Methods and apparatus to determine digital subscriber line configuration parameters

• US 7,889,671 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2009
• Issued: 02/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Van Slyke, John Porter, Blackburn, Stuart Lynch
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah; Chirag G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thompson, Jr.; Otis L
• Application Number:
  US12/482,893
• Publication Number:
  US 20090245336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 614 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data

Abstract

Example methods and apparatus to determine digital subscriber line (DSL) configuration parameters based on current and historical DSL performance characteristics are disclosed. A disclosed method includes obtaining first data representative of a current performance characteristic for a DSL modem, obtaining second data representative of a historical performance characteristic for the DSL modem, computing, at a maintenance server, a configuration parameter using the first and the second data, and reinitializing the DSL modem with the computed DSL configuration parameter when the computed configuration parameter has a value different from a previous value of the configuration parameter, wherein the DSL configuration parameter is computed prior to the reinitializing of the DSL modem.

Claims

1. A method comprising,

obtaining first data representative of a current performance characteristic for a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem;

obtaining second data representative of a historical performance characteristic for the DSL modem;

computing, by a maintenance server, a configuration parameter using the first and the second data; and

reinitializing the DSL modem with the computed DSL configuration parameter when the computed configuration parameter has a value different from a previous value of the configuration parameter, wherein the current performance characteristic represents a maximum attainable DSL speed, wherein the configuration parameter represents a maximum capable DSL speed, the DSL configuration parameter is computed prior to the reinitializing of the DSL modem, wherein determining the maximum capable DSL speed based on the first and the second data comprises determining a minimum in the first and the second data, wherein determining the maximum capable DSL speed based on the first and the second data further comprises multiplying a scale factor and the minimum in the first and the second data, and wherein the scale factor is selected based upon a number of data points in the second data.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the second data includes data points, and further comprising discarding at least one of the data points if either a DSL service associated with the DSL modem is reported as malfunctioning, or a second configuration parameter for the DSL modem is modified.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the second data corresponds to a time period having a predetermined characteristic.

4. A method comprising,

obtaining first data representative of a current performance characteristic for a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem;

obtaining second data representative of a historical performance characteristic for the DSL modem;

computing, by a maintenance server, a configuration parameter using the first and the second data; and

reinitializing the DSL modem with the computed DSL configuration parameter when the computed configuration parameter has a value different from a previous value of the configuration parameter, wherein the current performance characteristic value represents a count of receiver errors over a time period, and wherein the configuration parameter represents whether or not interleaving is enabled for a telephone line, and computing the configuration parameter based on the first and the second data comprises;

determining a maximum in the first and the second data; and

enabling interleaving for the telephone line if the maximum in the first and the second data is greater than a threshold.

5. An article of manufacture comprising a tangible storage medium excluding propagating signals and storing machine readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:

obtain first data representative of a current performance characteristic for a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, wherein the current performance characteristic is a count of receiver errors over a time period;

obtain second data representative of a historical performance characteristic of the DSL modem;

compute a configuration parameter based on the first and second data by determining a maximum in the first and second data and enabling interleaving if the determined maximum is greater than a threshold, wherein the configuration parameter represents interleaving enablement; and

when the computed configuration parameter has a value different from a previous value of the configuration parameter, reinitialize the DSL modem with the computed configuration parameter, wherein the tangible storage medium excludes propagating signals.