Patent ID: 8554933

Claim:
A computing device-implemented method, comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a packet data network (PDN) connection request from a user equipment (UE); exchanging, by the computing device and with a home subscriber server (HSS), authentication and authorization information associated with the UE; constructing, by the computing device, an access point name (APN) fully qualified domain name (FQDN) based on the authentication and authorization information; sending, by the computing device, a query to a domain name system (DNS) server, wherein the query includes the APN FQDN; receiving, by the computing device and from the DNS server, PDN gateway (PGW) FQDNs that contain the APN FQDN; comparing, by the computing device, the PGW FQDNs with a FQDN associated with a serving gateway (SGW); determining, by the computing device and based on the comparison, a PGW, associated with a PGW FQDN that is a closest match to the FQDN associated with the SGW, to be a primary PGW for the PDN connection request; determining, by the computing device and based on the comparison, one or more PGWs, residing within a particular distance of the SGW, to be one or more backup PGWs for the PDN connection request, wherein the computing device comprises a mobility management entity (MME) for which no direct signaling exists with respect to the primary PGW and the one or more backup PGWs; sending, to the DNS server, queries based on FQDNs associated with the primary PGW and the one or more backup PGWs; receiving, from the DNS server and based on the queries, Internet protocol (IP) addresses that match the FQDNs associated with the primary PGW and the one or more backup PGWs; storing, in a memory of the computing device, the IP addresses corresponding to the primary PGW and the one or more backup PGWs that the UE is allowed to access; receiving, at the computing device, an indication that the primary PGW is unavailable; and selecting, responsive to the indication, one of the one or more backup PGWs.