WO2000031957A2

WO2000031957A2 - Multi-user access of reverse path ingress

Info

Publication number: WO2000031957A2
Application number: PCT/US1999/027736
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Edward Harris; Gregg Stephen Rodgers; Michael Joe Wagner
Original assignee: Trilithic, Inc.
Priority date: 1998-11-23
Filing date: 1999-11-23
Publication date: 2000-06-02
Also published as: WO2000031957A3; AU1828000A

Abstract

A method is provided for managing a CATV system including a headend at which signals are assembled for transmission in a forward path to a subscriber and a return path for receiving signals from subscriber, flowing to the headend. According to one aspect of the invention, the method includes collecting data (12, 18) concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format. According to another aspect of the invention, the method includes collecting data (12, 18) concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a proprietary format and translating at least some of the collected data in a standard data format. According to either aspect, the method further includes providing at least some of the standard formatted data to a management software application (20, 22, 24), generating an output, and managing (26, 28) the CATV system based in part upon the instant output.

Description

MULTI-USER ACCESS OF REVERSE PATH INGRESS

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to improvement in the collection and management of information relating to the performance of networks. It is disclosed in the context of data logging and data management in CATV systems, but is believed to have applications in other areas as well.

Related Applications This is a regular utility patent application of U. S. S. N. 60/109,586 filed November 23, 1998, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Background of the Invention For the past several years, CATV system test equipment manufacturers have been designing, developing and building test equipment for monitoring CATV system performance and, in many instances, saving data related to the performance of monitored CATV systems. Typically, each manufacturer adopted data formats that were convenient for whatever use that manufacturer's equipment, or a particular piece of that manufacturer's equipment, made of the saved data. The data was thus saved in these proprietary file formats, different for each manufacturer, sometimes different for different pieces of equipment from the same manufacturer. This meant that the data could not be passed among different applications, such as different software products, that required common data formats and manipulated by these different applications, such as by the performance of calculations from the data and so on.

Later, some instruments began to be offered that permitted access to their data so that it could be manually translated and/or reformatted into non- proprietary formats for importation into commercially available software. This was done on an entry-by-entry or file-by-file basis, one data entry or group of data entries at a time. Disclosure of the Invention

According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for managing a CATN system including a headend at which signals are assembled for transmission in a forward path to a subscriber and a return path permitting signals to flow from the subscriber to the headend. The method includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format, providing at least some of the collected data to a management software application, generating an output of the management software application, and managing the CATN system based in part on the output of the management software application.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in an open database connectivity-recognizable format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in simple network management protocol.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in common management information protocol

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a dynamic data exchange-recognizable format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in object linking and embedding format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in remote monitoring (RMON) format.

According to another aspect of the invention, the method includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a proprietary format, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format, providing at least some of the translated data to a management software application, generating an output of the management software application, and managing the CATV system based in part on the output of the management software application.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into an open database connectivity-recognizable format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into simple network management protocol.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into common management information protocol.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into a dynamic data exchange- recognizable format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into object linking and embedding format.

Additionally or alternatively illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into remote monitoring (RMON) format.

Illustratively according to the invention, the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface software, spreadsheet software and database software.

Additionally illustratively according to the invention, collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention may best be understood by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of components implementing software according to an aspect of the invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates an architecture of a CATN system including local, regional and national offices implementing software architecture according to the invention; and

Fig. 3 illustrates a software architecture according to one aspect of the invention.

Detailed Descriptions of Illustrative Embodiments

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1-2, this invention is disclosed in the context of the management, for example, the control of, or gathering information from, reverse path ingress monitoring and mitigation apparatus in a CATN system 10. The proprietary, that is, non-standard, nature of prior art data collection formats in such an application is that they: require multiple computers, each dedicated to functions associated with each particular data collection format; the user is limited to the feature- set offered by the supplier; proprietary protocols are not easily incorporated into the CATN companies' operations software; and, each user must have the proprietary software in order to use the system. In modern two way CATN systems 10, the CATN operator is faced with a growing variety of equipment which must be monitored or controlled. One of these equipment types is ingress monitoring devices 12 for monitoring amplitude versus frequency in the return spectrum of a CATN system, typically including 5 to 65 MHZ. The monitoring and control of this equipment is commonly done from a computer. The prior art practice of ingress monitoring equipment suppliers and others is to provide equipment which uses proprietary protocols. Such equipment must be accessed using proprietary software. The proprietary nature of this software makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a user to customize the monitoring process to the user's needs. In contrast, currently, a number of CATN systems are equipping their various sites with LANs (local area networks) 14 which are often connected together to form WANs ( wide area networks) 16. Management of these networks 14, 16 and the devices which reside on them is commonly done using standard network management protocols such as Simple Network Management Protocol (hereinafter sometimes SNMP) or Common Management Information Protocol (hereinafter sometimes CMLP). SNMP and CMTP are sets of protocols for managing complex networks 14, 16. The first versions of SNMP were developed in the early '80s. SNMP works by sending messages, called Protocol Data Units, or PDUs, to different parts of a network. SNMP-compliant devices 18, which are called agents, store data about themselves in Management Information Bases, or MIBs, and return this data to the SNMP requesters. CMTP, a more recent innovation in network management protocols, was intended to address certain deficiencies in SNMP. It succeeded in doing this, but at some cost in terms of complexity. This has resulted in CMTP being adopted only by a relatively few highly equipped networks. The first version of SNMP, called SNMP 1, reports only whether a device is functioning properly. The industry has attempted to define a new set of protocols, called SNMP 2, that would provide additional information, but the standardization efforts have not been widely accepted. Instead, network managers have turned to a related technology, called Remote MONitoring (hereinafter sometimes RMON), that provides more detailed information about network 14, 16 usage.

Ingress monitoring software that contains an SNMP agent 18 opens the ingress monitoring and mitigation process to SNMP management software. A number of off-the-shelf management software products for monitoring and control of SNMP compliant devices are then readily applicable. Ingress monitoring equipment which complies to such a standard has the advantage of reducing the number of computers required, for example, in a CATV system headend, for equipment monitoring. Some of the existing SNMP management software has open architecture which permits the user to customize the management process to best suit the user's needs.

Man-Machine Interface, or MMI, is another well established off-the- shelf software product that is suited to the management of ingress monitoring equipment, provided the ingress data is available in an industry standard format such as Open DataBase Connectivity (hereinafter sometimes ODBC), or Dynamic Data Exchange (hereinafter sometimes DDE).

Open DataBase Connectivity is a standard database access method developed by Microsoft Corporation. An ODBC server 20 facilitates access to any data from any application, regardless of which DataBase Management System (hereinafter sometimes DBMS) is handling the data. ODBC manages this by inserting a translator, called a database driver, between an application and the DBMS. The purpose of this layer is to translate the application's data queries into commands that the DBMS understands. Both the application and the DBMS must be ODBC-compliant. That is, the application must be capable of issuing ODBC commands and the DBMS must be capable of responding to them. ODBC version 2.0, the standard version of this software, supports SAG SQL.

DDE, an InterProcess Communication (IPC) system, is built into the Macintosh®, Windows®, and OS/2® operating systems. A DDE server 22 enables two running applications to share the same data. For example, DDE makes it possible to insert a spreadsheet chart into a document created with a word processor.

Whenever the spreadsheet data changes, the chart in the document automatically incorporates the spreadsheet data changes. Although the DDE mechanism is still used by many applications, it is being supplanted by Object Linking and Embedding (hereinafter sometimes OLE), which provides greater control over shared data.

Another method for opening ingress monitoring to third party software is to save the ingress data in a format compatible with a wide variety of software. An example of this method is to use a popular database 24 format such as Microsoft® Access ™. The data in an Access ™ compatible database 24 can be made available to any user on the network via a readily available ODBC server 20. Any third party software that is ODBC compliant can then make use of this data. An example of an ODBC compliant program suitable for mathematical analysis of ingress data is Microsoft® Excel ™. Using Excel ™, a user creates spreadsheets to make useful computations on ingress data 24 and present results in tabular or graphical format. Such computations are independent of the ingress monitoring/data collection software, giving essentially an unlimited number of users the ability to customize the ingress data 24 analysis and reporting to their specific needs. All of this customization is done without changing the proprietary portion of the ingress monitoring software. The user may, at the user's option, automate the data collection and computation process using, for example, the macro language supplied with Excel ™ or other third party software products. Similar links to an ODBC server 20 and/or a DDE or OLE server 22 are used, for example, to control the alarm handling function 26 of the ingress monitoring software launching and clearing alarm activities.

Additional benefits of using a standard data format are the ability of a third party to write custom software for ingress monitoring and/or control and to incorporate such features into the third party's own software which manages other aspects of a CATN system 10. Fig. 3 illustrates one realization of the software. In this example, the ingress data is obtained from the monitoring equipment by an ingress logger module 12. The ingress logger module 12 for collecting amplitude and frequency measurements in an industry standard data format creates database files 24 which make ingress data in one or more standard data formats available to one or more commonly available third party software products not specifically intended for ingress measurement via an ODBC server 20. For time-sensitive applications, the most recent data is held in memory by the ingress logger module 12 where it can be accessed by a DDE or OLE server 22. The ingress logger module 12 also forwards information concerning out-of-limits ingress data to the alarm module 26 where a variety of alarm functions, such as issuing a page, e-mail or audio warning of a fault, are launched. The alarm module also keeps files 28 holding alarm information. These files 28 are available to external applications via the ODBC server 20. External applications can also launch alarms by accessing the alarm module 26 via the DDE or OLE server 22 or a common disk file. The SNMP agent 18 uses data from the ingress logger module 12 and alarm handler module 26 to issue traps, that is, advisories to the CATV system 10 operator, and provide general information via a Management Information Base, or MIB, to third party SNMP management software products, such as Hewlett-Packard® Openview®. The SNMP agent 18 also permits remote clearing of alarms. The ODBC and DDE/OLE servers 20, 22, respectively, both make data available to other applications running on the same computer or via a network 14, 16 connection to an essentially unlimited number of users. Examples of how data is collected locally and made available to users are illustrated in Figs. 1-2. Notably, the user may be distributed over a wide geographic area, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Claims

CLATMS:

1. A method for managing a CATN system including a headend at which signals are assembled for transmission in a forward path to a subscriber and a return path permitting signals to flow from the subscriber to the headend, the method including collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format, providing at least some of the collected data to a management software application, generating an output of the management software application, and managing the CATN system based in part on the output of the management software application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in an open database connectivity (ODBC)-recognizable format.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in simple network management protocol (SΝMP).

4. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in common management information protocol (CMTP).

5. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a dynamic data exchange (DDE)-recognizable format.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in object linking and embedding (OLE) format.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a standard data format includes collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in remote monitoring (RMON) format.

8. A method for managing a CATN system including a headend at which signals are assembled for transmission in a forward path to a subscriber and a return path permitting signals to flow from the subscriber to the headend, the method including collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path in a proprietary format, translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format, providing at least some of the translated data to a management software application, generating an output of the management software application, and managing the CATN system based in part on the output of the management software application.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein collecting translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into an open database connectivity (ODBC)-recognizable format.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into simple network management protocol (SΝMP).

11. The method of claim 8 wherein translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into common management information protocol (CMLP).

12. The method of claim 8 wherein translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into a dynamic data exchange (DDE)-recognizable format.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into object linking and embedding (OLE) format.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein translating at least some of the collected data into a standard data format includes translating at least some of the collected data into remote monitoring (RMOΝ) format. _ιι_

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

16. The method of claim 2 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

17. The method of claim 3 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

18. The method of claim 4 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

19. The method of claim 5 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

20. The method of claim 6 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

21. The method of claim 7 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

22. The method of claim 8 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

23. The method of claim 9 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

24. The method of claim 10 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

25. The method of claim 11 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

26. The method of claim 12 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

27. The method of claim 13 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

28. The method of claim 14 wherein the management software application includes at least one of network monitoring software, network management software, man-machine interface (MMI) software, spreadsheet software and database software.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

30. The method of claim 2 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

31. The method of claim 3 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

32. The method of claim 4 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

33. The method of claim 5 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

34. The method of claim 6 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

35. The method of claim 7 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

36. The method of claim 8 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

37. The method of claim 9 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

38. The method of claim 10 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

39. The method of claim 11 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

40. The method of claim 12 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

41. The method of claim 13 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

42. The method of claim 14 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

43. The method of claim 15 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

44. The method of claim 16 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

45. The method of claim 17 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

46. The method of claim 18 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

47. The method of claim 19 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

48. The method of claim 20 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

49. The method of claim 21 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

50. The method of claim 22 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

51. The method of claim 23 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

52. The method of claim 24 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

53. The method of claim 25 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

54. The method of claim 26 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

55. The method of claim 27 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.

56. The method of claim 28 wherein collecting data concerning the operation of at least one of the forward path and the return path includes collecting data concerning the operation of the return path.