Timestamp normalized counter data

• US 10,185,734 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2014
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC (Charter Communications Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ince, Kamil, Erichsen, Kirk, Nakhre, Tushar, Kao, David Taiyung
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Anhtai V
• Application Number:
  US14/306,700
• Publication Number:
  US 20150363451A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,680 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2322 using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses

Abstract

A method including collecting, from a cable modem termination system (CMTS), counter data corresponding to usage of a network resource, wherein the counter data includes timestamp data, converting the counter data into timestamp normalized counter data by dividing the counter data among a plurality of buckets according to the timestamp data, and storing the timestamp normalized counter data.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

collecting, by a computer system, over a time period and from a cable modem termination system (CMTS), counter data corresponding to usage of a network resource, wherein the counter data includes timestamp data;

dividing, by the computer system, the time period into a plurality of buckets, each of the buckets having a stop timestamp;

converting, by the computer system, the counter data into timestamp normalized counter data, wherein the conversion comprises;

dividing the counter data among the plurality of buckets according to the timestamp data of the counter data; and

enforcing a time-range-framing over the timestamp data of the counter data by converting a stop timestamp of the counter data to the stop timestamp of a respective one of the buckets containing the counter data,

wherein different portions of the timestamp normalized counter data are placed in different buckets of the plurality of buckets, and wherein at least one individual occurrence of the counter data overlapping at least a first bucket and a second bucket of the plurality of buckets is divided into a plurality of occurrences of the timestamp normalized counter data placed in at least said first and second buckets with the stop timestamps of the occurrences converted to the stop timestamps of the respective buckets, the timestamp normalized counter data supporting database queries; and

storing, by the computer system, the timestamp normalized counter data comprising the stop timestamps in a data warehouse.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising capturing, by the CMTS, the counter data from at least one subscriber device at irregular intervals.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising correlating the counter data from multiple sources, the multiple sources comprising one of a plurality of subscribers, at least one subscriber and at least one service group, and a plurality of service groups.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising repairing an impairment in the timestamp normalized data, wherein the counter data is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) data and wherein the timestamped normalized data is normalized SNMP data, and wherein the repairing comprises mitigating a missing portion of the normalized SNMP data using Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) data collected from the CMTS and correlated to the SNMP data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a projection of future usage of the network resource using the timestamp normalized counter data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the CMTS provides the network resource to at least one subscriber.

7. A network system comprising:

a cable modem termination system (CMTS) providing a network resource to at least one subscriber of the network system;

a data warehouse;

a collector collecting, from the CMTS, counter data corresponding to usage of the network resource, wherein the counter data includes timestamp data; and

a mediator comprising at least one processor executing instructions stored in a memory to convert the counter data into timestamp normalized counter data, and storing the timestamped normalized counter data in the data warehouse, wherein the conversion of the counter data includes dividing the counter data among a plurality of buckets according to the timestamp data of the counter data and enforcing a time-range-framing over the timestamp data of the counter data by converting a stop timestamp of the counter data to a stop timestamp of a respective one of the buckets containing the counter data, wherein different portions of the timestamp normalized counter data are placed in different buckets of the plurality of buckets, and wherein at least one individual occurrence of the counter data overlapping at least a first bucket and a second bucket of the plurality of buckets is divided into a plurality of occurrences of the timestamp normalized counter data placed in at least said first and second buckets with the stop timestamps of the occurrences converted to the stop timestamps of the respective buckets, the timestamp normalized counter data supporting database queries,

wherein the collector and the mediator are disposed between the CMTS and the data warehouse.

8. The network system of claim 7, wherein the data warehouse comprises a rollup module configured to repair an impairment in the timestamp normalized counter data, wherein the counter data is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) data and wherein the timestamped normalized data is normalized SNMP data, and wherein the repair comprises mitigating a missing portion of the normalized SNMP data using Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) data collected from the CMTS and correlated to the SNMP data.

9. The network system of claim 7, wherein the data warehouse comprises a rollup module configured to generate a projection of future usage of the network resource using the timestamp normalized counter data.

10. The network system of claim 7, wherein the counter data includes first counter data corresponding to usage of the network resource by a service group including the at least one subscriber, and second counter data corresponding to usage of the network resource by a first subscriber of the at least one subscriber.

11. The network system of claim 7, wherein the collector comprises an Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) collector collecting IPDR data from the CMTS and a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) poller polling SNMP data from the CMTS.

12. The network system of claim 7, further comprising:

a Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) probe operating at least one tap between the CMTS and a hub router; and

a DPI reporting server collecting SNMP data from the DPI probe,

wherein the DPI probe and DPI reporting server are confirmed as the collector collecting, from the CMTS, the counter data corresponding to usage of the network resource.

13. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program product for timestamp normalizing counter data, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable recordable storage medium storing non-transitory computer readable program code, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code executed by at least one processor to collect, over a time period and from a cable modem termination system (CMTS), counter data corresponding to usage of a network resource, wherein the counter data includes timestamp data;

computer readable program code executed by at least one processor to divide the time period into a plurality of buckets, each of the buckets having a stop timestamp;

computer readable program code executed by the at least one processor to convert the counter data into timestamp normalized counter data by dividing the counter data among the plurality of buckets according to the timestamp data of the counter data and enforcing a time-range-framing over the timestamp data of the counter data by converting a stop timestamp of the counter data to the stop timestamp of a respective one of the buckets containing the counter data, wherein different portions of the timestamp normalized counter data are placed in different buckets of the plurality of buckets, and wherein at least one individual occurrence of the counter data overlapping at least a first bucket and a second bucket of the plurality of buckets is divided into a plurality of occurrences of the timestamp normalized counter data placed in at least said first and second buckets with the stop timestamps of the occurrences converted to the stop timestamps of the respective buckets; and

computer readable program code executed by the at least one processor to store the timestamp normalized counter data in a memory device supporting database queries on the timestamp normalized counter data.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code executed by the at least one processor to correlate the counter data from multiple sources, the multiple sources comprising one of a plurality of subscribers, at least one subscriber and at least one service group, and a plurality of service groups.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code executed by the at least one processor to repair an impairment in the timestamp normalized data, wherein the counter data is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) data and wherein the timestamped normalized data is normalized SNMP data, and wherein the repair comprises mitigating a missing portion of the normalized SNMP data using Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) data collected from the CMTS and correlated to the SNMP data.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code executed by the at least one processor to generate a projection of future usage of the network resource using the timestamp normalized counter data.