SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEPLOYMENT OF 5G AND NEXT-GENERATION CORE WITH IMS CORE FOR REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method in which a processing system creates a network element by consolidating a control plane including a combination of a plurality of 5G control plane functions and a plurality of 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. The method also includes deploying the network element 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. The network element is configured to facilitate providing the requested network service. Other embodiments are disclosed.