System and method for deployment of 5g and next-generation core with ims core for real-time applications

A method, comprising:

• creating, by a processing system including a processor of a service provider network, a network element by consolidating a control plane including a combination of a plurality of fifth-generation (5G) control plane functions and a plurality of internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) control plane functions with an associated user plane including a combination of a 5G user plane function (UPF) and one or more IMS user plane functions;
• deploying, by the processing system, the network element at a network edge of the service provider network;
• receiving, by the processing system, a request from a user endpoint (UE) device for a network service;
• and
• attaching, by the processing system, the UE to the network element, wherein the network element is configured to facilitate providing the requested network service, wherein the attaching comprises a procedure to initiate an IMS communication session.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor of a service provider network, facilitate performance of operations comprising:

• creating a network element by consolidating a control plane including a combination of a plurality of fifth-generation (5G) control plane functions and a plurality of internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) control plane functions with an associated user plane including a combination of a 5G user plane function (UPF) and one or more IMS user plane functions;
• deploying the network element on the service provider network in a deployment at a network edge of the service provider network;
• receiving a request from a user endpoint (UE) device for a network service;
• and
• attaching the UE to the network element, wherein the network element is configured to facilitate providing the requested network service, wherein the attaching comprises a procedure to initiate an IMS communication session.