U.S. patent application number 12/094455 was filed with the patent office on 2009-05-14 for method of upgrading a platform in a subscriber gateway device.
Invention is credited to Pak Siripunkaw, Emery J. Weber.
Application Number | 20090125958 12/094455 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38066755 |
Filed Date | 2009-05-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090125958 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Siripunkaw; Pak ; et
al. |
May 14, 2009 |
METHOD OF UPGRADING A PLATFORM IN A SUBSCRIBER GATEWAY DEVICE
Abstract
A method of upgrading a platform in a subscriber gateway device
involves remote management. The platform includes an operating
system, a management agent, and a management information object.
The management agent responds to remote management requests
received by the subscriber gateway device. The management
information object indicates a service interruption impact
assessment of a subscriber gateway device as determined by a
current status of the subscriber gateway device. According to the
method, a request is sent to the management agent, and in response
to the request, a value of the management information object is
returned. Based upon the response, it is determined whether or not
to initiate a platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway
device.
Inventors: |
Siripunkaw; Pak;
(Sicklerville, NJ) ; Weber; Emery J.; (Denver,
CO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BROOKS KUSHMAN P.C.
1000 TOWN CENTER, TWENTY-SECOND FLOOR
SOUTHFIELD
MI
48075
US
|
Family ID: |
38066755 |
Appl. No.: |
12/094455 |
Filed: |
November 22, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
November 22, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US06/45184 |
371 Date: |
October 30, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60739472 |
Nov 23, 2005 |
|
|
|
60791803 |
Apr 13, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/111 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 12/2801 20130101;
H04N 21/42676 20130101; H04L 41/046 20130101; H04L 41/0843
20130101; H04N 21/42684 20130101; H04L 61/2015 20130101; H04L
29/12009 20130101; H04N 21/4432 20130101; H04N 21/6118 20130101;
H04L 41/0806 20130101; H04N 7/17309 20130101; H04L 61/00 20130101;
H04L 41/082 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/111 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/173 20060101
H04N007/173 |
Claims
1. A method of upgrading a platform in a subscriber gateway device
for connecting to a provider network, wherein a cable modem
termination system is connected to the provider network, the
subscriber gateway device including an embedded cable modem
connected to the cable modem termination system and an embedded
set-top box connected to the cable modem, wherein upon connection
of the cable modem to the cable modem termination system, the cable
modem is provided with a network address, the platform including an
operating system for allowing application software to execute on
the subscriber gateway device, the platform further including a
management agent and a management information object, the
management agent responding to remote management requests received
by the subscriber gateway device, the management information object
indicating a service interruption impact assessment of the
subscriber gateway device as determined by a current status of the
subscriber gateway device, the method comprising: sending a request
to the management agent from a remote location; in response to the
request, returning a value of the management information object,
wherein the management information object value indicates the
service interruption impact assessment of the subscriber gateway
device as determined by the current status of the subscriber
gateway device; and determining whether or not to initiate a
platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway device based upon the
response.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the service interruption impact
assessment is selecting from a group comprising: significant
impact, and no impact.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: initiating the
platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway device when the
management information object value indicates a service
interruption impact assessment of no impact.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: deferring the
initiation of the platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway
device when the management information object value indicates a
service interruption impact assessment of significant impact.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that less than 2.5 hours have passed since
a last infrared input to the subscriber gateway device.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that less than 2.5 hours have passed since
a last tuner change for the subscriber gateway device.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that a video on demand session is in
progress at the subscriber gateway device.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that a program is being recorded at the
subscriber gateway device.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that a television connected to the
subscriber gateway device is turned on.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that content is being passed out of the
subscriber gateway device to a client device.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that a software download is currently in
progress.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising: initiating the
platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway device, wherein the
platform is implemented as a monolithic platform image.
13. The method of claim 1 further comprising: initiating the
platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway device by sending a
platform upgrade request to the management agent from a remote
location to cause the subscriber gateway device to retrieve the
platform upgrade from a network server.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising: rebooting the
subscriber gateway device to execute the upgraded platform.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the management information object
value indicates a service interruption impact assessment of
significant impact when the current status of the subscriber
gateway device indicates that an application is executing on the
subscriber gateway device.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional
application Ser. No. 60/739,472, filed on Nov. 23, 2005, which is
hereby incorporated by reference. This application claims the
benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/791,803, filed
on Apr. 13, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to a subscriber gateway device
including an embedded cable modem and an embedded set-top box. The
invention further relates to a method of upgrading a platform in a
subscriber gateway device, the platform including an operating
system for allowing application software to execute on the
subscriber gateway device.
[0004] 2. Background Art
[0005] The modern hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network in its typical
implementation includes fiber from the head end to the local
network fiber node, and includes coax cable for the final signal
distribution through a neighborhood. Modern two-way HFC
infrastructures are capable of sending gigabytes of data per second
to small pockets of homes in a narrowcast way.
[0006] Product and service offerings over broadband networks,
including cable networks, have expanded in recent years. The cable
networks are now used for additional products and services, for
example, many cable networks now offer high speed data service in
addition to video programming. In the modern HFC network, head end
infrastructure may include a cable modem termination system (CMTS)
for providing data over cable services in addition to video
quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) infrastructure for providing
video content. The video QAMs may connect to various content
sources, while the CMTS connects subscribers to the provider
network. The provider network may include a variety of
infrastructure for providing various services. For example, the
provider network may include Domain Name System (DNS) servers,
dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) servers, voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) gateways and soft switches for connecting
to phone networks, among other systems for providing services to
subscribers. Further, advances in network technology allow some
functionality to be provided from locations upstream or downstream
of the traditional head end.
[0007] At a subscriber location, a cable modem and a customer
premise equipment device such as a set-top box communicate with the
head end over the HFC network. Traditionally, the cable modem
utilizes known initializing and provisioning techniques to obtain a
network address and establish a connection to the provider network.
For example, the data-over-cable service interface specifications
(DOCSIS) specify various protocols for managing the connection of a
cable modem to a CMTS. In a traditional application, the cable
modem can obtain an IP address in a known manner, and customer
premise equipment connected to the HFC network through the cable
modem may obtain an IP address, for example, by utilizing DHCP.
[0008] In an existing method of initializing the cable modem, the
cable modem connection to the CMTS is initialized, the cable modem
is provided with a network address, and the cable modem receives a
cable modem configuration file from a network server. The
configuration file contains service provisioning information. In
order to configure services, the cable modem passes certain
contents of the configuration file to the CMTS, and the CMTS passes
certain identifiers back to the cable modem.
[0009] An existing subscriber gateway device for use at a
subscriber location includes an embedded cable modem and an
embedded set-top box connected to the cable modem. The subscriber
gateway device includes hardware, and a firmware platform. The
firmware platform includes an operating system, drivers, and an
applications programming interface (API). The platform implements
the cable modem and set-top box functions. Application software
running on the subscriber gateway device may provide, for example,
an electronic programming guide, a video-on-demand client, and a
digital video recorder. When the subscriber gateway devices are
distributed among subscriber locations, it sometimes becomes
necessary to upgrade the firmware platform.
[0010] One existing approach to upgrading the firmware platform is
to force the upgrade during cable modem initialization. However, in
this approach, the firmware platform upgrade will only be received
the next time the cable modem is initialized. In another approach
to upgrading the firmware platform, the upgrade may be forced on or
pushed to a subscriber gateway device. In this approach, the
firmware platform upgrade may be triggered at the convenience of
the service provider. When this approach is taken, the service
provider may attempt to upgrade the firmware platform during the
night or at some other time that it is expected that the subscriber
is not presently demanding services. However, in the event that the
subscriber is using services at the time the upgrade is forced, the
forced upgrade will interrupt the active services. For these
reasons, there is a need for an improved approach to upgrading a
platform in a subscriber gateway device.
[0011] Modern switched network implementations, in some
applications, do include a network management system. Existing
network management techniques allow the managing of network
elements to, for example, monitor and manage resources. For
example, simple network management protocol (SNMP) is a common
method used by network management applications to query a
management agent with a supported management information base (MIB)
object. A MIB object may represent a hardware or software
component, and indicates some information about the component.
Although network management systems are known, their use has been
limited to certain applications involving the monitoring and
managing of network resources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In accordance with the invention, a method of upgrading a
platform in a subscriber gateway device is provided. The subscriber
gateway device connects to a provider network. A cable modem
termination system (CMTS) is connected to the provider network. The
subscriber gateway device includes an embedded cable modem
connected to the CMTS, and includes an embedded set-top box
connected to the cable modem. Upon connection of the cable modem to
the CMTS, the cable modem is provided with a network address.
[0013] The platform includes an operating system for allowing
application software to execute on the subscriber gateway device.
The platform further includes a management agent and a management
information object. The management agent responds to remote
management requests received by the subscriber gateway device. The
management information object indicates a service interruption
impact assessment of the subscriber gateway device as determined by
a current status of the subscriber gateway device.
[0014] According to the invention, a method of upgrading the
platform in the subscriber gateway device comprises sending a
request to the management agent from a remote location. In response
to the request, a value is returned. The returned value is the
value of the management information object. The management
information object value indicates the service interruption impact
assessment of the subscriber gateway device as determined by the
current status of the subscriber gateway device. The method further
comprises determining whether or not to initiate a platform upgrade
for the subscriber gateway device based upon the response.
[0015] In this way, when determining whether or not to initiate a
platform upgrade, the service interruption impact can be
considered. That is, if the platform upgrade would have significant
impact on current active services, the platform upgrade may be
deferred until a later time. On the other hand, if the assessment
indicates that there will be no impact on active services by
performing the upgrade, the platform upgrade can proceed. Of
course, in certain circumstances, depending on the reason for the
platform upgrade, it may be desirable to initiate the platform
upgrade even when the impact on active services is significant.
According to the invention, service interruption impact is
considered to allow an informed decision to be made as to whether
or not to initiate the platform upgrade at the present time. That
is, the invention provides an improved approach to upgrading the
platform by utilizing network management techniques.
[0016] At the more detailed level, the service interruption impact
assessment of the subscriber gateway device is determined by the
current status of the subscriber gateway device. In the preferred
embodiment, the assessment is selected from a group comprising:
"significant impact" and "no impact." Further, in the preferred
embodiment, the assessment will be "significant impact" when: less
than 2.5 hours have passed since a last infrared input to the
subscriber gateway device, less than 2.5 hours have passed since a
last tuner change for the subscriber gateway device, a video on
demand session is in progress at the subscriber gateway device, a
program is being recorded at the subscriber gateway device, a
television connected to the subscriber gateway device is turned on
(if detectable), or content is being passed out of the subscriber
gateway device to a client device. Of course, these active services
are exemplary, and other active services could cause the assessment
to be "significant impact" as opposed to "no impact." In a further
example, the assessment will indicate significant impact when a
software download is currently in progress. In another example, an
application executing on the subscriber gateway device may cause
the assessment to be "significant impact."
[0017] When the platform upgrade is conducted, the preferred
approach involves initiating the platform upgrade for the
subscriber gateway device by sending a platform upgrade request to
the management agent from a remote location to cause the subscriber
gateway device to retrieve the platform upgrade from a network
server. For example, a trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) server
may serve platform images. Preferably, the platform is implemented
as a monolithic platform image. The subscriber gateway device
downloads the platform upgrade, and the new platform is written to
non-volatile storage. The subscriber gateway device then reboots,
and executes the upgraded platform.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates a network diagram in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates a subscriber gateway device, showing the
hardware, firmware platform, and software applications;
[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates initializing, provisioning, and managing
a cable modem and a customer premise equipment device in the
preferred embodiment of the invention; and
[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates upgrading the platform in the subscriber
gateway device in the preferred embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0022] In FIG. 1, the hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network 10 provides
service to a plurality of subscribers. Each subscriber has a
subscriber gateway 12. The subscriber gateway 12 is in the form of
a next-generation set-top box and includes an embedded cable modem
14 and an embedded set-top box 16. The head end equipment includes
cable modem termination system (CMTS) 20 and a plurality of video
quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) systems 22. Connector 18
illustrates the distribution of content from video QAMs 22 and data
over cable from CMTS 20 over HFC network 10. In general, the HFC
forward path spectrum includes a plurality of channels. Video QAMs
22 provide programming on the channels. Some channels are reserved
for data over cable connections provided by CMTS 20. Video QAMs 22
receive content from any number of sources such as content sources
24.
[0023] It is appreciated that the architecture for the head end may
vary. In FIG. 1, CMTS 20 connects to the provider Internet protocol
(IP) network 30. Various services are provided to the subscribers;
IP network 30 includes the appropriate infrastructure for the
needed services. As shown, the network may include Domain Name
System (DNS) server 32, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)
server 34, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) gateway 36 and
soft switch 38 for connecting to a telephone network 40. The
various servers may be located at the head end, or may be located
at other locations connected to the provider network 30. Also,
illustrated is trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) server 64
which serves the configuration files and platform image
upgrades.
[0024] With reference to FIG. 2, the subscriber gateway 12 is
depicted in further detail, showing the hardware and software
layers at 70. More specifically, subscriber gateway 12 includes
hardware layer 76, platform layer 74, and applications layer 72.
Hardware layer 76 includes all needed hardware to implement the
embedded cable modem and set-top box. Platform layer 74 includes
the operating system, drivers, and applications programming
interface (API). Platform layer 74, or platform 74, is implemented
in firmware. Platform 74 further includes a management agent in the
form of a simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent and
associated management information base (MIB) objects. The firmware
platform 74 implements the cable modem and set-top box functions
for use by the upper, applications layer. The applications may
include, for example, an electronic programming guide (EPG), video
on demand client, and digital video recorder. In FIG. 1, the SNMP
agent is depicted at 50 and the cable modem MIB object is depicted
at 52; a remote firmware management system is depicted at 54.
[0025] With reference to FIGS. 1-3, a preferred embodiment of
initializing, provisioning, and managing a cable modem and a
customer premise equipment device is illustrated. The customer
premise equipment device is depicted as an embedded set-top box
16.
[0026] At block 80, the cable modem connection to the CMTS 20 is
initialized. At block 82, the cable modem 14 is provided with a
network address. In more detail, the cable modem 14 is initialized
and provisioned using a suitable technique such as known DOCSIS
techniques. At block 84, the cable modem 14 receives the cable
modem configuration file, for example, from trivial file transfer
protocol (TFTP) server 64.
[0027] After the cable modem 14 receives the cable modem
configuration file, services are configured at block 86. At this
point, the cable modem 14 has completed initialization, and is a
manageable network element in the operator's IP network. Generally,
the initializing and provisioning may take place according to
DOCSIS standards or any other suitable approach.
[0028] At block 88, the management agent 50 of the subscriber
gateway device 12 receives a request from the remote firmware
management system 54. The purpose of the request is to assess the
service interruption impact of the subscriber gateway device 12. As
shown at block 90, the MIB object value is returned in response to
the request, indicating the service interruption impact assessment
of the subscriber gateway device 12.
[0029] In accordance with the invention, it is determined whether
or not to initiate a platform upgrade for the subscriber gateway
device 12 based upon the response to the request. The service
interruption impact assessment may indicate, for example,
"significant impact" or "no impact." That is, "significant impact"
means that upgrading the firmware platform 74 at this time for the
subscriber gateway device would have a significant impact on
currently active services, and in particular, that currently active
services would be interrupted by the forced reboot of the
subscriber gateway device 12 required to complete the firmware
upgrade. Depending on the situation, it may be desirable to hold
off on the firmware platform upgrade so as to avoid interrupting
the subscriber. On the other hand, in some situations, it may be
desirable to force the upgrade anyway.
[0030] An advantage of embodiments of the invention is that it is
possible to obtain a service interruption impact assessment of the
subscriber gateway device 12 and then based on the assessment,
determine whether or not to initiate a platform upgrade for the
subscriber gateway device 12. In the past, a provider would resort
to forcing upgrades at night or some other time where, hopefully,
the subscriber would not be interrupted. By utilizing the
management agent 50 and management information object 54, the
invention provides a way to assess the service interruption impact,
and then make an informed decision as to whether or not to upgrade
the firmware platform 74 at this time, or defer the upgrade to a
later time.
[0031] When the decision is to proceed with the upgrade, as best
shown in FIG. 4, at block 100, a platform upgrade request is sent
to the management agent 50. At block 102, the platform upgrade is
received from a network server. As illustrated, TFTP server 64
provides the firmware image which is downloaded to the subscriber
gateway device 12. At block 104, the subscriber gateway device 12
is rebooted to execute the upgraded platform which was stored in
non-volatile memory after downloading.
[0032] At the more detailed level, the service interruption impact
assessment of the subscriber gateway device 12 is determined by the
current status of the subscriber gateway device 12. In the
preferred embodiment, the assessment is selected from a group
comprising: "significant impact" and "no impact." Further, in the
preferred embodiment, the assessment will be "significant impact"
when: less than 2.5 hours have passed since a last infrared input
to the subscriber gateway device 12, less than 2.5 hours have
passed since a last tuner change for the subscriber gateway device
12, a video on demand session is in progress at the subscriber
gateway device 12, a program is being recorded at the subscriber
gateway device 12, a television connected to the subscriber gateway
device 12 is turned on (if detectable), or content is being passed
out of the subscriber gateway device 12 to a client device. Of
course, these active services are exemplary, and other active
services could cause the assessment to be "significant impact" as
opposed to "no impact." In a further example, the assessment will
indicate significant impact when a software download is currently
in progress. In another example, an application executing on the
subscriber gateway device 12 may cause the assessment to be
"significant impact."
[0033] It is appreciated that embodiments of the invention may
involve any suitable underlying initializing and provisioning
technique. Further, the cable modem and CMTS may take a variety of
forms and the type of cable plant is not limited to coax cable or
HFC arrangements.
[0034] While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and
described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and
describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words
used in the specification are words of description rather than
limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *