Selective Reestablishment of Cable Modem Internet Protocol Connectivity

• US 20130097324A1
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dong, Wenwen, Huang, Rundong, Meng, Jie, Chen, Shuzhan
• Granted Patent: US 9,479,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks

Abstract

Techniques are generally directed to selective reestablishment of Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity between a cable modem and a cable modem termination system (CMTS). IP connectivity between the cable modem and the CMTS is initially established through execution of a plurality of connectivity steps. After IP connectivity is lost, the cable modem determines which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing IP connectivity, and sends a message to the CMTS indicating the desired IP connectivity step. The CMTS determines if the desired connectivity steps identified in the message may be used to reestablish IP connectivity, and sends a response message to the cable modem indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used. IP connectivity is then reestablished using at least the desired connectivity steps.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initially establishing Internet Protocol connectivity between a cable modem and a cable modem termination system through execution of a plurality of connectivity steps;

when Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system is lost, determining which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity of the cable modem;

sending a message to the cable modem termination system indicating one or more desired connectivity steps for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity;

receiving, from the cable modem termination system, a message indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity; and

reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system using at least the desired connectivity steps.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the message further comprises:

receiving a message identifying any additional connectivity steps to be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

determining that a subset of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of connectivity steps for initially establishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprise:

(a) obtaining an Internet Protocol address for the cable modem;

(b) obtaining a current date and time; and

(c) downloading a configuration file for the cable modem.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

determining that at least one of connectivity steps (a), (b), or (c) is to be skipped during re-registration of the cable modem when reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

determining that connectivity steps (a), (b), and (c) are to be performed during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

determining that an Internet Protocol address received during initial establishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity is still valid and that connectivity step (a) is to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining that connectivity step (b) is also to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining that a configuration file for the cable modem received during initial establishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity is still valid and that connectivity step (c) is also to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining that connectivity steps (b) and (c) are also to be skipped when reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein sending a message to the cable modem termination system indicating desired connectivity steps for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

sending an encoded ranging request.

12. A method comprising:

initially establishing Internet Protocol connectivity between a cable modem and a cable modem termination system through execution of a plurality of connectivity steps;

when Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system is lost, receiving a message from the cable modem identifying desired connectivity steps for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity;

determining if the desired connectivity steps may be used to reestablish Internet Protocol connectivity; and

sending a message to the cable modem indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the message further comprises:

sending a message identifying any additional connectivity steps to be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein after Internet Protocol connectivity with the cable modem is lost, receiving a message from the cable modem indicating that a subset of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity, and wherein determining comprises:

determining if execution of the subset of connectivity steps will result in correct reestablishment of Internet Protocol connectivity.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of connectivity steps for initially establishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprise:

(a) forwarding an Internet Protocol address to the cable modem;

(b) forwarding a current date and time to the cable modem; and

(c) forwarding a configuration file to the cable modem.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein sending a message to the cable modem indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

sending an encoded ranging response.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein sending a message to the cable modem indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprises:

sending a message indicating that the plurality of connectivity steps used to initially establish Internet Protocol activity are to be executed to reestablish Internet Protocol connectivity.

18. An apparatus comprising:

at least one radio-frequency (RF) interface;

at least one network interface;

a memory; and

a processor configured to;

initially establish Internet Protocol connectivity between a cable modem and a cable modem termination system through execution of a plurality of connectivity steps,

when Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system is lost, determine which of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity of the cable modem,

send a message to the cable modem termination system indicating desired connectivity steps for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity,

receive, from the cable modem termination system, a message indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity, and

reestablish Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system using at least the desired connectivity steps.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to receive a message identifying any additional connectivity steps to be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the plurality of connectivity steps for initially establishing Internet Protocol connectivity comprise (a) obtaining an Internet Protocol address for the cable modem, (b) obtaining a current date and time, and (c) downloading a configuration file for the cable modem, wherein the processor is configured to determine that at least one of connectivity steps (a), (b), or (c) is to be skipped during re-registration of the cable modem when reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine that an Internet Protocol address received during initial establishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity is still valid and that connectivity step (a) is to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that connectivity step (b) is also to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that a configuration file for the cable modem received during initial establishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity is still valid and that connectivity step (c) is also to be skipped during reestablishment of the Internet Protocol connectivity.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine that connectivity steps (b) and (c) are also to be skipped when reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

25. An apparatus comprising:

at least one radio-frequency (RF) interface;

at least one network interface;

a memory; and

a processor configured to;

initially establish Internet Protocol connectivity between a cable modem and a cable modem termination system through execution of a plurality of connectivity steps,

when Internet Protocol connectivity between the cable modem and the cable modem termination system is lost, receive a message from the cable modem identifying desired connectivity steps for use in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity,

determine if the desired connectivity steps may be used to reestablish Internet Protocol connectivity, and

send a message to the cable modem indicating if the desired connectivity steps may be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor is configured to send a message identifying any additional connectivity steps to be used in reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein after Internet Protocol connectivity with the cable modem is lost, the processor is configured to receive a message from the cable modem indicating that a subset of the plurality of connectivity steps are desired for use reestablishing Internet Protocol connectivity, and to determine if execution of the subset of connectivity steps will result in correct reestablishment of Internet Protocol connectivity.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor is configured to send a message indicating that the plurality of connectivity steps used to initially establish Internet Protocol activity are to be executed to reestablish Internet Protocol connectivity.