Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
725107000 | Remote testing of cable system | 37 |
20090013360 | MONITORING APPARATUS - A monitoring method for monitoring a video/audio signal transmitted from a transmission source to a transmission destination has a step of storing the video/audio signal transmitted from the transmission source to the transmission destination repeatedly for a predetermined time period, a step of comparing a first characteristic amount extracted from the video/audio signal before the transmission and a second characteristic amount extracted from the video/audio signal after the transmission in real time, a step of determining an error occurrence when there is a difference of a predetermined value or more between the first characteristic amount and the second characteristic amount, and a step of transmitting the stored video/audio signal to a predetermined destination when an error occurrence is determined. | 01-08-2009 |
20090271835 | Set top box system parameter retrieval - A method, system and computer readable medium box is disclosed for determining a networked device connection status of an IP set top. A signal strength parameter request is generated associated with the networked device's operation. This request is transmitted to a specific point in a network system where it is received at specific hardware and/or software point. Then a reply or signal strength parameter is generated in response to the signal strength parameter request. This reply or signal strength parameter is transmitted across the network system from the specific hardware and/or software point back to the networked device. There it is loaded into a signal strength parameter variable and displayed to the user. | 10-29-2009 |
20090271836 | TESTING CATV NETWORKS WITH DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM SIGNALS - Use of direct sequence spread spectrum test signals injected at the same time and frequency of active network services to perform non-interfering measurements in the forward and reverse path of a CATV plant. Ideally, a plurality of transmitters, each transmitting a test signal with a unique spreading code, whereby multiple overlapping test signals are received simultaneously at the receiver (CDMA). | 10-29-2009 |
20090328119 | Packet Recovery Server Based Triggering Mechanism for IPTV Diagnostics - A monitoring system and method are described herein that obtain retry request information from packet recovery server(s) and based at least in part on the obtained retry request information determine whether or not to launch probes to monitor specific network element(s) within an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network to diagnose a problem without having to monitor everyone of the network elements all of the time. | 12-31-2009 |
20100071011 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECEIVING DEVICE HEALTH MANAGEMENT - Various embodiments facilitate the management of receiving device health. One embodiment provides a receiving device health manager that identifies receiving devices having degraded operational states, based on operational state data received from those receiving devices. The receiving device health manager may further determine and initiate corrective actions with respect to the identified receiving devices, based on information about customers associated with the receiving devices and/or about the receiving devices themselves. In one embodiment, a corrective action may include a customer service contact to schedule a receiving device repair visit by a technician. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. | 03-18-2010 |
20100100912 | UPSTREAM BANDWIDTH CONDITIONING DEVICE BETWEEN CATV DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND CATV USER - An upstream bandwidth conditioning premise device for use as part of a CATV system and for placement on or near a user's premise to reduce noise created on the user's premise that would otherwise be injected into upstream transmission channels and passed into an RF main signal distribution system of the CATV system. The device includes a variable attenuation device, a signal measurement circuit, a memory circuit and an electronic circuit, which is configured to iteratively determine (i) whether an incremental amount of additional attenuation is to be applied and (ii) whether at least a portion of a previously applied incremental amount of attenuation is to be removed. The electronic circuit includes a counting circuit, a threshold comparison circuit configured to compare a peak signal strength to a predetermined threshold, and a peak comparison circuit configured to compare a contemporary peak signal strength to a previous peak signal strength. | 04-22-2010 |
20100122308 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, NODE DEVICE, METHOD FOR PROCESSING REPRODUCTION INFORMATION, AND REPRODUCTION INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - An information processing device includes: a communication unit, an obtaining unit, a deter urination unit, and a generation unit. The communication unit communicates with node devices. The obtaining unit obtains specific information that specifies a reproduction interval on a reproduction time axis during which content data are reproduced by the node device. The determination unit determines a reproduction score related to a number of reproductions of the content data at each of a plurality of time positions on the reproduction time axis, based on the specific information obtained by the obtaining unit. The generation unit generates an output signal for outputting reproduction score information indicating the reproduction scores of the plurality of time positions, based on the reproduction score determined by the determination unit. | 05-13-2010 |
20100251314 | TOTAL BANDWIDTH CONDITIONING DEVICE - An apparatus can include a modem and a conditioning device can be provided and coupled at a signal transmission line of a CATV system at a premise of a user according to embodiments of the application. The apparatus can provide selected information (e.g., Table 1) upstream for use that can improve operations or increase capabilities at one or more users. | 09-30-2010 |
20100313230 | Testing a Content-Delivery System - A content delivery networked is monitored to verify operation of control channels for the delivery of content to a customer. Monitoring includes joining a connection with at least one control channel in the network, decoding content of a signal in the control channel, determining whether the decoded content complies with a pre-determined rule corresponding to content transmitted in the control channel, and producing a report indicating whether the decoded content is compliant with the rule. In addition, a graphical user interface (GUI) displays the status and results of testing the control channel. The GUI is configured to perform generating a display representing testing status of a plurality of DSG tunnels in a first frame and test results of the DSG tunnels in a second frame and providing details of a DSG tunnel test when selected by a user. | 12-09-2010 |
20110099597 | System and Method for Using a Set-Top Box Application to Diagnose Customer Premises Equipment - A device having a test module configured to connect with a server through a cellular telephone network and a wireless area network. The test module is also configured to initiate, in the server, a diagnostic test of an Internet Protocol television network and a set-top box device. The test module is further configured to receive information indicating problems with the Internet Protocol television network and the set-top box device, and to display the information on a display. | 04-28-2011 |
20110145873 | Method and System for Analyzing Cable Television Signal Leak Information - A method involves identifying a leak location in a cable television system using a detection system, calculating a distance between the leak location and a plurality of shapes or points contained in map data to identify the nearest shape or point, and providing a piece of information corresponding to the nearest shape or point. The piece of information may be a street address or a device. | 06-16-2011 |
20110289538 | RATINGS AND QUALITY MEASUREMENTS FOR DIGITAL BROADCAST VIEWERS - In one system embodiment, a first receive-and-process (RP) system and a second RP system, the first and second RP systems each configured to receive a first broadcast stream corresponding to a service, the broadcast stream comprising either a raw Internet protocol (IP) stream or a non-IP stream, and each further configured to derive a first Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) stream and a second RTP stream, respectively, based on the first broadcast stream, the first and second RTP streams having stream parameters in common, the first and second RP systems each further configured to provide respective first and second RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) reports, the first and second RTCP reports based on the derived first and second RTP streams, the first and second RTCP reports each comprising information associated with a viewer experience, the respective information having a common benchmark as a basis for comparison. | 11-24-2011 |
20120042348 | Utilizing A Replacement Pathway For Lost Packet Delivery During Media Reception In A Set-Top Box (STB) - A replacement pathway in an STB is utilized to determine loss of packets and delivery error during reception of media broadcasts, and to retrieve replacement data from one or more replacement media servers. The retrieval of the replacement data is performed during playback of the received media broadcasts. The communication of media broadcast incorporates delays to accommodate the retrieval of replacement data. Alternatively, received broadcast media streams are buffered to enable retrieval of replacement data and to provide seamless presentation of media content in the media broadcasts. The replacement media server performs access authentication operations during replacement data retrieval. The replacement media server is accessed via markup language, for example, HTML and/or XML, based interfaces and/or dedicated APIs. The replacement media server may deny replacement data based on plurality of service criteria such as acceptance and denial criteria, which may comprise allowable bandwidth and/or error rates. | 02-16-2012 |
20120047544 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING SIGNAL INGRESS INTERFERENCES - A system and method for detecting and geo-locating signal ingress interferences in a cable distribution network comprising a head station for transmitting content to subscribers at frequencies within a network bandwidth. The system comprises a vehicle mounted geo-locating device for generating geo-location data indicating the geographical position of a vehicle, and a vehicle mounted transmitter for transmitting a radio-frequency signal comprising said geo-location data at a frequency within the network bandwidth as the vehicle travels within the geographical area of the network. If an ingress exists in the network, the ingress signal sent from onboard the vehicle would leak into the network to be received and detected by a receiver at the head station of the cable distribution network. A server is used to process the data extracted by the receiver to produces reports and maps reflecting ingress points in a geographical area. | 02-23-2012 |
20120144441 | METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING 3D STATE INFORMATION, AND BROADCAST RECEIVER - The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing 3D state information, and a broadcast receiver. One embodiment of a cable broadcast receiver according to the invention comprises: a cable set-top box that receives a request for 3D state information diagnosis from a communication device and requests 3D state information collection from a digital broadcast receiver according to the request; and the digital broadcast receiver that collects 3D state information and transfers the collected 3D state information to the cable set-top box according to the request from the cable set-top box, wherein the cable set-top box transfers the 3D state information collected and transferred by the digital broadcast receiver to a cable headend through the communication device and receives a 3D broadcast service based on the 3D state information transmitted from the cable headend. | 06-07-2012 |
20120297433 | METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR SUPPORTING QUALITY ESTIMATION OF STREAMED VIDEO - Method and arrangement for supporting quality estimation of streamed video. The method comprises obtaining an indicator of a number of discontinuities related to a segment of a video stream, and an indicator of a number of received packets related to said segment of the video stream during a predefined period of time. The method further comprises converting said obtained indicators, by use of at least one mapping function, into a set of parameters suitable for use as input parameters to a parametric video quality estimation model. The method and arrangement enables parametric quality estimation based on the basic parameters reported by legacy equipment. | 11-22-2012 |
20120297434 | Methods, Systems And Computer Program Products For Providing Internet Protocol Television Diagnostics - A method of providing internet protocol television (IPTV) diagnostics. The method includes receiving customer premise equipment (CPE) information from a diagnostic applications program interface (API) executing in a CPE. The CPE information is stored in a database. An issue is detected with the CPE and the CPE information in the database corresponding to the CPE experiencing the issue is accessed. The issue is resolved in response to the CPE information the database. | 11-22-2012 |
20130091530 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LONG TERM MONITORING OF VIDEO ASSETS - A method and system for test monitoring video assets provided by a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN) includes an expert test monitoring platform (ETMP) configured to emulate MCDN client systems at a facility of an MCDN service provider. The ETMP may be used to test monitor MCDN performance by acquiring a baseband video signal and performing a test operation. The test operation may involve determining if a video freeze event and/or an audio freeze event has occurred with respect to the baseband video signal. In one example, detection of both an audio and a video freeze event may determine a freeze event for an MHD. After a freeze event is detected, the MHD may be restarted. The freeze event may be logged as a result of the test operation. A predetermined network address may be sent a notification of the freeze alert. | 04-11-2013 |
20130104178 | SET TOP BOX RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR EXECUTING A WIDGET - A system is configured to receive a request to establish a session with a set top box device executing an application; obtaining a profile that identifies usage patterns of resources associated with the device; obtain another profile that identifies a first quantity of the resources to be used by the application; identify a second quantity of the resources to be allocated for executing the application based on the profile and other profile; receive information that identifies a third quantity of the resources used, by the application, during the session; transmit a notification indicating that a condition is associated with the application when the third quantity of the resources is greater than the second quantity of the resources; and transmit another notification indicating that a condition is not associated with the application when the third quantity of the resources is not greater than the second quantity of the resources. | 04-25-2013 |
20130125183 | Spectrum Analysis and Plant Diagnostic Tool for Communications Systems - A system, method, and apparatus to allow an operator of a broadcast communication system, such as a cable television or satellite television service to provide some examples, to diagnose performance of this communication system remotely. The operator of a first communication device, such as a cable modem termination system (CMTS) to provide an example, may remotely diagnosis performance problems, or potential performance problems, occurring at a second communication device, such as a cable modem (CM) to provide an example, or a group of second communication devices. For example, the operator of the first communication device may view a spectrum analysis of communication signals being routed to, processed by, and/or provided by the second communication device, or group of second communication devices, to diagnose the performance problems, or the potential performance problems, in real time. | 05-16-2013 |
20130283327 | CABLE BROADCAST PROGRAM RECEIVER AND A DIAGNOSTIC METHOD OF THE CABLE BROADCAST PROGRAM RECEIVER - The present invention relates to a cable broadcast program receiver and a diagnostic method of the cable broadcast program receiver. In an aspect of the present invention, a diagnostic method of a cable broadcast program receiver may include transmitting, at a cablecard, a diagnostic request containing diagnostic information regarding DiiVA connection status to a host according to a protocol of an interface between the cablecard and the host; and receiving, at the host, the diagnostic request and transmitting diagnostic confirmation information containing a diagnostic status report regarding the DiiVA connection status to the cablecard according to the protocol of the interface between the cablecard and the host in response to the diagnostic request. | 10-24-2013 |
20130291034 | Network Monitoring with Estimation of Network Path to Network Element Location - A method of mapping a network path in which a geographic path of cables of a network between a geographic location of a network component and a geographic location of a terminal network element is estimated electronically using Keyhole Markup Language (KML) data. A geographically accurate street map is populated with the geographic location of the network component, the geographic location of the terminal network element, and the estimated geographic path. The map is capable of being displayed with the use of geospatial software implementing KML encoding. A signal processing electronic device for populating a display of an interactive graphical user interface with network path mapping information and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the above referenced operations are also provided. | 10-31-2013 |
20130305302 | DISTRIBUTED NETWORK PERFORMANCE MONITORING - A probe is configured to monitor one or more communication parameters on one or more downstream frequency channels carried on a communication medium of an access network. Results of repeated monitoring are stored over a predetermined period. At the conclusion of the monitoring period, data reports reflecting the stored results are transmitted in upstream frequency channels carried on the same medium. The probe can also be configured to send immediate messages if a parameter exceeds predefined limits and can store a plurality of monitoring programs and can be reprogrammed remotely. The probe can be contained within a cable tap if the medium is, e.g., a coaxial cable. Numerous probes can be deployed throughout an access network so as to provide monitoring data from each of many locations over a prolonged period. | 11-14-2013 |
20140047489 | METHODS FOR INGRESS MITIGATION IN CABLE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS INVOLVING REPAIR, REPLACEMENT AND/OR ADJUSTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENTS - Methods for reducing ingress in a neighborhood node of a cable communication system. The node includes an RF hardline coaxial cable plant and multiple subscriber service drops to convey upstream information from multiple subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth. A test signal having a frequency falling within the upstream path bandwidth is transmitted proximate to one or more potential points of ingress into the hardline cable plant. Based on signal amplitudes at the test signal frequency representing test signal ingress into the hardline cable plant, one or more faults in the hardline cable plant are specifically identified and remediated so as to significantly reduce a noise power in the node in at least a portion of the upstream path bandwidth below approximately 20 MHz. In one example, hardline plant-related and/or subscriber-related faults are remediated so as to significantly reduce ingress arising from terrestrial short wave radio signals. | 02-13-2014 |
20140130111 | AGENT-BASED COMMUNICATION SERVICE QUALITY MONITORING AND DIAGNOSTICS - Diagnosis of a service affecting condition can be performed by obtaining first diagnostic information from a first software agent installed on a first communication enabled device within a customer premises and second diagnostic information from a second software agent installed on a second communication enabled device within the customer premises. The first and second diagnostic information can be processed to determine information regarding a service affecting condition. | 05-08-2014 |
20140173670 | ACCESSING REMOTE VIDEO DEVICES - A control server receives a local input to control a remote video device and sends an indication of the local input to the remote video device to control, access, or operate the remote video device. Video data indicative of images provided by the remote video device in response to the local input are relayed to the control server by the remote video device or associated components. A plurality of remote video devices can be simultaneously controlled, accessed, or operated. Control code sets for remote video devices are mapped to a local interface control set. Local input is translated to a remote video device command based on such mappings. | 06-19-2014 |
20140282774 | DETECTING PLANT DEGRADATION USING PEER-COMPARISON - A method implemented in a computer system for detecting performance degradation in a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) cable plant having customer premises equipment (CPE) elements, active elements, and passive elements. The method collects radio frequency (RF) metric values, computes absolute deviation values of the RF metric values from reference RF metric values, computes relative hierarchical deviation values of the RF metric values, and computes relative peer deviation values of the RF metric values. The method sends an alarm message to an operator when the absolute deviation value, relative hierarchical deviation value, or relative peer deviation value for any element exceeds a threshold value. | 09-18-2014 |
20140344874 | METHOD OF NETWORK NODE PERFORMANCE RANKING - The invention relates to a method of determining maintenance priority for different portions of a CATV network. By calculating a health score for each node of the network based on a plurality of measurements performed downstream from the nodes, the nodes and the downstream segments of the network may be ranked according to their health score values, and the maintenance of the network segments may be prioritized based on the health ranking of the corresponding nodes. The health score for a node may be computed based on a plurality of tilt- and modulation-normalized frequency scans of the network signal. | 11-20-2014 |
20150020128 | NON-DISRUPTIVE SWEEP MEASUREMENT USING COHERENT DETECTION - Non-disruptive sweep measurements using low power coherent signals overcome the limitations of prior art frequency response systems for cable networks. Modulated or unmodulated, e.g. continuous wave (CW), test signals are transmitted into the network at a first or input point (input point is in the head end for forward sweep; input point is in the field for reverse sweep). The test signals are transmitted continuously at multiple frequencies, so as a composite they form a wideband, OFDM-like (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) waveform. A receiver at a second or output point generates power reading measurements, from which the frequency response of the network is produced. | 01-15-2015 |
20150020129 | DUAL-PORT TESTING OF A CABLE NETWORK - A dual-port testing apparatus is provided for testing a cable network at two test points. The testing may comprise demodulation of a same data packet at the test points, decoding the data packet, performing spectral analysis of the signal, etc. Testing results may be correlated with one another, both visually and by using pre-defined test metrics comprising a weighted sum of demodulation and decoding parameters such as modulation extinction ratio and a codeword error. | 01-15-2015 |
20150033273 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMANCE METRIC ANALYSIS OF VIDEO ASSETS - A method and system for monitoring video assets provided by a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN) includes an expert test monitoring platform (ETMP) configured to emulate MCDN client systems at a facility of an MCDN service provider. The ETMP may be used to obtain remote control response metrics, along with internal performance data, for client systems in the ETMP. Historical metrics and historical data may be logged along with the release version for the client systems, which may then be used to correlate operational performance when analyzing client system characteristics. | 01-29-2015 |
20150052569 | CONTINUOUS DETECTION OF DEAD OR IMPAIRED IPTV STREAMS - The embodiments herein relate to a method and system for continuous detection of dead and impaired IPTV streams by introducing a hardware block to continuously monitor all IPTV streams for health without software intervention as disclosed in the embodiments herein. Each IPTV packet header is looked up in the multicast forwarding database (TCAM) table. When there are matching entries, the packets are metered and compared with the expected rate for the IPTV stream. A periodic scan of all the meters in hardware is carried out. If any stream is received less than its expected rate, an “impaired error” counter is incremented for the particular stream. | 02-19-2015 |
20150082363 | Spectrum Analysis and Plant Diagnostic Tool for Communication Systems - A system, method, and apparatus to allow an operator of a broadcast communication system, such as a cable television or satellite television service to provide some examples, to diagnose performance of this communication system remotely. The operator of a first communication device, such as a cable modem termination system (CMTS) to provide an example, may remotely diagnosis performance problems, or potential performance problems, occurring at a second communication device, such as a cable modem (CM) to provide an example, or a group of second communication devices. For example, the operator of the first communication device may view a spectrum analysis of communication signals being routed to, processed by, and/or provided by the second communication device, or group of second communication devices, to diagnose the performance problems, or the potential performance problems, in real time. | 03-19-2015 |
20150095960 | Cable Network Data Analytics System - A cable network data analytics system is configured to aggregate spectrum data sets of one or more readable devices connected to one or more cable networks. The spectrum data sets may include video spectrum data. The video spectrum data may be indicative of performance aspects of one or more standard channels of the cable network. The aggregated spectrum data may be analyzed against predetermined performance requirements such that an alert may be generated if one or more performance aspects do not meet the predetermined performance requirements. | 04-02-2015 |
20150095961 | MOCA REMOTE MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A system for multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) remote monitoring and management includes a gateway and multiple local nodes. The gateway communicates with a service provider. The local nodes perform local diagnostics and communicate diagnostic results to the gateway. The gateway and the local nodes form a MoCA remote entity (MoRE) system. The gateway receives and aggregates diagnostic results of the MORE system and facilitates access to aggregated diagnostic results for the service provider. | 04-02-2015 |
20160044375 | METHOD AND SYSTEM USING AUTOMATED WORKFLOW FOR MONITORING OF VIDEO ASSETS - A method and system for monitoring video assets provided by a multimedia content distribution network (MCDN) includes an expert test monitoring platform (ETMP) configured to emulate MCDN client systems at a facility of an MCDN service provider. The ETMP may allow execution of ETMP scripts that specify remote control commands to send to a desired plurality of multimedia handling devices representing emulated MCDN clients. The ETMP scripts may be manually or automatically initiated and may be configured with execution parameters specifying, among other aspects, a number of iterations to repeat. Results recorded when the ETMP script executes may be retrieved and used to generate reports. | 02-11-2016 |
20160198152 | METHODS FOR DETERMINING LOCALIZED OUTAGES AND DISTRIBUTED SIGNAL VERIFICATION OF SET-TOP BOXES | 07-07-2016 |