Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing
Utility Patent
1998-06-12
2001-01-02
Kostak, Victor R. (Department: 2711)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
C709S248000
Utility Patent
active
06170005
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing synchronization and information exchange in a network. The invention is particularly suitable for use with satellite uplink or headend components in a conditional access television communication network.
The following acronyms are used in this application:
SNMP
Simple network management protocol
CA
Conditional Access
CCITT
International Telegraph And Telephone
Consultative Committee (Translation)
CMIP
Common Management Information Protocol
CORBA
Common Object Request Broker Architecture
C(P)SI
Custom and/or Program Specific Information
CPSIM
Custom Program Specific Information Manager
CSI
Custom Service Information
CWG
Control Word Generator
DVB
Digital Video Broadcast
ECMG
Entitlement Control Message Generator
EFD
Event Forwarding Discriminator
EIS
Event Information Scheduler
EIT
Event Information Table
EMM
Entitlement Management Message
IIOP
Internet Inter ORB Protocol (a CORBA
protocol)
IP
Internet Protocol
ITU
International Telecommunications Union
LAN
Local Area Network
MIB
Management Information Base
NIT
Network Information Table
OO
Object Oriented
ORB
Object Request Broker
OSI
Open Systems Interconnection
PAT
Program Association Table
PDG
Private Data Generator
PMT
Program Map Table
PSI
Program Specific Information
PSIG
PSI Generator
RMI
Remote Method Invocation
RST
Running Status Table
SDT
Service Description Table
SI
Service Information
SMI
Structure of Management Information
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol
TCP
Transaction Control Protocol
TDT
Time Date Table
TLI
Transport Layer Interface
TMN
Telecommunications Management Network
TP
Transport Protocol
UDP
User Datagram Protocol
WAN
Wide Area Network
The synchronization and information exchange between headend and uplink components in broadband multimedia distribution networks is conventionally realized through a variety of custom communications protocols. Examples include protocols between generators of Entitlement Management Messages (EMMs) for Conditional Access (CA) Systems and other uplink/headend equipment which multiplexes those messages into the transport streams. Other examples include headends/uplinks with multiple Conditional Access Systems.
However, there is a need to enable information flow and synchronization between components within CA Systems and the headend/uplink. An example is the protocol between CA MPEG Program Specific Information (PSI) components (these are typically named Custom PSI-CPSI) and headend PSI components. For example, a headend of a cable television (CATV) network may receive video data from different programming services, e.g., ABC, CBS, CNN, HBO, NBC and the like, where the PSI components are specific to each programming service. Another example is the protocols between CA DVB Service Information (SI) components and headend SI components. These interfaces are typically referred to as Custom SI-CSI-SI interfaces.
Custom communications protocols using any of the standard data transport protocols such as OSI TP 0-4 or the standard Internet UDP or TCP protocols and Socket or TLI abstractions are rather complex. They take a long time to implement and integrate into systems (e.g., one to two years) and remain proprietary and therefore are difficult to maintain and upgrade.
The present invention avoids the need to define and implement new communications protocols through a combination of techniques from the so-called “network management” operations and control paradigm. In particular, already implemented management protocols are used, such as the Internet Simple Network Management protocol (SNMP), in combination with ITU-T X.700 event reporting and logging functions to solve problems with component synchronization and information exchange. More particularly, X.731 (state management), X.733 (alarm management), X.734 (event management), and X.735 (log management) are used within the non ITU-T framework to synchronize and exchange information between headend/uplink components or between headend/uplink and CA System components.
This approach advantageously combines the benefits of the sophisticated X.700 techniques with the simplicity of management frameworks such as SNMP while avoiding the high implementation cost of X.700 and the limited functionality of SNMP style frameworks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing synchronization and information exchange in a network. The method allows a management entity component, such as a computer workstation operated at a control center, to coordinate the actions of different agent components, such as hardware used at the headend or uplink site of a television network. In particular, the agent components may be hardware (e.g., including firmware and software) used to provide conditional access to a television signal.
The invention is particularly suited for use in a broadband communication network, such as a CATV network or satellite broadcast network, that provides a digital broadcast data stream to a decoder population.
This hardware provides various forms of data that controls an end user's ability to access the television or other data. For example, with a tiered marketing scheme, only users who pay an additional fee can access specific premium programs. To implement such a scheme, it is necessary to provide conditional access data such as private data, entitlement management messages, program-specific information, and entitlement control messages with the transmitted programming.
While the use of such conditional access data is known, the present invention provides a system for managing and coordinating the insertion of the conditional access data into the transmitted programming stream using a network management operations and control paradigm.
A method for providing communication between first and second headend, uplink and/or conditional access agent components (e.g., agents) and a management component (e.g., manager) thereof in a communication network includes the step of providing respective management information bases (MIBs) for the first and second agent components and the management component. The MIB includes managed objects that represent managed resources. The first and second agent components update the respective MIBs with information of the communication network. For example, an agent may receive information regarding a new television program that requires conditional access data, in which case the agent makes a data entry in its MIB that corresponds to the new program.
The management component periodically reads the MIBs of the first and second agent components to obtain the updated information therefrom, and store the updated information in its respective MIB. Furthermore, the management component provides information to the MIBs of the first and second agent components to synchronize an insertion of data into a digital broadcast data stream by the first and second agent components. For example, a component may create and insert Conditional Access Systems specific information into an MPEG transport stream. Essentially, the management component and the first and second agent components are synchronized with one another.
The first agent component may advertise event schedule information of the communication network by making the event schedule information available to the management component and the second agent component via the first agent component's respective MIB.
The method may include the further step of transmitting event reporting information from the management component to at least the first agent component to allow the first agent component to implement an event reporting procedure. The event reporting information defines pre-conditions for the first agent component to declare an event. The pre-conditions may relate to a value or state change of a parameter that is monitored by the agent. For example, a pre-condition for generating an event may be that a MIB variable has crossed a specified threshold, or a state of the agent has been changed.
The ag
Hoppin Ralph F.
Kostak Victor R.
Lipsitz Barry R.
Motorola Inc.
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