In-network solution for low-latency communications using segment routing

A segment routing (SR) network configured to be connected to a plurality of local networks, the SR network comprising a plurality of interconnected SR gateways, wherein each local network is connectable to an SR gateway at an edge router of the local network, wherein:

• an SR network control plane of the SR network is configured to maintain a locator database configured to map (i) a global IP (GIP) address for a user equipment (UE) to (ii) an IP address of a downstream node associated with the UE along a path from the SR network to the UE;
• an SR gateway is configured to (i) receive a message for the UE and (ii) address the message to the IP address of the downstream node;
• and
• the SR network control plane is configured to update the locator database to map (i) the GIP address for the UE to (ii) a different IP address of a downstream node upon the SR network control plane determining that the association of the UE has changed to the different downstream node IP address.