EP1340159A1 - Procede et appareil de selection d'image logicielle de telechargement pour un modem cable - Google Patents

Procede et appareil de selection d'image logicielle de telechargement pour un modem cable

Info

Publication number
EP1340159A1
EP1340159A1 EP01989182A EP01989182A EP1340159A1 EP 1340159 A1 EP1340159 A1 EP 1340159A1 EP 01989182 A EP01989182 A EP 01989182A EP 01989182 A EP01989182 A EP 01989182A EP 1340159 A1 EP1340159 A1 EP 1340159A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
network device
software
file
version
cable modem
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP01989182A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
John Dinatale
Brian J. Scully
Thomas M. Ferreira
Stephen Foley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Motorola Solutions Inc
Original Assignee
Motorola Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Motorola Inc filed Critical Motorola Inc
Publication of EP1340159A1 publication Critical patent/EP1340159A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F8/00—Arrangements for software engineering
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F8/00—Arrangements for software engineering
    • G06F8/60—Software deployment
    • G06F8/61—Installation
    • G06F8/64—Retargetable
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F8/00—Arrangements for software engineering
    • G06F8/60—Software deployment
    • G06F8/65—Updates

Definitions

  • the present invention is related generally to cable modems, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for providing modem configuration information, in a single configuration file, for a plurality of different cable modem hardware platforms.
  • Internet access via a telephone modem is available today at speeds up to 56 Kbps.
  • the telephone-based modem modulates and demodulates data signals for transmission over the voice band-based telephony network.
  • Cable modems provide Internet access via the cable television system, which has a higher bandwidth and therefore can operate at higher data rates than the telephone system.
  • the cable modem provides connectivity between a user's computer and the cable system headend, at which point the cable operator provides access to the Internet, via, for example, a Tl line.
  • data transmitted from the network headend to the computer user is referred to as downstream data; data transmitted from the user to the network headend is referred to as upstream data.
  • FIG 1 is a block diagram of a cable system 10 including a cable modem 20 in communications with a cable system headend, not shown in Figure 1, from which the cable television program signals originate and which further provides a connection to the Internet or other external network.
  • a l-to-2 splitter 14 splits the incoming signal.
  • the television program signal is displayed on a television 18 under control of a set top box 16.
  • the second output from the l-to-2 splitter 14 provides connectivity to the cable modem 20.
  • Downstream signals from the headend are provided to an RF (radio frequency) tuner 22, tuned to a frequency band allocated to the cable modem 20 during the modem's start-up phase.
  • the downstream signal uses QAM
  • the demodulated signal is input to a media access controller 26.
  • the baseband data signal is input to a data and control logic unit 28 that controls overall operation of the cable modem 20 and further provides data control functions.
  • a computer 30 is connected to the data and control logic unit 28 for receiving data sent in the downstream direction and sending data in the upstream direction.
  • the outgoing data passes from the computer 30 or other data communications device, through the data and control logic unit 28, the media access controller 26, and finally is modulated by a QPSK (quadrature phase-shift keyed)/QAM modulator.
  • the choice of QPSK or QAM is set forth in configuration information provided to each cable modem 20.
  • the upstream data then passes through the l-to-2 splitter 14 for transmission to. the headend of the cable system and eventually for transmission to the external network.
  • the downstream signal employs 64/256 QAM signaling capable of delivering up to 30 to 40 Mbps of data over a 6 MHz cable channel.
  • Upstream data uses either QPSK or 16 QAM signaling with data rates available from 320 Kbps to 10 Mbps. Both the upstream and downstream data rates may be flexibly configured to match the data rate needs of the user.
  • the cable modem 20 utilized by a business user could be programmed to receive and transmit at relatively high data rates in both directions.
  • a residential user may have a cable modem 20 configured with wider bandwidth access (and therefore a higher data rate) in the downstream direction to download data from the Internet, while limited to a lower speed for upstream data transmissions.
  • upstream data from subscribers 50 transmitted over a cable network 51 is demodulated and processed by a cable modem termination system 52, that performs data switching as it routes data from the many subscribers 50 to the Internet, World Wide Web, or another external network, as shown.
  • the cable modem termination system 52 receives data from the external network and provides the necessary data switching to route the received data downstream to the appropriate subscriber 50 via a headend transmitter 54.
  • the headend transmitter 54 also receives the program signals (via a satellite downlink, terrestrial microwave or landlines) for broadcast to the subscribers 50.
  • the subscriber data is carried over a 6 MHz channel, which is the spectrum size allocated to a cable television channel for broadcast of program signals.
  • the program signal is received by the set top box 16 while the downstream data is separately received by the cable modem 20.
  • the RF tuner 22 tunes out the program signal from the cable modem 20 and the set top box 16 tunes out the data signal.
  • the number of upstream and downstream channels in a given cable modem termination system is engineered based on the service area, the number of users, the data rate promised to each user and the available spectrum.
  • An element management system (not shown) is yet another component of the cable system 10 located at the cable headend 45 for configuring and managing a plurality of cable modem termination systems 52.
  • the operation of the element management system includes provisioning, day-to-day administration of the system, monitoring, activating alarms and testing of the various components of the cable modem termination system 52.
  • a single element management system is located at the cable system network operations center and can support many cable modem termination systems 52 in a wide geographic area. When the cable modem 20 is powered-up, a connection is created to the cable modem termination system 52 via the cable network 51.
  • IP Internet protocol
  • DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol
  • Many such DHCP servers are available on the network, and the cable modem 20 simply broadcasts to all DHCP servers. Any DHCP server can answer the broadcast request. From the DHCP server, the cable modem 20 obtains an IP address, other IP related operational parameters, and the address of its configuration file.
  • the configuration file is then downloaded from a trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) server, using the configuration file address supplied by the DHCP sever.
  • TFTP trivial file transfer protocol
  • a TFTP file consists of multiple 512-byte blocks in succession. The receiver processes the 512 byte blocks until a block having fewer than 512 bytes or zero bytes is received. At this point, the receiving device recognizes that the TFTP file transfer has ended.
  • the configuration file downloaded from the TFTP server includes various modem configuration setting such as access control information, downstream and upstream channel assignments, security configuration information, and the TFTP server address. Because the DHCP server provides only one configuration file address, all the cable modems on the cable system 10 are configured from this file.
  • a single common configuration file is inappropriate given that many different brands and models of cable modems are available.
  • the file name and location for the cable modem operating software is also included within the configuration file.
  • the contents of the configuration file are governed by the cable modem industry standard referred to as DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Standard).
  • DOCSIS Data Over Cable Service Interface Standard
  • only a single operating software file name can be included within the configuration file.
  • use of the same operating software for the various cable modem brands and models precludes the operation of unique features and characteristics that certain cable modems may offer.
  • each modem would be required to have a unique configuration file at the TFTP server, from which its unique operating software could be derived.
  • the DHCP server would be required to maintain a list of configuration files for each cable modem type. Use of multiple configuration files is not deemed practical in a cable system 10. Further, modifying the DHCP servers to accommodate multiple configuration file names violates the spirit of the DHCP standard and is expensive since a large number of DHCP servers in existing cable systems would require modifications.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram of the prior art components at a subscribers site
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram of a prior art cable system
  • Figure 3 is a flow chart for downloading the latest software configuration information for a cable modem in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • Figure 4 illustrates the various fields of the operating software file name.
  • the process of configuring a cable modem is illustrated in the flow chart of Figure 3.
  • the Figure 3 process begins at a start step 70 when the cable modem 20 is powered up.
  • the cable modem 20 then contacts the cable modem termination system 52 at a step 72 to receive a channel assignment (see a step 74) for transmitting data in both the upstream and downstream directions over the cable system 10.
  • the cable modem 20 issues a request to a DHCP server for an IP address and also for the name of the configuration file containing the cable modem configuration parameters.
  • the IP address request is broadcast to all available DHCP servers.
  • the cable modem 20 simply chooses the IP address and configuration file name from the first DHCP server to respond to the broadcast request.
  • the IP address will be used during the interactive session to allow the cable modem 20 to reach and communicate with sites on the Internet or other external network.
  • the IP address is "leased" to the cable modem for a configurable period of time.
  • the cable modem requests a renewal of the IP address from the DHCP server.
  • the renewal request is granted.
  • the DHCP server sends the name and address (i.e., the TFTP server address) of the configuration file to the cable modem 20.
  • each DHCP server contains the same configuration file name.
  • each cable modem in the cable system 10 receives this same configuration file name in response to its request.
  • the configuration file refers to a single operating software file name.
  • operation of each cable modem is controlled by the same operating software.
  • the contents of the configuration file are used to direct the cable modem to its unique operating software file, which is based on the cable modem brand and model number, or an assigned cable modem class designator.
  • the cable modem 20 uploads the configuration file, using the name supplied at the step 78, from the TFTP server.
  • TFTP transmits data in serial blocks of 512 bytes.
  • the blocks are processed until a block containing fewer than 512 bytes or a block containing zero bytes is received. Either of the these two conditions is an indication that the TFTP session has concluded.
  • the configuration file includes many configuration settings including both standard configurations that are universal across all cable systems and vendor-specific configuration settings for a particular cable modem hardware platform.
  • the contents of the configuration file are in a binary (.bin) type/length/value format.
  • the type field is a single byte identifier defining the configuration parameter set forth in the value field.
  • the length field is also a single byte field identifying the length of the immediately subsequent value field.
  • the value field can range from 1 to 254 bytes and contains the specific value for the configuration parameter.
  • the configuration file downloaded at the step 80 allows the cable system operator to configure all of its cable modems, irrespective of the manufacturer of the cable modem or the model, to operate with the operating software intended specifically for that cable modem.
  • the configuration file in place of the operating software file name as taught by the prior art, includes the name of a cable modem operating software table. Also, embedded within the table file name is the latest revision number of the table. The table itself contains a modem hardware identifier (e.g., a class designator) and the operating software file name (including the latest revision number) for each modem hardware identifier.
  • the configuration file is validated. If the configuration file is valid, the operating software field of the configuration file is read at a step 84.
  • this field contains the file name of the relevant cable modem operating software. Disadvantageously this single file name and the single operating software file to which it relates, cannot accommodate the wide variety of cable modems used on a cable system, including cable modems from various manufacturers and also different model numbers from a single manufacturer. For example, when a cable modem manufacturer issues a new cable modem model with a different central processing unit than previous models, the operating software must be upgraded to take advantage of the additional features available from the new processor.
  • the operating software table file name read at the step 84 is compared with the software table file name downloaded during a previous power-up process and now stored in the cable modem 20. If the version numbers do not match, then processing moves to a step 88 where the latest version of the operating software table file is downloaded from the TFTP file server. Recall that the TFTP file server address was provided to the cable modem 20 from the DHCP server at the step 78.
  • the cable modem 20 first stores the earlier version of the operating software table file before downloading the new version at the step 88. In the . event that the download process corrupts the file or the file is unusable for whatever reason, the cable modem 20 can continue to utilize the old file version until a new version is successfully downloaded.
  • step 88 If the current revision file stored in the cable modem 20 is in fact the latest version of that file, or once the latest version is downloaded at the step 88, processing continues to a step 90 where the revision table file is consulted using the modem class or other hardware identifier as an index into the table.
  • the left hand column identifies each modem on the cable system 10 by a modem class number.
  • the right hand column identifies the operating software by file name, for each modem class.
  • Figure 4 is an exemplary operating software file name wherein the meaning of the various elements of that file name are identified.
  • a column 110 identifies the cable modem vendor manufacturer.
  • Columns 112, 114 and 116 identify, respectively, major revision numbers, minor revision numbers and patch revision numbers.
  • the two columns identified by reference character 118 are utilized by the modem vendor to internally track various stages of a new software release.
  • the reference character 120 indicates the software generation for the modem.
  • the document extension 122 indicates that the contents of the file are in binary form.
  • each cable modem include a hardware identifier (which in one embodiment would be stored in non- volatile memory during the manufacturing process) so that the operating software table can be used to identify the latest operating software version.
  • the file name for the applicable cable modem operating software is mot030000t51p5g2.bin. Note that each revision to an operating software file is reflected in a change to the file name. Therefore, at a step 92 the cable modem 20 compares the operating software file name from the table with the operating software file name stored in the cable modem memory, as last used for operating the cable modem 20. A match between these two file names indicates that the cable modem 20 is already using the latest operating software.
  • the cable modem 20 stores the operating software table file name, so that at the next power-up this stored value can be compared with the value in the operating software field of the configuration file (as set forth at the steps 84 and 86) to determine whether any changes have been made in the table.
  • step 92 If the decision step 92 indicates that the cable modem 20 is not using the latest version of the cable modem operating software, then processing proceeds to a step 96 where the cable modem downloads the latest operating software version from the TFTP server using TFTP protocol, where the TFTP server address was obtained from the DHCP server at the step 76.
  • the latest operating software version will always be downloaded, even if the file name reflects only a minor revision or a patch change from the last version.
  • the cable modem 20 Prior to execution of the download step 96, the cable modem 20 first copies and stores the old software version into another memory location so that when the new download overwrites the old version in memory, the old version will still be available in the event the new operating software is corrupted during the download process or for some reasons is unusable. After the download at the step 96 the table file name is stored at the step 94. The modem then begins its operational state as shown at a step 98.
  • the operating software file name must be changed to reflect the revision.
  • the operating software table file is then updated with the revised operating software file name in accord with the modem identifier. Finally, the table file name must also be revised to reflect the operating software revision.
  • the DHCP server can interrogate the. cable modem 20 to determine the cable modem brand and model number, i.e., the modem class. Based on this information, the DHCP server identifies the applicable cable modem operating software file name as shown in the table above. The DHCP server then sends this file name to the cable modem 20 for comparison with the current operating software version stored in the cable modem. If the two software versions are the same, then the cable modem can move to its operational state. If the two versions are different, then the cable modem 20 must download the new operating software version as shown at the step 96 of Figure 3.
  • the cable modem determines the version number for the currently used operating software and compares that value with the version value set forth in the table. If the version numbers do not match, the cable modem is not using the latest operating software version and should therefore download that version before proceeding, to ensure that all the capabilities included within the cable modem are utilized during operation.
  • the process of version checking as indicated by the steps 86 and 92 of Figure 3 can be deleted and in its place the files can be downloaded each time the Figure 3 process is executed.
  • the operating software table and the operating software file are downloaded during each start-up process, as compared with the Figure 3 process where these files are downloaded only if the version number has changed from the last download.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

Abstract

Selon l'invention, des données sur une modem câble nécessitent une initialisation à chaque mise sous tension. Le processus d'initialisation comprend le téléchargement (88) d'un fichier de configuration renfermant le nom de fichier d'un fichier de table logicielle d'exploitation. Le modem câble compare (86) le nom de fichier de table logicielle d'exploitation avec la version stockée dans ledit modem câble. S'il n'y a pas correspondance entre les deux versions, le modem câble télécharge le nouveau fichier de table logicielle d'exploitation. Le fichier de table logicielle d'exploitation (90) dresse la liste des modems câbles en fonction de leur classe (sur la base du numéro de fabricant et/ou de modèle) et identifie la version la plus récente du logiciel d'exploitation pour chaque classe de modem câble. Le modem câble détermine la version la plus récente du logiciel d'exploitation pour sa classe et si elle diffère de la version utilisée, le modem câble télécharge (96) la version du logiciel d'exploitation la plus récente.
EP01989182A 2000-11-17 2001-10-30 Procede et appareil de selection d'image logicielle de telechargement pour un modem cable Withdrawn EP1340159A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US71553400A 2000-11-17 2000-11-17
US715534 2000-11-17
PCT/US2001/047185 WO2002048897A1 (fr) 2000-11-17 2001-10-30 Procede et appareil de selection d'image logicielle de telechargement pour un modem cable

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1340159A1 true EP1340159A1 (fr) 2003-09-03

Family

ID=24874437

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01989182A Withdrawn EP1340159A1 (fr) 2000-11-17 2001-10-30 Procede et appareil de selection d'image logicielle de telechargement pour un modem cable

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1340159A1 (fr)
KR (1) KR20040004441A (fr)
CN (1) CN1474978A (fr)
AU (1) AU2002243294A1 (fr)
CA (1) CA2427674A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2002048897A1 (fr)

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CN113377418A (zh) * 2021-05-10 2021-09-10 宇龙计算机通信科技(深圳)有限公司 一种文件加载方法、存储介质及设备

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KR100672400B1 (ko) * 2000-11-20 2007-01-23 엘지전자 주식회사 케이블 모뎀의 컨피그레이션 파일 다운로드 장치 및 방법
US20040034861A1 (en) * 2002-08-19 2004-02-19 Ballai Philip N. System and method for automating firmware maintenance
US8839220B2 (en) * 2003-08-08 2014-09-16 Arris Enterprises, Inc. Method for remotely updating software for devices in a broadband network
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CN102385514B (zh) * 2011-10-20 2014-10-01 百度在线网络技术（北京）有限公司 一种集中进行软件管理操作的方法、设备与系统
CN103067632A (zh) * 2012-12-18 2013-04-24 北京君正集成电路股份有限公司 一种编译调制解调器的方法与装置
WO2017031650A1 (fr) * 2015-08-21 2017-03-02 华为技术有限公司 Procédé, système et appareil de configuration en ligne pour un modem câblé

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CN113377418A (zh) * 2021-05-10 2021-09-10 宇龙计算机通信科技(深圳)有限公司 一种文件加载方法、存储介质及设备

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR20040004441A (ko) 2004-01-13
WO2002048897A1 (fr) 2002-06-20
CN1474978A (zh) 2004-02-11
CA2427674A1 (fr) 2002-06-20
AU2002243294A1 (en) 2002-06-24

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