Method and apparatus for instance identifier based on a unique device identifier

An apparatus for use in a communications network, comprising:

• means for creating an Instance Identifier (ID) to uniquely identify a device such as a mobile device or User Equipment (UE) in the communications network, wherein
• the Instance Identifier (ID) is constructed as a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) Uniform Resource Name (URN) using a string representation of a UUID, and
• the means for creating the Instance Identifier (ID) further comprises
• means for creating a device ID (DevID), wherein the creating the DevID further comprises
• means for extracting a Type Allocation Code (TAC) and a Serial Number (SNR) from an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), wherein
• wherein using the TAR and SNR, omitting a spare digit for a total of 14 digits,
• means for placing a name space ID and DevID in network byte order
• means for concatenating the name space ID and DevID,
• means for computing a hash of the concatenated name space ID and DevID using a pre-selected hash algorithm,
• means for setting the UUID using the hash,
• means for creating the string representation of the UUID, and
• means for placing the string representation in URN form by pre-pending “urn:uuid” to the string representation.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further comprising computer-readable instructions, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by a processor, are configured to:

• create an Instance Identifier (ID) to uniquely identify a device such as a mobile device or User Equipment (UE) in the communications network, wherein
• the Instance Identifier (ID) is constructed as a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) Uniform Resource Name (URN) using a string representation of a UUID, and
• creating the Instance Identifier (ID) further comprises
• create a device ID (DevID), wherein the creating the DevID further comprises
• extract a Type Allocation Code (TAC) and a Serial Number (SNR) from an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), wherein
• when using the TAC and SNR, omitting a spare digit for a total of 14 digits,
• place a name space ID and DevID in network byte order,
• concatenate the name space ID and DevID,
• compute a hash of the concatenated name space ID and DevID using a
• pre-selected hash algorithm,
• set the UUID using the hash,
• create the string representation of the UUID, and
• place the string representation in URN form by pre-pending “urn:uuid” to the string representation.