WO2000051274A1

WO2000051274A1 - Methods and apparatus for providing high speed connectivity to a hotel environment

Info

Publication number: WO2000051274A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/004293
Authority: WO
Inventors: William B West; Wallace Eric Smith; Steven R. Mcdaniel
Original assignee: Suite Technology Systems, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-02-24
Filing date: 2000-02-16
Publication date: 2000-08-31
Also published as: US10164940B2; US20090052459A1; US20050041602A1; JP2002538663A; AU3497300A; CN1347601A; US6996073B2; US20140289410A1; US20060187861A1; US6738382B1; US20170339104A1; US8854195B2; US20170048191A1; US9025599B2; US20150237004A1; US7580376B2; EP1157491A1; US9503419B2; US9705846B2; EP1157491A4

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are described for providing access to a network via a first one of a plurality of network access nodes (102) in the network. The network access nodes (102) each have a network address associated therewith which is unique on the network, the first network access node (102) having a first network address associated therewith. The first network address is associated with a first computer (108) while the first computer is connected to the first network access node thereby providing access to the network.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING HIGH SPEED CONNECTIVITY TO A HOTEL ENVIRONMENT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to network communications and, more

specifically, to providing high speed Internet access to users in hotel environments.

Any business traveler who relies on network communications to maintain

contact with clients and the home office appreciates the availability of fast and reliable

data ports at remote locations such as airport lounges and hotel rooms. The

hospitality industry has only recently begun to understand the necessity of providing

such high speed data connections to business travelers. In fact, given the explosive

growth of network technologies and the corresponding dependence of the business

professional on such technologies, hotels which do not move to provide high speed

connectivity in guest rooms comparable to the typical office environment will likely

lose a substantial portion of their business to hotels which do.

Unfortunately, many hotel rooms are not currently wired to accommodate high

speed data traffic. That is, prior to 1990, virtually all hotel rooms were wired to

provide only basic telephone service. As late as 1995, less than 10% of hotel rooms

were wired to handle standard Ethernet data speeds. Even today, while the major

players in the hospitality industry are searching for high speed connectivity solutions,

the vast majority of hotel guest and conference rooms are still wired with low quality,

single pair connections. One obvious solution would be to completely rewire all of

the guest and conference rooms in each hotel facility to provide the desired data

transmission capabilities. However, given the prohibitive cost of such an undertaking, a less costly solution would be desirable.

Even if such a costly rewiring were undertaken, there are other problems

which are not addressed by an infrastructure upgrade. For example, even if a high

speed connection to the hotel's host is provided, it will often be the case that a guest's

5 laptop computer would be incompatible with the hotel network in some way. Thus,

each guest's laptop must be configured appropriately in order to communicate with

the network and with the Internet beyond. This would likely involve loading special

software onto a guest's laptop each time the guest wants to go online. Not only would

such a process be cumbersome and annoying to the hotel guest, it may also be

o unacceptable from the guest' s point of view in that reconfiguring the laptop may

interfere with the current configuration in undesirable ways.

Neither does a costly wiring upgrade address the administrative and security

issues related to providing Internet access via a hotel host. That is, high speed

Internet access for hotel guests requires a network at the hotel property and some sort

s of connection between the hotel network and the Internet, e.g., a Tl or T3 line. A

firewall at each hotel property would also be required to protect the internal network

from unauthorized access. The existence of the firewall at each property, in turn,

requires that most of the control and administration of the local network be performed

at the hotel property rather than remotely, thus representing an undesirable

o redundancy of administrative functions .

Another administrative difficulty related to maintaining each hotel property as

a separate Internet host involves the management of IP addresses. Ranges of globally

unique 32-bit IP addresses are issued to organizations by a central Internet authority.

These addresses are organized in a four octet format. Class A IP addresses are issued to very large organizations and employ the first of the four octets to identify the

organization's network and the other three to identify individual hosts on that

network. Thus, a class A address pool contains nearly 17 million (2²⁴) globally unique

IP addresses. With class B addresses, the first two octets are used to identify the

network and the last two to identify the individual hosts resulting in 64,000 (2¹⁶)

globally unique IP addresses for each organization. Finally, with class C addresses,

the first three octets are used to identify the network and the last octet to identify the

individual hosts resulting in only 256 (2⁸) globally unique IP addresses for each

organization.

Unfortunately for many medium to large size organizations (1,000 to 10,000

hosts), it has become very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain anything other than a

class C address for their networks due to the fact that the class A and B address spaces

have been almost entirely locked up. This problem has been addressed to some extent

by the use of a Network Address Translation (NAT) protocol. According to such a

protocol, when a local host on an organization's network requests access to the

Internet, it is assigned a temporary IP address from the pool of globally unique IP

addresses available to the organization. The local host is identified by the globally

unique address only when sending or receiving packets on the Internet. As soon as

the local host disconnects from the Internet, the address is returned to the pool for use

by any of the other hosts on the network. For additional details on the implementation

of such a protocol please refer to K. Evegang and P. Francis, The IP Network Address

Translator (NAT), Request for Comments "RFC" 1631, Cray Communications, NTT,

May 1994, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Such dynamic assignment of IP addresses might be sufficient for certain organizations as long as the number of simultaneous users which require access to the

Internet remains below the maximum of 256. However, if, for example, a 1200 room

hotel were hosting an Internet technologies seminar it would be extremely likely that

the demand for Internet access would exceed the available address pool. All of this

also assumes that a major hotel chain would be able to obtain a complete class C pool

of addresses for each of its properties; not necessarily a reasonable assumption.

It is therefore desirable to provide methods and apparatus by which each of the

properties in a major hotel chain may provide high speed Internet access to each of its

guest rooms in a secure, inexpensive, and reliable manner without undue

administrative burdens on the individual properties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided which

make use of existing hotel wiring infrastructures to provide secure, high speed data

and Internet access to each of the guest rooms in a hotel property. Specific

implementations of the technology described herein have the ability to auto-baud

down to whatever speed the wiring infrastructure will allow thus providing the

maximum bandwidth allowable by that infrastructure. According to specific

embodiments, the present invention is able to select the maximum baud rate

appropriate for each individual guest room. According to other specific embodiments,

where the wiring to the guest rooms is a single pair phone line, the present invention

allows 1 Megabit half duplex data transmissions to coexist on the single pair with

standard telephone signals.

According to one embodiment of the invention, each guest room in the hotel is

interconnected via the hotel's current wiring infrastructure into a local network.

When a guest wishes to access the Internet, he connects his laptop to an in-room

module installed in each guest room which temporarily assigns a "fake" local IP

address to the guest's laptop. The "fake" local IP address is associated with the in-

room module and is unique on the hotel's local network. The address is "fake^" in that

it is not a valid Internet address and in that it replaces the laptop's own real IP address.

The assigned local IP address uniquely identifies the guest's laptop on the hotel

network while that laptop remains connected to the in-room module.

A headend module in the hotel handles packet routing and provides access to

the Internet. In facilitating access to the Internet, the headend module temporarily

assigns globally unique IP addresses from a pool of, for example, class C addresses to in-room modules in individual guest rooms in response to requests for Internet access

from those rooms. An assigned IP address remains dedicated to a particular in-room

module (and thus the associated guest's computer) for the duration of the Internet

transaction. Upon termination of the transaction, the globally unique IP address is

disassociated from the in-room module and put back into the pool for use in

facilitating a later Internet transaction from any of the hotel's rooms.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the local networks of a

number of hotels are interconnected via a remote server thereby forming a private

wide area network, or a virtual private network. The operation of the virtual private

network to provide high speed data and Internet access to individual guest rooms is

similar to the process described above except that the "fake" IP address of the in-room

modules are unique over the entire virtual private network, and the temporary

assignment of globally unique IP addresses is performed by the remote server rather

than the hotel headend. This is advantageous in that it is contemplated that the remote

server has a larger pool of such addresses associated therewith than an individual hotel

network might be able to procure (e.g., a class B address pool).

Thus, because the IP address needs of all of the hotels in the virtual private

network are spread out over the entire installed base of the remote server, bursts of

need at any one property which exceed the capacity of a single class C address pool

may be accommodated. The virtual private network embodiment of the present

invention also has the advantage that firewall security and other network

administrative functions may be centralized and performed remotely without

compromising the security of any individual hotel network.

Thus, according to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided for providing access to a network via a first one of a plurality of network access nodes

in the network. The network access nodes each have a network address associated

therewith which is unique on the network, the first network access node having a first

network address associated therewith. The first network address is associated with a

first computer "while the first computer is connected to the first network access node

thereby providing access to the network.

According to a more specific embodiment, Internet access is provided to a first

computer via a first one of a plurality of network access nodes in a network using a

plurality of globally unique IP addresses. The network access nodes each have a

network address associated therewith which is unique on the network, the first

network access node having a first network address associated therewith. The first

network address is associated with the first computer while the first computer is

connected to the first network access node thereby providing access to the network. A

first one of the globally unique IP addresses is associated with the first network

address for conducting an Internet transaction. The first globally unique IP address is

disassociated from the first network address upon termination of the Internet

transaction. The first globally unique IP address is then available for association with

any of the network addresses. According to one embodiment, the network comprises

a local area network and the associating and disassociating of the globally unique IP

address is done by a headend associated with the local area network. According to

another embodiment, the network comprises a wide area network and the associating

and disassociating of the globally unique IP address is done by a remote server which

controls the wide area network.

According to a specific embodiment, a network is provided having a plurality of network access nodes each having a network address associated therewith which is

unique on the network. Each network access node is for providing access to the

network for a computer connected to the network access node. A headend module

interconnects the network access nodes. The network address associated with each

network access node is associated with the computer connected thereto thereby

providing access to the network.

According to another specific embodiment, a wide area network is provided

having a plurality of networks each comprising a plurality of network access nodes.

Each network access node has a network address associated therewith which is unique

among the plurality of networks. Each network access node provides access to the

wide area network for a computer connected to the network access node. A remote

server interconnects the plurality of networks into the wide area network. The

network address associated with each network access node is associated with the

computer connected thereto thereby providing access to the wide area network.

According to yet another specific embodiment, a network access node is

provided for providing access to a network of which the network access node is a part.

The network access node has a network address associated therewith which is unique

on the network. According to a more specific embodiment, the network address node

is operable to associate the network address with a computer while the computer is

connected to the network access node thereby providing access to the network.

According to a further specific embodiment, a headend module is provided for

interconnecting a plurality of network access nodes in a network. Each network

access node has a network address associated therewith which is unique on the

network and provides access to the network for a computer connected to the network access node. According to a more specific embodiment, the headend module

associates the network address associated with each network access node with the

computer connected thereto thereby providing access to the network.

According to another specific embodiment, methods and apparatus are

provided for providing conference services over a network having a plurality of users

associated therewith. A group identification tag is associated with selected ones of the

plurality of users thereby identifying the selected users as attendees of the conference.

The conference services are provided on the network. Access to the conference

services is then restricted to the selected users using the group identification tag.

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention

may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the

drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in a hotel according to a specific embodiment of the

invention;

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing high speed data and

invention;

Figs. 3a and 3b are more detailed block diagrams of the in-room module and

head-end module of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the combination of half duplex data and

standard telephone data on a single pair of conductors according to a specific

embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in hotels according to another specific embodiment of

the invention;

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in hotels according to yet another specific embodiment

of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the auto-bauding technique of the present

invention;

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the auto-bauding technique of the present

invention;

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the customization of a guest room and the

transmission of control information to in-room systems via a hotel network; Fig. 10 is a block diagram of file server for use with various embodiments of

the present invention; and

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the providing of online conference services.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in a hotel network 100 according to a specific

embodiment of the invention. In each guest room 102 is an in-room module (IRM)

104 by which a telephone 106 and a guest's laptop computer 108 may be connected to

the hotel's wiring infrastructure. According to a specific embodiment, IRM 104 is

plugged directly into the room's phone jack and has at least two additional ports, one

for the room's telephone, e.g., an RJ-11 jack, and one for the guest's laptop, e.g., an

RJ-45 Ethernet port. According to various embodiments, IRM 104 performs a

number of functions including, for example, combining and separating Ethernet data

and standard telephone signals for transmission over the hotel's wiring infrastructure.

According to other embodiments and as discussed below, IRM 104 is configured to

receive control information from a central location for automated control of various

room environmental parameters, e.g., temperature and lighting. According to still

other embodiments, IRM 104 is configured to receive a wide variety of other types of

data such as, for example, digital audio and video for presentation in the guest room,

or a wide variety of other information services.

Transmission line 110 connects IRM 104 to the hotel's head-end 112 via any

of a wide variety of infrastructures. In the example shown, transmission line 110

connects IRM 104 to head-end 112 via standard telephone company wiring as

represented by punch down blocks 114 and 116 and telephone company transmission

line 118. It will be understood, however, that the wiring between IRM 104 and head¬

end 112 may take other forms such as, for example, a four-conductor Ethernet

network. Head-end 112 comprises punch down block 116 and public branch exchange (PBX) 120. Interposed between punch down block 116 and PBX 120 is a

connection port 122 which, according to a specific embodiment, may be easily

installed simply by unplugging the standard 24-pin connector from PBX 120,

plugging connection port 122 into the PBX connector (not shown), and plugging the

original connector from punch down block 116 into connection port 122. Standard

telephone signals pass through connection port 122 to PBX 120 while half duplex

Ethernet data packets are transmitted and received by head-end module (HEM) 124.

Depending on the configuration of the present invention, HEM 124 performs a

variety of functions and, according to some embodiments, can be thought of as an

enhanced router with additional capabilities programmed into its operating system.

That is, according to such embodiments, HEM 124 serves as a switch which routes

data packets to and from IRMs 104, and serves as the other end of the

communications to and from IRMs 104 in which Ethernet data and phone signals are

combined over single twisted pair technology. According to other alternative

embodiments, HEM 124 handles address translation and assignment, controls network

access, and serves as a bridge for Ethernet data transmitted over the hotel^'s single

twisted pair infrastructure. HEM 124 has a plurality of ports 126 each of which

communicates with a corresponding IRM 104. This communication may be

individually monitored and controlled (by either the IRM or the HEM) thus allowing

central hotel management of billing and access as well as the ability to generate

reports for troubleshooting purposes.

Each IRM 104 (and thus the corresponding HEM port 126) has a fixed IP

address which may be configured using the Simple Network Management Protocol

(SNMP). If the guest's computer connected to a particular IRM 104 does not have its own internal IP address, the fixed IP address of the corresponding IRM 104/HEM port

126 is assigned to the guest's computer using the Dynamic Host Configuration

Protocol (DHCP) to facilitate access to network 100. If the guest's computer already

has its own internal IP address, address translation is performed between the

computer's internal IP address and the fixed IP address of the IRM 104/HEM port

126. According to various embodiment of the invention, this address translation may

be performed by either IRM 104 or HEM 124. HEM 124 has a small boot ROM (not

shown) for basic IP communications and a large flash ROM (not shown) for fully

functional software and configuration data. This allows for remote software upgrades

using, for example, an encrypted protocol riding on top of IP.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart 200 illustrating a method for providing high speed data

and Internet access to guest rooms in a hotel using the system of Fig. 1. When a

guest's computer connects to an IRM in any one of the guest rooms, the network IP

address associated with that IRM is associated with the computer (204). As discussed

above, this association could mean a DHCP assignment of the network IP address to

the guest's computer where the computer did not already have an internal IP address.

It could also mean that the internal IP address of the computer is translated into the

network IP address. This address assignment/translation may be effected by either the

IRM and the HEM. In addition, it will be understood that depending on where the

assignment/translation occurs it may precede or follow 206 described below. The

network IP address is associated with the guest's computer while it remains connected

to the IRM.

Where the transmission line connecting the IRM to the hotel network

comprises a single twisted pair of conductors, the data communications between the IRM and the HEM are configured so that they may be transmitted substantially

simultaneously over the single twisted pair with the standard telephone signals from

the phone in the guest room (206). A specific technique by which this configuration

is effected is described below with reference to Figs. 3a and 4.

Once the connection is established, the communications between the IRM and

the HEM are monitored either periodically or continuously for a variety of purposes

(208). This information may be used by the hotel for billing purposes or for

troubleshooting and improving the reliability of the hotel network.

If an Internet transaction is requested by the guest's computer, a globally

unique IP address from a pool of such addresses is temporarily associated with the

network IP address currently associated with the guest's computer using, for example,

a network address translation protocol (210). As discussed above, the pool of

addresses could be, for example, class A, B, or C addresses. As will be discussed

below with reference to Figs. 5 and 6, the temporary association of the globally

unique IP address may be done by the HEM in the hotel or, according to another

embodiment, by a remote server which interconnects one or more hotel properties in a

wide area network. When the Internet transaction is complete (212), the globally

unique IP address is disassociated from the network IP address and put back in the

pool for use in facilitating subsequent Internet transactions from any of the hotel's

guest rooms (214). The network IP address remains associated with the guest's

computer until the session ends, e.g., the computer is disconnected from the IRM or

powered down (216).

Figs. 3a and 3b are more detailed block diagrams of IRM 104 and HEM 124 of

Fig. 1, respectively. IRM 104 comprises connection circuitry for connecting the IRM to the room's standard telephone jack as well as the room's telephone and the guest's

computer. According to a specific embodiment, the connection circuitry includes RJ-

11 ports 302 for connecting to the phone and 303 for connecting to the wall jack, an

Ethernet port 304, an iEEE 1394 port 305, and a universal serial bus (USB) port 306

for connecting to the guest's computer, and an additional data port 307 for receiving

various types of data. iEEE 1394 port 305 and USB port 306 may, in some instances,

prove more convenient than Ethernet port 304 in that certain network reconfiguration

issues don't have to be dealt with. In addition, many business travelers often don't

travel with the Ethernet dongle which is necessary for connecting their laptop's

Ethernet port to a network Ethernet port. Thus, depending upon which of the two

alternate standards, iEEE 1394 or USB, the laptop is configured for, IRM 104 is

operable to translate the laptop's transmissions to the Ethernet standard.

According to a specific embodiment, IRM 104 also includes transmission

circuitry 308 for transmitting and receiving data on a single twisted pair of conductors

of which the majority of hotel wiring infrastructures are comprised. According to one

embodiment, a portion of transmission circuitry 308 is implemented according to the

home PNA (Phone-line Networking Alliance) standard which allows half duplex data

and phone signals on the same line as illustrated by the diagram of Fig. 4. According

to the home PNA standard, data transmissions from IRM 104 to a port 126 of HEM

124 and transmissions from the HEM to the IRM are alternated at a frequency in the

range of 4-9 MHz. Because standard phone signals exists at a relatively low

frequency compared to the home PNA modulation frequency, all of the signals may

easily exist on a single pair of wires.

According to a specific embodiment, transmission circuitry 308 is operable to associate the network IP address associated with IRM 104 with the guest's computer.

That is, the address translation or assignment which allows the guest access to the

local or wide area network is performed by the transmission circuitry in the IRM.

According to a more specific embodiment, transmission circuitry 308 includes a

processing unit 309 based on RISC microprocessor which performs the address

translation, the combining and separation of signals for transmission to the headend,

and the routing of the received signals to the appropriate IRM port. According to a

specific embodiment, processing unit 309 comprises an Intel 80960 VH and the

appropriate support circuitry.

According to another specific embodiment, IRM 104 also includes control

circuitry 310 for receiving control information via the hotel's network for controlling

one or more control systems 311 proximate to the IRM. As will be discussed below

with reference to Fig. 9, such control systems may include, for example, the room's

temperature control, lighting, and audio systems. In one embodiment, the control

circuitry includes conversion circuitry 312 for converting the received control

information into the necessary control signals for actually controlling the in-room

control systems. The conversion circuitry may include, for example, an RF

transmission element 314 (e.g., an antenna) for transmitting RF control signals to the

various control systems. According to an alternative embodiment, conversion

circuitry 312 includes an infrared transmission element (e.g., an 1R diode) for

transmitting infrared control signals to various control systems.

Transmission circuitry 308 (using processor 309) discriminates between the

various data it receives and directs it to the appropriate port on IRM 104 according to

address information in data packet headers. According to a specific embodiment, digital audio and video may be transmitted to individual rooms via the system

described herein. The digital audio and video are directed to additional data port 307

to which an audio and/or video system may be connected for presenting the

transmitted content. In this way, an ambience may be set for the guest's arrival. In

addition, the guest could select a wide variety of entertainment and information

services via the hotel network which may then be transmitted to the guest's room via

the auxiliary data port 307 on IRM 104. According to one embodiment, data port 307

receives audio data which directly drives a pair of speakers in the guest room.

Specific embodiments of IRM 104 also include an LED or LCD display 316

on which status and other information may be communicated to the occupant of the

guest room whether or not they are currently connected. For example, before a

connection is made, display 316 could be used to inform the hotel guest of all of the

services available through IRM 104 as well as instructions for connecting to IRM 104.

Other information such as stock quotes and weather information may also be

presented continuously or periodically. Once connected, display 316 could

communicate the status of the connection as well as the time connected and current

connection charges. It will be understood that a wide variety of other information

may be presented via display 316.

IRM 104 may also include an array of individual colored LEDs 318 which

provide information to the user. Such LEDs may indicate, for example, the

connection status of the IRM, i.e., whether it is connected to the HEM, using red or

green LEDs. LEDs 318 may also be configured to indicate a purchase status to the

user. That is, because connection services are often purchased in 24 hour blocks,

LEDs 318 may indicate to the user whether she is operating within a block of time which has already been paid for (green), whether the end of the current block is

approaching (yellow), or whether she has already entered the next time block (red).

LEDs 318 could also indicate which type of connection the user has established, e.g.,

USB, Ethernet, or IEEE 1394.

As mentioned above and as shown in Fig. 3b, HEM 124 may be thought of as

an enhanced router which routes data packets to and from IRMs 104, controls network

access, serves as a bridge for Ethernet data transmitted over the hotel's single twisted

pair infrastructure, and, according to some embodiments, handles address translation

and assignment. According to one embodiment, a 2611 router from Cisco Systems,

Inc. is used to implement HEM 124. HEM 124 includes a master central processing

unit (CPU) 352, low and medium speed interfaces 354, and high-speed interfaces 356.

When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, the CPU 352 is

responsible for such router tasks as routing table computations and network

management. It may also be responsible for controlling network access and

transmissions, etc. It preferably accomplishes all these functions under the control of

software including an operating system (e.g., the Internet Operating System (IOS®) of

Cisco Systems, Inc.) and any appropriate applications software. CPU 352 may

include one or more microprocessor chips 358. In a specific embodiment, a memory

360 (such as non- volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 352. However,

there are many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system.

The interfaces 354 and 356 are typically provided as interface cards

(sometimes referred to as "line cards"). Generally, they control the sending and

receipt of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used

with HEM 124. The low and medium speed interfaces 354 include a multiport communications interface 362, a serial communications interface 364, and a token

ring interface 366. The high-speed interfaces 356 include an FDDI interface 368 and

a multiport Ethernet interface 370. Preferably, each of these interfaces (low/medium

and high-speed) includes (1) ports for communication with the appropriate media, (2)

an independent processor, and in some instances (3) volatile RAM. The independent

processors control such communications intensive tasks as packet switching, media

control and management. By providing separate processors for the communications

intensive tasks, this architecture permits the master microprocessor 352 to efficiently

perform routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.

The low and medium speed interfaces 354 are coupled to the master CPU 352

through a data, control, and address bus 372. High-speed interfaces 356 are connected

to the bus 372 through a fast data, control, and address bus 374 which is in turn

connected to a bus controller 376.

Although the system shown in Fig. 3b is one type of router by which the

present invention may be implemented, it is by no means the only router architecture

by which the present invention may be implemented. For example, an architecture

having a single processor that handles communications as well as routing

computations, etc. would also be acceptable. Further, other types of interfaces and

media could also be used with the router.

Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more

memories or memory modules (including memory 360) configured to store program

instructions for the network operations and network access and control functions

described herein. The program instructions may specify an operating system and one

or more applications, for example. Such memory or memories may also be configured to store, for example, control information for controlling in-room control

systems, etc.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed to

implement the systems/methods described herein, the present invention relates to

machine readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for

performing various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable

media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks,

and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media

such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and

perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random

access memory (RAM). The invention may also be embodied in a carrier wave

travelling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines,

etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced

by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the

computer using an interpreter.

Referring back to Fig. 3b, HEM 124 has a plurality of ports 126 each of which

communicates with a corresponding IRM 104. HEM 124 has the ability to sense

when any of ports 126 are being used so that the hotel may bill the user accordingly.

This monitoring feature is also useful for technical support, network bandwidth

requirement estimates, billing estimates, and buying pattern data. HEM 124 also has

the capability of enabling and disabling individual ports 126. Where network 100 is

part of a wide area network (as discussed below), the monitoring, enabling, and

disabling of ports 126 may be done from a remote server at the center of the WAN.

As described above, each HEM port 126 (and thus the corresponding IRM 104) has a fixed IP address which may be configured using SNMP. The fixed IP

address of the HEM port 126 and the IRM 104 is assigned to the guest's computer

using DHCP. Alternatively, an address translation is performed between the

computer's internal IP address and the fixed IP address of IRM 104/HEM port 126.

HEM 124 has a small boot ROM 378 for basic IP communications and a large flash

ROM 380 for fully functional software and configuration data. This allows for remote

software upgrades using, for example, an encrypted protocol riding on top of IP.

According to various embodiments, HEM 124 also comprises transmission

circuitry 316 for transmitting and receiving data on a single twisted pair of

conductors. Thus, the Ethernet data which has been combined with the standard

telephone signals at IRM 104 may be picked off and reconfigured for transmission

according to standard Ethernet techniques. Also, data headed to IRM 104 may be

combined for transmission over the single twisted pair. As with transmission circuitry

308, transmission circuitry 316 may be implemented according to the home PNA

standard.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in a chain of hotels 502 according to one embodiment

of the invention. Using the internal infrastructure described above with reference to

Fig. 1, each hotel 502 has a local area network (LAN) (not shown) which provides

direct access to the Internet 504 for each of its guest rooms. According to this

embodiment, each hotel 502 must provide its own security in the form of a firewall

506 for the protection of its LAN.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the provision of high speed data and

Internet access to guest rooms in a chain of hotels 602 according to another embodiment of the invention. Using the internal infrastructure described above with

reference to Fig. 1 , each hotel 602 has a LAN (not shown) which is then connected

with other LANs in the other hotels 602 to form a wide area network (WAN) referred

to herein as a virtual private network (VPN) 604. According to a specific

embodiment, VPN 604 is built on an optical fiber backbone employing asynchronous

transfer mode (ATM) technology to transmit data packets. It will be understood

however that any of a variety of transmission protocols and infrastructures may be

employed to transmit data in such a network without departing from the scope of the

present invention. Such protocols may include but are not limited to frame relay,

Ethernet, and FDDI. Data are configured in the appropriate format as they leave each

hotel 602 by a framer (not shown) which may be part of or associated with each

hotel's router or file server.

The embodiment of Fig. 6 provides several advantages over the embodiment

described above with reference to Fig. 5. High speed access to the Internet requires

some form of connection to the Internet such as, for example, a Tl or T3 line. Not

only does such a connection require a hardware infrastructure to support it, it also

necessitates some form of protection for the network in the form of, for example, a

firewall. Thus, if each hotel property in a hotel chain were to be directly connected to

the Internet (as shown in Fig. 5), each property would need to have its own network

hardware infrastructure, firewall, and the technical and administrative staff and

functions to support the same. By contrast, with VPN 604. access to the Internet 606

is provided via a single network center (represented by remote network operation

center (NOC) server 608) at which one or more firewalls 610 and any other necessary

networking hardware and equipment may be located and managed. According to a specific embodiment, a redundant network center is provided in a different city than

the first against the event that one or the other goes down.

Having each hotel property directly connected to the Internet is problematic

for effecting control of the hotels from a central location. That is, the more each hotel

LAN is amenable to control from a central location, the more vulnerable it is to

hacking. With VPN 604, security is complete and centralized control is virtually

unlimited. This makes things like remote software upgrades convenient thus

eliminating what might otherwise be significant field service costs. In addition,

because much of the equipment is centrally located, the costly redundancy of

equipment and support functions at each hotel property made necessary by the

embodiment of Fig. 5 is avoided.

Another important benefit of VPN 604 relates to the management of globally

unique IP addresses. As mentioned above, there is a paucity of pools of globally

unique IP addresses which are sufficiently large to accommodate each host on the

networks of most medium to large size organizations. For example, one pool of class

C addresses accommodates less than 256 simultaneous users on a network. This

might be sufficient at most hotels much of the time, but it is clear that there are

foreseeable circumstances where it would not be. For example, as mentioned above,

if a 1200 room hotel hosted an Internet technologies seminar it is highly likely that

such a pool of addresses would not be sufficient. In addition, this scenario makes the

assumption that each property in a hotel chain (some comprising over 1000

properties) could procure a pool of class C addresses.

VPN 604 addresses this problem in that it spreads the IP address needs of each

of the hotel properties over the resources of the entire wide area network. Thus, for example, a single class B pool of addresses might be used to accommodate all of the

Internet access needs of an entire hotel chain even where the total number of rooms in

the chain far exceeds the number of available globally unique IP addresses. That is,

large bursts of IP address needs may occur simultaneously at dozens of the hotel

properties without exhausting the nearly 64,000 globally unique addresses available in

the class B pool.

Other secure services may also be provided via VPN 604. For example, video

teleconferencing-over-IP 612 and voice-over-IP communications 614 may be

provided to hotel guests. Moreover, by arranging access to VPN 604 by corporate

hosts 616, individual employees of those corporations can have secure access to their

employer's network from remote locations. Other services such as, for example,

property management services 618 may be provided to the management of hotels 602.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an auto-bauding technique which may be

employed with certain alternative embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a

flowchart 800 illustrating the same. Every transmission line in a hotel's wiring

infrastructure has different transmission characteristics due to its length and proximity

to sources of distortion. Therefore, according to a specific embodiment of the

invention in which an alternative to the home PNA standard is employed, IRM 702

and HEM 704 are operable to determine the maximum data rate for each guest room

individually. That is, instead of using a single rate to accommodate the slowest

transmission line in the network, each room is allowed a data rate which is the

maximum allowed by its transmission line. On power, IRM 702 goes to its lowest

baud rate, i.e., 128 kHz (802). HEM 704 transmits empty packets at 400 microsecond

intervals while IRM listens at its current baud rate (804). If communication is not established (806), an error message is generated notifying the network administrator

that IRM 702 is not operational (808). If, however, communication is established

(806), HEM 704 instructs IRM 702 to baud up to the next higher rate (810). If

communication is established at the next higher rate (812), HEM 704 again instructs

IRM 702 to baud up to the next higher rate (810). This occurs iteratively until a baud

rate is reached at which communication cannot be established. At that point, IRM 702

returns to the lowest baud rate (814) and HEM 704 instructs IRM 702 to baud up to

the highest baud rate at which communication was established (816). In this way,

data to an from IRM 702 will always be transmitted at the maximum allowable rate.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart 900 illustrating the customization of a guest room and the

transmission of control information to in-room systems via a hotel network. The

ability of the present invention to provide half duplex data to each guest room over a

single twisted pair connection provides additional advantages which are likely to

engender further hotel customer loyalty. In recent years, the hospitality industry has

been looking for customization solutions to tailor guest rooms to the needs and

preferences of the individual guest. The belief is that this would go a long way

toward creating the type of customer loyalty with the business traveler that airlines

have created with frequent flyer programs. The basic idea is that a hotel or hotel chain

keeps a database record for frequent guests in which a variety of parameters may be

specified such as, for example, room temperature, lighting, background music, etc.

Other customization options include various information services preferred by the

guest such as, for example, stock quotes, weather reports, entertainment calendars, etc.

When the guest checks in, the assigned room is then automatically configured to suit

that guest's preferences. One method of configuring the room automatically involves adjusting various

controls in the room via remote control signals such as, for example, radio frequency

(RF) or infrared signals. According to a specific embodiment of the invention, control

signals are sent to the IRM (e.g., IRM 104 of Figs. 1 and 3a) in the guest room via the

hotel network where they are converted to the appropriate form, e.g., RF, and used to

set the room controls appropriately. In this way, the room's thermostat, light controls,

and stereo controls may be set to provide a comfortable and familiar environment for

the newly arrived guest. And, because the present invention allows half duplex data

to be combined with standard telephone signals, the transmission of room control

signals may be done in this manner even where the hotel wiring consists of only

single twisted pair technology. In addition and as described above, digital audio and

video signals as well as digital information services may be sent to the room in the

same manner providing further customization capabilities. Thus, the guest room

customization solution of the present invention provides a powerful tool by which

individual hotels and hotel chains may engender greater customer loyalty and thereby

realize increased revenues.

Referring now to Fig. 9, a specific embodiment of the invention will now be

described. As described above, specific information for an individual guest is

maintained in a database record 901 either on the server of a specific hotel or on a

central remote server from which it may be downloaded to the specific hotel at which

the corresponding guest is scheduled to arrive or is actually checking in (902). As the

guest is checking in or in response to some other appropriate event, information

regarding the guest's room environment and other preferences in database record 901

is transmitted from the HEM to the IRM in the guest's assigned room (904). The information is transmitted via the hotel network which may comprise the hotel's

single twisted pair telephone wiring infrastructure. The in-room module then displays

some of the received information, e.g., stock quotes, and converts some of the

received information into an appropriate set of control signals, e.g., RF signals, for

communicating with the rooms various environmental controls (906). These

environmental controls may include, for example, the thermostat, lighting controls,

stereo controls, television controls, etc. The appropriate adjustments are then made to

the various systems in the guest room to provide the optimal environment specifically

suited to the stated preferences of the arriving guest (908).

Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a file server 1000 for use with various

embodiments of the present invention. File server 1000 may be used, for example, to

implement any of HEM 124 of Figs. 1 and 3a, firewall 506 of Fig. 5, and firewalls

610 and remote server 608 of Fig. 6. File server 1000 includes display 1002 and

keyboard 1004, and mouse 1006. Computer system 801 further includes subsystems

such as a central processor 1008, system memory 1010, fixed disk storage 1012 (e.g.,

hard drive), removable disk 1014 (e.g., CD-ROM drive), display adapter 1016, and

network interface 1018 over which LAN, WAN, and Internet communications may be

transmitted. File server 1000 operates according to network operating system

software and may perform other functions such as, for example, file and database

management. Other systems suitable for use with the invention may include

additional or fewer subsystems. For example, another system could include more

than one processor 1008 (i.e., a multi-processor system), or a cache memory (not

shown).

The system bus architecture of file server 1000 is represented by arrows 1020. However, these arrows are illustrative of any interconnection scheme serving to link

the subsystems. For example, a local bus could be utilized to connect the central

processor to the system memory. File server 1000 is but an example of a system

suitable for use with the invention. Other architectures having different

configurations of subsystems may also be utilized.

Various embodiments of the present invention may be used to provide special

levels of service to specific groups such as, for example, the attendees of a conference

at a hotel property. That is, conference attendees are identified when they connect to

the hotel network and are provided access to specific content and online services

which are related to the conference. Fig. 11 is a flowchart 1100 illustrating the

providing of such online conference services using various ones of the network

infrastructures described above such as, for example, the network environments of

Figs. 1, 3a, 3b, 5 and 6. A group identification number or tag is associated with each

of the attendees of a specific conference (1102). According to a specific embodiment,

this is accomplished by associating the network addresses of the IRMs in each of the

guest rooms occupied by one of the attendees with the group ID tag. Conference

specific services and content are then provided on the network (1104).

Conference services might include, for example, substantially real time voice

communication and/or video teleconferencing with other attendees of the conference.

Speakers or conference organizers may have software they want to distribute to

attendees electronically. Only conference attendees have access to such electronic

information. Conference specific content such as, for example, electronic copies of

papers presented at the conference as well as PowerPoint® presentations are provided.

Individual presenters at the conference can post follow up notes and answers to questions they were not able to get to during their presentation. Chat Rooms could be

provided in which, at the end of the day, conference members can get online from

their room to interact with other members. Only conference members would have

access to the chat room. This service allows conference attendees to discuss questions

and comments about the conference, talk about the sessions that were good and bad,

critique speakers, and in general exchange information with other attendees.

According to various embodiments, the chat rooms could be recorded and the

information provided to conference organizers to allow them to better serve their

members at future conferences. The real names of chat room participants may be

excluded from this information. Bulletin boards for the posting of information by any

conference attendee may also be provided. Discounted access to other services such

as, for example, entertainment and information services, may also be provided.

As described above with reference to Fig. 2, when a guest's computer connects

to an IRM in any one of the guest rooms, the network IP address associated with that

IRM is associated with the computer (1106). As discussed above, this association

could mean a DHCP assignment of the network IP address to the guest's computer

where the computer did not already have an internal IP address. It could also mean

that the internal IP address of the computer is translated into the network IP address.

This address assignment/translation may be effected by the IRM, the HEM, or a

remote server where the hotel is part of a virtual private network as described above

with reference to Fig. 6.

If the network IP address associated with a particular guest's computer is

associated with the group ID tag (1108), access to the conference specific services and

content are provided to the user of that computer (1110). If, on the other hand, the network IP address is not associated with the group ID (1108), access to the

conference specific services and content is blocked. The network IP address remains

associated with the guest's computer until the session ends, e.g., the computer is

disconnected from the IRM or powered down (1114).

The technique described above with reference to Fig. 11 could be used more

generally to restrict access to particular services, content, web sites, other networks,

etc. to specific identifiable groups. For example, when an employee of a particular

corporation checks into the hotel, the network IP address of the IRM in that

employee's room may be associated with a group ID tag which will enable access to

the corporation's computer (e.g., see computer host 616 of Fig. 6). As will be

understood, restriction of access to a variety of content and services in this manner

may be effected according to a variety of group identifications without departing from

the scope of the present invention.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference

to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that

changes in the form and details of the disclosed embodiments may be made without

departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, many of the

embodiments described herein have been described with reference to hotels. It will be

understood, however, that the techniques employed by the present invention may be

applied to a variety of structures and institutions such as, for example, schools, office

buildings, and the like. In addition, several embodiment described herein employ

single twisted pair wiring which is the standard telephone wiring found in most

buildings. However, it will be understood that the techniques described herein may be

implemented on any of a wide variety of wiring infrastructures including, for example, Ethernet and ATM systems. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be

determined with reference to the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for providing Internet access to a first computer via a first

one of a plurality of network access nodes in a network using a plurality of globally

unique IP addresses, the network access nodes each having a network address

associated therewith which is unique on the network, the first network access node

having a first network address associated therewith, the method comprising:

associating the first network address with the first computer while the first

computer is connected to the first network access node thereby providing access to the

network;

associating a first one of the globally unique IP addresses with the first

network address for conducting an Internet transaction; and

disassociating the first globally unique IP address from the first network

address upon termination of the Internet transaction, the first globally unique IP

address then being available for association with any of the network addresses.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first computer has an internal IP

address and associating the first network address with the first computer comprises

translating the internal IP address of the first computer to the first network address.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first computer does not have an

internal IP address and associating the first network address with the first computer

comprises assigning the first network address to the first computer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein associating the first globally unique IP

address with the first computer comprises employing a network address translation

protocol.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the plurality of globally unique IP

addresses comprises a pool comprising one of a plurality of class A, a plurality of

class B, or a plurality of class C IP addresses.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the network comprises a local area

network and the associating and disassociating of the first globally unique IP address

is done by a headend associated with the local area network.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the network comprises a wide area

is done by a remote server which controls the wide area network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein associating the first network address

with the first computer is done by the first network access node.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein portions of the network comprise a

single pair of conductors, the method further comprising transmitting half duplex data

and standard telephone signals substantially simultaneously over the single pair of

conductors.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein transmitting the half duplex data

comprises transmitting the half duplex data at a first frequency which is significantly

higher than a second frequency at which the standard telephone signals are

transmitted.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving control

information from the network for controlling a control system proximate to the first

network access node.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a first baud rate

for transmissions to and from the first network access node based on transmission

performance of a transmission line coupling the first network access node to the

network.

s

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the network comprises a master node,

the method further comprising:

establishing a connection between the first network access node and the master

node via the transmission line at a lowest baud rate;

attempting to establish connections between the first network access node and

o the master node via the transmission line at successively higher baud rates; and

setting the baud rate at a highest baud rate for which a connection between the

first network access node and the master node was established.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising: monitoring communications between the first computer and the network; and

generating a report describing the communications.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the report comprises billing

information.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the report comprises reliability

information.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one of receiving

entertainment information from the network for presentation on an entertainment

system associated with the first network access node, and receiving information

services data for presentation on a user interface associated with the first network

access node.

5

18. A method for providing access to a network via a first one of a

plurality of network access nodes in the network, the network access nodes each

having a network address associated therewith which is unique on the network, the

first network access node having a first network address associated therewith, the

o method comprising associating the first network address with a first computer while

the first computer is connected to the first network access node thereby providing

access to the network.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the first computer has an internal IP address and associating the first network address with the first computer comprises

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the first computer does not have an

comprises assigning the first network address to the first computer.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the network comprises a local area

network and the associating is done by a headend associated with the local area

network.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the network comprises a wide area

network and the associating is done by a remote server which controls the wide area

network.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the associating is done by the first

network access node.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein portions of the network comprise a

o single pair of conductors, the method further comprising transmitting half duplex data

conductors.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein transmitting the half duplex data comprises transmitting the half duplex data at a first frequency which is significantly

higher than a second frequency at which the standard telephone signals are

transmitted.

26. The method of claim 18 further comprising receiving control

information from the network for controlling a control system proximate to the

network access node.

27. The method of claim 18 further comprising determining a first baud

rate for transmissions to and from the first network access node based on transmission

network.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the network comprises a master node,

s the method further comprising:

establishing a connection between the first network access node and the master

node via the transmission line at a lowest baud rate;

attempting to establish connections between the first network access node and

the master node via the transmission line at successively higher baud rates; and

o setting the baud rate at a highest baud rate for which a connection between the

first network access node and the master node was established.

29. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

monitoring communications between the first computer and the network; and generating a report describing the communications.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the report comprises billing

information.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein the report comprises reliability

information.

32. The method of claim 18 further comprising receiving entertainment

information from the network for presentation on an entertainment system connected

to the first network access node.

33. A method for providing Internet access to a first computer via a first

one of a plurality of network access nodes in a plurality of networks using a plurality

of globally unique IP addresses, the network access nodes each having a network

address associated therewith which is unique among the plurality of networks, the first

network access node having a first network address associated therewith, the method

comprising:

interconnecting the plurality of networks with a remote server thereby forming

a wide area network, the globally unique IP addresses being associated with the

remote server;

associating the first network address with the first computer while the first

computer is connected to the first network access node;

associating a first one of the globally unique IP addresses with the first network address for conducting an Internet transaction; and

disassociating the first globally unique IP address from the first network

address then being available for association with any of the network addresses.

34. A method for providing access to a plurality of networks via a first one

of a plurality of network access nodes in the plurality of networks, the network access

nodes each having a network address associated therewith which is unique among the

plurality of networks, the first network access node having a first network address

associated therewith, the method comprising:

interconnecting the plurality of networks with a remote server thereby forming

a wide area network;

associating the first network address with a first computer while the first

wide area network.

35. A method for setting a parameter in a first room in a structure, the

structure having a network interconnecting a plurality of network access nodes which

facilitate access to the network, selected rooms in the structure having network access

nodes, the first room having a first network access node, the method comprising:

transmitting control information corresponding to the parameter to the first

network access node;

converting the control information into a control signal for controlling a

control system associated with the parameter in the first room; and controlling the control system to set the parameter in the first room in

accordance with the converted control signal.

36. A method for providing information services data in a first room in a

structure, the structure having a network interconnecting a plurality of network access

nodes which facilitate access to the network, selected rooms in the structure having

network access nodes, the first room having a first network access node, the method

comprising:

transmitting the information services data to the first network access node; and

display the information services data on a user interface associated with the

network access node.

37. A method for automatically customizing a first room in a structure for

an individual, the structure having a network interconnecting a plurality of network

s access nodes which facilitate access to the network, selected rooms in the structure

having network access nodes, the first room having a first network access node, the

method comprising:

generating a database record corresponding to the individual, the database

record comprising information corresponding to a room parameter setting; and

o prior to arrival of the individual to a room, transmitting the information to the

first network node via the network to effect automatic control of the room parameter

setting in accordance with the information.

38. A database record for use in automatically customizing rooms for an individual comprising information corresponding to a room parameter setting which

may be transmitted to a room prior to arrival of the individual to effect automatic

control of the room parameter setting in accordance with the information.

39. A network comprising:

a plurality of network access nodes each having a network address associated

therewith which is unique on the network, each network access node including a

processor which is operable to associate the associated network address with a

computer connected thereto, thereby providing access to the network for the

computer; and

a headend module for interconnecting the network access nodes.

40. A wide area network comprising:

a plurality of networks each comprising a plurality of network access nodes,

each network access node having a network address associated therewith which is

unique among the plurality of networks, each network access node including a

processor which is operable to associate the associated network address with a

computer connected thereto, thereby providing access to the wide area network for the

computer; and

a remote server for interconnecting the plurality of networks into the wide area

network.

41. A network access node for providing access to a network of which the

network access node is a part, the network access node having a network address associated therewith which is unique on the network, the network access node

comprising connection circuitry and a processor, the processor being operable to

associate the network address with a computer while the computer is connected to the

network access node via the connection circuitry thereby providing access to the

network.

42. The network access node of claim 41 wherein a portion of the network

connected to the network access node comprises a single pair of conductors, the

network access node comprising transmission circuitry for transmitting and receiving

half duplex data and standard telephone signals substantially simultaneously over the

single pair of conductors.

43. The network access node of claim 42 wherein the transmission

circuitry is operable to transmit and receive the half duplex at a first frequency which

is significantly higher than a second frequency at which the standard telephone signals

are transmitted.

44. The network access node of claim 41 wherein the connection circuitry

comprises first connection circuitry configured to connect with a standard telephone

jack, an RJ-11 port for connecting to a telephone, and an Ethernet port.

45. The network access node of claim 44 wherein the connection circuitry

further comprises a universal serial bus (USB) port, the network access node being

operable to convert signals received via the USB port to Ethernet signals for transmission according to the home Phone-line Networking Alliance standard.

46. The network access node of claim 44 wherein the connection circuitry

further comprises an iEEE 1394 port, the network access node being operable to

convert signals received via the iEEE 1394 port to Ethernet signals for transmission

according to the home Phone-line Networking Alliance standard.

47. The network access node of claim 44 wherein the connection circuitry

further comprises a digital data port for receiving any of digital audio signals, video

signals, and information services data.

48. The network access node of claim 41 comprising control circuitry for

receiving control information from the network for controlling a control system

proximate to the network access node.

49. The network access node of claim 48 wherein the control circuitry

comprises conversion circuitry for converting the control information to control

signals for controlling the control system.

o

50. The network access node of claim 49 wherein the conversion circuitry

converts the control signals to radio frequency (RF) signals.

51. The network access node of claim 41 further comprising a user

interface for displaying information to a user.

52. The network access node of claim 51 wherein the information

comprises status information regarding connection of the computer to the network.

53. The network access node of claim 51 wherein the information

comprises information services data.

54. A headend module for interconnecting a plurality of network access

nodes in a network, each network access node having a network address associated

therewith which is unique on the network, each network access node for providing

access to the network for a computer connected to the network access node, the

headend module comprising an operating system which is operable to associate the

network address associated with each network access node with the computer

connected thereto thereby providing access to the network.

55. The headend module of claim 54 wherein the operating system is

further operable to route data packets to and from the network access nodes.

56. The headend module of claim 54 wherein when the operating system

o associates the network address associated with each network access node with the

computer connected thereto it assigns the network address to the computer.

57. The headend module of claim 54 wherein when the operating system

associates the network address associated with each network access node with the computer connected thereto it translating an internal IP address associated with the

computer to the network address.

58. The headend module of claim 54 wherein a portion of the network

connected to a first network access node comprises a single pair of conductors, the

headend module further comprising transmission circuitry which is operable to

transmit and receive half duplex data and standard telephone signals substantially

simultaneously over the single pair of conductors.

59. The headend module of claim 58 wherein the transmission circuitry is

operable to transmit and receive the half duplex data at a first frequency which is

significantly higher than a second frequency at which the standard telephone signals

are transmitted.

5 60. A method for providing conference services over a network having a

plurality of users associated therewith, comprising:

associating a group identification tag with selected ones of the plurality of

users thereby identifying the selected users as attendees of the conference;

providing the conference services on the network; and

o restricting access to the conference services to the selected users using the

group identification tag.

61. The method of claim 60 wherein associating the group identification

tag with selected users comprises associating the group identification tag with network access nodes associated with the selected users.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein each network access node has a

network address associated therewith which is unique on the network, and wherein

associating the group identification tag with the network access nodes comprises

associating the group identification tag with the network addresses.

63. The method of claim 62 wherein restricting access to the conference

services comprises verifying that a particular network address from which a request

has been received has the group identification tag associated therewith before

providing access to the conference services.

64. The method of claim 60 wherein providing the conference services on

the network comprises providing access to conference data content to the selected

users via the network.

65. The method of claim 64 wherein the conference data content comprises

PowerPoint® presentation data.

o 66. The method of claim 64 wherein the conference data content comprises

electronic copies of written materials.

67. The method of claim 60 wherein providing the conference services on

the network comprises providing discounted access to entertainment content.

68. The method of claim 60 wherein providing the conference services on

the network comprises providing discounted access to information services.

69. The method of claim 60 wherein providing the conference services on

the network comprises providing substantially real time voice communication.

70. The method of claim 60 wherein providing the conference services on

the network comprises providing video teleconferencing services.

71. A method for providing conference services over a network having a

plurality of network access nodes each having a network address associated therewith

which is unique on the network, comprising:

associating the network addresses with computers associated with a plurality

s of users while the computers are connected to the network access nodes thereby

providing access to the network for each of the plurality of users;

associating a group identification tag with selected ones of the plurality of

users thereby identifying the selected users as attendees of a conference;

providing the conference services on the network; and

o restricting access to the conference services to the selected users using the

group identification tag.

72. The method of claim 71 wherein selected ones of the computers have

internal IP addresses and associating the network addresses with the selected computers comprises translating the internal IP addresses to the network addresses.

73. The method of claim 71 wherein selected ones of the computers do not

have internal IP addresses and associating the network addresses with the selected

computers comprises assigning the network addresses to the computers.

74. The method of claim 71 wherein the network comprises a local area

network and associating the network addresses is done by a headend associated with

the local area network.

75. The method of claim 71 wherein the network comprises a wide area

network and associating the network addresses is done by a remote server which

controls the wide area network.

76. The method of claim 71 wherein associating the network addresses is

done by the network access nodes.

77. A method for restricting access to content on network having a

plurality of users associated therewith, comprising:

associating a group identification tag with selected ones of the plurality of

users thereby identifying the selected users as members of a specific group;

providing the content on the network; and

restricting access to the content to the selected users using the group

identification tag.

78. The method of claim 77 wherein the specific group comprises

attendees of a conference.

79. The method of claim 78 wherein the specific group comprises

employees of a specific employer.