Wireless Extension of Broadband Access

• US 20120051341A1
• Filed: 08/31/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Urban, David, Ong, Ivan, Lowery, Clifton
• Granted Patent: US 9,794,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/251 between different IP versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/004 in the uplink, i.e. towards network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

Wireless extension of a wired network through the use of strand-mounted access nodes. In some aspects, private network addresses may be assigned to wireless devices, and corresponding data traffic may be routed to a centralized management/provisioning platform for further network access.

Claims

1. A network access method, comprising:

receiving, at a wireless network provisioning server and via a secure tunnel from a first strand-mounted wireless access node, a request for a user device to access a wireless network of the first strand-mounted wireless access node;

assigning, by the wireless network provisioning server, a private Internet Protocol (IP) address to the requesting user device;

using the private IP address for communications between the wireless network provisioning server and the user device; and

converting the private IP address into a public IP address for communications between the user device and devices on an external public network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a centralized wireless management platform to process all messages between a consumer device and a device on the external public network, and to convert between public and private IP addresses for the consumer device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using separate access and mesh radios of the first strand-mounted wireless access node for wireless communications, wherein the access radio is used to communicate with connecting consumer devices, and the mesh radio is used to communicate with one or more secondary wireless mesh access nodes.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

using the one or more secondary wireless mesh access nodes to grant wireless network access to consumer devices; and

using a wireless mesh backhaul connection to communicate data from the secondary node consumer devices to the first node.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

using a higher bandwidth wireless protocol for the mesh radios than for the access radios.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the first strand-mounted wireless access node to broadcast multiple different wireless network identifiers, and to support multiple virtual wireless networks.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

assigning, by the first strand-mounted wireless access nodes, different tunnel identifiers to traffic from different consumer devices based on the virtual wireless network to which the devices are connected.

8. A modem, comprising:

a wired modem interface, configured to communicatively connect to a wired communication network;

a backhaul radio, configured to use a wireless protocol to communicate with one or more secondary wireless access nodes; and

an access radio, configured to use an access wireless protocol to communicate with one or more consumer devices.

9. The modem of claim 8, further configured to receive backhaul radio traffic from a secondary wireless access node, and to place the traffic on a wired secure tunnel in the wired communication network.

10. The modem of claim 8, wherein the access radio is configured to broadcast a plurality of wireless network identifiers corresponding to a plurality of logically distinct wireless networks.

11. The modem of claim 8, wherein the backhaul radio is configured to use a higher bandwidth protocol than the access radio.

12. The modem of claim 8, wherein the backhaul radio is a point-to-point wireless radio, and the access radio is a point-to-multipoint wireless network access radio.

13. A system, comprising a plurality of modems from claim 8, wherein a first one of the modems is configured to use its backhaul radio as a backhaul connection to carry traffic for a backhaul radio of a second one of the modems.

14. A system, comprising:

a provisioning server communicatively coupled to a communication network, the server configured to;

establish a tunnel link with a wireless access node coupled to a line of the communication network;

maintain a private pool of network addresses;

assign a private network address to a wireless device connected to a wireless network of the wireless access node; and

convert between the private address and a public network address for communications involving the wireless device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is configured to process all communications between the wireless device and a second device on the public network.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the wireless access node is a strand-mounted wireless access node, wherein the node further includes a wired modem connected to a line of the communication network.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the node further comprises a backhaul radio and an access radio.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the node is configured to use the access radio to establish wireless connections with consumer devices, and use the backhaul radio as a backhaul to communicate with mesh radios of one or more additional network nodes.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more additional network nodes further includes a backhaul radio and an access radio, and is configured to use the backhaul radio to send data traffic from its access radio to the strand-mounted wireless access node'"'"'s corresponding backhaul radio.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the backhaul radios of the node and the one or more additional network nodes are mesh radios configured to use a common wireless network identifier.