AUTOMATED RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT OF SERVICE LAYER ENTITIES IN A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

1 . An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the apparatus being connected to a communications network, the apparatus further including computer-executable instructions stored in the memory of the apparatus which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to implement a service layer entity on the communications network and cause the service layer entity to:

register a first apparatus connected to the communications network;

receive first metadata from the first apparatus;

register a second apparatus connected to the communications network;

receive second metadata from the second apparatus;

determine, based on the first metadata received from the first apparatus and the second metadata received from the second apparatus, a trigger condition of a Relationship Management (RM) policy is met to establish a machine-to-machine (M2M)/Internet of Things (IoT) entity relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus;

establish, between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the relationship corresponding to the trigger condition; and

perform an action based on the relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus wherein the action comprises performing one or more requests on behalf of the first apparatus or of the second apparatus.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises at least one of:

sending a request to create, update, or delete a service layer resource; and

sending a request to at least one of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the action is determined based on at least one of:

a type of the relationship; and

the met trigger condition.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the service layer entity to:

analyze data of requests sent by the first apparatus and the second apparatus to generate an RM context;

determine the RM context meets a second trigger condition; and

establish a second relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus,

wherein the second relationship corresponds to the second trigger condition.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a type of the established relationship is based on the met trigger condition.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a type of the relationship comprises at least one of: a location relationship, an information sharing relationship, a master/slave relationship, a control relationship, a schedule relationship, and a semantic based relationship.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the RM policy is defined according to at least one of oneM2M or ETSI standards.

8 . A method comprising, at a service layer entity:

registering a first apparatus;

receiving first metadata from the first apparatus;

registering a second apparatus;

receiving second metadata from the second apparatus;

determining, based on the first metadata and the second metadata, a trigger condition of a Relationship Management (RM) policy is met to establish a machine-to-machine (M2M)/Internet of Things (IoT) entity relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus;

establishing, between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the relationship corresponding to the trigger condition; and

performing an action based on the relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, wherein the action comprises performing one or more requests on behalf of the first apparatus or of the second apparatus.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

creating a resource of the service layer entity to store state information about the relationship;

determining an updated RM context between the first apparatus and the second apparatus; and

modifying the stored state information based on the updated RM context.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining the updated RM context does not meet the trigger condition; and

tearing-down the relationship based on the updated RM context not meeting the trigger condition.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining the updated RM context meets a second trigger condition to modify the relationship; and

modifying the relationship based on the second trigger condition.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the RM policy is defined according to at least one of oneM2M or ETSI standards.

13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

based on the relationship, initiating a request on behalf of the first apparatus to CREATE, RETRIEVE, UPDATE, or DELETE one or more resources hosted on the service layer entity.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein a type of the relationship comprises at least one of: a location relationship, an information sharing relationship, a master/slave relationship, a control relationship, a schedule relationship, or a semantic relationship.

15 . A computer readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a service layer entity and cause the service layer entity to:

register a first apparatus;

receive first metadata from the first apparatus;

register a second apparatus;

receive second metadata from the second apparatus

determine, based on the first metadata received from the first apparatus and the second metadata received from the second apparatus, a trigger condition of a Relationship Management (RM) policy is met to establish a machine-to-machine (M2M)/Internet of Things (IoT) entity relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus;

establish, between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, the relationship corresponding to the trigger condition; and

perform an action based on the relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus wherein the action comprises performing one or more requests on behalf of the first apparatus or of the second apparatus.

16 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the service layer entity to:

initiate a request to configure Quality of Service (QOS) policies or parameters in an underlying communications network that connects the first apparatus to the second apparatus.

17 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the action is determined based on at least one of:

a type of the relationship; and

the met trigger condition.

18 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the service layer entity to:

analyze data of requests sent by the first apparatus and the second apparatus to generate an RM context;

determine the RM context meets a second trigger condition; and

establish a second relationship between the first apparatus and the second apparatus, wherein the second relationship corresponds to the second trigger condition.

19 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein a type of the relationship comprises at least one of: a location relationship, an information sharing relationship, a master/slave relationship, a control relationship, and a semantic based relationship.

20 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the RM policy is defined according to at least one of oneM2M or ETSI standards.