Zero-Touch Bulk Identity Assignment for Massive IoT Network Slices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for identity assignment, provisioning, and network slice orchestration in Massive IoT (MIoT) deployments are inefficient, particularly in handling large numbers of IoT devices in mobile networks, requiring more streamlined and automated processes for bulk identity management and network resource allocation.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of automated or semi-automated system operations for zero-touch bulk identity assignment, provisioning, and network slice orchestration, which involves the automatic assignment of external and mobile network IDs to IoT devices, followed by seamless network slice instance creation and provisioning of associated Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, enabling efficient signaling and resource allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual identity assignment and provisioning methods are used for IoT devices, then individual device management is possible, but the process becomes inefficient and time-consuming for large-scale MIoT deployments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple identity assignment operations (external ID creation, subscriber ID assignment, mobile network ID assignment) into a single bulk provisioning process. The system merges these discrete steps into one automated workflow that processes thousands of IoT devices simultaneously, eliminating the need for manual sequential processing and dramatically improving productivity while reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-assigning external IDs, subscriber IDs, and mobile network IDs to IoT devices before they are deployed to the network. This advance provisioning allows devices to be activated immediately upon deployment without requiring time-consuming manual configuration, thus resolving the contradiction between processing efficiency and time consumption.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional network slice orchestration methods are used, then individual device provisioning is achieved, but the system cannot handle bulk IoT device deployments efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal provisioning system that can handle both individual device provisioning and bulk MIoT deployments through the same automated platform. The system assigns a single group ID to represent thousands of IoT devices, enabling the network slice orchestration to treat large groups of devices as a single entity, thus achieving scalability without increasing process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses template-based provisioning where a single provisioning configuration can be copied and applied to thousands of IoT devices simultaneously. By creating master copies of identity assignments and network slice configurations, the system can replicate these configurations across entire device fleets, enabling scalable deployment while maintaining consistent complexity levels.
3Productivity
If bulk identity assignment is implemented for MIoT, then provisioning efficiency improves, but signaling overhead and resource allocation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a group ID as an intermediary element that represents thousands of IoT devices in network slice orchestration. This group ID acts as a mediator between the bulk identity assignment system and the network slice management system, allowing efficient bulk provisioning while simplifying signaling by treating entire device groups as single entities, thus preventing signaling overhead from becoming unmanageable.
Data Source
AI summary
In one illustrated example, automated or semi-automated system operations for Massive IoT (MIoT) deployment may involve the automatic assignment of external IDs, subscriber IDs (e.g. IMSIs), and mobile network IDs (e.g. MSISDNs) to IoT devices of a group, followed by the provisioning of assigned identities at the relevant network nodes and the IoT devices themselves. The process may continue seamlessly with network slice orchestration for the creation of a network slice instance (NSI) and the provisioning of its associated Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) and NSI ID at the relevant network nodes. Network Slice Selection Policies (NSSP) may be derived and sent to a policy function and subsequently to IoT devices of the group. Signaling efficiency may be achieved by performing operations on a group basis.