System and method for providing network support services and premises gateway support infrastructure

• US 10,728,051 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2018
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KIP Prod PI LP (Kip Prod P1 LP)
• Original Assignee: KIP Prod PI LP (Kip Prod P1 LP)
• Inventors: Ansari, Amir, Cowgill, George A., Nicholls, Leon E., Ramayya, Jude P., Masina, Ramprakash, McQuarters, Alvin R., Raissyan, Atousa
• Primary Examiner(s): Hartman, Jr., Ronald D
• Application Number:
  US16/124,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20190020496A1
• Time in Patent Office: 690 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/64 Browsing; Visualisation therefor generation of a list or set of audio data G06F16/638
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/80 : Actions related to the user profile or the type of traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 : based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 : Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4552 : Lookup mechanisms between a plurality of directories; Synchronisation of directories, e.g. metadirectories
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 : for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/102 : Gateways arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways, H04L12/66
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 : Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1108 : Web based protocols, e.g. webRTC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 : Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 : using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/325 : in the network layer [OSI layer 3], e.g. X.25 H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/00 : Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] real-time bi-directional transmission of motion video data H04N7/14 ; broadcast or conference over packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/40 : Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 : of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/0431 : Key distribution or pre-distribution; Key agreement
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 : Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 : Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/911 : Bridge, e.g. brouter, bus extender

Abstract

A service management system communicates via wide area network with gateway devices located at respective user premises. The service management system remotely manages delivery of application services, which can be voice controlled, by a gateway, e.g. by selectively activating/deactivating service logic modules in the gateway. The service management system also may selectively provide secure communications and exchange of information among gateway devices and among associated endpoint devices. An exemplary service management system includes a router connected to the network and one or more computer platforms, for implementing management functions. Examples of the functions include a connection manager for controlling system communications with the gateway devices, an authentication manager for authenticating each gateway device and controlling the connection manager and a subscription manager for managing applications services and/or features offered by the gateway devices. A service manager, controlled by the subscription manager, distributes service specific configuration data to authenticated gateway devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus for operation at a location, the apparatus comprising:

one or more network interfaces that provide;

bi-directional communications between the apparatus and one or more endpoint devices at the location; and

bi-directional communications, via a wide area network, between the apparatus and a computing system located external to the location;

one or more processors coupled to the one or more network interfaces; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors, storing programming, wherein execution of the programming by the one or more processors causes the apparatus to provide;

(1) administrative commands for one or more of;

authorization operations, authentication operations, or implementing configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

(2) measurement based on information from a first of the endpoint devices, wherein the measurement is associated with one or more of the endpoint devices and is related to facility management of the user area; and

(3) control commands to at least one of the endpoint devices, other than the first endpoint device, wherein the control commands maintain the measurement related to the facility management of the user area, and the control commands are provided in a manner to prevent negatively impacting concurrently provided services.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more network interfaces provide communication based on a first communication protocol and a second communication protocol, wherein the first communication protocol enables the bi-directional communications between the apparatus and the one or more endpoint devices at the location, and wherein the second communication protocol enables the bi-directional communications, via the wide area network, between the apparatus and the computing system located external to the location.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second communication protocol enables communications via the wide area network through a local wireless network that is connected to the wide area network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the programming by the one or more processors further causes the apparatus to provide management of video cameras and associated video data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the programming by the one or more processors further causes the apparatus to provide management of sensors.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the programming by the one or more processors further causes the apparatus to provide management of medical devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus uses the bi-directional communications with the one or more endpoint devices and the bi-directional communications between the apparatus and the computing system to provide a communication channel between the one or more endpoint devices and the computing system.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the programming by the one or more processors causes the apparatus to establish configuration settings, provided from a remote client, on at least one of the one or more endpoint devices.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement is a measurement of application specific resources that comprise one or more of:

CPU operation,

storage space,

network bandwidth, or

any combination thereof.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bi-directional communications between the apparatus and the one or more endpoint devices is performed using an X10, Z-Wave, or ZigBee protocol.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is programmed to automate of the one or more endpoint devices that include one or more of:

a sensor device;

an automatic window;

window blinds;

lighting or a lamp unit;

a digital picture frame;

a web cam;

or

any combination thereof.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the administration is based, at least in part, on a resource allocation instruction from the remotely located computing system.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the execution of the programming by the one or more processors further causes the apparatus to provide a home security service at the location.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement related to the facility management of the user area is a measurement received from a sensor in the user area used to control another endpoint device for management of facility conditions.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the manner the control commands are provided to prevent negatively impacting concurrently provided services includes:

monitoring resources related to the control commands; and

in response to the resource monitoring, applying settings for the control commands to prevent the negative impact on the concurrently provided services.

16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

providing communication via one or more network interfaces configured for;

bi-directional communication, within an area, between the computing system and the one or more endpoint devices; and

bi-directional communication, via a wide area network, between the computing system and a remotely located system external to the area; and

interacting with the one or more endpoint devices to provide;

(1) administration of one or more of;

authorization operations, authentication operations, or configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

(2) measurement based on one or more communications with a first of the endpoint devices; and

(3) management of at least one of the endpoint devices, other than the first endpoint device, based on the measurement, wherein the management is provided in a manner for maintaining at least a particular level of service by one or more concurrently provided home automation services.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the interacting with the one or more endpoint devices further comprises automation or control of networked home devices including at least one of:

a sensor device;

an automatic window;

window blinds;

lighting or a lamp unit;

a digital picture frame;

a web cam;

or

any combination thereof.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the interacting with the one or more endpoint devices further comprises one or more of:

managing a home security device at the area;

managing a video camera and associated video data captured within the area;

managing a medical device at the area;

or

any combination thereof.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the interacting with the one or more endpoint devices further comprises management of at least one sensor.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the administration comprises managing configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more network interfaces communicate via one or more of an X10 protocol, Z-Wave protocol, or ZigBee protocol.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the manner the management is provided for maintaining the a particular level of service includes:

monitoring resources; and

in response to the resource monitoring, applying settings, for the at least one of the endpoint devices, that maintains the particular level of service.

23. A method for controlling operation of one or more endpoint devices at a user area, the method comprising:

establishing bi-directional communication, via a local network, between an automation device and the one or more endpoint devices at the user area;

establishing bi-directional communication, via a wide area network, between the automation device and a client located external to the user area;

administrating, via the automation device, one or more of;

authorization operations, authentication operations, or configuration settings of the one or more endpoint devices;

obtaining a measurement based on communications with a first of the endpoint devices that includes a sensor, wherein the measurement is related to one or more of the endpoint devices and facility management of the user area; and

controlling commands for at least one of the endpoint devices, other than the first endpoint device, wherein the control commands maintain the measurement related to the facility management of the user area, and the control commands are provided in a manner to prevent negative impact on concurrently provided services.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising using at least one mesh protocol to communicate with the one or more endpoint devices.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising managing, via the automation device, the one or more endpoint devices using a mesh protocol.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the mesh protocol is X10, Z wave, or ZigBee.

27. A method comprising:

enabling first communication, within a user premises, with one or more of the endpoint devices, wherein the first communications use a first wireless communication protocol;

enabling second communications, for the one or more endpoint devices, with a remotely located system external to the user premises;

receiving a sensor measurement from a first of the one or more endpoint devices;

managing one or more of the endpoint devices, in response to the sensor measurement, by controlling at least one of the endpoint devices, other than the first endpoint device, wherein the control maintains the sensor measurement and the control is provided in a manner to prevent negatively impacting concurrently provided services; and

in responsive to one or more communications with the remotely located system, managing interaction and interoperability of at least one of;

user interface logic, application service logic, services framework logic, platform management logic, or any combination thereof.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein communicating with the one or more endpoint devices is based on X10, Z-Wave, or ZigBee communications.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein managing one or more of the endpoint devices includes managing one or more sensors located at the user premises.