Datapath Architecture for Improved Mobility

An apparatus configured to implement a controller entity of a cellular network which acts as a user-plane termination point, wherein the controller entity is a cloud-deployed network function for the cellular network, the apparatus comprising a processor and memory configured to cause the processor to:

• establish user-plane termination with a wireless device via a wireless link between an air-interface node of the cellular network and the wireless device and one or more links between other radio access network nodes of the cellular network;
• form user-plane downlink packets for the first wireless device;
• apply end-to-end security to downlink and uplink user-plane packets, including generating encrypted user-plane downlink packets;
• and
• provide the encrypted user-plane downlink packets to the wireless device via the wireless link between the air-interface node and the wireless device.

A

• base station configured to act as an air-interface node of a cellular network, comprising:
• one or more antennas;
• one or more radios operably coupled to the one or more antennas;
• and
• a processor operably coupled to the one or more radios;
• wherein the base station is configured to:
• establish a wireless link with a wireless device;
• receive one or more encrypted user-plane downlink packets for the wireless device from a controller entity of the cellular network, wherein the controller entity is a cloud-deployed network function for the cellular network;
• and
• transmit the one or more encrypted user-plane downlink packets to the wireless device via the wireless link using physical layer security coding based at least in part on one or more cell-specific parameters.