Zone-AGF: An O-RAN-Based Local Breakout and Handover Mechanism for Non-5G Capable Devices in Private 5G Networks

The growing demand for ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) in private 5G environments, such as smart campuses and industrial networks, has highlighted the limitations of conventional Wireline access gateway function (W-AGF) architectures that depend heavily on centralized 5G core (5GC) processing. This paper introduces a novel Centralized Unit (CU)-based Zone-Access Gateway Function (Z-AGF) architecture designed to enhance handover performance and enable Local Breakout (LBO) within Non-Public Networks (NPNs) for non-5G capable (N5GC) devices. The proposed design integrates W-AGF functionalities with the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) framework, leveraging the F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) as the primary interface between Z-AGF and CU. By performing local breakout (LBO) locally at the Z-AGF, latency-sensitive traffic is processed closer to the edge, reducing the backhaul load and improving end-to-end latency, throughput, and jitter performance. The experimental results demonstrate that Z-AGF achieves up to 45.6% latency reduction, 69% packet loss improvement, 85.6% reduction of round-trip time (RTT) for local communications under LBO, effective local offloading with quantified throughput compared to conventional W-AGF implementations. This study provides a scalable and interoperable approach for integrating wireline and wireless domains, supporting low-latency, highly reliable services within the O-RAN ecosystem and accelerating the adoption of localized next-generation 5G services.