SDN Onboarding Network Slices for IoT Device Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 5G and 6G wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently onboarding and managing the vast number of IoT devices, leading to resource wastage and network bottlenecks due to repetitive authentication and registration processes, especially with the expected explosion of IoT devices and service-enabled subscribers.
Innovation Solution
Implementing software-defined networking (SDN) enabled onboarding, where network slices are instantiated with relevant network functions to authenticate, register, and establish addressing for devices, allowing them to reconnect quickly and efficiently, reducing the need for repetitive core network interactions and optimizing resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication and registration processes are used for each device connection, then device security and network control are maintained, but resource wastage and network bottlenecks occur due to repetitive processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-authenticating and pre-registering devices during an onboarding phase before they actually need to connect. Network slices are instantiated in advance with all necessary network functions configured, so when devices need to connect, authentication and registration are skipped. This resolves the contradiction by performing security-critical actions beforehand, eliminating repetitive processing while maintaining security requirements.
2Reliability
If traditional onboarding processes are used for each device, then proper network integration is achieved, but the process is slow and inefficient for large numbers of IoT devices
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary onboarding actions by instantiating network slices and configuring network functions in advance during device onboarding. This includes pre-establishing PDU sessions and configuring routing information before devices actually connect. When devices need to access the network, they can skip the traditional time-consuming authentication and registration processes, achieving fast reconnection while maintaining proper network integration.
3Reliability
If core network functions are instantiated for each device connection, then proper network service is provided, but network agility and resource efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by creating network slices that can serve multiple devices simultaneously. Instead of instantiating separate core network functions for each device connection, a single network slice instance can handle multiple devices that share the same service requirements. This multi-functional approach maintains proper network service provision while significantly improving network agility and resource efficiency, allowing the system to handle billions of IoT devices without proportional increases in network complexity.
4Reliability
If repetitive authentication and registration are performed, then network control and security are maintained, but network bottlenecks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs authentication and registration as preliminary actions during the onboarding phase, establishing network slices and configuring routing in advance. When devices actually connect and need to communicate, these preliminary actions have already been completed, so devices can bypass repetitive authentication and registration processes. This maintains network control and security while eliminating the bottlenecks caused by repetitive processing, significantly improving network throughput.
Data Source
AI summary
A network core software defined networking (SDN) enabled onboarding of microservices in a 6G network is provided to enable a one-time registration of a device with a network. Rather than having a core network facilitates establishing communications channels every time a device attaches or connects to the mobile network, the SDN enabled onboarding system disclosed herein can onboard the device, authenticate the device, register the device with the network, and determine addressing for the device. When the device reconnects to the network, the device has already been onboarded, and so the device does not need to go through these steps again, but can rather immediately start communicating with desired network service.