JP2002223227A - Connection method for cable modem subscription registration - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection method for cable modem subscription registration which can register automatically the subscription of a cable modem. SOLUTION: This connection method for cable modem subscription registration includes an IP lease request step S1 in which IP lease is requested in an initial starting state of a cable modem, an MAC address temporary registration step S3 in which, if an MAC address of the cable modem is not registered in a DHCP server, the MAC address is temporarily registered according to the request, a temporary IP lease information supplying step S5 in which temporary IP lease information is supplied to the cable modem, an IP addressing information request step S6 in which temporary addressing information from the DHCP server is requested, a connection setup step S8 in which the IP addressing information is allotted to the cable modem and the connection is set up according to the request, and a formal registration step S11 in which, in the connection setup state, the configuration setting, etc., of the cable modem is carried out and the subscription of the cable modem is formally registered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a connection method at the time of registration registration of a cable modem for making an Internet connection via a cable station using a network such as a CATV network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, communication infrastructure for Internet connection has shifted from a conventional analog line to a higher-speed Internet communication environment using a network such as a CATV network. Broadband modems such as data-capable cable modems have been commercialized, and an environment for constant connection to the Internet is being prepared.

Hereinafter, a conventional technique of a connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0004] First, a connection state with a cable station will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a general cable modem connection system.

In FIG. 1, K denotes a cable station, and 1 denotes a CMTS (Cablemodem term) of the cable station K.
Ination system), 2 is DHCP (Dy
-Namic Host Configuration
Protocol server, 3 is a backbone adapter for connecting to a backbone 4 such as the Internet, 5 is a cable network, 6 is a user-side cable modem, and 7 is a PC (personal computer). The cable network 5 is a cable network composed of optical fibers and coaxial cables, and a number of cable modems 6 and PCs 7 at the user's home are connected to the cable network 5. CMTS1 is
This is a device for transmitting and receiving data to and from the cable modem 6 and transmitting and receiving data to and from the backbone 4.
The P server 2 is a device that automatically assigns an IP address to a registered cable modem 6. The backbone adapter 3 is functionally a transport adapter that transfers data to the backbone 4.

The prior art of the connection method at the time of subscription registration of the cable modem 6 in the cable modem connection system thus configured will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a conventional technique of a connection method at the time of subscription registration of the cable modem 6.

[0007] First, the new registration of the cable modem 6 is performed by making a prior subscription application to the cable station K that provides the service, and after the subscriber station records and installs the subscriber information in advance at the cable station K. This is performed by a manual method such as going to the user's house, installing the cable modem 6 prepared by the cable station K, and checking the connection. FIG.
Since the cable station K knows the cable modem to be installed in advance, the MAC address is registered in the DHCP server 2 and the configuration file of the cable modem 6 is set in advance (S31). When the cable modem 6 at the user's house is started up, the cable modem 6 broadcasts an IP lease request (S32). In response to this IP lease request, the DHCP server 2 collates the MAC address registered in advance with the incoming MAC address (S33), and provides IP lease information if they match (S34). If they do not match, no IP lease information is provided and no link is established (S35). The cable modem 6 uses the provided I
The IP addressing information based on the P lease information is received, and a lease broadcast request is made to the DHCP server 2 (S36). In response to the request, the DHCP server 2 allocates the IP addressing information to the cable modem 6 and starts a lease (S37). Cable modem 6
Downloads the configuration file (S38),
The setting of the cable modem 6 set in advance is completed, and the connection is established.

[0008]

However, in recent years,
The standard for cable modems that support data is being standardized, and the era is approaching the environment where cable modems that can be sold out can be installed by individuals, and it is necessary to respond to the demand for automatic subscription registration. There has been a problem that the connection method at the time of registration of the modem cannot meet the request for automation of the registration.

[0009] In this connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem, it is required to be able to automate the subscription registration of the cable modem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a connection method at the time of cable modem subscription registration for automating the cable modem subscription registration in order to satisfy this demand.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem according to the present invention comprises:
A connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem for making an Internet connection via a cable station using a network such as a CATV network, wherein the cable modem issues an IP lease request at an initial startup,
If the MAC address of the cable modem is not registered in the DHCP server of the cable station in response to the lease request, the MAC
A MAC address provisional registration step in which the DHCP server provisionally registers an address;
Provisional I where CP server provides provisional IP lease information
A P-lease information providing step, an IP addressing information requesting step in which the cable modem requests the DHCP server for IP addressing information based on the provided provisional IP lease information, and the DHCP server responds to the request in the IP addressing information requesting step. A connection establishing step of allocating addressing information to the cable modem to establish a connection, and setting a cable modem configuration and a new MA while the connection is established.
And a formal registration step of registering the C address and performing formal registration.

Thus, a connection method at the time of cable modem subscription registration for automating the cable modem subscription registration can be obtained.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem according to the first aspect of the present invention is provided at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem for making an Internet connection through a cable station using a network such as a CATV network. The cable modem makes an IP lease request at the time of initial startup, and, if the MAC address of the cable modem is not registered in the DHCP server of the cable station in response to the IP lease request, the MAC address is changed. DH
The MAC server temporarily registers the MAC address temporarily registered by the CP server, the temporary IP lease information providing step in which the DHCP server provides the temporary IP lease information to the cable modem, and the IP addressing information based on the provided temporary IP lease information. An IP addressing information requesting step requested by the cable modem to the DHCP server, a DHCP server responding to the request in the IP addressing information requesting step, a connection establishing step of allocating IP addressing information to the cable modem to establish a connection, and establishing the connection. In this state, a formal registration step of setting the configuration of the cable modem and registering a new MAC address to perform formal registration is provided.

According to this configuration, the MAC address of the unregistered cable modem can be temporarily registered in the DHCP server and the connection can be temporarily established, so that a formal subscription registration procedure can be performed during that time. Has an action.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The configuration of the cable modem connection system to which the present method is applied is the same as that of FIG.

In FIG. 2, each time the cable modem 6 is activated, a request for IP addressing information (IP lease request) is made to the DHCP server 2 (S1, IP lease request step). At this time, the MAC address unique to the cable modem is also sent. Next, D
The HCP server 2 checks the incoming MAC address against the registered MAC address (S2), and if not registered, tentatively registers the incoming MAC address (S3,
MAC address provisional registration step). If registered, a process at the time of registration for establishing a connection is performed (S4). Next, an IP address, a ToD server address, a TFTP server address, a provisional configuration file (configuration file) name, and the like are provided as provisional IP lease information to the cable modem 6 (S5, provisional IP lease). Information providing step). Here, the ToD server address is Time o
The fday server is a server address for setting a reference time of a cable network, a TFTP server address is a server address for managing a configuration file (Configuration file) of a cable modem, and a provisional configuration file is for setting a cable modem. This is the default file.

Next, the cable modem 6 receives the provisional IP lease information and sends a lease request to the DHCP server 2 (S6, IP addressing information requesting step). Next, in response to the request, the DHCP server 2 allocates provisional IP addressing information and starts to lease for a designated period (S7). Next, the cable modem 6 downloads the provisional configuration file and provisionally establishes a connection (S8, connection establishment step). In this state, it is made possible to fill in the format of the subscription registration using, for example, a TFTP file or the like, and after the completion, the data is sent to the DHCP server 2. The format of the subscription registration is confirmed by the DHCP server 2 (S9), and if OK (S10), the MAC address is registered and the configuration is changed and set to the official configuration (S9).
11, formal registration step), and notifies the cable modem 6 that the setting has been completed. The cable modem 6 downloads the formal configuration file, performs formal setting of the cable modem 6, and formalizes the connection (S12). If the subscriber registration file is not sent or if it is sent to the effect that it is not to be subscribed, the temporarily registered M
The registration is deleted by deleting the AC address (temporary MAC address) (S13).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the connection is temporarily established by temporarily (temporarily) registering the MAC address of the unregistered cable modem 6 in the DHCP server 2, and during that time, the connection is officially established. Since it is possible to carry out a simple registration procedure, it is possible to perform the registration without a prior subscription procedure, and it is possible to realize automatic registration. Note that the format of the subscription registration in S8 does not need to be prepared in the cable modem 6;
The format sent from the HCP server 2 may be used, and the format is not limited to the TFTP file.

[0020]

As described above, according to the connection method at the time of subscription registration of the cable modem according to the first aspect of the present invention, a cable for connecting to the Internet via a cable station using a network such as a CATV network. An IP lease requesting step in which the cable modem makes an IP lease request at the time of initial startup, which is a connection method at the time of subscription registration of a modem;
If the MAC address of the cable modem has not been registered in the DHCP server of the cable office in response to the IP lease request, M
MAC for which the DHCP address is provisionally registered by the DHCP server
Address provisional registration step, provisional IP lease information providing step in which the DHCP server provides provisional IP lease information to the cable modem, and provisional IP provided
An IP addressing information requesting step in which the cable modem requests the DHCP server for IP addressing information based on the lease information; and the DHCP server responds to the request in the IP addressing information requesting step.
A connection establishment step of allocating addressing information to the cable modem to establish a connection, and a formal registration step of setting the configuration of the cable modem and registering a new MAC address in the state where the connection is established and formal registration. Temporary (temporary) MAC address of unregistered cable modem to DHCP server
By registering in the, the connection can be temporarily established and the formal registration process can be performed in the meantime, so it is possible to perform the registration without the prior registration process, and realize the automation of the registration. The advantageous effect that it can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a general cable modem connection system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a connection method at the time of subscription registration of the cable modem according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a conventional technique of a connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem.

[Explanation of symbols]

 K cable station 1 CMTS 2 DHCP server 3 backbone adapter 4 backbone 5 cable network 6 cable modem 7 PC

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem for making an Internet connection via a cable station using a network such as a CATV network, wherein the cable modem issues an IP lease request at an initial startup. A step of temporarily registering the MAC address of the cable modem in the DHCP server of the cable station in response to the IP lease request if the MAC address of the cable modem is not registered in the DHCP server; A provisional IP lease information providing step in which the DHCP server provides provisional IP lease information, and an IP addressing information for the cable modem to request the DHCP server for IP addressing information based on the provided provisional IP lease information. Request And the request in the IP addressing information requesting step includes the DH
A CP server responds, establishes a connection by assigning the IP addressing information to the cable modem, and establishes a connection with the cable modem while the connection is established. A connection method at the time of subscription registration of a cable modem, comprising a formal registration step of performing registration.