Methods for testing cable modems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11140062-B2
Application number	US-201916413434-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2019
Priority date	May 15, 2018
Publication date	Oct 5, 2021
Grant date	Oct 5, 2021

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user may select a cable modem (CM) at a graphical user interface (GUI) of a network device for testing. The network device may receive the indication of a selected query from GUI and transmit the selected query to the CM. The network device may receive a response message from the CM and compare the response message to an expected response message. The network device may generate a report indicating a status of the CM based on the comparing. The status of the CM may relate to a compliance of the CM to a standard. Additionally or alternatively, the status of the CM may indicate a performance level of the CM.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for testing a cable modem (CM), the method comprising:
receiving an indication of a selected query from a plurality of queries for transmission to the CM, the selected query comprising a test for determining a compliance between the CM and a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS 3.1);
transmitting, by a network, the selected query to the CM based at least in part on receiving the indication of the selected query;
receiving a response message from the CM based at least in part on transmitting the selected query;
generating an expected response message identifying requirements for satisfying the test for determining the compliance between the CM and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification;
comparing the received response message to the expected response message to determine whether the received response message meets the requirements identified in the expected response message; and
generating a report indicating a status of the CM, the status of the CM signifying whether the CM meets the requirements for satisfying the test for determining the compliance between the CM and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification,
wherein, the expected response message includes an expected management information base (MIB) module, the received response message includes a received MIB module, and the expected MIB module is compared with the received MIB module to determine the compliance between the CM and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, wherein the MIB module comprise a modulation error ratio signal quality measurement for proactive network maintenance.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying one or more parameters associated with the CM, wherein the requirements for satisfying the test identified in the expected response message are based at least in part on the one or more parameters.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the expected response message comprises at least one of the one or more parameters.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the one or more parameters comprises:
querying, by the network, a cable modem termination system (CMTS) associated with the CM using a media access control (MAC) address associated with the CM; and
receiving, from the CMTS, the one or more parameters, the one or more parameters being automatically identified.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise an internet protocol (IP) address, a channel identifier, frequency information, a release indicator, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a value based at least in part on the received response message.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the received response message meets the requirements identified in the expected response message comprises determining that the received response message substantially matches the expected response message.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a second indication of a second selected query from the plurality of queries; and
transmitting the second selected query to the CM, wherein the report is based at least in part on the selected query and the second selected query.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising indicating a noise source for the expected response message.

10. A method for assessing a plurality of cable modems (CMs), the method comprising:
transmitting a query to the plurality of CMs, the query comprising a test for determining compliance between the CM and a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.1,
receiving, from one or more of the plurality of CMs, at least one response to the query;
generating an expected response identifying requirements for satisfying a test for determining a compliance between the one or more of the plurality of CMs and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification;
comparing the at least one response to the expected response to determine whether the one or more of the plurality of CMs complies with the DOCSIS 3.1 specification;
generating a report indicating a status of the one or more of the plurality of CMs based at least in part on the at least one response, the status of the one or more of the plurality of CMs signifying whether the one or more of the plurality of CMs complies with the DOCSIS 3.1 specification; and
determining a level of performance of the one or more of the plurality of CMs based at least in part on the report;
wherein, the report includes an expected management information base (MIB) module, the received response message includes a received MIB module, and the expected MIB module is compared with the received MIB module to determine whether the plurality of CMs complies with the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, wherein the MIB module comprise a modulation error ratio signal quality measurement for proactive network maintenance.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting the report, wherein determining the level of performance is based at least in part on transmitting the report.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising identifying one cable modem (CM) of the plurality of CMs with a particular level of performance below a threshold level of performance.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising identifying a group of CMs of the plurality of CMs with a particular level of performance below a threshold level of performance.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the group of CMs are associated with a particular geographical area.

15. A method for testing a cable modem (CM) for a compliance to a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS 3.1), the method comprising:
identifying one or more parameters associated with the CM;
transmitting, by a network, a query to the CM based at least in part on the one or more parameters, the query comprising a test for determining the compliance between the CM and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification;
receiving, from the CM, a management information base (MIB) module in response to the query;
determining an expected MIB module based at least in part on the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, the one or more parameters, and the received MIB module;
wherein, the expected MIB module is compared with the received MIB module to determine the compliance between the CM and the DOCSIS 3.1 specification, wherein the MIB module comprise a modulation error ratio signal quality measurement for proactive network maintenance;
in response to comparing the expected MIB module with the received MIB module, generating a report indicating the compliance of the CM to the DOCSIS 3.1 specification.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the expected MIB module complies with the DOCSIS standard.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein identifying the one or more parameters further comprises automatically identifying the one or more parameters based at least in part on querying a cable modem termination system (CMTS) associated with the CM.

Assignees

• Cable Television Laboratories Inc

Inventors

• Rupe Jason W
• Knittle Curtis D
• Zhu Jingjie
• Phillips John

Classifications

• H04L41/0893

  Assignment of logical groups to network elements · CPC title

• H04L43/50 Primary

  Testing arrangements · CPC title

• H04L12/2801 Primary

  Broadband local area networks · CPC title

• H04L69/40

  for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection (management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06) · CPC title

• H04L41/22

  comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI] · CPC title