System and method for managing broadband services

• US 7,453,822 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2005
• Issued: 11/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Savoor, Raghvendra G., Jiang, Baofeng, Van Slyke, John Porter, Cioffi, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo; John
• Application Number:
  US11/037,901
• Publication Number:
  US 20060159106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,400 Days
• Field of Search: 370352-356, 370/400, 370/401, 370/252, 370/237, 379/88.17, 703/2, 709220-222, 709/224
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5601 Transfer mode dependent, e.g. ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5006 Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5029 Service quality level-based billing, e.g. dependent on measured service level customer is charged more or less
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5045 Making service definitions prior to deployment
• 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 43/55 Testing of service level quality, e.g. simulating service usage

Abstract

A system and method are described for selecting a service state using a configurable abstraction layer. A comparison is made between network parameters of a Network Performance Layer and network services of a Service Layer. Once network parameters are within a threshold for providing a given service, a state change can be made in the configuration parameters to suit the provided service.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method for managing network services comprising:

a) specifying an initial service in a network service layer;

b) specifying at least one network performance criterion for the service in a network performance layer wherein the at least one network performance criterion is selected from the group consisting of code violation tolerance, noise margin tolerance, and relative capacity tolerance;

c) determining a network performance measure;

d) comparing the network performance measure and the network performance criterion; and

e) managing the initial service in the network based on the comparison.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein managing further comprises changing a configurable state in the network service layer to meet the performance criterion.

3. The medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

providing the service to a network subscriber when the performance criterion is met.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method the initial service further comprises one from a list of:

i) data transfer, ii) voice transfer, and, iii) streaming data over a network connection.

5. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method specifying the initial network service further comprises selecting a configurable state for providing the initial service over a network.

6. The medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

specifying a secondary service; and

changing the configurable state to accommodate the initial and secondary services.

7. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method comparing further comprises comparing a network performance measure derived from a physical layer with the at least one network performance criteria.

8. A system for managing services in a network comprising:

a data base for specifying an initial service in a network service layer and at least one network performance criterion in a network performance layer wherein the at least one network performance criterion is selected from the group consisting of code violation tolerance, noise margin tolerance, and relative capacity tolerance; and

a processor programmed to determine a network performance measure and compare the network performance criterion and the network performance measure to manage the initial service.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is programmed to change a configurable state in the network service layer to meet the performance criteria.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is programmed to provide the initial service to a network subscriber when the performance criterion is met.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the initial services further comprises one from a list of:

i) data transfer, ii) voice transfer, and, iii) streaming data over a network connection.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein specifying the initial service further comprises specifying a configurable state for providing the service over a network.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is programmed to specify a secondary service and change the configurable state to accommodate the initial and secondary service.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is programmed to compare the network performance measure derived from a physical layer with the at least one network performance criteria.

15. A method of managing a network, comprising:

maintaining a Service State Translator (SST) data structure, the SST data structure including service state data defining a service state corresponding to a service, the service state data including at least one performance criteria value and at least one configuration parameter pertaining to the service;

receiving performance data indicative of a performance of the network with respect to at least one performance parameter for which a performance criteria is specified in the service state data;

analyzing the performance data with respect to the at least one performance criteria;

responsive to determining the performance data satisfies the performance criteria, configuring the at least one aspect of the network consistent with a configuration parameter specified in the service; and

providing the initial service to a network subscriber when the performance criteria is met;

wherein the initial service comprises a service selected from the list consisting of;

i) data transfer, ii) voice transfer, and, iii) streaming data over a network connection.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising specifying the initial service further comprises specifying a configurable state for providing an initial service over a network.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising specifying a secondary service;

and changing a configurable state to accommodate the initial and secondary service.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the performance data comprises data derived from a physical layer of the network.