(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2004/0261116A1
`Mckeown et al.
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`US 2004O261116A1
`
`(54) BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS
`(76) Inventors: Jean Christophe Mckeown, Mandelieu
`(FR); Henri Chabrier, Biot (FR)
`
`
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`(30)
`Jul. 3, 2001 (EP)........................................ O1401767.7
`Mar. 26, 2002 (WO).
`... PCT/GB02/O1461
`May 22, 2002 (WO).......................... PCT/GB02/02372
`
`Correspondence Address:
`WOLF GREENFIELD & SACKS, PC
`
`Publication Classification
`
`7
`
`FEDERAL RESERVE PLAZA
`
`83 s
`
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Holyg:
`
`600 ATLANTIC AVENUE
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`1 - O
`
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
`
`BOSTON, MA 02210-2211 (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`10/481,933
`
`(22) PCT Filed:
`
`Jul. 3, 2002
`
`(86) PCT No.:
`
`PCT/GB02/03074
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`The invention relates to communications, particularly but
`not exclusively broadband communications. One facet of the
`present invention relates to provisioning of Services in a
`communications network and finds particular, but not exclu
`Sive, application in a broadband network environment or
`other environment where Services are provisioned. The
`provisioning of Services will now be discussed in more
`detail.
`
`10
`
`ISP Server
`
`Internet
`175
`
`190
`
`CSCO-1019
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 1 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
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`
`
`110
`
`ISP Server
`
`175
`
`CSCO-1019
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`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 2 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116 A1
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`
`CSCO-1019
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 3 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
`
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`CSCO-1019
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 4 of 65
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 5 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
`
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`CSCO-1019
`CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. / Page 6 of 120
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 6 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
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`Fig. 6
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`CSCO-1019
`CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. / Page 7 of 120
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 7 of 65
`
`US 2004/0261116A1
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`CSCO-1019
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 8 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
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`CSCO-1019
`CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. / Page 9 of 120
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 9 of 65
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`US 2004/0261116A1
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`Patent Application Publication Dec. 23, 2004 Sheet 10 of 65
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`US 2004/026111.6 A1
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`Dec. 23, 2004
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`BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS
`0001. According to one embodiment, the broadband net
`work may be, but is not limited to, an MPLS (Multi-Protocol
`Label Switching) or an IPSec (IPSecurity) network and the
`service may be provisioned via a Virtual Private Network
`(VPN) connection.
`0002 Provisioning is a fundamental step in establishing
`a connection with a user. The user is normally provided with
`a user device, a non-limiting but illustrative example of
`which includes a Personal Computer (PC) and an access
`device. For example, in a broadband network, a cable
`modem or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem normally
`provided as an access device to connect the user device to
`the broadband network. With a conventional dial up net
`work, any user with a Suitable modem and is able to dial into
`a Service (although Some Service may request a password
`following connection whereas others may allow open or
`guest access). Similarly, with Internet Services, any user with
`access to the Internet can access a desired web address,
`although Some sites may require passwords. In both cases,
`however, it is not necessary for the Service to have details of
`the user equipment in advance of connection. In contrast,
`broadband Services must be specifically provisioned for a
`given user. In order to provision Services for a broadband
`connection, it is necessary for the provisioning application
`to have a unique “physical” identifier of the user with whom
`the Service is being provisioned. In the case of a cable
`modem connection in particular, this may be referred to
`variously as physical address or identifier, hardware address
`or Media Access Control (MAC) address. This may be
`achieved by, for example, a user manually reading an
`identifier of a hardware product (for example cable modem)
`printed on the packaging and communicating this, for
`example by telephone, to the Service provider. This manual
`provisioning method obviously has drawbacks, it is labour
`intensive and renders rapid provisioning of new Services
`cumberSome.
`0003) In the case of a DSL connection, the DSL modem
`does not have a MAC address nor a permanent IP address
`but the PVC ID used for the connection between a DSL
`modem and a Broadband Access Router (BRAS) is used to
`identify the user; provisioning is carried out by managing
`the Software PVC between the BRAS and DSL modem.
`Class of Service and Quality of Service are managed through
`the settings of the PVC. When connecting the PC to the
`modem and booting the system, the actual PVC ID is
`transmitted acroSS the network and can be used for user
`asSociation. Thus, in the case of a DSL connection, although
`the relevant “physical address” which identifies the DSL
`modem is in fact that of an ATM Virtual connection, pursuant
`to the invention it has been appreciated that this can be
`regarded as a physical or hardware address for the purpose
`of provisioning and treated in a similar manner to a cable
`modem MAC address. AS used in this specification, the term
`“hardware address” or “physical address” is intended to
`encompass a PVC ID in the case of a DSL connection. The
`terms may encompass another address or identifier which
`uniquely characterises a connection to a Specific acceSS
`device in other contexts. The terms are intended to distin
`guish from higher level identifiers, Such as an IP address or
`email address, which is not directly associated with a
`particular acceSS device.
`
`It is also possible to provide web-based applica
`0004.
`tions for provisioning for a cable modem whereby a user
`enters a MAC address (as defined below) or physical device
`identifier into an interactive website; this reduces labour at
`the provisioning end but Still requires a user to provide a
`(normally lengthy) physical identifier correctly. In prior art
`Systems, the access device generally connects Substantially
`transparently and the physical address (MAC address) of the
`user device (PC) is normally used to define the connection.
`0005. It has been proposed to provide specific application
`Software to read the hardware address details and commu
`nicate these to a provisioning Service provider and the
`provision of high-level application Software at the user end
`may facilitate automatic provisioning of Services. It does,
`however, of course require Specialist Software at the user
`end, which must be provided, adding to costs and complex
`ity, and which may not always be present So may need to be
`installed by a user.
`0006 Aspects of the invention are set out in the inde
`pendent claims to which reference should be made. Pre
`ferred features are Set out in the dependent claims. Repre
`Sentative and further aspects are discussed below.
`0007. There is herein provided a method of providing an
`assured Service to a user via a virtual private connection in
`a distributed network, the method comprising providing an
`agent in the network and configuring the agent to monitor
`the Virtual private connection by Simulating communication
`over the connection.
`0008 Preferably, the agent is arranged to reside on a node
`of the network other than the user's end node.
`0009 Further preferably, the agent is arranged to receive
`configuration information identifying a connection to moni
`tor.
`0010. According to a further preferable feature, a single
`agent is arranged to receive configuration information iden
`tifying a plurality of independent connections to monitor.
`0011 Preferably, the method further comprises configur
`ing the agent to pass a fault report to a remote network
`monitoring component in the event that a fault is detected in
`the provisioned Virtual private connection.
`0012. There is also herein described a method of provid
`ing an assured Service to a user via a virtual private con
`nection in a distributed network, the method comprising
`provisioning a virtual private connection based on provi
`Sioning information and, based on the provisioning infor
`mation, configuring an agent in the network to monitor the
`provisioned virtual private connection by Simulating com
`munication over the connection.
`0013 Preferably, configuration information is sent to a
`pre-existing agent.
`0014. According to an alternative preferable feature, an
`agent is launched if no preexisting agent is available to
`monitor the provisioned connection.
`0015 Preferably, the agent is further configured to pass a
`fault report to a remote network monitoring component in
`die event that a fault is detected in the provisioned virtual
`private connection.
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`0016. According to a further aspect, there is provided a
`method of provisioning a desired communications Service
`for a user acroSS a network, the method comprising obtain
`ing information for a desired communications Service to be
`provisioned based on information associated with an exist
`ing connection for the user and provisioning the desired
`communications Service based on the information obtained.
`0.017. This may facilitate provisioning by making use of
`an existing connection as a Source of information on which
`to base provisioning of a new connection.
`0.018. According to a preferred embodiment, there is
`provided a method of provisioning a Service in a broadband
`network to a user device having an internetwork protocol
`address, the method comprising:
`0019 obtaining an internetwork protocol address of a
`user device for whom a Service is to be provisioned;
`0020 Sending a configuration protocol query message
`to a configuration related address Server, the message
`containing the internetwork protocol address of the user
`device;
`0021 waiting for a response message from the server;
`0022 extracting a hardware address related to the user
`device from the response message;
`0023 provisioning a network connection with the user
`device based on the hardware address obtained from
`the response message.
`0024. There is herein described an improved and simpli
`fied method of facilitating provisioning in communications
`networks, particularly broadband networks. Preferably a
`user may be able to purchase an access device, Such as a
`cable or DSL modem, “off the shelf and services may be
`provisioned for the access device without the Service pro
`vider having pre-provisioned the access device or Supplied
`Specialist Software.
`0.025 According to one embodiment, the broadband net
`work may be an MPLS or an IPSec network. The user device
`may be provisioned via a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
`connection and, in particular, via an IP VPN connection.
`0026. There is described herein a method of provisioning
`a communications Service for a user, the method comprising
`obtaining a hardware address for an access device, for
`example a cable modem MAC address or PVC ID in the case
`of a DSL connection, based on a communications protocol
`address, Such as an Internet Protocol address, of a user
`device, for example a PC, and provisioning a Service based
`on the hardware address obtained. The hardware address can
`be obtained using a low level protocol, for instance DHCP
`lease query.
`0027. Also described is the use of a communications
`protocol address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address,
`of a user device to obtain a physical address of an acceSS
`device for use in provisioning a Service for the user via the
`access device.
`0028. Further, there is also described herein a method of
`provisioning a Service for a network acceSS device compris
`ing receiving a request from a user for a Service which
`request does not include the physical address of the acceSS
`device and provisioning a Service based on obtaining the
`
`physical address of the acceSS device using a communica
`tions protocol address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP)
`address, for the user.
`0029. A provisioning application is also described, which
`comprises means for receiving a communications protocol
`address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, of a user
`device; means for discovering the physical address of an
`acceSS device associated with tile user device based on the
`communications protocol address and means for provision
`ing a Service for the acceSS device based on the discovered
`physical address.
`0030 The methods and apparatus described above pref
`erably operate without requesting the user to Supply a
`physical address for the acceSS device and without requiring
`the user to install Software specific to the Service provider.
`0031. It has been appreciated that it is possible to obtain
`or verify the physical device address of a user device Such
`as a PC by a “brute force” trawl through IP servers in an IP
`environment. However, Such a method is not particularly
`efficient in terms of resources and a more elegant method has
`been developed; this can drastically reduce time taken to
`obtain a physical address corresponding to an IP address.
`0032. There is further herein-described a method of pro
`Visioning a Service in a communications network for a user
`having an communications protocol address, Such as an IP
`address, the method comprising:
`0033 obtaining a communications protocol address of
`a user for whom a Service is to be provisioned;
`0.034
`Sending a DHCP lease Cuerv message to a DHCP
`9.
`query
`9.
`Server, the message containing the communications
`protocol address of the user;
`0035) waiting for a DHCP response packet from the
`Server,
`0036) extracting a hardware address, such as the MAC
`address or the PVC ID, of the user from the DHCP
`response packet;
`0037 provisioning a network connection with the user
`based on the hardware address obtained from the
`DHCP response packet.
`0038. By way of additional background, it is noted that
`the method described above makes use of the well estab
`lished Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP),
`details of which can be found in RFC 2131 of the Internet
`Community dated March 1997 and available, inter alia, at
`http://www.dhcp.org/rfc2131.html, the contents of which
`are incorporated herein by reference. The method also
`makes use of the draft DHCP Lease Query message proto
`col, details of which may be found on the ietf.org website
`and are Summarised below. As those skilled in the art will
`appreciate, DHCP is an established low-level protocol for
`managing IP connections. DHCP presupposes that Services
`have been previously provisioned for the user with whom a
`connection exists and does not directly concern itself with
`provisioning.
`0039 Those skilled in the art will appreciate that provi
`Sioning of Services is normally a distinct process from low
`level communication between access concentrators and
`DHCP is not normally considered directly relevant to pro
`Visioning applications. In particular, die DHCP lease query
`
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`
`Dec. 23, 2004
`
`has been designed for acceSS concentrators within a network
`to rebuild address information gleaned from their acceSS
`relay function after rebooting or replacement. However, it
`has been appreciated that features of DHCP can in fact also
`be used to simplify provisioning. A user for whom a Service
`is to be provisioned will often have a pre-existing IP address.
`Using DHCP Lease Query, the hardware parame