Patent ID: 8880033

Claim:
An apparatus operable to process a machine international mobile subscriber identity (M-IMSI) attach request from a machine-to-machine (M2M) terminal, comprising: a processor; and memory including computer program code, said memory and said computer program code configured to, with said processor, cause said apparatus to perform at least said following: receive said attach request from said M2M terminal comprising a machine identity type and an assigned M-IMSI of said M2M terminal; check an identity type of said attach request to determine whether the identity type is an M-IMSI identity type or an IMSI identity type and transmit said attach request to a machine home server (MHS) if said identity type is said M-IMSI identity type; receive an authenticate response from said MHS indicating acceptance or rejection of said attach request; and provide said authenticate response to said M2M terminal.