Methods for determining localized outages and distributed signal verification of set-top boxes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769471-B2
Application number	US-201514590216-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2015
Priority date	Jan 6, 2015
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments disclose systems and methods for testing and determining outages of communication systems. A server can receive signal-reception-related information from set-top boxes (STBs) in a particular geographical region, where a STB: receives signals having a predefined pattern, generates a comparison of the predefined pattern to reference patterns stored on the STB, generates the signal-reception-related information based on the comparison, and sends the signal-reception-related information. The server can determine an outage status for the particular geographical region based on the signal-reception-related information. The server can generate an output based on the outage status. The output is configured to provide information related to the outage status of the particular geographical region and information for possible responses related to the outage status. The server can send the output.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a server, signal-reception-related information provided by a plurality of set-top boxes, wherein one or more set-top boxes of the plurality of set-top boxes are located in a particular geographical region, and wherein the signal-reception-related information for a particular set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes comprises location information;
determining, by the server, whether the particular set-top box is located in the particular geographical region based on the location information;
after determining that the particular set-top box is located in the particular geographical region:
determining, by the server, whether the particular set-top box is undergoing an outage based on the signal-reception-related information for the particular set-top box, and
in response to determining that the particular set-top box is undergoing an outage, incrementing, by the server, a number of down set-top boxes in the particular geographical region;

determining an outage status for the particular geographical region using the server, wherein the outage status is based on the number of down set-top boxes in the particular geographical region;
generating an output of the server, wherein the output is configured to provide information related to the outage status of the particular geographical region and information for possible responses related to the outage status;
providing the output from the server, wherein the output is provided via a voice message to a telephone number of a communication device associated with a target set-top box located in the particular geographical region; and
determining, by the server for the particular geographical region, a testing rate having a first frequency for receiving the signal-reception-related information, wherein the testing rate is determined based on the outage status for the particular geographical region,
wherein the first frequency is different than a second frequency for receiving other signal-reception-related information for another geographical region in which one or more of the set-top boxes of the plurality of set-top boxes is located.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the outage status for the particular geographical region comprises:
updating an outage-status value for the particular geographical region based on the signal-reception-related information provided by one or more set-top boxes located in the particular geographical region;
after determining that the outage-status value exceeds a first threshold value, setting the outage status to possibly degraded;
determining one or more possible causes for an outage;
determining a cause status for at least one possible cause for the outage of the one or more possible causes; and
determining a first cause for the outage based on the cause statuses for at least one possible cause for the outage.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the outage status for the particular geographical region further comprises:
after determining that the outage-status value does not exceed the first threshold value and does exceed a second threshold value:
setting the outage status to degraded;
determining one or more possible causes for an outage;
determining a cause status for at least one possible cause for the outage of the one or more possible causes for the outage; and
determining a second cause of an outage based on the cause statuses for the at least one possible cause for the outage.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more possible causes for the outage are each selected from a group of causes consisting of: a meteorologically-related cause, a satellite-related cause, a terrestrial-network-related cause, a network-traffic-related cause, and a solar-radiation-related cause.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the outage status for the particular geographical region further comprises:
after determining that the outage-status value does not exceed the second threshold value, setting the outage status to normal.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the output of the server comprises:
determining whether the outage status is set to degraded;
after determining that the outage status is set to degraded, generating an output to indicate an outage is occurring and to provide a cause for the outage;
otherwise, determining whether the outage status is set to possibly degraded; and
after determining that the outage status is set to possibly degraded, generating an output to indicate the outage status and a cause for the outage.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the testing rate is based on an outage-status value for the particular geographical region associated with the outage status for the particular geographical region.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein receiving signal-reception-related information comprises:
sending one or more requests for the signal-reception-related information to the one or more set-top boxes located in the particular geographical region at the testing rate for receiving signal-reception-related information; and
in response to the one or more requests for the signal-reception-related information, receiving one or more messages from the one or more set-top boxes within the particular geographical region, wherein the one or more messages include the signal-reception-related information.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein receiving signal-reception-related information comprises:
sending the testing rate for receiving signal-reception-related information to a set-top box within the particular geographical region; and
receiving one or more messages from the set-top box within the particular geographical region at the testing rate for receiving signal-reception-related information, wherein the one or more messages include the signal-reception-related information.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein providing the output further comprises one or more of: providing the output via a web site, providing the output via an e-mail, and providing the output via a text message.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving signal-reception-related information comprises receiving signal-reception-related information from a first set-top box of the one or more set-top boxes located in the particular geographical region.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving signal-reception-related information from the first set-top box comprises:
receiving one or more signals at the first set-top box, wherein the one or more signals comprise a predefined pattern of data, wherein the first set-top box stores one or more reference patterns of data;
generating a comparison between data in the predefined pattern of received one or more signals and data in at least one reference pattern of the one or more reference patterns using the first set-top box;
generating signal-reception-related information based on the comparison using the first set-top box; and
sending a message from the first set-top box, wherein the message comprises the signal-reception-related information.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving a request to provide the signal-reception-related information at the first set-top box;
wherein the message comprises a response to the request to provide the signal-reception-related information.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving the request to provide the signal-reception-related information comprises receiving the request to provide the signal-reception-related information via a user interface associated with the first set-top box.

15. The method of

Assignees

• Directv Group Inc

Inventors

• Chin Kian-Vine
• Yee Woei-Shyang
• Huie Wesley W
• Talatinian Gerard V
• Yang Christopher
• Kim Heesoon E
• Greenwade Robert S

Classifications

• H04N21/6168

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

• H04N21/6143

  involving transmission via a satellite · CPC title

• H04N21/44209

  Monitoring of downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. bandwidth variations of a wireless network (arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896) · CPC title

• H04N21/6118

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

• H04N21/2408

  Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests (monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60) · CPC title