Topology discovery in broadband networks

• US 20050163060A1
• Filed: 06/14/2004
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CAMIANT, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: CAMIANT, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Riley, Yusun Kim, Medlock, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,619,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/781 Centralised allocation of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data

Abstract

A method of operating a policy server connected to a network including a plurality of network termination devices and a plurality of CPEs (customer premises equipment) that are behind the plurality of network termination devices, the method including: polling the plurality of termination devices for data maintained by the termination devices; processing the polled data to generate topology information, the topology information identifying which CPEs are behind which termination devices; and storing the topology information in a topology data structure.

Claims

1. A method of operating a policy server connected to a network including a plurality of network termination devices and a plurality of CPEs (customer premises equipment) that are behind the plurality of network termination devices, said method comprising:

polling the plurality of termination devices for data maintained by the termination devices;

processing the polled data to generate topology information, said topology information identifying which CPEs are behind which termination devices; and

storing the topology information in a topology data structure.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request for setting up a session for one of the CPEs among the plurality of CPEs;

referencing the topology data structure to identify the network termination device behind which said one of the CPEs is located; and

sending a policy decision to the identified network termination device to configure characteristics of the requested session.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the termination devices are cable modem termination systems (CMTSs).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the polled data, and wherein processing the polled data involves processing the stored polled data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein polling comprises:

extracting MIB tables from MIBs that are maintained by the plurality of network termination devices; and

storing the extracted MIB tables, and wherein processing involves processing the stored MIB tables to generate the topology information.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the network also includes a plurality of modems to which the plurality of CPE'"'"'s are connected and wherein each termination device is characterized by a set of blades, each of which supports a corresponding set of channels, wherein processing involves determining which blade, channel, and modem is associated with each CPE.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each network termination device is connected to a corresponding one of a plurality of access networks and wherein each of the plurality of modems communicates with a corresponding one of the plurality of access networks and wherein said topology information presents a mapping of each CPE of said plurality of CPEs to a corresponding blade and channel of a corresponding one of the plurality of network termination devices and to a corresponding one of the plurality of modems.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein polling the plurality of network termination devices involves polling MIBs that are stored and maintained by the plurality of network termination devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein polling involves using SNMP to poll.

10. The method of claims 1, wherein storing the topology information in the topology data structure involves storing the topology information in a list of subscriber data, comprising a plurality of records.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein each record of the plurality of records stores an address of a corresponding one of the plurality of CPEs and wherein each record identifies for the corresponding one of the plurality of CPEs an index for a corresponding one of the plurality of network termination devices.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the stored CPE addresses are IP addresses

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each record of the plurality of records stores an address of a corresponding one of the plurality of CPEs and wherein each record identifies for the corresponding one of the plurality of CPEs an index for a corresponding one of the plurality of network termination devices, a blade index identifying a corresponding blade within that network termination device, a channel index identifying a corresponding channel within that network termination device, and a MAC address of a corresponding one of the plurality of modems.

14. An apparatus for use on a network that includes a plurality of network termination devices and a plurality of CPEs (customer premises equipment) that are behind the plurality of network termination devices, the apparatus comprising:

a processor system;

an interface which enables communication over the network with the plurality of network termination devices; and

a memory system which stores a topology data structure and program code which when executed on the processor system causes the apparatus to;

poll the plurality of network termination devices for data maintained by the termination devices;

process the polled data to generate topology information, said topology information identifying which CPEs are behind which termination devices; and

store the topology information in the topology data structure.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the program code when executed on the processors system causes the apparatus to:

process a received request for setting up a session for one of the CPEs among the plurality of CPEs;

reference the topology data structure to identify the network termination device behind which said one of the CPEs is located; and

send a policy decision to the identified network termination device to configure characteristics of the requested session.