What is claimed is:
1. A network interface device located at a customer’s premises, comprising:
an external interface that receives a plurality of telecommunication services via a coaxial connection from a telecommunication service provider, wherein the services are received using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications;
at least two distinct internal interfaces that distribute the plurality of telecommunication services to at least two distinct internal transport media; and
a processor programmed to:
receive combined signals comprising the telecommunication services from the external interface;
process the combined signals into separate signals representative of distinct telecommunication services; and
map each of the separate signals to separate ones of the at least two distinct internal interfaces for distribution at the customer’s premises via the internal transport media.
2. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein the external interface is further configured to direct signals relating to the telecommunication services to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
3. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two distinct internal interfaces is configured to receive signals relating to one of the telecommunication services from one of the internal transport media.
4. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to:
receive separate signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media;
process the separate signals into a combined signal; and
direct the combined signal to the external interface for distribution to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
5. The network interface device of claim 1, further comprising a signal integrator in communication with the at least two distinct internal interfaces, wherein the signal integrator is operable to integrate signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media into a combined information set.
6. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a coaxial cable.
7. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a twisted pair cable.
8. The network interface device of claim 7, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises existing telephone wiring at the customer premises.
9. The network interface device of claim 7, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises an Ethernet cable.
10. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein the telecommunication services comprise one or more selections from the group consisting of video, data, and voice.
11. The network interface device of claim 10, wherein different telecommunication services are transported in different frequency ranges.
12. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein the internal interfaces comprise a selection from the group consisting of IEEE 1394, RG6, RG59, wireless interface, 802.11, LMDS, Ethernet, twisted pair, category 3, category 4, category 5, category 6, category 7, and coaxial.
13. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein signals are transported on the internal transport media using a protocol selected from the group consisting of HPNA, HPNA, and Home Plug.
14. The network interface device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of telecommunication services originate from a plurality of telecommunication service providers.
15. A system for providing telecommunication services to a customer’s premises, comprising:
an external transport medium comprising a coaxial distribution system that uses Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications to deliver the telecommunication services to the customer’s premises; and
a network interface device at the customer’s premises, wherein the network interface device comprises:
an external interface that receives a plurality of telecommunication services via the external transport medium;
at least two distinct internal interfaces that distribute the plurality of telecommunication services to at least two distinct internal transport media; and
a processor programmed to:
receive combined signals comprising the telecommunication services from the external interface;
process the combined signals into separate signals representative of distinct telecommunication services; and
map each of the separate signals to separate ones of the at least two distinct internal interfaces for distribution at the customer’s premises via the internal transport media.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the external interface is further configured to direct signals relating to the telecommunication services to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the at least two distinct internal interfaces is configured to receive signals relating to one of the telecommunication services from one of the internal transport media.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to:
receive separate signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media;
process the separate signals into a combined signal; and
direct the combined signal to the external interface for distribution to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
19. The system of claim 15, further comprising a signal integrator in communication with the at least two distinct internal interfaces, wherein the signal integrator is operable to integrate signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media into a combined information set.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a coaxial cable.
21. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a twisted pair cable.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises existing telephone wiring at the customer premises.
23. The system of claim 21, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises an Ethernet cable.
24. The system of claim 15, wherein the telecommunication services comprise one or more selections from the group consisting of video, data, and voice.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein different telecommunication services are transported in different frequency ranges.
26. The system of claim 15, wherein the internal interfaces comprise a selection from the group consisting of IEEE 1394, RG6, RG59, wireless interface, 802.11, LMDS, Ethernet, twisted pair, category 3, category 4, category 5, category 6, category 7, and coaxial.
27. The system of claim 15, wherein signals are transported on the internal transport media using a protocol selected from the group consisting of HPNA, HPNA, and Home Plug.
28. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of telecommunication services originate from a plurality of telecommunication service providers.
29. A method of delivering a plurality of telecommunication services to a customer’s premises, comprising:
receiving combined signals comprising the telecommunication services from a telecommunication service provider via an external interface to a coaxial connection, wherein the services are received using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications;
processing the combined signals into separate signals representative of distinct telecommunication services; and
mapping each of the separate signals to separate ones of at least two distinct internal interfaces to at least two distinct internal transport media for distribution at the customer’s premises via the internal transport media.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the external interface is further configured to direct signals relating to the telecommunication services to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
31. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the at least two distinct internal interfaces is configured to receive signals relating to one of the telecommunication services from one of the internal transport media.
32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:
receiving separate signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media;
processing the separate signals into a combined signal; and
directing the combined signal to the external interface for distribution to the telecommunication service provider via the coaxial connection using Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications.
33. The method of claim 29, further comprising integrating signals from the at least two distinct internal transport media into a combined information set.
34. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a coaxial cable.
35. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the internal transport media comprises a twisted pair cable.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises existing telephone wiring at the customer premises.
37. The method of claim 35, wherein the twisted pair cable comprises an Ethernet cable.
38. The method of claim 29, wherein the telecommunication services comprise one or more selections from the group consisting of video, data, and voice.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein different telecommunication services are transported in different frequency ranges.
40. The method of claim 29, wherein the internal interfaces comprise a selection from the group consisting of IEEE 1394, RG6, RG59, wireless interface, 802.11, LMDS, Ethernet, twisted pair, category 3, category 4, category 5, category 6, category 7, and coaxial.
41. The method of claim 29, wherein signals are transported on the internal transport media using a protocol selected from the group consisting of HPNA, HPNA, and Home Plug.
42. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of telecommunication services originate from a plurality of telecommunication service providers.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method in a network device communicatively coupled to a local base station at a cell site for automatic creation of a more optimal route entry in the network device for inter-base station traffic to be transmitted between the local base station and a remote base station through a backhaul network, the method comprising:
automatically discovering a remote Internet Protocol (IP) address of the remote base station based upon traffic transmitted by the local base station destined to the network device or based upon traffic transmitted between the local base station and the remote base station, wherein the remote IP address is utilized for the inter-base station traffic;
responsive to said discovering of the remote IP address of the remote base station, generating a unique route target (RT) value based upon the discovered remote IP address;
inserting the unique RT value into an import route target list, wherein the import route target list identifies RT values of routes that are to be installed by the network device;
receiving, by the network device, a route update message transmitted by a second network device serving as a route reflector (RR) in the backhaul network, wherein the route update message follows a routing protocol and includes a set of one or more routes of the backhaul network, wherein one route of the set of routes comprises a prefix of the remote IP address and includes a RT value that is the same as the unique RT value, and wherein the one route is the more optimal route as it provides a shorter path to the remote base station through the backhaul network compared to a less optimal route through a mobile core network previously used for the inter-base station traffic; and
installing a route entry into a routing table of the network device based upon determining that the RT value of the one route matches the unique RT value in the import route target list.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
discovering a local Internet Protocol (IP) address of the local base station based upon traffic transmitted by the local base station destined to the network device or based upon traffic transmitted between the local base station and the remote base station, wherein the local IP address is utilized for the inter-base station traffic;
generating a second unique RT value based upon the discovered local IP address of the local base station; and
transmitting, by the network device, a route advertisement message including a route to the local IP address including the second unique RT value, whereby other network devices are enabled to also discover the local IP address, generate the second unique RT value, and install routing information for the route to the local IP address based upon the second unique RT value.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said route advertisement message further comprises another route to another local IP address of the local base station, wherein the another route includes another unique RT value that is different than the second unique RT value.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein said discovering of the local IP address of the local base station comprises:
receiving an inter-base station message sent by the remote base station to the local base station; and
identifying a destination IP address from the received inter-base station message as the local IP address of the local base station.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the inter-base station message comprises an X2 Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) INIT ACK message.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating of the unique RT value comprises applying a transformation algorithm to the discovered remote IP address.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the transformation algorithm comprises a hash function.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the transformation algorithm comprises a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) function.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote IP address is an X2 control plane (X2-C) address of the remote base station.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote IP address is an X2 user plane (X2-U) address of the remote base station.
11. A network device to be communicatively coupled to a set of one or more local base stations at a cell site and configured to automatically create more optimal routes for inter-base station traffic to be transmitted between the set of local base stations and a set of one or more remote base stations through a backhaul network, the network device comprising:
a set of one or more network interfaces;
an address discovery module coupled to the set of network interfaces and configured to automatically discover, based upon traffic transmitted by the set of local base stations destined to the network device or based upon traffic transmitted between the set of local base stations and the set of remote base stations, remote Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the set of remote base stations that are used for the inter-base station traffic; and
an automatic routing module coupled to the set of network interfaces and configured to,
generate, for each of the remote IP addresses, unique RT values based upon the remote IP addresses,
insert the unique RT values into an import route target list, wherein the import route target list identifies RT values of routes that are to be installed by the network device,
receive, using the set of network interfaces, route update messages transmitted by a second network device serving as a route reflector (RR) in the backhaul network, wherein the route update messages follow a routing protocol and include sets of one or more routes of the backhaul network, wherein the sets of routes comprise prefixes of the remote IP addresses and include the RT values that are the same as the unique RT values, and wherein the sets of routes are the more optimal routes as they provide shorter paths to the set of remote base stations through the backhaul network compared to less optimal routes through a mobile core network previously used for the inter-base station traffic, and
install route entries into a routing table of the network device based upon determining that the RT values of the sets of routes match the unique RT values in the import route target list.
12. The network device of claim 11, wherein:
the address discovery module is further configured to automatically discover local Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the set of local base stations based upon traffic transmitted by the set of local base stations destined to the network device or based upon traffic transmitted between the set of local base stations and the set of remote base stations, wherein the local IP addresses are utilized for the inter-base station traffic; and
the automatic routing module is further configured to,
generate second unique RT values based upon the discovered local IP address of the set of local base stations, and
transmit, using the set of network interfaces, route advertisement messages including routes to the local IP addresses that include the second unique RT values, whereby other network devices are enabled to also discover the local IP addresses, generate the second unique RT values, and install routing information for the routes to the local IP addresses based upon the second unique RT values.
13. The network device of claim 12, wherein:
the local IP addresses comprise a first local IP address of a first local base station of the set of local base stations and a second local IP address of the first local base station; and
the routes of the route advertisement messages comprise a first route for the first local IP address having a first unique RT value, and a second route for the second local IP address having a second unique RT value.
14. The network device of claim 12, wherein the address discovery module is to automatically discover local IP address by being configured to:
receive inter-base station messages sent by the set of remote base stations to the set of local base stations; and
identify destination IP addresses from the received inter-base station messages as the local IP addresses of the set of local base stations.
15. The network device of claim 14, wherein the inter-base station messages comprise X2 Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) INIT ACK messages.
16. The network device of claim 11, wherein the automatic routing module is to generate the unique RT value by being configured to apply a transformation algorithm to the discovered remote IP addresses.
17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the transformation algorithm comprises a hash function.
18. The network device of claim 16, wherein the transformation algorithm comprises a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) function.
19. The network device of claim 11, wherein the remote IP addresses comprise one or more X2 control plane (X2-C) addresses of the set of remote base stations.
20. The network device of claim 11, wherein the remote IP address comprise one or more X2 user plane (X2-U) addresses of the set of remote base stations.