Method and System for Provisioning a Set-Box

• US 20070209052A1
• Filed: 04/05/2005
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Holdings LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Woundy, Richard, Taylor, Kevin
• Granted Patent: US 7,827,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/86
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2542 for selling goods, e.g. TV shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25435 involving characteristics of content or additional data, e.g. video resolution or the amount of advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method and system of provisioning a set-top box (STB) with a STB provisioning system are provided which include storing STB profile information in a provisioning datastore, receiving a customer order at a service provisioning system, notifying a billing system of the customer order, and notifying a conditional access system of the customer order. The method and system further include storing information from the customer order in a provisioning datastore, notifying a video device manager about the STB, and delivering a cable operator configuration message from the video device manager to the STB, the configuration message being based on information from the provisioning datastore, thereby provisioning the STB without essential involvement of the conditional access system.

Claims

1. A method of provisioning a set-top box (STB) with a STB provisioning system including a service provisioning system, a billing system, a conditional access system, a video device manager, and a provisioning datastore, the method comprising:

storing STB profile information in the provisioning datastore;

receiving a customer order at the service provisioning system;

notifying the billing system of the customer order;

notifying the conditional access system of the customer order;

storing information from the customer order in the provisioning datastore;

notifying the video device manager about the STB; and

delivering a cable operator configuration message from the video device manager to the STB, the configuration message being based on information from the provisioning datastore, thereby provisioning the STB without essential involvement of the conditional access system.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing STB certification information in the provisioning datastore.

3. The method of claim 2 further wherein the STB certification information is instantiated as an XML formatted document.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the STB profile information is instantiated as an XML formatted document.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the customer order is instantiated as an XML document.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein notifying the conditional access system of the customer order is performed by the billing system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein notifying the conditional access system of the customer order is performed by the service provisioning system.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the STB provisioning system further includes a data device manager, the method further comprising:

notifying the data device manager about the STB.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message to the STB is instantiated as an XML document.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message to the STB includes configuration of the STB geographical location.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message to the STB includes configuration to enable multiple channel lineups.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message is sent using bi-directional unicast messaging.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message is sent using uni-directional multicast messaging.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration message is sent in response to a boot-time request from the STB.