System and method for automatic provisioning of onsite networking services

• US 8,145,798 B1
• Filed: 12/19/2000
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus Software, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Jones, Richard D., Buck, Michael L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Ilwoo
• Application Number:
  US09/739,011
• Time in Patent Office: 4,116 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/220, 709/221, 710/8, 710/302, 710/62
• US Class Current: 710/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0038 System on Chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play

Abstract

An automatic provisioning system is activated within a DSL, cable modem or other residential or gateway or hub, and accesses a remote directory service to locate appropriate addressing and other information to initialize the equipment. The gateway interface may automatically update its configuration, heal bugs and perform other maintenance and other tasks. Multiple gateway interfaces or products or services may be configured at one premise, and version control maintained to ensure compatibility.

Claims

1. A system for providing network services, comprising:

a directory service including a plurality of software objects that include configuration data and programs used to provision customer premise equipments, where one or more of the plurality of software objects is related to at least one instance of customer premise equipment, the one or more of the plurality of software objects including at least one customer premise equipment object representing the at least one instance of customer premise equipment in the directory service, the at least one instance of customer premise equipment connected to the directory service via a first communication link;

first provisioning means for automatically provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment for delivery of network services from the directory service to at least one end-user appliance that is connected to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment via a second communication link, the first provisioning means comprising;

means for creating the at least one customer premise equipment object in the directory service;

means for creating tailored service software objects at the directory service including service configuration and operating information associated with the network services to be delivered to the at least one end-user appliance via the at least one instance of customer premise equipment; and

means for downloading, from the directory service, the tailored service software objects to a data store means at the at least one instance of customer premise equipment;

the data store means, at the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, for storing the one or more of the plurality of software objects related to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment; and

monitoring means for enabling the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to initiate communication with the directory service to monitor for a change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service, said change being in response to a request for a change to the network services being delivered to the at least one end-user appliance, said change indicating an addition of a new network service, and wherein if a change regarding the addition of a new network service has occurred, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment automatically by downloading, from the directory service, one or more new tailored service software objects associated with the new network service to the data store means at the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, wherein the one or more new tailored service software objects are executed to deliver the new network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the directory service comprises a distributed architecture.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of software objects comprises executable code.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of software objects comprises a configuration policy.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of software objects comprises information related to end-users.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises a gateway.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises a router.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises a hub.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the end-user appliance comprises a personal computer.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one end-user appliance comprises an entertainment device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one end-user appliance comprises a surveillance device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one end-user appliance comprises a household appliance.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one end-user appliance comprises a utility monitoring device.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service indicates at least one of:

an update to an existing network service;

or removal of an existing network service.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein if the change indicates that the existing network service has been updated, the at least one instance of customer premise equipment is reconfigured by downloading, from the directory service, one or more updated tailored service software objects associated with the updated network service to the data store means, wherein the one or more updated tailored service software objects are executed to deliver the updated network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein if the change indicates that the existing network service has been removed, the at least one instance of customer premise equipment is reconfigured by deleting, from the directory service and the data store means, one or more existing tailored service software objects associated with the removed network service.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service indicates an addition of a new end-user appliance;

or removal of an existing end-user appliance.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein if the change indicates that the new end-user appliance has been added, the at least one instance of customer premise equipment is reconfigured by, downloading, from the directory service to the data store means, one or more new tailored service software objects associated with network services to be delivered to the new end-user appliance.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein if the change indicates that the existing end-user appliance has been removed, the at least one instance of customer premise equipment is reconfigured by deleting, from the directory service and the data store means, one or more existing tailored service software objects associated with network services being delivered to the removed end-user appliance.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more new tailored service software objects are executed on one or more of the following:

the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, or the at least one end-user appliance.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one instance of customer premise equipment and the directory service are provided with an interface to connect to each other.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the network services comprise broadband services.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the network services comprise on-demand video services.

24. A method for providing network services to at least one end-user appliance via at least one instance of customer premise equipment, the method comprising:

connecting the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to a directory service via a first communication link, wherein the directory service includes a plurality of software objects that include configuration data and programs used to provision customer premise equipments, where one or more of the plurality of software objects is related to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, the one or more of the plurality of software objects including at least one customer premise equipment object representing the at least one instance of customer premise equipment in the directory service;

provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment automatically for delivery of network services from the directory service to the at least one end-user appliance that is connected to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment via a second communication link, the provisioning including;

creating the at least one customer premise equipment object;

creating tailored service software objects at the directory service including service configuration and operating information associated with the network services to be delivered to the at least one end-user appliance via the at least one instance of customer premise equipment; and

downloading, from the directory service, the tailored service software objects to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment; and

enabling the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to initiate communication with the directory service to monitor for a change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service, said change being in response to a request for a change to the network services being delivered to the at least one end-user appliance, said change indicating an addition of a new network service, and wherein if a change regarding the addition of a new network service has occurred, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment automatically by downloading, from the directory service, one or more new tailored service software objects associated with the new network service to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, wherein the one or more new tailored service software objects are executed to deliver the new network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises retrieving an Internet Protocol address for the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to enable the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to connect to the directory service.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieving the Internet Protocol address comprises obtaining the Internet Protocol address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieving the Internet Protocol address comprises obtaining the Internet Protocol address directly from a local data store of the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieving the Internet Protocol address comprises applying Integrated Local Management Interface tools to transport the Internet Protocol address from the directory service to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieving the Internet Protocol address comprises applying Modem Management Interface tools to transport the Internet Protocol address from the directory service to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieving the Internet Protocol address comprises using a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol agent to retrieve the Internet Protocol address from the directory service.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises downloading executable code corresponding to the tailored service software objects from the directory service to the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the downloading the executable code corresponding to the tailored service software objects is executed according to predefined policies.

33. The method of claim 24, further comprising performing diagnostic testing of at least one of the following:

the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, the at least one end-user appliance, or the first and second communication links.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising automatically repairing any errors detected during the diagnostic testing.

35. The method of claim 24, further comprising monitoring a local data store for changes in the one or more plurality of software objects.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising synchronizing data between the directory service and the local data store.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more new tailored service software objects comprises application code executed on the at least one instance of customer premise equipment to deliver the new network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more tailored service software objects comprises application code executed on the at least one end-user appliance to deliver the new network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

39. The method of claim 24, wherein the change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service indicates removal of one or more existing network services from the directory service, wherein if the one or more existing network services have been removed, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment further includes deleting one or more tailored service software objects associated with the one or more removed network services from the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

40. The method of claim 24, wherein the change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects stored in the directory service indicates an update to one or more existing network services in the directory service, wherein if the one or more existing network services have been updated, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment further includes downloading, from the directory service, one or more updated tailored service software objects associated with the one or more updated network services to a local data store of the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, wherein the one or more updated tailored service software objects are executed to deliver the updated network service to the at least one end-user appliance.

41. The method of claim 24, wherein the change in the one or more of the plurality of software objects indicates an addition of a new end-user appliance;

or removal of an existing end-user appliance.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein if the change indicates that the new end-user appliance has been added, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment further includes, downloading, from the directory service, one or more new tailored service software objects associated with network services to be delivered to the new end-user appliance, to a local data store of the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein if the change indicates tha the existing end-user appliance has been removed, reconfiguring the at least one instance of customer premise equipment further includes deleting, from the directory service and a local data store at the at least one instance of customer premise equipment, one or more existing tailored service software objects associated with network services being delivered to the removed end-user appliance.

44. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises:

determining whether a customer premise equipment object representing the at least one instance of customer premise equipment exists in the directory service; and

creating the customer premise equipment object in response to determining that the customer premise equipment object does not exist in the directory service.

45. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises obtaining a global bootstrap object including a configuration agent from the directory service.

46. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise, equipment comprises:

identifying an appropriate region for the at least one instance of customer premise equipment; and

retrieving a regional policy object associated with the identified appropriate region from the directory service.

47. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises:

associating a hardware information object with the created customer premise equipment object, the hardware information object including hardware information associated with the at least one instance of customer premise equipment.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein creating the tailored service software objects further comprises:

adapting standard service objects at the directory service to a format specified in the hardware information object associated with the created customer premise equipment object.

49. The method of claim 24, wherein creating the at least one customer premise equipment object further comprises creating the at least one customer premise equipment object by at least one of:

an agent running on the at least one instance of customer premise equipment;

or an agent running on a server.

50. The method of claim 24, wherein provisioning the at least one instance of customer premise equipment comprises:

associating a customer object with the created customer premise equipment object, the customer object including customer information associated the network services that a customer has subscribed to.

51. The method of claim 24, wherein the network services comprise broadband services.

52. The method of claim 24, wherein the network services comprise on-demand video services.