Method and apparatus for out-of-band XDSL troubleshooting and testing

• US 20070217338A1
• Filed: 03/14/2006
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Wang, Jin, Ou, Canhui, Savoor, Raghvendra, Sposato, Steve
• Application Number:
  US11/375,510
• Publication Number:
  US 20070217338A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• 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 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

In one illustrative embodiment a system for maintaining a communication link over a network includes a processor adapted to be coupled to a first communication link, the first communication link connected to a customer premises equipment (CPE), wherein the processor transmits data over the first link and switches to transmit data over the second link in response to a signal that is indicative of a degradation of service over the first link. In one aspect the system may include a switch at a service provider Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) for switching to a spare pair communication link when a degradation of service signal is received. In another aspect at least one spare pair communication link may be associated with a plurality of primary communication pairs.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium accessible to a processor for executing instructions contained in a computer program embedded in the computer readable-medium, the computer program comprising:

an instruction to receive data from a network over a data communication line;

an instruction to interface with a customer premise equipment (CPE) to provide the received data to the CPE;

an instruction to store performance data relating to a selected parameter;

an instruction to wirelessly establish a connection with a remote device; and

an instruction to transmit the stored performance data to a network element via the remote device in response to detecting that the performance data of the selected parameter is outside a selected criterion.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises:

an instruction to receive a command from the network element via the remote device;

an instruction to take a measurement relating to performance of the data communication line in response to the received command; and

an instruction to transmit the measurement to the network element.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises:

an instruction to log on to the network element prior to transmitting the stored data.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further includes an instruction to establish the connection with the network device utilizing one of:

GPRS;

UMST;

WiMax;

Zigbee; and

peer-to-peer connection.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the remote device is one of:

a modem adapted to transmit data to the network element; and

an element in a wireless network that is adapted to transmit data to the network element.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selected parameter includes at least one of:

bit rate;

loop loss;

impedance;

attenuation;

a noise spectrum.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is a component of a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a computer program embedded in a computer-readable medium accessible to the processor, the processor executing instructions contained in the computer program to;

receive data from a network over a data communication line;

interface with a customer premise device (CPE) for providing the received data to the CPE;

collect performance data for at least one selected parameter;

establish a wireless connection with a network element via a remote device; and

transmit the collected performance data to the network element in response to determining that the performance data is outside a selected criterion.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor further executes instructions to log on to the network element device prior to transmitting the collected performance data.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

a first interface that establishes a connection with the network element over the data communication line; and

a second interface that provides the received data to the CPE.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor establishes a two-way data communication between the CPE and the network element.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor further executes instructions to:

receive a command from the network element;

take a measurement relating to performance of the data communication line in response to the received command; and

transmit the measurement to the network element.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising an adapter that enables the processor to establish a connection with the remote device utilizing one of:

GPRS;

UMST;

WiMax;

Zigbee; and

peer-to-peer connection.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the remote device is one of:

a DSL modem adapted to transmit the performance data to the network element; and

an element in a wireless network that is adapted to transmit the performance data to the network element.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the parameter includes at least one of:

bit rate, loop loss, impedance, attenuation;

noise spectrum; and

a function of an element of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the data communication line is one of a twisted copper pair, and an optical fiber.

16. A method of providing content from a network to a customer gateway, comprising:

sending data from a network element to the customer gateway over a first line via a cross-connect coupled to the customer gateway;

sending test data between the network element and a test device over a second line coupled to the cross-connect; and

connecting the second line to the customer gateway at the cross-connect in response to determining that the performance of the first line is degraded and the test data indicates that performance of the second line meets a selected criterion.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the network element includes a processor that sends the data over the first line, the method further comprising connecting the second line to the processor.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising performing a double-ended test on the second line utilizing the test-device.

19. A system, comprising:

a processor coupled to a customer gateway via a data communication line, wherein;

the processor sends content to the customer gateway over the line; and

the customer gateway collects performance data relating to the data communication line and sends the performance data to a network device over a wireless connection in response to determining that the performance data indicates a degradation of the data communication line.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the network element includes a server that determines performance of the data communication line from the collected performance data.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the customer gateway logs on to the network element before sending the performance data.