WO2022032561A1

WO2022032561A1 - System and method for back-up and restoration of a media gateway apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022032561A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/108841
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zeng RUILU; shengbin ZHU; Hongbo XUE
Original assignee: Arris Enterprises Llc
Priority date: 2020-08-13
Filing date: 2020-08-13
Publication date: 2022-02-17

Abstract

A system and method for the storage and restoration of user-specific information associated with a broadband gateway appliance. Provision is made to collect and store user-specific information prior to the initiation of a gateway appliance reset process that would typically result in the deletion or destruction of such information. The system and method also provide for user selection of particular information to be stored and restored.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BACK-UP AND RESTORATION OF A MEDIA GATEWAY APPARATUS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The ever-increasing reliance upon high-bandwidth internet access for communications, media access, and commerce has created an environment where maintaining a continuous internet connection has become essential in both residential and commercial settings. To support this connectivity the use of internet gateways has become ubiquitous in many regions. Such gateways and modems typically provide an end-user with both wired (Ethernet, MoCA, USB, etc. ) and wireless (802.11, etc. ) access to internet content. One such gateway is the

DG3450 Cable Gateway offered by Arris Enterprises LLC. This particular device is particularly adapted to provide broadband bi-directional communications to the customers of multiservice operators ( “MSOs” ) via 802. 11 Wi-Fi as well as MoCA 2.0 interfaces.

Unfortunately, broadband gateways, like any digital system, are subject to occasional errors. These errors may result in a loss-of-service for an end-user. Such errors may be a consequence of power interruptions or failures, protocol errors caused by transmission interference or interruptions, or a host of causes that may never be known to the user or the MSO. One approach to resolving a gateway error state is for the end-user to reset the appliance to its factory default settings, or issuing a rest command via a user interface. Although such a reset process may indeed remedy the issue causing the loss-of-service condition, it also results in the loss of all end-user settings and information that had been stored in the appliance. Such information would likely include user IDs, Wi-Fi network IDs and passwords, user login passwords, parental control settings, filter lists, etc.

The loss of end-user information creates a significant inconvenience, requiring each of lost items will have to be individually re-entered by the end-user. A process that is likely to be both tedious and time-consuming. Although some gateway systems permit end-user’s to back-up their user information on external devices such as personal computers, unless an end-user has had the foresight to do so before the error occurred, this functionality is of little use. In addition, even if an end-user had created such a back-up, the process of restoring the backed-up information to the reset gateway can be a complicated process that many end-users could find troublesome, or even impossible to accomplish. Furthermore, if the end-user has not created the proper back-up files prior to the gateway entering into an error state, it may be difficult or impossible to create such once the appliance is in an error state. Depending upon the particular error state of the gateway, user interfaces could be disabled or frozen, and connectivity with external devices could be difficult to establish.

There exists a need for a user-friendly process for enabling the resetting of a broadband gateway appliance without the loss of user-specific information associated with the appliance. This user-friendly would ideally be capable of being reliably initiated by an end-user after the gateway appliance was in an error state.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a is a functional block diagram of a system supporting a first preferred embodiment of a centralized access and management system for multiple IoT systems.

FIG. 1B is a view of a rear panel of a gateway appliance

FIG. 2 is process flow diagram for a first preferred embodiment of a process for the back-up and restoration of a media gateway appliance.

FIG. 3 is process flow diagram for a second preferred embodiment of a process for the back-up and restoration of a media gateway appliance.

FIG. 4 is a view of a first graphical user interface screen.

FIG. 5 is a view of a second graphical interface screen.

FIG. 6 is a view of a third graphical interface screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A is a functional block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a gateway appliance enabling the semi-automatic back-up and restoration of user-specific information prior to the performance of a device reset. As shown, the system 100 comprises gateway appliance 102 which is adapted to manage the transmission, reception, storage and viewing of multiple types of digital media and digital communications. Gateway appliance 102 includes processor 104 and memory 106. Processor 104 is also shown to be in communication with reset switch 108 and Wi-Fi Protected Set-up ( “WPS” ) switch 110. Gateway appliance 102 is also shown to be in communication with graphical user interface ( “GUI” ) 112. FIG. 1B provides a view of the rear panel of a gateway appliance 102, showing reset button 108 and WPS button 110 (it will be understood that either or both of these buttons could be located on any surface of gateway appliance 102) .

As is typical for many types of information appliances, gateway appliance 102 is configured so that processor 104 will initiate a system reset when it determines that reset button 108 has been depressed for a length of time exceeding a predetermined period (t ₁) . As shown in FIG. 2, processor 104 monitors the state of reset button 108 (steps 202 and 204) Upon making a determination that reset button 108 has been depressed for a period of time exceeding t ₁ (affirmative outcome of step 206) , processor 104 resets gateway appliance 102 (step 208) , thereby returning the appliance to its initial factory settings and erasing all user information that had been stored within memory 106. The reset process then terminates (step 210) .

Processor 104 is also adapted to recognize and respond to a second state of gateway appliance, one in which reset button 108 and WPS button 110 are both depressed prior to elapsing of period t ₁ (step 212) . As shown in FIG. 2, if processor 104 makes the determination that WPS button 110 is not presently depressed, the process continues with step 204. However, if t ₁ has not yet elapsed and processor 104 senses that WPS button 110 has been depressed while reset button 108 is also depressed, then the process continues with step 214. In step 214 processor 104 stores designated user information in a predetermined location of memory 106. This predetermined location will not be erased or over-written during the process of resetting gateway appliance 102. The particular user information stored in this predetermined location is either a) previously designated by a user via gateway appliance GUI 112, or b) previously designated by the MSO. Typically, such user information would include user IDs and passwords, Wi-Fi network IDs and passwords, parental control settings, media preferences, filter lists, etc.

After securing the designated user information in the predetermined memory location, processor 104 resets gateway appliance 102, protecting the predetermined memory location form being erased or over-written (step 216) . Processor 104 then retrieves the designated user information from memory 106 and utilizes it to restore reset gateway appliance 102 (step 218) . This restoration enables gateway appliance 102 to retain critical user information and thereby avoid the situation where a user must re-enter such in order to return the reset gateway to a fully-functional state (e.g., integrated with a local Wi-Fi network, responsive to particular user IDs, implementing parental controls, etc. )

The designated user information could also be stored in a memory external to gateway appliance 102. For example, it could be stored in an external hard-drive (114) linked to gateway appliance 102, or in a remote server (116) connected to the gateway appliance via a public or private network (118) .

FIG. 3 provides a flow diagram of an alternate process for initiating a reset process in which certain user information is backed-up and then restored. In this process, processor 104 monitors the state of a soft reset button 402 (steps 302 and 304) . Upon determining that reset button 402 has been depressed (affirmative outcome of step 304) , processor 104 displays a back-up option menu on GUI 112 (step 306; FIG. 5) .

In step 308, if the user opts not to back-up any user information, the process continues with step 310 and the gateway appliance is reset. The process then terminates in step 312. If, however, the user opts to back-up user information, the process continues with step 314. After securing the designated user information in the predetermined memory location, processor 104 resets gateway appliance 102, protecting the predetermined memory location form being erased or over-written (step 316) . Processor 104 then retrieves the designated user information from memory 106 and utilizes it to restore reset gateway appliance 102 (step 318) .

The back-up option menu could simply offer a user a binary choice to a) proceed with a reset without saving user information (502) , or b) proceed with a reset where such information is preserved and restored (504) (see FIG. 5) . The GUI menu could also permit the user to designate the particular information that will be backed-up. As shown in FIG. 6, GUI 112 presents a user with a menu showing different types of information (user IDs and passwords (602, 604) Wi-Fi Networked IDs and passwords (606, 608) , parental controls (610) and media preferences (612) ) . A user could then select the particular types of information that will be backed-up for post-reset restoration (FIG. 6 shows the selection of user IDs and Wi-Fi Network IDs) . Once the desired types of information are selected, the user would continue the reset process by selecting RESET icon 610 at the bottom of the GUI 112 screen.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. For example, initiation of the back-up and reset process can be accomplished via any two switches pressed simultaneously, or via a single switch pressed in a particular pattern. Ideally the initiation should be triggered via a hard-wired input method so as to decrease the likelihood that a given error state of the gateway appliance would interfere or prohibit a user from starting the backup and restoration process. In addition, the GUI depicted in FIGs. 4, 5 and 6 is merely an example and it will be understood that numerous variations and extension thereof are possible, including multiple nested screens, and screens presented on other types of displays, including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, heads-up displays, etc. In addition, the broadband gateway appliance can be a stand-alone device such as a set-top box, or integrated into another system or device such as a television or a computer. All of the above variations and extensions could be implemented and practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A system for the storage and restoration of user-specific information associated with a broadband gateway appliance, the system comprising:

at least one input device linked to the broadband gateway appliance and adapted to initiate the resetting of the broadband gateway appliance;

at least one memory storing user specific information; and

at least one processor adapted to:

monitor the state of the at least one input device;

store, based upon the state of the at least one input device, a designated subset of the user-specific information in a predetermined location within the memory;

reset the broadband gateway appliance to a default state while preserving the designated subset of the user-specific information in the predetermined location within the memory;

retrieve the designated subset of the user-specific information from the predetermined location within the memory; and

restore the broadband gateway appliance utilizing the retrieved subset of the user-specific information.
The system of claim 1 wherein the designated subset of user-specific information comprises at one of:

user identification information;

user password information.

network identification information;

network password information;

parental control information;

media preference information; and

media filter information.
The system of claim 1 wherein the broadband gateway appliance comprises a set-top box.
The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one input device comprises at least two manual switches.
The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one input device comprises a manual reset switch.
The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one input device comprises at least two manual switches.
The system of claim 1 wherein the memory comprises at one of the following:

internal broadband gateway appliance memory;

a hard-drive external to the broadband gateway appliance; and

an external memory linked to the broadband gateway appliance via a network.
The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a graphical user interface adapted to accept at least one user command for designating the subset of user-specific information.
The system of claim 8 wherein the at least one user command comprises a selection from a predetermined menu.
The system of claim 8 wherein the graphical user interface comprises at least one of:

a digital television;

a smartphone;

a tablet; and

a computer monitor.
A method for the storage and restoration of user-specific information associated with a broadband gateway appliance, in a system comprising:

at least one input device linked to the broadband gateway appliance and adapted to initiate the resetting of the broadband gateway appliance;

at least one memory storing user specific information; and

at least one processor adapted to monitor the state of the at least one input device;

the method comprising the steps of:

storing based upon the state of the at least one input device, a designated subset of the user-specific information in a predetermined location within the memory;

resetting the broadband gateway appliance to a default state while preserving the designated subset of the user-specific information in the predetermined location within the memory;

retrieving the designated subset of the user-specific information from the predetermined location within the memory; and

the restoring the broadband gateway appliance utilizing the retrieved subset of the user-specific information.
The method of claim 11 the designated subset of user-specific information comprises at one of:

user identification information;

user password information.

network identification information;

network password information;

parental control information;

media preference information; and

media filter information.
The method of claim 11 wherein the broadband gateway appliance comprises a set-top box.
The method of claim 11 wherein the at least one input device comprises at least two manual switches.
The method of claim 11 wherein the at least one input device comprises a manual reset switch.
The method of claim 11 wherein the at least one input device comprises at least two manual switches.
The method of claim 11 wherein the memory comprises at one of the following:

internal broadband gateway appliance memory;

a hard-drive external to the broadband gateway appliance; and

an external memory linked to the broadband gateway appliance via a network.
The method of claim 11 further comprising accepting, via a graphical user interface, at least one user command for designating the subset of user-specific information.
The method of claim 18 wherein the at least one user command comprises a selection from a predetermined menu.
The method of claim 18 wherein the graphical user interface comprises at least one of:

a digital television;

a smartphone;

a tablet; and

a computer monitor.