Managing network access based on ranging information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016173192-A1
Application number	US-201414567781-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 11, 2014
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus for restricting use of a network element outside an authorized location range are disclosed. In one aspect a method includes obtaining, for a network element of a passive optical network, an identifier and ranging information corresponding to a present location of the network element; identifying, from a database and based on the identifier of the network element, stored ranging information specifying a previous location of the network element; determining, based on a comparison of the ranging information with the stored ranging information, that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount; and outputting an alert in response to determining that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
obtaining, for a network element of a passive optical network, an identifier and ranging information corresponding to a present location of the network element; identifying, from a database and based on the identifier of the network element, stored ranging information specifying a previous location of the network element; determining, based on a comparison of the ranging information with the stored ranging information, that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount; and outputting an alert in response to determining that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranging information comprises one or both of delay information or distance information between the network element and a network distribution element.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting an alert comprises sending an alarm signal to alert a service provider that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising disabling communication with the network element based on the determination that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount comprises determining that the ranging information differs from the stored ranging information by more than a threshold that corresponds to a specified distance.

6 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining, based on updated ranging information that the network element has been returned to a location that is within a specified distance of a location corresponding to the stored ranging information; and enabling communication with the network element.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining ranging information of a network element comprises:
transmitting a ranging request to the network element; receiving a ranging response from the network element; determining a round-trip delay between transmitting the ranging request and receiving the ranging response; and determining the ranging information based on the round-trip delay.

8 . A device, comprising:
a memory storing identifiers and ranging information of at least one network element of a passive optical network; and one or more optical network devices that interact with the memory and execute instructions that cause the device to be configured to:
obtain, for a network element of the passive optical network, an identifier and ranging information corresponding to a present location of the network element;
identify, from a database and based on the identifier of the network element, stored ranging information specifying a previous location of the network element;
determine, based on a comparison of the ranging information with the stored ranging information, that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount; and
output an alert in response to determining that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount.

9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the ranging information comprises one or both of delay information or distance information between the network element and a network distribution element.

10 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device configured to output an alert comprises the device configured to send an alarm signal to alert a service provider that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

11 . The device of claim 8 , further configured to disable communication with the network element based on the determination that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

12 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device configured to determine that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount comprises the device configured to determine that the ranging information differs from the stored ranging information by more than a threshold that corresponds to a specified distance.

13 . The device of claim 8 , further configured to:
determine, based on updated ranging information that the network element has been returned to a location that is within a specified distance of a location corresponding to the stored ranging information; and enable communication with the network element.

14 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device configured to obtain ranging information of a network element comprises the device configured to:
transmit a ranging request to the network element; receive a ranging response from the network element; determine a round-trip delay between transmitting the ranging request and receiving the ranging response; and determine the ranging information based on the round-trip delay.

15 . A system, comprising:
at least one network element of an optical network; and a network distribution element of the optical network including one or more data processing devices configured to:
obtain, for a network element of the optical network, an identifier and ranging information corresponding to a present location of the network element;
identify, from a database and based on the identifier of the network element, stored ranging information specifying a previous location of the network element;
determine, based on a comparison of the ranging information with the stored ranging information, that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount; and
output an alert in response to determining that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the network distributing element comprises an optical line terminal (OLT) and the network element comprises one or more of an optical network unit (ONU), an optical network terminal (ONT), or customer-premises equipment (CPE).

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the ranging information comprises one or both of delay information or distance information between the network element and the network distribution element.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more data processing devices configured to output an alert comprises the one or more data processing devices configured to send an alarm signal to alert a service provider that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

19 . The system of claim 15 , the one or more data processing devices further configured to disable communication with the network element based on the determination that the location of the network element has changed more than the specified amount.

20 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more data processing devices configured to determine that the location of the network element has changed more than a specified amount comprises the one or more data processing devices configured to determine that the ranging information differs from the stored ranging information by more than a threshold that corresponds to a specified distance.

21 . The system of claim 15 , the one or more data processing devices further configured to:
determine, based on updated ranging information that the network element has been returned to a location that is within a specified distance of a location corresponding to the stored ranging information; and enable communication with the

Assignees

• Adtran Inc

Inventors

• Wilson Arlynn W
• Dieselberg Chad Anthony
• Williams Philip David

Classifications

• H04Q11/0067 Primary

  Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring · CPC title

• H04Q2011/0064

  Arbitration, scheduling or medium access control aspects · CPC title

• H04B10/07 Primary

  Arrangements for monitoring or testing transmission systems; Arrangements for fault measurement of transmission systems · CPC title