Generic provisioning of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

• US 20060221940A1
• Filed: 04/05/2005
• Published: 10/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brenes, Manrique, Ong, Piu Piu, Koh, Yutai T., Dang, Luan, Chang, Ray, Willis, Edward Dean, Gutman, Andrew M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,134,999 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2874 Processing of data for distribution to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0087 Network planning or provisioning

Abstract

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a provisioning method for establishing a telecommunications service including the operations of sending a resynchronization message to a user terminal unit, redirecting the resynchronization message to a customer premises equipment (CPE) unit, acquiring the configuration server network address from the resynchronization message, connecting the CPE unit through the network to a configuration server specified in the configuration server network address, receiving subscriber configuration data from the configuration server; and initializing the CPE unit with the received subscriber configuration data to establish service between the CPE unit and the telecommunications service provider.

Claims

1. A customer premises equipment (CPE) apparatus, comprising:

a first communications unit adapted to send and receive messages over a wide area network (WAN), the first communications unit being adapted to send a request message to an initialization server at an initialization server address, receive a response message from the initialization server containing a configuration server address, send a request message to the configuration server at the configuration server address, and receive a response message from the configuration server containing a configuration data;

a memory unit adapted to store and retrieve information including the initialization server address, the initialization server address being stored in the memory unit prior to sending the request message to the initialization server; and

a processing unit adapted to control the sending and receiving of messages through the first communications unit, to retrieve the initialization server address from the memory unit, and initialize the CPE apparatus with the configuration data in order to establish service with a service provider.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit retrieves the initialization server address automatically after connection of the CPE apparatus to the WAN.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the exchange of messages between the CPE apparatus and the initialization server establishes a secure connection.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory unit includes a CPE encryption certificate for exchange with the initialization server to establish the secure connection.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit authenticates an initialization server encryption certificate to establish the secure connection.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the WAN conforms to the internet protocol (IP) for sending and receiving messages over the network.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a terminal adapter configured to convert signals from a user interface into messages that can be sent through the CPE unit over the WAN and to convert messages received from the WAN through the CPE unit into signals to the user interface.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the service provider is a voice service provider (VSP), and wherein the user interface includes a telephone.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the service provider is an internet service carrier, and wherein the user interface is a computer.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the user interface includes a video monitor for receiving a video signal input and producing one of a visual and an auditory output.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a camera operatively connected to the terminal adapter, the camera capturing a visual image and producing a video signal output, the terminal adapter receiving the video signal output and producing at least one message for sending over the network.

12. A method of establishing service between a customer premises equipment (CPE) unit and a service provider, comprising:

connecting the CPE unit to a wide area network (WAN);

retrieving an initialization server network address that identifies the network location of a service provider initialization server;

accessing the initialization server over the WAN using the retrieved initialization server network address;

receiving a message from the initialization server including at least one configuration server network address that identifies the network location of a service provider configuration server;

accessing the configuration server over the WAN using the received configuration server network address;

receiving subscriber configuration data from the configuration server; and

initializing the CPE unit with the subscriber configuration data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the service provider is a voice service provider (VSP).

14. A customer premises equipment (CPE) apparatus, comprising:

a first communications unit adapted to send and receive messages over a wide area network (WAN), the first communications unit being adapted to receive a resynchronization message including a configuration server address, send a request message to a configuration server at a configuration server address, and receive a response message from the configuration server containing a configuration data;

a second communications unit adapted to send and receive messages with the first communications unit and over a local area network (LAN), the second communications unit receiving the resynchronization message from the first communications unit and passing the resynchronization message to a user terminal, the second communications unit receiving the resynchronization message redirected from the user terminal; and

a processing unit adapted to control the sending and receiving of messages through the first communications unit and the second communications unit, the processing unit initializing the CPE apparatus with the configuration data in order to establish service with a service provider.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the service provider is a voice service provider (VSP).

16. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a memory unit adapted store and retrieve information including the initialization server address, the initialization server address being stored in the memory unit prior to sending the request message to the initialization server,

wherein the processing unit retrieves the initialization server address from the memory unit and sends a request message to the initialization server through the first communications unit.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing unit retrieves the initialization server address automatically after connection of the CPE apparatus to the WAN.

18. A method of establishing service between a customer premises equipment (CPE) unit and a service provider, comprising:

sending a resynchronization message to a user terminal, the provisioning server and the user terminal unit being configured to send and receive messages over a network, the resynchronization message including at least one configuration server network address for a service provider configuration server;

receiving the redirected resynchronization message from the user terminal;

acquiring the configuration server network address from the resynchronization message;

accessing the configuration server over the network using the configuration server address;

receiving subscriber configuration data from the configuration server; and

initializing the CPE unit with the received subscriber configuration data.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the service provider is a voice service provider (VSP).

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the user terminal and the CPE communicate over a local area network (LAN).

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

connecting the CPE unit to the network, the CPE unit being configured to send and receive messages over the network;

accessing the initialization server; and

rejecting access from the CPE unit to the initialization server.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

detecting the network is active;

executing an internal operation to retrieve a stored network address for the service provider initialization server; and

opening a secure connection with the initialization server.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein opening a secure connection further comprises:

exchanging security certificates including encrypted information, the CPE security certificate including device specific information to allow the initialization server to verify whether a specific CPE is authorized; and

mutually authenticating the validity of the exchanged security certificates,

wherein the secure connection with the initialization server is closed if one of the CPE unit and the initialization server fail in mutual authentication.

24. A customer premises equipment (CPE) apparatus, comprising:

means for sending and receiving messages over a wide area network (WAN) being adapted to receive a resynchronization message including a configuration server address, to send a request message to a configuration server at a configuration server address, and to receive a response message from the configuration server containing a configuration data;

means for sending and receiving messages over a local area network (LAN) being adapted to pass the resynchronization message to a user terminal, and to receive the resynchronization message redirected from the user terminal; and

means for initializing the CPE apparatus with the configuration data in order to establish service with a service provider.