Authorizing customer premise equipment into a network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer implemented authorization method, comprising:
- providing a public network membership key associated with a network;
receiving a connection request encrypted using the public network membership key from a device;
permitting limited access to the network from the device based on the connection request being encrypted using the public network membership key, wherein the limited access comprises limiting content accessible by a user associated with the device, wherein the content accessible by the user comprises a registration site used to exchange registration information;
receiving, during a device registration process, registration information from the user associated with the device, wherein the registration information comprises payment information and service level information, wherein the service level information indicates at least one of a plurality of types of service to be provided to the device; and
providing a unique network membership key based on receipt of the registration information.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for authorizing customer premise equipment into a network. A publicly available network membership key can be provided to enable initial connection to the network. Unique network membership keys associated with various customer premise equipment can be provided to enable service level access to the network and/or authorization into a sub-cell associated with the network.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A computer implemented authorization method, comprising:
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providing a public network membership key associated with a network; receiving a connection request encrypted using the public network membership key from a device; permitting limited access to the network from the device based on the connection request being encrypted using the public network membership key, wherein the limited access comprises limiting content accessible by a user associated with the device, wherein the content accessible by the user comprises a registration site used to exchange registration information; receiving, during a device registration process, registration information from the user associated with the device, wherein the registration information comprises payment information and service level information, wherein the service level information indicates at least one of a plurality of types of service to be provided to the device; and providing a unique network membership key based on receipt of the registration information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An authorization system comprising:
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a network termination unit operable to receive a network connection request from a customer premise equipment device, the network termination unit being operable to provide limited access to the customer premise equipment device based upon the network connection request being encrypted using a public network membership key, wherein the limited access comprises limiting content accessible by a user associated with the customer premise equipment device, wherein the content accessible by the user comprises a registration site used to exchange registration information; a registration system operable to exchange registration information with the user associated with the customer premise equipment device, wherein the registration information comprises payment information associated with the user of the customer premise equipment device and service level information, wherein the service level information indicates at least one of a plurality of types of service to be provided to the customer premise equipment device; an authorization server operable provide a unique network membership key based upon receipt of customer registration information and to instruct the network termination unit and an associated headend station to provide limited access to the network based upon the public network membership key and to provide a service level access based upon the unique network membership key and a unique identifier associated with the customer premise equipment device. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An authorization method comprising:
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receiving a first connection request encrypted using a public network membership key from a device, the first connection request comprising a unique identifier associated with the device; determining that the device is authorized for service level access based upon the unique identifier based, at least in part, on registration information received from a user associated with the device, wherein the registration information comprises payment information and service level information, wherein the service level information indicates at least one of a plurality of types of service to be provided to the device; retrieving a device access key associated with the unique identifier; providing a unique network membership key encrypted using the retrieved device access key; receiving, from the device, a second connection request encrypted using the unique network membership key, the second connection request comprising the unique identifier associated with the device; determining whether the unique identifier received in the second connection request from the device matches a known unique identifier; providing the service level access to the device based on determining that the unique identifier received in the second connection request from the device matches a known unique identifier and based upon the unique network membership key received in the second connection request. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:
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providing a public network membership key associated with a network; receiving a connection request encrypted using the public network membership key from a device; permitting limited access to the network from the device based on the connection request being encrypted using the public network membership key, wherein the limited access comprises limiting content accessible by a user, wherein the content accessible by the user comprises a registration site used to exchange registration information; receiving, during a device registration process, registration information from the user associated with the device, wherein the registration information comprises payment information and service level information, wherein the service level information indicates at least one of a plurality of types of service to be provided to the device; and providing a unique network membership key based on receipt of the registration information. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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Specification