SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING NETWORK SUPPORT SERVICES AND PREMISES GATEWAY SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

• US 20170078154A1
• Filed: 11/21/2016
• Published: 03/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prodea Automation LLC (f/k/a Kip Prod P1) (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: Prodea Automation LLC (f/k/a Kip Prod P1) (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Inventors: Ansari, Amir, Cowgill, George A., Nicholls, Leon E., Ramayya, Jude P., Masina, Ramprakash, McQuarters, Alvin R., Raissyan, Atousa
• Granted Patent: US 10,263,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/64 Browsing; Visualisation therefor generation of a list or set of audio data G06F16/638
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/80 Actions related to the user profile or the type of traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 : based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 : Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 : Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 : Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 : Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 : for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 : for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/102 : Gateways arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways, H04L12/66
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 : Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1108 : Web based protocols, e.g. webRTC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 : Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 : using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 : in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/00 : Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] real-time bi-directional transmission of motion video data H04N7/14 ; broadcast or conference over packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/40 : Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 : of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0431 : Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 : Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 : Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/911 : Bridge, e.g. brouter, bus extender

Abstract

A service management system communicates via wide area network with gateway devices located at respective user premises. The service management system remotely manages delivery of application services, which can be voice controlled, by a gateway, e.g. by selectively activating/deactivating service logic modules in the gateway. The service management system also may selectively provide secure communications and exchange of information among gateway devices and among associated endpoint devices. An exemplary service management system includes a router connected to the network and one or more computer platforms, for implementing management functions. Examples of the functions include a connection manager for controlling system communications with the gateway devices, an authentication manager for authenticating each gateway device and controlling the connection manager and a subscription manager for managing applications services and/or features offered by the gateway devices. A service manager, controlled by the subscription manager, distributes service specific configuration data to authenticated gateway devices.

Claims

1-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A management device for operation at a user premises having at least one endpoint device, the management device comprising:

an application service logic module having at least one local application and being configured to be remotely managed by a remote management application;

a user module that is associated with the at least one local application, wherein the user module enables bi-directional communication with the at least one endpoint device;

a network interface configured to receive information from the remote management application;

at least one processor coupled to the application service logic module, user module, and/or network module; and

a storage device coupled to the at least one processor and configured to store endpoint data associated with the at least one endpoint device, the storage device including a services module for processing the endpoint data and providing the processed endpoint data to the remote management application.

27. The management device of claim 26, wherein the management device is configured to manage one or more services from a third-party service provider to control operation of the at least one endpoint device.

28. The management device of claim 26, further including a billing manager that automatically manages one or more subscriptions for media data delivered to the at least one endpoint device.

29. The management device of claim 26, wherein the at least one endpoint device includes a television display device, a lamp unit, and/or a sensor device.

30. The management device of claim 26, wherein the application service logic module is configured to stream media to the at least one endpoint device.

31. The management device of claim 30, wherein the services module includes logic for interfacing with the application service logic module, and wherein the network interface communicates with a wireless network.

32. The management device of claim 26, wherein the network interface is configured to communicate with a router device.

33. The management device of claim 26, wherein the management device is configured to be managed by the remote management application.

34. The management device of claim 26, wherein the application service logic module communicates with a router to communicate with the remote management application.

35. The management device of claim 26, wherein the remote management application controls the management device via a wide area network.

36. The management device of claim 26, wherein the endpoint data includes billing data, alarm data, and/or statistical information.

37. The management device of claim 26, wherein the application service logic module resides on a user premises side of a network service provider demarcation.

38. The management device of claim 26, wherein the remote management application operates on a remote device external to the user premises.

39. A system comprising:

an endpoint device for residing at a user premises, the endpoint device including an information module that provides access to operational data related to the availability, status, integrity, quality, and/or performance of the endpoint device; and

a management device for residing at the user premises and being communicatively coupled to the endpoint device via a network connection, the management device including

an application service module that provides at least one application service to the endpoint device, and

a management module operable to process the operational data and to provide access to operational information accessible to a remote manager, and wherein the operational information is generated based on the processed operational data.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the remote manager is located external to the user premises.

41. The system of claim 39, wherein the information module of the endpoint device generates the operational data based on operation of the endpoint device.

42. The system of claim 39, wherein the network connection includes a wired connection, a wireless connection, a Z wave connection, and/or a USB connection.

43. The system of claim 39, wherein the information module, under control of the management device, is operable to generate one or more reports based on billing data, alarm data, and/or statistical information.

44. The system of claim 39, wherein the management device is operable to provide a service subscription and parental control via a user module.

45. A management device for operation at a user premises, the management device comprising:

an endpoint device interface configured for communication with at least one endpoint device at the user premises;

a network interface configured to receive information for managing and/or servicing the at least one endpoint device;

at least one processor in communication with the endpoint interface and/or the network interface; and

a storage device coupled to the at least one processor and storing one or more applications for managing and/or servicing the at least one endpoint device, wherein the storage device stores operational information associated with operation of the at least one endpoint device, and

wherein the management device is configured to process application data associated with the one or more applications and provide operational information, via the network interface, based on the processed application data.

46. The management device of claim 45, wherein the endpoint device interface is configured to connect to a plurality of endpoint devices, and the storage device stores operational data related to availability, status, integrity, quality, and/or performance of the endpoint devices.

47. The management device of claim 45, wherein the management device is operable to generate reports based on billing data, alarm data, and/or statistical information associated with the at least one endpoint device.

48. A service management system for managing one or more application services associated with at least one endpoint device and a management device, the service management system comprising:

a first management module for residing on a user premises, the management module operable to

generate, collect, and/or analyze operational data generated by one or more application services, the management device, and/or the at least one endpoint device, and

provide information about the one or more application services based on the operational data; and

a second management module operable to direct the first management module to send the information about the one or more application services to the second management module and to determine the availability, status, integrity, quality, and/or performance of the one or more application services, the management device, and/or the at least one endpoint device, and wherein at least one of the first management module and the second management module is a hardware device.

49. The service management system of claim 48, wherein the management device includes the first management module, and wherein the at least one endpoint device includes the second management module.