Providing state information and remote command execution in a managed media device

• US 8,601,115 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2010
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pope, Nick George, Grevers, Theodore R. Jr., Davis, Brian Alan, Maloney, Christopher Adam
• Primary Examiner(s): Duong, Oanh
• Application Number:
  US12/824,173
• Publication Number:
  US 20110320585A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,256 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709223-225, 726/2, 726/5, 726/6
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3086 where the reporting involves the use of self describing data formats, i.e. metadata, markup languages, human readable formats

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing state information and remote command execution using Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) or any other protocol that provides for authentication, presence and messaging. A device may exist within a managed or unmanaged network and sign on to a managed network and provide presence information augmented with state information to provide near real-time state information to the managed network. The network may also discover remote command support in endpoint devices to command and control the devices remotely, while traversing unmanaged networks and components.

Claims

1. A method of providing near real-time state information to a network component, comprising:

monitoring state information in a digital media device, the state information including initial state information and subsequent state information, wherein the digital media device is connected to a network through an unmanaged network component;

authenticating the digital media device;

ascertaining the state information of the digital media device;

communicating initial presence information augmented with the initial state information in an initial message as part of an authentication process; and

communicating subsequent presence information augmented with the subsequent state information in a subsequent message in response to a change in presence information, wherein the initial and subsequent presence and state information are sent over the network using an Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) extension.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the presence information and state information in an XML stanza.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising taking corrective actions in near real-time based on the state information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising remotely commanding the digital media device to perform an action.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the state information is published to a node and wherein the state information is provided to a subscriber.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the subscriber is a network diagnostic component.

7. A method of providing diagnostics and troubleshooting to a managed digital media device, comprising:

authenticating the managed digital media device, wherein the managed digital media device is connected to a network through an unmanaged network component;

communicating presence information augmented with state information of the managed digital media device in a message in response to a change in presence information;

ascertaining if a condition exists in the managed digital media device;

sending a discovery request to the managed digital media device;

discovering commands supported by the managed digital media device;

sending a remote command to the managed digital media device for execution, wherein the remote command is sent over the network using an Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) extension; and

receiving a status message and results from the managed digital media device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the state information of the managed digital media device is communicated in near real-time by the managed digital media device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the state information is provided to a node and wherein the state information is published to a subscriber that includes a diagnostic component.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the unmanaged network component is one of a NAT device, a Firewall, a router and a gateway.