a connection between the apparatus and the network node during a dual connectivity operation.

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory comprising computer program code,
• the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to:
• trigger a network node selection in a dual connectivity operation;
• retrieve a status of a user plane path of the network node;
• based on the received status,
• setup the dual connectivity operation to establish a dual connectivity connection between the network node and the apparatus, or
• determine whether an alternate network node is available;
• and
• based on the received status, trigger release of the dual connectivity operation to the network node.