Systems and Methods of Discovering Illegal Service Appropriation
AssigneeCox Communications, Inc.
InventorKinney Chapman Bacon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ranging function provides the location of a set top box (STB) in a telecommunications system. The distance in time from a cable modem termination system (CMTS) to the STB is a fixed time. This time determines a ranging value. To determine the ranging value, a ranging signal is sent from the CMTS to the STB. The STB, immediately upon receiving the ranging signal, transmits a return signal, which is received by the CMTS. The CMTS measures this time, and determines the ranging value. An account may be validated by comparing the ranging value to an expected value.
Claims19
A method comprising:
- sending a ranging signal to a plurality of customer premises equipment (CPE) for a subscriber account;
- receiving return signals from the plurality of CPE;
- measuring the time from the sending to the receiving for each of the return signals;
- saving ranging values based on the times;
- and
- validating the subscriber account if the ranging values are within a specified tolerance of each other.
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A system comprising:
- a transmitter configured to transmit a ranging signal to a plurality of customer premises equipment (CPE) for a subscriber account;
- a receiver configured to receive return signals from the plurality of CPE;
- a timer configured to measure the time between the transmit by the transmitter and the receive by the receiver for each of the return signals;
- and
- a processor configured to save ranging values based on the times and to validate the subscriber account if the ranging values are within a specified tolerance of each other.
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A tangible computer readable medium comprising software, the software comprising instructions for:
- sending a ranging signal to a plurality of customer premises equipment (CPE) for a subscriber account;
- receiving return signals from the plurality of CPE;
- measuring the time from the sending to the receiving for each of the return signals;
- saving ranging values based on the times;
- and
- validating the subscriber account if the ranging values are within a specified tolerance of each other.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.