Automation of customer premises equipment provisioning in a telecommunications network

• US 7,352,853 B1
• Filed: 06/18/2001
• Issued: 04/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ong, Piu Piu, Shen, Fong Fang, Yang, Yen-Huoy, Sun Poon, Esther Sheu
• Primary Examiner(s): ADDY, THJUAN KNOWLIN
• Application Number:
  US09/884,416
• Time in Patent Office: 2,479 Days
• Field of Search: 379/9.04, 379/201.03, 379/219, 379/201.12, 379/201.01, 379/15.03, 455/445, 370/401, 370/352, 370/252, 370/467, 725/111, 704/228
• US Class Current: 379/201.12
• 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 12/2883 ATM DSLAM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13106 Microprocessor, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13109 Initializing, personal profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13196 Connection circuit/link/trunk/junction, bridge, router, gateway
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 Intelligent networks, SCP
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13349 Network management
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0062 Provisions for network management

Abstract

A method of automation of subscriber customer premises equipment provisioning for use in a next generation telecommunications network. In one specific embodiment, the method involves receiving a service request from a network service provider that specifies a service to be provided to the customer premises equipment. A configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment is retrieved. Configuration data is automatically generated for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information. The completed configuration data is automatically delivered over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in configuring the customer premises equipment to provide the service. Embodiments are useful for configuring ADSL and T1 CPE devices in a voice-over-ATM network that uses Internet Protocol.

Claims

1. A method of automating provisioning of network services for customer premises equipment of a subscriber in a next generation digital telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a service request from a network service provider that comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, and a service to be provided by the customer premises equipment;

receiving information indicating that access is provisioned for a subscriber associated with the customer premises equipment and that one or more permanent virtual circuits are established in network elements of the network for facilitating the access;

retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving network addresses for a voice signaling channel and a bearer channel associated with communications between the customer premises equipment and the network;

updating a domain name service server with information that associates the allocated and reserved network addresses with the customer premises equipment;

creating and storing one or more mappings for the permanent virtual circuits in a switch device that directs network communications to the customer premises equipment;

generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information; and

delivering the configuration data over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in provisioning the customer premises equipment to provide the service.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the step of generating configuration data includes the step of allocating and reserving an IP address and fully-qualified domain name for each of a plurality of permanent virtual circuits associated with communications among the network and the router.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the service request comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, information identifying one or more permanent virtual circuits assigned by the service provider to the customer premises equipment;

and access control data.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the step of delivering the configuration data comprises the steps of storing the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the ADSL router using file transfer protocol.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the customer premises equipment is an T1 CPE device, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the step of delivering the configuration data comprises the steps of pre-staging the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the T1 CPE device using telnet.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of generating configuration data includes the steps of:

allocating and reserving one or more network addresses respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server;

allocating and reserving one or more fully qualified domain names respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a domain name service (DNS) server.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

generating a request to a proxy element of a network access device to update the provisioning to the customer premises equipment.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

delivering the updated configuration data to the customer premises equipment;

applying the updated configuration data as a merge to an existing configuration of the customer premises equipment, to result in creating a merged configuration;

saving the merged configuration as a start-up configuration for the customer premises equipment.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving system configuration data from one or more sub-networks that contain the customer premises equipment;

the updating the domain name server includes updating the domain name server with mappings of the network addresses and corresponding fully-qualified domain names.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the steps of retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment include the steps of:

extracting a device type and service type from the service request;

searching a template registry table for the template based on the device type and service type;

if a template associated with the device type and service type is not found in the template registry table, selecting and using a default configuration template.

11. A computer-readable medium having stored one or more sequences of instructions for automatically provisioning customer premises equipment of a subscriber in a next generation digital telecommunications network to provide a network service, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

receiving a service request from a network service provider that comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, and a service to be provided by the customer premises equipment;

receiving information indicating that access is provisioned for a subscriber associated with the customer premises equipment and that one or more permanent virtual circuits are established in network elements of the network for facilitating the access;

retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving network addresses for a voice signaling channel and a bearer channel associated with communications between the customer premises equipment and the network;

updating a domain name service server with information that associates the allocated and reserved network addresses with the customer premises equipment;

creating and storing one or more mappings for the permanent virtual circuits in a switch device that directs network communications to the customer premises equipment;

generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information;

delivering the configuration data over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in provisioning the customer premises equipment to provide the service.

12. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the generating configuration data includes allocating and reserving an IP address and fully-qualified domain name for each of a plurality of permanent virtual circuits associated with communications among the network and the router.

13. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the service request comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, information identifying one or more permanent virtual circuits assigned by the service provider to the customer premises equipment and access control data.

14. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the delivering the configuration data includes storing the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the ADSL router using file transfer protocol.

15. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the customer premises equipment is an T1 CPE device, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the delivering the configuration data includes pre-staging the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the T1 CPE device using telnet.

16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the generating configuration data includes:

allocating and reserving one or more network addresses respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server;

allocating and reserving one or more fully qualified domain names respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a domain name service (DNS) server.

17. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

generating a request to a proxy element of a network access device to update the provisioning to the customer premises equipment.

18. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

delivering the updated configuration data to the customer premises equipment;

applying the updated configuration data as a merge to an existing configuration of the customer premises equipment, to result in creating a merged configuration;

saving the merged configuration as a start-up configuration for the customer premises equipment.

19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

retrieving system configuration data from one or more sub-networks that contain the customer premises equipment;

the updating the domain name server includes updating the domain name server with mappings of the network addresses and corresponding fully-qualified domain names.

20. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment includes:

extracting a device type and service type from the service request;

searching a template registry table for the template based on the device type and service type;

if a template associated with the device type and service type is not found in the template registry table, selecting and using a default configuration template.

21. An apparatus for automatically provisioning customer premises equipment of a subscriber in a next generation digital telecommunications network to provide a network service, comprising:

means for receiving a service request from a network service provider that comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned and a service to be provided by the customer premises equipment;

means for receiving information indicating that access is provisioned for a subscriber associated with the customer premises equipment and that one or more permanent virtual circuits are established in network elements of the network for facilitating the access;

means for retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment;

means for allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment;

means for allocating and reserving network addresses for a voice signaling channel and a bearer channel associated with communications between the customer premises equipment and the network;

means for updating a domain name service server with information that associates the allocated and reserved network addresses with the customer premises equipment;

means for creating and storing one or more mappings for the permanent virtual circuits in a switch device that directs network communications to the customer premises equipment;

means for generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information;

means for delivering the configuration data over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in provisioning the customer premises equipment to provide the service.

22. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the means for generating configuration data includes means for allocating and reserving an IP address and fully-qualified domain name for each of a plurality of permanent virtual circuits associated with communications among the network and the router.

23. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the service request comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, information identifying one or more permanent virtual circuits assigned by the service provider to the customer premises equipment and access control data.

24. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the means for delivering the configuration data includes means for storing the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the ADSL router using file transfer protocol.

25. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the customer premises equipment is an T1 CPE device, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the means for delivering the configuration data includes means for pre-staging the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the T1 CPE device using telnet.

26. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the means for generating configuration data includes:

means for allocating and reserving one or more network addresses respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server;

means for allocating and reserving one or more fully qualified domain names respectively associated with one or more communication channels between the network and the customer premises equipment by communicating with a domain name service (DNS) server.

27. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

means for creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

means for generating a request to a proxy element of a network access device to update the provisioning to the customer premises equipment.

28. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

means for creating and storing updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

means for delivering the updated configuration data to the customer premises equipment;

means for applying the updated configuration data as a merge to an existing configuration of the customer premises equipment, to result in creating a merged configuration;

means for saving the merged configuration as a start-up configuration for the customer premises equipment.

29. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

means for retrieving system configuration data from one or more sub-networks that contain the customer premises equipment;

means for updating the domain name server with mappings of the network addresses and corresponding fully-qualified domain names.

30. An apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the means for retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment includes:

means for extracting a device type and service type from the service request;

means for searching a template registry table for the template based on the device type and service type;

means for if a template associated with the device type and service type is not found in the template registry table, selecting and using a default configuration template.

31. An apparatus for automatically provisioning customer premises equipment of a subscriber in a next generation digital telecommunications network to provide a network service, comprising:

a processor;

a network interface communicatively coupled between the processor and the network and configured to communicate data among the processor and the network;

a computer-readable medium having stored one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

receiving a service request from a network service provider that comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned and a service to be provided by the customer premises equipment;

receiving information indicating that access is provisioned for a subscriber associated with the customer premises equipment and that one or more permanent virtual circuits are established in network elements of the network for facilitating the access;

retrieving a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment;

allocating and reserving network addresses for a voice signaling channel and a bearer channel associated with communications between the customer premises equipment and the network;

updating a domain name service server with information that associates the allocated and reserved network addresses with the customer premises equipment;

creating and storing one or more mappings for the permanent virtual circuits in a switch device that directs network communications to the customer premises equipment;

generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information;

delivering the configuration data over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in provisioning the customer premises equipment to provide the service.

32. An apparatus for automatically provisioning customer premises equipment of a subscriber in a next generation digital telecommunications network to provide a network service, comprising:

a provisioning engine configured to receive a service request from a network service provider that comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, and a service to be provided by the customer premises equipment;

a configuration template manager communicatively coupled to the provisioning engine and configured to retrieve a configuration template for a configuration appropriate for the customer premises equipment;

means in the provisioning engine for allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment and for generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information;

wherein the means in the provisioning engine for allocating and reserving at least one resource associated with the customer premises equipment and for generating configuration data for the customer premises equipment based on the configuration template and stored system configuration information includes means for;

receiving information indicating that access is provisioned for a subscriber associated with the customer premises equipment and that one or more permanent virtual circuits are established in network elements of the network for facilitating the access;

allocating and reserving network addresses for a voice signaling channel and a bearer channel associated with communications between the customer premises equipment and the network;

updating a domain name service server with information that associates the allocated and reserved network addresses with the customer premises equipment;

creating and storing one or more mappings for the permanent virtual circuits in a switch device that directs network communications to the customer premises equipment; and

a configuration delivery manager communicatively coupled to the provisioning engine and configured to deliver the configuration data over the network to the customer premises equipment to result in provisioning the customer premises equipment to provide the service.

33. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising a resource manager that is communicatively coupled to the provisioning engine and communicatively coupled to a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server and a domain name service (DNS) server, wherein the resource manager is configured to request and receive one or more network addresses from the DHCP server and to request and receive one or more fully-qualified domain names from the DNS server.

34. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising an inventory manager that is communicatively coupled to the provisioning engine a to an inventory repository that comprises network element inventory information, and wherein the means for generating configuration data includes means for generating the configuration data based on the network element inventory information.

35. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein means for generating configuration data includes means for allocating and reserving an IP address and fully-qualified domain name for each of a plurality of permanent virtual circuits associated with communications among the network and the router.

36. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the service request comprises information uniquely identifying the customer premises equipment to be provisioned, information identifying one or more permanent virtual circuits assigned by the service provider to the customer premises equipment;

and access control data.

37. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein means for delivering the configuration data comprises means for storing the configuration data in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivering the configuration data from the file server to the ADSL router using file transfer protocol.

38. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the customer premises equipment is an ADSL router, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the configuration delivery manager is further configured to cause the configuration data to be stored in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivered from the file server to the ADSL router using file transfer protocol.

39. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the customer premises equipment is an T1 CPE device, wherein the network is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and wherein the configuration delivery manager is further configured to cause the configuration data to be pre-staged in a file server that is communicatively coupled to the network and delivered from the file server to the T1 CPE device using telnet.

40. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the provisioning engine is further configured to:

create and store updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment; and

generate a request to a proxy element of a network access device to update the provisioning to the customer premises equipment.

41. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the provisioning engine is further configured to:

create and store updated configuration data in response to receiving a request to update provisioning of the customer premises equipment;

deliver the updated configuration data to the customer premises equipment;

apply the updated configuration data as a merge to an existing configuration of the customer premises equipment, to result in creating a merged configuration; and

save the merged configuration as a start-up configuration for the customer premises equipment.

42. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising means for:

retrieving system configuration data from one or more sub-networks that contain the customer premises equipment;

means for updating the domain name server with mappings of the network addresses and corresponding fully-qualified domain names.

43. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the configuration template manager is further configured to:

extract a device type and service type from the service request;

search a template registry table for the template based on the device type and service type; and

if a template associated with the device type and service type is not found in the template registry table, selecting and using a default configuration template.