STATIC SELECTION OF A SESSION MANAGEMENT FUNCTION OR USER PLANE FUNCTION IN A 5G CORE NETWORK

System and methods for statically selecting a session management function (SMF) or a user plane function (UPF) for a user equipment are described. A mobile device (UE) may transmit a connection request to a 5G core network. A static selection user interface receives inputs of UE and an SMF to associate with the UE. When the UE transmits a connection request, an identifier of the UE is used by a network function repository function (NRF). The NRF accesses an NRF datastore using the identifier. If an SMF is associated with the UE, the NRF returns the SMF instance of the associated SMF to an access management function (AMF) handling the connection request.