Software defined networking in a cable TV system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9628828-B2
Application number	US-201514970004-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2015
Priority date	Dec 15, 2014
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods presented herein provide for a software defined network (SDN) controller in a cable television system that virtualizes network elements in the cable television system to provide content delivery and data services through the virtualized network elements. In one embodiment, the SDN controller is operable in a cloud computing environment to balance data traffic through the virtualized network elements. For example, the SDN controller may process a request for content from a user equipment (UE), determine a bandwidth capability of the UE, determine that bandwidth of the requested content exceeds the bandwidth capability of the UE, analyze the bandwidth capacity of the network elements, generate a virtual channel through the network elements based on the bandwidth capacity of the network elements, and to deliver the content to the UE through the virtualized channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cable television system, comprising:
a cable modem termination system (CMTS) operable to deliver content and data services to a plurality of subscribers of the cable television system;
a plurality of network elements operable to deliver the content to the CMTS; and
a software defined network (SDN) controller operable within a cloud computing environment that is communicatively coupled to the CMTS,
wherein the SDN controller is operable to virtualize the network elements in the cloud computing environment to balance data traffic through the virtualized network elements,
wherein the SDN controller is further operable to process a request for content from a user equipment (UE), to determine a bandwidth capability to the UE, to determine that bandwidth of the requested content exceeds the bandwidth capability to the UE, to analyze the bandwidth capacity of the network elements, to generate a virtual channel through the network elements based on the bandwidth capacity of the network elements, and to deliver the content to the UE through the virtualized channel.

2. The cable television system of claim 1 , wherein:
the SDN controller is operable to determine if the UE is a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) compliant device.

3. A method operable in a cable television system, the method comprising:
operating a software defined network (SDN) controller within a cloud computing environment, wherein the SDN controller is communicatively coupled to a cable modem termination system (CMTS) operable to deliver content and data services to a plurality of subscribers of the cable television system;
virtualizing a plurality of network elements of the cable television system in the cloud computing environment via the SDN controller to balance data traffic through the virtualized network elements;
processing a request for content from a user equipment (UE);
determining a bandwidth capability to the UE;
determining that bandwidth of the requested content exceeds the bandwidth capability to the UE;
analyzing the bandwidth capacity of the network elements;
generating a virtual channel through the network elements based on the bandwidth capacity of the network elements; and
delivering the content to the UE through the virtualized channel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the SDN controller is operable to determine if the UE is a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) compliant device.

5. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when directed by a processor in the cable television system, direct the processor to:
operate a software defined network (SDN) controller within a cloud computing environment, wherein the SDN controller is communicatively coupled to a cable modem termination system (CMTS) operable to deliver content and data services to a plurality of subscribers of the cable television system;
virtualize a plurality of network elements of the cable television system in the cloud computing environment via the SDN controller to balance data traffic through the virtualized network elements;
process a request for content from a user equipment (UE);
determine a bandwidth capability to the UE;
determine that bandwidth of the requested content exceeds the bandwidth capability to the UE;
analyze the bandwidth capacity of the network elements;
generate a virtual channel through the network elements based on the bandwidth capacity of the network elements; and
deliver the content to the UE through the virtualized channel.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein:
the SDN controller is operable to determine if the UE is a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) compliant device.

Assignees

• Cable Television Laboratories Inc

Inventors

• Kim James
• Sundaresan Karthik
• Kee Thomas

Classifications

• H04N21/643

  Communication protocols {(network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65)} · CPC title

• H04N21/6118

  involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem · CPC title

• H04N21/2385

  Channel allocation (H04N21/266 takes precedence); Bandwidth allocation (H04N21/24 takes precedence {; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16}) · CPC title

• H04N21/2402

  Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available (traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876) · CPC title

• H04N21/23103 Primary

  using load balancing strategies, e.g. by placing or distributing content on different disks, different memories or different servers (storage management G06F3/0604; allocation of resources considering the load in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/505; techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system G06F9/5083; access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. load balancing, in data networks H04L67/1001) · CPC title