Configuration management method and system for customer premises equipment

• US 8,326,953 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2006
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Jin, Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad
• Assistant Examiner(s): JENSEN, NICHOLAS A
• Application Number:
  US11/596,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20080010358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,413 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/220
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

The present invention relates to a technology for terminal equipment configuration management of a communication system, and embodiments of the present invention disclose a configuration management method and system for a customer premises equipment, which enable simpler interaction between a CS and CPEs in the case of batch configuration management on the CPEs. In the embodiments, a uniform file interaction interface is used, and a file server is provided as an intermediate for the interaction of configuration files; a uniform XML-based configuration template is used to embody therein configuration items common to the same type of CPEs, and personalized data of each CPE is further incorporated to generate a personalized configuration file for the CPE. Respective elements of the configuration file are also specified comprehensively. Furthermore, two methods for validation of the configuration are proposed respectively based upon the TR069 and the SNMP.

Claims

1. A configuration management method for a customer premises equipment, comprising the steps of:

a configuration server sending to the customer premises equipment a request message for download or upload of a configuration file through an interface for transmission of configuration files, wherein the request message includes parameters necessary for the download or upload of the configuration file;

the customer premises equipment responding to the request message according to the parameters therein by downloading a previously-generated configuration file from or uploading a local configuration file to the configuration server or a file server through the interface; and

upon completion of the download or upload, the customer premises equipment sending to the configuration server a response message including the result of the download or upload through the interface,

wherein in the case of the download of the configuration file by the customer premises equipment, the step of the configuration server sending to the customer premises equipment the request message for download or upload of the configuration file further comprises the steps of;

before sending the request message, the configuration server generating the configuration file for the customer premises equipment with incorporation of personalized data of the customer premises equipment and according to a configuration template; and

storing the configuration file in the configuration server or the file server,

wherein the configuration template is used to store an attribute common to the same type of customer premises equipment,

wherein the configuration file corresponds uniquely to the customer premises equipment, or corresponds to a plurality of customer premises equipment if the plurality of customer premises equipment have no personalized attribute,

wherein in the case of the download of the configuration file by the customer premises equipment, the step of the customer premises equipment sending to the configuration server the response message further comprises the steps of after downloading the configuration file, the customer premises equipment checking the configuration file, and if the check succeeds, the customer premises equipment performing parameter configuration according to a content of the configuration file, and reporting a configuration result to the configuration server, otherwise setting, in the response message to the configuration server, information of the failure of the check on the configuration file,

wherein the configuration file is compliant to a specification of eXtensible Markup Language, and comprises version information on the configuration file,

wherein (1) the configuration file has a unique name and corresponds to a customer premises equipment; and

/or (2) the configuration file is stored in a different directory on the file server according to the type thereof; and

/or (3) each configuration element in the configuration file includes an operation type attribute indicative of the type of an operation performed on the configuration element; and

/or (4) each table object in the configuration file has an attribute indicative of the number of line instances in the table,

wherein the parameters necessary for the download or upload comprise an address of the file server, a protocol type for the download or upload, an account number and a password for the download or upload, a path destined for the configuration file, and a name of the configuration file,

wherein in the step of the configuration server sending to the customer premises equipment the request message for download or upload of the configuration file, the configuration server sets an Management Information Base (MIB) table to inform the customer premises equipment of downloading the configuration file,

wherein in the step of the customer premises equipment responding to the request message, upon start of the download or upload of the configuration file, the customer premises equipment informs the configuration server with a corresponding message, and

wherein the step of the customer premises equipment sending to the configuration server the response message further comprises the steps of;

at the end of the download, the customer premises equipment informing the configuration server with a corresponding message; and

if the download succeeds, then the customer premises equipment reporting, with a corresponding TRAP message, to the configuration server the final configuration information including the version number of the current configuration file.

2. The configuration management method for the customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the operation type comprises modification, addition, or deletion.

3. The configuration management method for the customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein the method is implemented based upon a TR069 specification, wherein the configuration server invokes a corresponding function to inform the customer premises equipment of downloading the configuration file, and issues command information identifying the current operation, wherein the customer premises equipment responds to the configuration server, and wherein the step of the customer premises equipment sending to the configuration server the response message comprises the steps of:

at the end of the download, the customer premises equipment invoking a corresponding function to inform the configuration server, wherein the function includes the command information and an error code indicative of whether the download succeeds or not; and

when the downloaded file is checked with success and validated, the customer premises equipment invoking a corresponding function to report to the configuration server the final configuration information including the command information and the version number of the current configuration file.

4. The configuration management method for the customer premises equipment according to claim 3, further comprising the step of in the case that the connection between the customer premises equipment and the configuration server is broken, the customer premises equipment invoking a corresponding function to reestablish the connection, wherein the function includes the command information and the version number of the current configuration file.

5. The configuration management method for the customer premises equipment according to claim 4, wherein in the case that the customer premises equipment needs a restart for validation of a new configuration, the customer premises equipment is restarted after the step of the customer premises equipment invoking the corresponding function to inform the configuration server.

6. The configuration management method for the customer premises equipment according to claim 1, wherein in the case that the customer premises equipment needs a restart for validation of a new configuration, the customer premises equipment is restarted after the step of the customer premises equipment informing the configuration server with the corresponding message.

7. A configuration management system for a customer premises equipment, comprising:

a configuration server; and

a customer premises equipment,

wherein the configuration server is adapted to send to the customer premises equipment a request message for download or upload of a configuration file through an interface for transmission of configuration files, wherein the request message includes parameters necessary for the download or upload of the configuration file;

the customer premises equipment is adapted to respond to the request message according to the parameters therein by downloading a previously-generated configuration file from or uploading a local configuration file to the configuration server or a file server through the interface, and upon completion of the download or upload, to send to the configuration server a response message including the result of the download or upload through the interface,

wherein in the case of the download of the configuration file by the customer premises equipment,

before sending the request message, the configuration server generates the configuration file for the customer premises equipment with incorporation of personalized data of the customer premises equipment and according to a configuration template; and

store the configuration file in the configuration server or the file server, wherein the configuration template is used to store an attribute common to the same type of customer premises equipment, and

wherein the configuration file corresponds uniquely to the customer premises equipment, or corresponds to a plurality of customer premises equipment if the plurality of customer premises equipment have no personalized attribute,

wherein after downloading the configuration file, the customer premises equipment checks the configuration file, and if the check succeeds, the customer premises equipment performs parameter configuration according to a content of the configuration file, and reports a configuration result to the configuration server, otherwise sets, in the response message to the configuration server, information of the failure of the check on the configuration file,

wherein the configuration file is compliant to a specification of eXtensible Markup Language, and comprises version information on the configuration file,

wherein (1) the configuration file has a unique name and corresponds to a customer premises equipment; and

/or (2) the configuration file is stored in a different directory on the file server according to the type thereof; and

/or (3) each configuration element in the configuration file includes an operation type attribute indicative of the type of an operation performed on the configuration element; and

/or (4) each table object in the configuration file has an attribute indicative of the number of line instances in the table,

wherein the parameters necessary for the download or upload comprise an address of the file server, a protocol type for the download or upload, an account number and a password for the download or upload, a path destined for the configuration file, and a name of the configuration file,

wherein in the step of the configuration server sending to the customer premises equipment the request message for download or upload of the configuration file, the configuration server sets an Management Information Base (MIB) table to inform the customer premises equipment of downloading the configuration file,

wherein in the step of the customer premises equipment responding to the request message, upon start of the download or upload of the configuration file, the customer premises equipment informs the configuration server with a corresponding message, and

wherein the step of the customer premises equipment sending to the configuration server the response message further comprises the steps of;

at the end of the download, the customer premises equipment informing the configuration server with a corresponding message; and

if the download succeeds, then the customer premises equipment reporting, with a corresponding TRAP message, to the configuration server the final configuration information including the version number of the current configuration file.