System and method for providing network support services and premises gateway support infrastructure

• US 10,027,500 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2017
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prodea Automation LLC (f/k/a Kip Prod P1) (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: KIP Prod PI LP (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Inventors: Ansari, Amir, Cowgill, George A., Nicholls, Leon E., Ramayya, Jude P., Masina, Ramprakash, McQuarters, Alvin R., Raissyan, Atousa
• Primary Examiner(s): Karim, Ziaul
• Application Number:
  US15/799,552
• Publication Number:
  US 20180152310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 259 Days
• Field of Search: 700286-300
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/64 Browsing; Visualisation therefor generation of a list or set of audio data G06F16/638
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/80 Actions related to the user profile or the type of traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 : based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 : Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 : Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 : Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 : Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 : for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 : for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/102 : Gateways arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways, H04L12/66
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 : Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1108 : Web based protocols, e.g. webRTC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 : Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 : using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 : in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/00 : Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] real-time bi-directional transmission of motion video data H04N7/14 ; broadcast or conference over packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/40 : Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 : of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0431 : Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 : Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 : Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/911 : Bridge, e.g. brouter, bus extender

Abstract

A service management system communicates via wide area network with gateway devices located at respective user premises. The service management system remotely manages delivery of application services, which can be voice controlled, by a gateway, e.g. by selectively activating/deactivating service logic modules in the gateway. The service management system also may selectively provide secure communications and exchange of information among gateway devices and among associated endpoint devices. An exemplary service management system includes a router connected to the network and one or more computer platforms, for implementing management functions. Examples of the functions include a connection manager for controlling system communications with the gateway devices, an authentication manager for authenticating each gateway device and controlling the connection manager and a subscription manager for managing applications services and/or features offered by the gateway devices. A service manager, controlled by the subscription manager, distributes service specific configuration data to authenticated gateway devices.

Claims

1. A home automation services device for operation at a user premises to provide and manage services in relation to one or more endpoint devices, the home automation services device comprising:

a first interface for enabling bi-directional communications, within the user premises, between the home automation services device and the one or more endpoint devices;

a second interface for enabling bi-directional network layer communications, via a wide area network, between the home automation services device and a remotely located application service management center external to the user premises;

a processor coupled to the first and second interfaces;

storage for storing programming related to one or more services, wherein the processor is coupled to the storage such that communication between the processor and the storage occurs at the user premises without having to traverse the wide area network, and wherein, for each respective service, execution of the programming by the processor causes the home automation services device to provide;

(1) a communication channel for the one or more endpoint devices, for the respective service, via one or both of the first and second interfaces;

(2) administration of (a) at least one of authorization operations or, authentication operations, and (b) configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

(3) management of the respective service based upon the communications with the remotely located application service management center via the wide area network; and

(4) (a) determination and management of application specific resources, (b) using the application specific resources to receive a sensor communication, indicating a measurement, from a sensor of one of the endpoint devices (c) measurement using the application specific resources, wherein the measurement is based on the sensor communication from the sensor, and (d) management of one or more others of the endpoint devices such that a setting related to the sensor communication is implemented without negatively impacting a required functioning state of the one or more other endpoint devices; and

wherein the one or more endpoint devices include at least one of

a sensor device,

an automatic window,

a window blind,

a lighting or a lamp unit,

a digital picture frame,

a web cam,

a music player,

a media player,

a television, or

any combination thereof.

2. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the second interface enables communications via the wide area network by connecting to a local wireless network that is connected to the wide area network.

3. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the one or more services includes a home security service at the user premises.

4. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the one or more services includes management of video cameras and associated video data captured within the user premises.

5. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the one or more services includes management of sensors located at the user premises.

6. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the one or more services includes management of medical devices at the user premises.

7. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the communication channel for the one or more endpoint devices comprises communications being received, at the home automation services device via the first interface, and forwarded via the second interface.

8. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the administration comprises establishing configuration settings, provided from a remote client, on at least one of the one or more endpoint devices.

9. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the application specific resources comprise one or more of:

CPU cycles,

memory space,

network bandwidth, or

any combination thereof.

10. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein one or both of the first interface or the second interface utilizes X10, Z-Wave, or ZigBee communications.

11. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the one or more services is for automation of the one or more endpoint devices.

12. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the setting related to the sensor communication is based on a resource allocation instruction from the remotely located application service management center.

13. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the home automation services device is configured for peer to peer type communications between the home automation services device and a gateway device.

14. The home automation services device of claim 1, wherein the management of the one or more others of the endpoint devices comprises monitoring for excessive resource utilization by at least one endpoint device.

15. A method, performed by a home automation services device, for managing services in relation to one or more endpoint devices at a user premises, the method comprising:

enabling bi-directional communications, within the user premises, between the home automation services device and the one or more of the endpoint devices;

enabling bi-directional network layer communications, via a wide area network, between the home automation services device and a remotely located application service management center external to the user premises;

executing, using a processor of the home automation services device, programming that is stored in storage and is related to one or more services, wherein the processor is coupled to the storage such that communication between the processor and the storage occurs at the user premises without having to traverse the wide area network, and wherein, for each respective service, execution of the programming by the processor causes the home automation services device to provide;

(1) a communication channel for the one or more endpoint devices, for the respective service, via one or both of the first and second interfaces;

(2) administration of (a) at least one of authorization operations or, authentication operations and, (b) configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

(3) management of the respective service based upon the communications with the remotely located application service management center via the wide area network; and

(4) (a) determination and management of application specific resources, (b) using the application specific resources to receive a sensor communication, indicating a measurement, from a sensor associated with one of the endpoint devices (c) measurement using the application specific resources, wherein the measurement is based on the sensor communication from the sensor communications with one of the endpoint devices, and (d) management of one or more others of the endpoint devices such that a setting related to the measurement is implemented without negatively impacting a required functioning state of the one or more other endpoint devices, and

wherein the one or more endpoint devices include at least one of

a sensor device,

an automatic window,

a window blind,

a lighting or a lamp unit,

a digital picture frame,

a web cam,

a music player,

a media player,

a television, or

any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more services comprise one or more of:

a home security service at the user premises;

management of video cameras and associated video data captured within the user premises;

management of medical devices at the user premises;

or

any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more services include management of sensors located at the user premises.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the administration comprises providing configuration settings, provided from a remote client, to the one or more endpoint devices.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the application specific resources comprise one or more of:

CPU cycles,

memory space,

network bandwidth, or

any combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the bi-directional communications enabled for the first communication protocol utilizes X10, Z-Wave, or ZigBee communications.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the management of the one or more endpoint devices comprises automation or control of networked home devices.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause a home automation services device to perform operations for managing services in relation to one or more endpoint devices at a user premises, the operations comprising:

enabling bi-directional communications, within the user premises, between the home automation services device and the one or more of the endpoint devices;

enabling bi-directional network layer communications, via a wide area network, between the home automation services device and a remotely located application service management center external to the user premises;

executing, using a processor of the home automation services device, programming that is stored in storage and is related to one or more services, wherein the processor is coupled to the storage such that communication between the processor and the storage occurs at the user premises without having to traverse the wide area network, and wherein, for each respective service, execution of the programming by the processor causes the home automation services device to provide;

(1) a communication channel for the one or more endpoint devices, for the respective service, via one or both of the first and second interfaces;

(2) administration of (a) at least one of authorization operations or, authentication operations and, (b) configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

(3) management of the respective service based upon the communications with the remotely located application service management center via the wide area network; and

(4) (a) determination and management of application specific resources, (b) using the application specific resources to receive a sensor communication, indicating a measurement, from a sensor associated with one of the endpoint devices (c) measurement using the application specific resources, wherein the measurement is based on the sensor communication from the sensor, and (d) management of one or more others of the endpoint devices such that a setting related to the sensor communication is implemented without negatively impacting a required functioning state of the one or more other endpoint devices, and

wherein the one or more endpoint devices include at least one of

a sensor device,

an automatic window,

a window blind,

a lighting or lamp unit,

a digital picture frame,

a web cam,

a music player,

a media player,

a television, or

any combination thereof.