Upstream receiver integrity assessment for modem registration

• US 9,137,164 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2012
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ARRIS Technology, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Thibeault, Brian K., Anton, Edward L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khanh C
• Application Number:
  US13/677,618
• Publication Number:
  US 20140133533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 375/220, 375/222, 375/257, 375/377, 370/217, 370/228
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering

Abstract

A method and computing device for assessing the integrity of receivers in a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) to improve load balancing. The method configures a load balancing manager to move registered modems between the receivers, where each receiver is tuned to a frequency. The method obtains a signal quality measurement for each receiver, and, for each receiver, evaluates the signal quality measurement, and identifies the receiver as an impaired receiver when the frequency to which the receiver is tuned is identified by the evaluating as an impaired frequency. The method attempts to repair each impaired receiver, and notifies the load balancing manager to not allow moving the registered modems to each impaired receiver that is not repairable, and to allow moving the registered modems to each receiver that transitions from impaired to unimpaired.

Claims

1. A method for assessing the integrity of receivers in a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) to improve load balancing, comprising:

configuring a load balancing manager to move registered modems between the receivers, each receiver tuned to a frequency;

obtaining a signal quality measurement for each receiver;

for each receiver, evaluating the signal quality measurement, and identifying the receiver as an impaired receiver when the frequency to which the receiver is tuned is identified by the evaluating as an impaired frequency;

attempting to repair each impaired receiver; and

notifying the load balancing manager to not allow moving the registered modems to each impaired receiver that is not repairable, and to allow moving the registered modems to each receiver that transitions from impaired to unimpaired.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the signal quality measurement further comprises:

starting a timer for the signal quality measurement;

requesting the signal quality measurement; and

obtaining the signal quality measurement when the timer expires.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal quality measurement is at least one of a Fast Fourier Transform measurement, and Receive Signal Strength Indicator measurement.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the evaluating of the signal quality measurement further comprises:

comparing the signal quality measurement to a benchmark measurement,

wherein when the signal quality measurement outperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the frequency is a clean frequency, and

wherein when the signal quality measurement underperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the frequency is an impaired frequency.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the attempting to repair each impaired receiver further comprises:

if at least one spare frequency is available;

obtaining a signal quality measurement for each spare frequency;

evaluating the signal quality measurement for each spare frequency to determine whether each spare frequency is clean; and

tuning each impaired receiver to a clean spare frequency when the clean spare frequency is available.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal quality measurement is at least one of a Modulation Error Ratio (MER) measurement, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) measurement, and Carrier-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) measurement.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the evaluating of the signal quality measurement further comprises:

comparing the signal quality measurement to a benchmark measurement,

wherein when the signal quality measurement outperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that a modulation type is clean, and

wherein when the signal quality measurement underperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the modulation type is impaired.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the attempting to repair each impaired receiver further comprises:

if at least one modulation type is available;

obtaining a signal quality measurement on the frequency for each impaired receiver;

evaluating the signal quality measurement for each modulation type to determine whether each modulation type is clean; and

configuring each impaired receiver to a clean modulation type that is best when the clean modulation type is available.

9. A computing device, comprising:

a communication interface to connect receivers in the computing device to a network of modems;

a memory device resident in the computing device; and

a processor disposed in communication with the communication interface and the memory device, the processor configured to;

configure a load balancing manager to move registered modems between the receivers, each receiver tuned to a frequency;

obtain a signal quality measurement for each receiver;

for each receiver, evaluate the signal quality measurement, and identify the receiver as an impaired receiver when the frequency to which the receiver is tuned is identified by the evaluating as an impaired frequency;

attempt to repair each impaired receiver; and

notify the load balancing manager to not allow moving the registered modems to each impaired receiver that is not repairable, and to allow moving the registered modems to each receiver that transitions from impaired to unimpaired.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein to obtain the signal quality measurement, the processor is further configured to:

start a timer for the signal quality measurement;

request the signal quality measurement; and

obtain the signal quality measurement when the timer expires.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the signal quality measurement is at least one of a Fast Fourier Transform measurement, and Receive Signal Strength Indicator measurement.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein to evaluate the signal quality measurement, the processor is further configured to:

compare the signal quality measurement to a benchmark measurement,

wherein when the signal quality measurement outperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the frequency is a clean frequency, and

wherein when the signal quality measurement underperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the frequency is an impaired frequency.

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein to attempt to repair each impaired receiver, the processor is further configured to:

if at least one spare frequency is available;

obtain a signal quality measurement for each spare frequency;

evaluate the signal quality measurement for each spare frequency to determine whether each spare frequency is clean; and

tune each impaired receiver to a clean spare frequency when the clean spare frequency is available.

14. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the signal quality measurement is at least one of a Modulation Error Ratio (MER) measurement, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) measurement, and Carrier-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) measurement.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein to evaluate the signal quality measurement, the processor is further configured to:

compare the signal quality measurement to a benchmark measurement,

wherein when the signal quality measurement outperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that a modulation type is clean, and

wherein when the signal quality measurement underperforms the benchmark measurement, a result of the evaluating indicates that the modulation type is impaired.

16. The computing device of claim 14, wherein to attempt to repair each impaired receiver, the processor is further configured to:

if at least one modulation type is available;

obtain a signal quality measurement on the frequency for each impaired receiver;

evaluate the signal quality measurement for each modulation type to determine whether each modulation type is clean; and

configure each impaired receiver to a clean modulation type that is best when the clean modulation type is available.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computing device, perform steps of:

configuring a load balancing manager to move registered modems between the receivers, each receiver tuned to a frequency;

obtaining a signal quality measurement for each receiver;

for each receiver, evaluating the signal quality measurement, and identifying the receiver as an impaired receiver when the frequency to which the receiver is tuned is identified by the evaluating as an impaired frequency;

attempting to repair each impaired receiver; and

notifying the load balancing manager to not allow moving the registered modems to each impaired receiver that is not repairable, and to allow moving the registered modems to each receiver that transitions from impaired to unimpaired.