Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/2801—Broadband local area networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/2854—Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
  • H04L12/2856—Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access
  • H04L12/2869—Operational details of access network equipments
  • H04L12/2898—Subscriber equipments
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
  • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
  • H04L41/0803—Configuration setting
  • H04L41/0806—Configuration setting for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/50—Address allocation
  • H04L61/5007—Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/50—Address allocation
  • H04L61/5007—Internet protocol [IP] addresses
  • H04L61/5014—Internet protocol [IP] addresses using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/50—Address allocation
  • H04L61/5076—Update or notification mechanisms, e.g. DynDNS
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/2866—Architectures; Arrangements
  • H04L67/30—Profiles
  • H04L67/306—User profiles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
  • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
  • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
  • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Definitions

• HFC networks Instead of being based entirely on coaxial cable, HFC networks generally include optical fiber cable between the head end and local serving nodes. Each local serving node typically includes a media translator to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, which is then carried to customers via traditional coaxial cable spans.
• the ubiquitous nature of the HFC based cable television network is advantageous in that high-speed data service can be provided to a large segment of the population without the need to install new network infrastructure.
• a cable modem is generally used to provide customers with data-over-cable service.
• I modulate and demodulate signals passed between the cable television network and the customer premises equipment (CPE).
• CPE customer premises equipment
• the CSR makes the necessary changes in the cable network databases to ensure that the new cable modem will be recognized and accepted once it is installed. It is the customer's responsibility, however, to install the necessary software on their own CPE and to connect the cable modem to their CPE and the MSO's network.
• the provisioning server can update a modem MAC address table in the CMTS to change a cable modem's classification from the provisioning zone to the service zone.
• the provisioning server provides a Web page interface for collecting customer registration information.
• FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram of the provisioning server(s) of FIG. 1 that illustrates cable modem provisioning systems, methods, and computer program products in accordance with the present invention
• an exemplary MSO network architecture in accordance with the present invention includes a CMTS 22 that is in communication with a provisioning network 24, a services network 26, and a cable television (CATV) network 28.
• the provisioning network 24 provides access to one or more provisioning server(s) 32
• the services network 26 provides access to one or more subscriber server(s) 34
• the CATV network 28 provides access to a cable modem 36 at a customer's premises.
• the services network 26 may also provide access to the Internet 38.
• Both the provisioning server(s) 32 and the subscriber server(s) 34 are connected to the MSOs Intranet 42 along with the billing server(s) 44.
• a single cable modem 36 is shown connected to the CATV network 28. It is nevertheless understood that a typical CATV network 28 can terminate many cable modems.
• the CATV network 28 is typically an HFC network as discussed hereinabove.
• a CMTS 22 may be connected to several CATV networks 28.
• the cable modem 36 is preferably compatible with the current Data Over Cable System Interface Specification (DOCSIS).
• DOCSIS Data Over Cable System Interface Specification
• the cable modems that are connected to the CATV network 28 may all be the same make and model or, alternatively, may comprise a variety of makes and models from a diverse group of manufacturers.
• the CPE 46 connected to the cable modem 36 generally comprises a computing device, such as a desktop computer or laptop computer.
• an initialization sequence is executed between the CMTS 22 and the cable modem 36 when the modem starts up under the supervision of the frequency initialization module 66.
• the initialization sequence involves the transmission of control packets on downstream frequencies that instruct the cable modem 36 to transmit upstream on a specific frequency or frequencies. Once the cable modem 36 knows which upstream frequencies to use, the cable modem 36 begins a process known as ranging. Ranging involves the transmission of a message to the CMTS 22, which responds with a return message. The round trip delay between sending the original message to the CMTS 22 and receiving the CMTS's 22 return message can then be used by the cable modem to synchronize itself with the CMTS 22 and the CATV network 28.
• the policy-based routing module 68 preferably implements a layer two and layer three routing protocol in which messages are routed based on the source layer two address as well as the destination layer two and layer three address of the message. Moreover, the policy-based routing module 68 uses a modem MAC address table to limit access solely to the provisioning network 24 (i.e., a modem is assigned to the provisioning zone) or to both the provisioning network 24 and the services network 26 (i.e., a modem is assigned to the service zone).
• the modem MAC address table used by the policy based routing module 68 is preferably programmatically accessible by the provisioning server(s) 32 to allow cable modems to be assigned to the service zone once they have successfully completed registration with the provisioning server(s) 32.
• the modem MAC address table in the CMTS 22 is accessible only through the provisioning network 24 in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the network services module 84 is used to activate services and configure accounts on the subscriber server(s) 34 and the billing server(s) 44.
• the services may include, but are not limited to, Internet access, e-mail service, and web hosting services.
• the network services module 84 may place the customers' personal information into subscriber databases on both the subscriber server(s) 34 and billing server(s) 44. Accounts may be added to e-mail, Web, and other servers comprising the subscriber server(s) 34. In addition, customers' billing accounts may be updated to include new or additional services that have been provisioned.
• the network services module 84 may also configure the modem MAC address table information in the CMTS 22 to allow a cable modem to access certain features or services available via the services network 26 or to access the Internet 38.
• the registration module 88 is used to collect customer information from the CPE 46 and cable modem 36.
• the customer information includes both personal information, such as name, address, phone number, and billing preferences (e.g., credit card billing, automatic account debiting, etc), and service information. Examples of service options include choices regarding the quality of Internet service and subscriptions to Web hosting services, e-mail accounts, and IP telephony.
• the registration module 88 may also query a customer's cable modem for additional information, such as the make, model, MAC address, and software version associated with the modem.
• the registration module 88 may also allow a customer to subscribe to traditional cable television services, such as premium channels or pay per view (PPV).
• PSV pay per view
• the registration module 88 can be implemented via a proprietary software package or a commercially available registration and account management software package that is customized to allow the registration module 88 to make the necessary updates to the modem MAC address table in the CMTS 22, the billing databases in the billing server(s) 44, and service databases in the subscriber server(s) 34.
• the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to flowchart illustrations of cable modem provisioning systems, methods, and computer program products according to an embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions.
• the cable modem provisioning process begins at block 102 where the cable modem 36 is initialized by communicating with the frequency initialization module 66 of the CMTS 22 to establish the RF frequencies used for upstream and downstream communication. Because the cable modem 36 is currently unprovisioned (i.e., the customer has not registered for service with the MSO), it is assigned to the provisioning zone at block 104 by the CMTS 22 to prevent the cable modem 36 from accessing the services network 26.
• the CMTS 22 does allow the unprovisioned cable modem 36, which is assigned to the provisioning zone, to access the provisioning network 24, however. Therefore, at block 106 the cable modem 36 requests an IP address from the provisioning server(s) 32, which triggers the DHCP proxy services module 82 to invoke the DHCP server, which is typically implemented as part of the subscriber server(s) 34, to obtain an IP address.
• the provisioning server(s) 32 then sends the newly acquired IP address to the cable modem 36.
• DOCSIS does not require coordination among vendors when defining these additional fields in the configuration files; tlierefore, it is possible that two or more vendors could use the same identification for two different fields or could use the same field in different manners.
• the MSO wishes to exploit the value-added features provided by the various cable modem vendors, then a database of configuration files that correspond to the particular makes and models of available modems would need to be maintained.
• the MSO may store current software images for each make and possibly model of cable modem that can be used on its network, which can be downloaded through the TFTP server.
• One approach to downloading a new software image for a cable modem is to use the make and or model information obtained for selecting a configuration file to likewise select a software image to download.
• the DHCP server obtains the identification of the current software image installed in the modem to avoid downloading a new image from the TFTP server if the cable modem already has an up-to-date software image.
• each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s).
• the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in FIGS. 4 A - 4B.
• two blocks shown in succession in FIGS. 4A - 4B may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
• Communication Control (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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• 2000
  • 2000-08-09 EP EP00957346A patent/EP1234409A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-08-09 AU AU68983/00A patent/AU6898300A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-08-09 WO PCT/US2000/021746 patent/WO2001019080A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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