Method and apparatus for zero-touch bulk identity assignment, provisioning and network slice orchestration for massive IoT (MIoT) deployments

A network node comprising:

• memory for storing instructions;
• one or more processors being configured to execute the instructions for:
• sending, to a data management function, one or more messages for storing a group identifier (ID) of a group of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in association with a plurality of IDs for each IoT device of the group, the plurality of IDs for each IoT device of the group including a subscriber ID and a mobile network ID;
• receiving, from a network slice management function (NSMF), one or more messages which identify network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) configuration data associated with a created network slice instance (NSI) that is allocated for communication between an application server and the group of IoT devices, and including an NSI ID of the created NSI;
• and
• sending, to the data management function, one or more messages which include the NSI ID associated with the created NSI, for storage of the NSI ID in association with the group ID of the group of IoT devices.

A method for configuring a mobile network for communication between an application server and a group of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the method comprising:

• sending, to a data management function, one or more messages for storing a group identifier (ID) of the group of IoT devices in association with a plurality of IDs for each IoT device of the group, the plurality of IDs for each IoT device of the group including a subscriber ID and a mobile network ID;
• sending, to a network slice management function (NSMF), one or more messages which indicate a request for creating a network slice instance (NSI) according to network service requirements of a communication service request for configuring the mobile network for the communication;
• receiving, from the NSMF, one or more messages which identify network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) configuration data associated with a created network slice instance (NSI) that is allocated for the communications between the application server and the group of IoT devices, and including an NSI ID of the created NSI;
• and
• sending, to the data management function, one or more messages which include the NSI ID associated with the created NSI, for storage of the NSI ID in association with the group ID of the group of IoT devices.