Method and apparatus for dynamically configuring customer premises network equipment

A computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for configuring a customer premises equipment connected to a network of a network service provider, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

• receiving, at each distributed component among a plurality of distributed components on the network, configuration information from a central configuration unit on the network, wherein the plurality of distributed components is associated with a particular provisioning group of customer premises equipment;
• maintaining, at each distributed component among the plurality of distributed components, a locally-stored configuration context based on the configuration information,
• wherein each locally-stored configuration context includes a static portion, an instruction portion, and a validity conditions portion, and
• wherein said instruction portion includes instructions that cause a processor at the distributed component to perform the step of generating a value of a parameter of the plurality of configuration parameters;
• and
• said step of generating the set of values further comprises executing the instructions on the processor;
• receiving, at one or more distributed components among the plurality of distributed components, from a particular customer premises equipment within the provisioning group, a request for values of a plurality of configuration parameters that determine network properties for the customer premises equipment;
• determining, based on utilization data that are associated with each distributed component, a selected distributed component among the plurality of distributed components to process the request;
• processing the request by generating, at the selected distributed component, a set of values for the plurality of configuration parameters based on the request and the locally-stored configuration context;
• and
• sending the set of values from the selected distributed component to the particular customer premises equipment.

An apparatus for configuring a customer premises equipment device that is connected to a network of a network service provider, comprising:

• a means for receiving, at each distributed component among a plurality of distributed components on the network, configuration information from a central configuration unit on the network, wherein the plurality of distributed components is associated with a particular provisioning group of customer premises equipment;
• a means for maintaining, at each distributed component among the plurality of distributed components, a locally-stored configuration context based on the configuration information,
• wherein each locally-stored configuration context includes a static portion, an instruction portion, and a validity conditions portion, and
• wherein said instruction portion includes instructions that cause a processor at the distributed component to perform the step of generating a value of a parameter of the plurality of configuration parameters;
• and
• said step of generating the set of values further comprises executing the instructions on the processor;
• a means for receiving, at one or more distributed components among the plurality of distributed components, from a particular customer premises equipment within the provisioning group, a request for values of a plurality of configuration parameters that determine network properties for the customer premises equipment;
• a means for determining, based on utilization data that are associated with each distributed component, a selected distributed component among the plurality of distributed components to process the request;
• a means for processing the request by generating, at the selected distributed component, a set of values for the plurality of configuration parameters, based on the request and the locally-stored configuration context;
• and
• a means for sending the set of values from the selected distributed component to the particular customer premises equipment.

A computer apparatus for configuring a customer premises equipment connected to a network of a network service provider, comprising:

• a network interface that is coupled to the network for sending and receiving one or more packet flows thereon;
• a processor;
• one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of:
• receiving, at each distributed component among a plurality of distributed components on the network, configuration information from a central configuration unit on the network, wherein the plurality of distributed components is associated with a particular provisioning group of customer premises equipment;
• maintaining, at each distributed component among the plurality of distributed components, a locally-stored configuration context based on the configuration information,
• wherein each locally-stored configuration context includes a static portion, an instruction portion, and a validity conditions portion, and
• wherein said instruction portion includes instructions that causes a processor at the distributed component to perform the step of generating a value of a parameter of the plurality of configuration parameters;
• and
• said step of generating the set of values further comprises executing the instructions on the processor;
• receiving, at one or more distributed components among the plurality of distributed components, from a particular customer premises equipment within the provisioning group, a request for values of a plurality of configuration parameters that determine network properties for the customer premises equipment;
• determining, based on utilization data that are associated with each distributed component, a selected distributed component among the plurality of distributed components to process the request;
• processing the request by generating, at the selected distributed component, a set of values for the plurality of configuration parameters, based on the request and the locally-stored configuration context;
• and
• sending the set of values from the selected distributed component to the particular customer premises equipment.

A system for dynamically configuring customer premises equipment connected to a network of a network service provider, comprising:

• the network;
• a central configuration unit comprising a central configuration unit processor connected to the network;
• a plurality of sets of one or more distributed components comprising distributed component processors connected to the network, each set associated with a respective group of a plurality of groups of one or more customer premises equipments;
• wherein,
• the central configuration unit processor is configured to carry out the steps of:
• generating and storing, at a central configuration unit on the network, a configuration context for a plurality of groups of customer premises equipments, wherein the configuration context comprises zero or more elements of configuration information for each customer premises equipment in each of the plurality of groups;
• determining whether to synchronize the configuration context stored at the central configuration unit for a particular group of the plurality of group;
• and
• if it is determined to synchronize the configuration context for the particular group, sending the configuration context for the particular group to the set of one or more distributed components associated with the particular group,
• wherein each distributed component of the set of one or more distributed components maintains at least one locally-stored configuration context,
• wherein each locally-stored configuration context includes a static portion, an instruction portion, and a validity conditions portion, and
• wherein said instruction portion includes instructions that causes a processor at the distributed component to perform the step of generating a value of a parameter of the plurality of configuration parameters;
• and
• said step of generating the set of values further comprises executing the instructions on the processor;
• and
• each distributed component processor is configured to carry out the steps of:
• receiving, at one or more distributed components among the set of one or more distributed components, from a customer premises equipment a request for values of a plurality of configuration parameters that determine network properties for the customer premises equipment;
• determining, based on utilization data that are associated with each distributed component, a selected distributed component among the plurality of distributed components to process the request;
• processing the request by generating, at the selected distributed component, a set of values for the plurality of configuration parameters, based on the request and the locally-stored configuration context;
• and
• sending the set of values from the selected distributed component to the particular customer premises equipment.