Interconnection and activation for internet of things devices in multi-tenant data center facilities
Techniques are described for a centralized, neutral system for Internet of Things (IoT) device activation and automatic onboarding on an end-to-end basis, and for establishing secure communication between IoT devices and the IoT platforms. For example, a method includes receiving an activation request message from an IoT device to activate the IoT device on an IoT core network of a plurality of IoT core networks, wherein the plurality of IoT core networks and a plurality of IoT edge devices are co-located within the co-location facilities, and wherein the plurality of IoT edge devices are connected to one or more IoT platforms; authenticating the IoT device for connection to the IoT core network; and in response to authenticating the IoT device, provisioning a connection between the IoT core network and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide the IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a device activation unit of one or more co-location facilities, an activation request message from an Internet of Things (IoT) device to activate the IoT device on an IoT core network of a plurality of IoT core networks, wherein the plurality of IoT core networks and a plurality of IoT edge devices are co-located within the co-location facilities that are deployed and managed by a co-location facilities provider, and wherein the plurality of IoT edge devices are connected to one or more IoT platforms;
authenticating, by the device activation unit, the IoT device for connection to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks; and
in response to authenticating the IoT device, provisioning, by the device activation unit, a connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide the IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms via the plurality of IoT edge devices.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein provisioning the connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices comprises:
sending an activation update message to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the one or more IoT platforms.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein provisioning the connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices comprises:
sending an activation update message to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the device activation unit, a first session key for a communication session between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices;
sending, by the device activation unit, the first session key to the plurality of IoT edge devices;
sending, by the device activation unit, the first session key to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks; and
sending, by the device activation unit and to the IoT device, an activation response message usable by the IoT device to generate a second session key for the communication session.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the first session key for the IoT device comprises generating the first session key of the IoT device based on information included in the activation request message, wherein the information includes a device identifier and a security key.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the device activation unit, authentication information from an IoT platform of the one or more IoT platforms;
storing, by the device activation unit, the authentication information for access by a device manufacturer to manufacture the IoT device based on the authentication information.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the authentication information comprises at least one of an application identifier, a device identifier, and application key.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks comprises a first IoT core network, further comprising:
in response to authenticating a first IoT device, provisioning, by the device activation unit, a connection between a second IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide a second IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms via the plurality of IoT edge devices.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more IoT platforms are co-located within the co-location facilities.
10. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the IoT device is a low power IoT device; and
wherein the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks is a low power IoT core network.
11. A system comprising:
a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) edge devices co-located within respective co-location facilities each deployed and managed by a single co-location facility provider, wherein at least one of the plurality of IoT edge devices is communicatively coupled to one or more IoT platforms;
a plurality of IoT core networks co-located within one or more co-location facilities each deployed and managed by the single co-location facility provider, wherein at least one of the plurality of IoT core networks is communicatively coupled to an IoT device of a plurality of IoT devices;
a device activation unit, wherein the device activation unit is configured to:
receive an activation request message from the IoT device to activate the IoT device on an IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks;
authenticate the IoT device for connection to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks; and
in response to authenticating the IoT device, provision a connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide the IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms via the plurality of IoT edge devices.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein, to provision the connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices, the device activation unit is further configured to:
send an activation update message to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the one or more IoT platforms.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein, to provision the connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices, the device activation unit is further configured to:
send an activation update message to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the device activation unit is further configured to:
generate a first session key for a communication session between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices;
send the first session key to the plurality of IoT edge devices;
send the first session key to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks; and
send, to the IoT device, an activation response message usable by the IoT device to generate a second session key for the communication session.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein, to generate the first session key for the IoT device, the device activation unit is further configured to:
generate the first session key of the IoT device based on information included in the activation request message.
16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the device activation unit is further configured to:
receive authentication information from an IoT platform of the one or more IoT platforms;
store the authentication information for access by a device manufacturer to manufacture the IoT device based on the authentication information.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the authentication information comprises at least one of an application identifier, a device identifier, and application key.
18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks comprises a first IoT core network, the device activation unit further configured to:
provision, in response to authenticating a first IoT device, a connection between a second IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide a second IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms via the plurality of IoT edge devices.
19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more IoT platforms are co-located within the co-location facilities.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause one or more processors of a computing system to:
receive an activation request message from the IoT device to activate an Internet of Things (IoT) device on an IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks,
authenticate the IoT device for connection to the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks; and
in response to authenticating the IoT device, provision a connection between the IoT core network of the plurality of IoT core networks and the plurality of IoT edge devices to provide the IoT device access to the one or more IoT platforms via the plurality of IoT edge devices.