System, method and computer program product for residential gateway monitoring and control
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorCharles E Anderson, IV
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system, method and computer program product is provided that allows an end user to monitor and/or control various data streams appearing on one or more customer premises equipment (CPE) interfaces of a residential gateway, even where the data streams are of different types such as voice, video or computer data. The invention provides a user interface, implemented as part of a CPE device or as a stand-alone device, that is accessed by an end user to transmit commands to a residential gateway. A processor within the residential gateway executes gateway monitoring and control software that receives the commands and, in response, performs the necessary routing and conversion of data streams to execute the desired monitoring and/or control functions.
Claims40
A residential gateway, comprising:
- a network interface;
- a first customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- a second customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- and
- a processor coupled to said network interface, said first CPE interface and said second CPE interface, said processor configured to receive data from an external network via said network interface, to generate from said data a first data stream of a first data type and a second data stream of a second data type, to provide said first data stream to a first external customer premises equipment (CPE) device via said first CPE interface, and to provide said second data stream to a second external customer premises equipment (CPE) device via said second CPE interface, wherein said second data type is different from said first data type;
- wherein said processor is further configured to receive a first command from said first CPE device via said first CPE interface and, in response to receiving said first command, to provide a copy of said second data stream to said first CPE device via said first CPE interface by multiplexing said copy of said second data stream with said first data stream.
A method for controlling a residential gateway, comprising:
- (a) receiving data from a network via a network interface;
- (b) generating a first data stream of a first data type from said data;
- (c) generating a second data stream of a second data type from said data, wherein said second data type is different from said first data type;
- (d) providing said first data stream to a first customer premises equipment (CPE) device via a first customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- (e) providing said second data stream to a second customer premises equipment (CPE) device via a second customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- (f) receiving a first command from said first CPE device via said first CPE interface;
- and
- (g) in response to receiving said first command, providing a copy of said second data stream to said first CPE device via said first CPE interface by multiplexing said copy of said second data stream with said first data stream.
A computer program product comprising a tangible computer readable medium having computer executable instructions recorded thereon for enabling a computer to execute a residential gateway control method, the method comprising:
- receiving from a network via a network interface;
- generating a first data stream of a first data type from said data;
- generating a second data stream of a second data type from said data, wherein said second data type is different from said first data type;
- providing said first data stream to a first customer premises equipment (CPE) device via a first customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- providing said second data stream to a second customer premises equipment (CPE) device via a second customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- receiving a first command from said first CPE device via said first CPE interface;
- and
- providing, in response to receiving said first command, a copy of said second data stream to said first CPE device via said first CPE interface by multiplexing said copy of said second data stream with said first data stream.
A residential gateway, comprising:
- a network interface;
- a first customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- a second customer premises equipment (CPE) interface;
- and
- processing means, coupled to said network interface, said first CPE interface and said second CPE interface, for receiving data from an external network via said network interface, for generating from said data a first data stream of a first data type and a second data stream of a second data type, for providing said first data stream to a first external customer premises equipment (CPE) device via said first CPE interface, and for providing said second data stream to a second external customer premises equipment (CPE) device via said second CPE interface, wherein said second data type is different from said first data type;
- wherein said processing means comprises gateway monitoring and control means for receiving a first command from said first CPE device via said first CPE interface and for providing, in response to receiving said first command, a copy of said second data stream to said first CPE device via said first CPE interface by multiplexing said copy of said second data stream with said first data stream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.