MXPA98009328A - Dynamic configuration of the network of an adapter of a via using a proximity agent that communicates with the resource server through a return path adapter configuration - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a one-way adapter such as a cable modem is initialized to allow a personal computer to retrieve data from a network of computers such as the Internet, via a transmission channel, which transmits data at the same time. Upward flow to the computer network via a telephone line. First, a two-way adapter such as a telephone modem is initialized, establishing a telephone link to the server of a terminal of a telephone network of an Internet service provider. The terminal server obtains an IP address from an address server of the telephone network, and assigns the IP address to the telephone modem block. Next, the cable modem block sends a session initialization request to a cable modem driver. The request is processed by a packet relay agent (PPRA), and the IP address of the telephone modem is inserted into the packet. The destination address of the IP packet is sent to that address server of the cable network. A cable network address server receives the packet via an upstream telephone line and responds with the IP address and configuration information for the relay agent's address. The telephone modem receives the response and passes it to the cable modem block via the PPRA. The cable modem is thus initialized with the IP address and the configuration information and is ready to receive data from the Internet via an RF channel of a v

Description

DYNAMIC CONFIGURATION OF THE NETWORK OF A ONE-WAY ADAPTER THAT USES A PROXIMITY AGENT WHO COMMUNICATES WITH THE RESOURCE SERVER THROUGH AN ADAPTER OF CONFETURED RETURN TRAJECTORY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allowing a personal computer to receive data from a computer network, such as the Internet, via a transmission channel, for example, from a cable television network. or satellite, while an upward flow of data is transmitted to the computer network via a telephone line. In particular, the present invention provides a dynamic network configuration of a one-way adapter in a one-way communication system, such as a cable television system or the like. A proxy agent is provided to communicate with a resource server of the computer network, through a configured return path adapter, thereby providing bidirectional communication between the one-way adapter and the resource server. The following terms were used: ARP - Management Resolution Protocol; CPU - Central Processing Unit / DHCP - Dynamic Configuration Protocol of the Main Computer; HTTP - Hypertext Transport Protocol; IETF - Internet Design Workforce; IETF - Internet Design Workforce; IGMP - Internet Group Management Protocol; IP - Internet Protocol; IRCP - Protocol Configuration Protocol Internet; ISP - Internet Service Provider; LAN - Local Area Network; LMDS - Local Multiple Point Distribution System; MMDS - Multi-Channel Multiple Point Distribution System; MSO - Multiple Systems Operator; PC - Personal Computer; PPP - Point to Point Protocol; PPRA - Packet Processing Relay Agent; RF - Radio Frequency; RFC - Request for Comments; TCP - Transmission Control Protocol; UDP - User Data Grammar Protocol; UHF - Ultra High Frequency; and WAN - Wide Area Network.

There are cable television networks that distribute digital television signals to users' homes, via a coaxial cable, or hybrid fiber and coaxial cable networks. Additionally, satellite distribution networks that transmit programs directly to a user's home have also gained in popularity. The digital signals transmitted to the user provide high fidelity of video and audio. Other types of data may also be transmitted to the user, such as closed capture data, inventory data, weather reports and the like. This data can be modulated in a whole television signal channel, or a portion of the television signal channel, such as the vertical extinction range, and retrieved in a decoder in the user's home. Additionally, some of the cable networks provide a upstream communication path that allows a user to transmit signals to the end, for example, for payment by event, or verify in an accounting balance. In addition, computer networks such as the Internet are growing rapidly in popularity, particularly among the general public that uses the Internet for entertainment, educational and informational purposes, and to communicate with other users. The user typically has access to the Internet via a PC and a telephone modem via a conventional duplex telephone line to download graphics, text and even audio and video data from several remote servers. Users can also communicate in real time with others, transmitting data from a sending PC to a receiving PC. In this way, the data is transmitted to and from the PC via a two-way telephone modem. An important difference between telephone and cable television or satellite networks is bandwidth. Because telephone networks were built to carry only voice signals, the voice width is very limited, for example, 3 KHz. In contrast, television and satellite networks are designed to distribute full-motion video and, as a result, have a much larger bandwidth, for example, of several hundred MHz or more. Accordingly, providing Internet data services and the like through a cable or satellite network would be highly desirable due to the increased bandwidth available. Such an arrangement could greatly speed up the response to the user's PC, while providing additional marketing opportunities for cable and satellite network operators.

However, providing an upward flow path is not feasible for satellite or terrestrial transmission networks, including UHF, MMDS and LMDS. In addition, many of the cable television networks are not configured for upstream communications, or none of such provisions may be limited and not be suitable for handling the transmissions of a large number of users. In particular, network operators may prefer to keep the upslope path available for activities that significantly increase revenue sources, such as pay-per-event orders. i In addition, since the cable / satellite channel is a transmission channel, and the telephone line is a point-to-point channel, the communication and addressing protocols that are available on a PC do not seem to work in the transmission environment. cable / satellite. In addition, the communication and addressing protocols of a computer network are generally incompatible with cable and satellite television equipment. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system that allows a PC to receive data from a computer network such as the Internet, via a downlink transmission channel of a cable, satellite or terrestrial transmission television network, which transmits to the time data to the computer network via a telephone line in upward flow. The system should provide compatibility with the routing / addressing conventions of the protocol block used by the computer network. To facilitate operations and network administration, operators would like the one-way adapters to be configured dynamically with the network configuration information of their IP address. The system should provide the dynamic network configuration of the network. a one-way adapter, such as a cable or satellite modem, that receives data from a computer network such as the Internet, via a down-stream transmission channel of a cable or satellite television network, respectively. Such configuration provides address information and IP configuration during the duration of the session on the Internet. This address can be assigned to other modems when the user is not browsing. Since the adapter is only a one-way receiver, and the assignment of the network configuration information requires a two-way sending and receiving communication link, the system must provide a proximity agent that facilitates the configuration dynamics of a one-way adapter and the associated network services using a configured return path. The system should provide compatibility between the one-way adapter and the encasement / addressing conventions of the protocol block used by the computer network. The present invention provides a system having the above and other advantages. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a dynamic network configuration of a one-way adapter er. a one-way communication system, such as a cable television system or similar. The invention allows a personal computer, routing / bridge device or other device, to receive data from a computer network, such as the Internet, via a transmission channel of a cable, satellite or terrestrial transmission television network, which transmits data in an upward flow to the computer network via a telephone line. The invention, therefore, allows a user to quickly access, and recover data from the computer network via a superior broadband channel. A proximity agent is provided to communicate with a computer network resource server through a configured return path adapter, thus providing bidirectional communication between the one-way adapter and the resource server. The dynamic network server of an adapter requires bidirectional communication with a resource server through the interface that needs to be configured. The invention preserute uses a proximity agent that facilitates the dynamic configuration of the one-way adapter and the associated network services using the configured return path. The addresses, such as those of a cable modem, are handled using DHCP. DHCP, as specified in RFC 2131, is one of the commonly used protocols for configuring the network adapter. Session initiation messages are UDP transmissions sent through the adapter that require provisioning. The servers in the network listen to those transmissions and send back the information requested. In a WAN environment, if the server is not in the same network as the client, a machine in the network works as the proximity DHCP (relay agent) to communicate with the DHCP server. The relay agent receives the client's transmissions and sends them as one-way messages to the designated DHCP servers. The server gives a single direction to the responses to the relay agent, who in turn sends these to the client using the address of the client's team. To configure the single-way internal cable modem adapter (reception only) using DHCP, we move the relay agent functionally from the local network to the agent »packet processor on the main computer. The address assigned to the telephone modem adapter (the static or dynamic address obtained during the initial telephone session using the PPP) is used as the address of the relov agent.,. The packet processing agent intercepts all packets sent to the cable modem adapter. In addition, it processes all packets sent to and received from the return path adapter. If the packets are identified as DHCP, they are processed by the DHCP relay agent function. Using this scheme, the addresses of the cable modem can be managed?; using DHCP.

The above principle of including a DHCP relay agent function in the packet processing agent can be extended to other dynamic address allocation protocols (for example, using the IPCP or Radio proximity) in the host computer, the handling of multi-way direction using a "proximity to IGMP" function, network management protocols, and vendor-specific resources on systems using one-way adapters. Systems with one-way adapters include cable modems, wireless modems and satellite modems. Generally, when a user wishes to access (for example, "surf") the Internet using a PC, a two-phase connection procedure occurs that is controlled by a connection management application running on the PC. First, a telephone modem adapter is initialized, followed by a cable modem adapter. A telephone link is established with the ISP terminal server to obtain an IP address and network configuration information that is required for the TCP / IP block of the telephone modem adapter. In the telephone modems, the PPP is used to establish the link, and the IP address and l "; Network configuration information is obtained using the IPCP, which is a subset of the PPP. Once the phase of establishing the PPP link is complete, the address and information of the network configuration is provided by a management server from the address to the telephone network to the terminal server. The terminal server provides the information to the telephone modem block using the IPCP. At this point, the telephone modem and the corresponding packet is completely initialized and is able to communicate in two ways with the Internet using the IP address obtained by the previous PPP procedure as the IP address of origin. The next step in the connection procedure is the initialization of the cable modem adapter. DHCP is a possible method for dynamically configuring network configuration information. In the perspective of a network, the cable modem needs to send a request for an IP address and network configuration parameters. However, since the cable modem adapter is an adapter that receives only one way, the request can not be sent over an RF transmission channel. This is why the PPRA is needed. The cable modem block sends the request to initialize the information for the PPRA via the cable modem driver. The PPRA handles the request and sends it out of the telephone adapter via a telephone line to the address server of the cable network (resource server) at the end of the cable. The cable modem block is a "client" that communicates with the address management server of the cable network using the Dynamic Configuration Protocol of the Main Computer to request the initialization information. One of the modifications made by the PPRA is to use the IP address obtained during the PPP as the address of the "DHCP relay agent". DHCP refers to a Dynamic Configuration Protocol of the Main Computer. This information is included by the PPRA in the request of the DHCP that receives the PPRA from the cable modem block before sending the requests to the address server of the cable network via the telephone modem adapter. The address server of the DHCP cable / server network then responds to the address of the relay agent (also known as DHCP proximity agent). The PPRA identifies the packets as DHCP packets when they are received in the telephone modem adapter and then sends them to the cable modem block. The cable modem block is therefore, initialized and capable of receiving Internet data via the one-way RF transmission channel. The DHCP address is assigned each time (for example, each session) that the user wants to connect to the Internet. Once connected, the user can browse any number of sites using the address assigned for the connection. When a user disconnects and the DHCP server is informed of the disconnection event, the server is free to reuse this address and assign it to any other client. In addition, the address assigned to the TCP / IP block of the cable modem using DHCP may be different for each initialization / network session. In general, there is point-to-point communication between the address server of the ISP telephone network and the address server of the cable network. The request for initialization of the session by the cable modem adapter is a UDP / IP packet with the destination address of the cable network server, and is routed / sent through the telephone network to the destination based on its address. The DHCP server / address server of the cable network responds to the address of the DHCP relay agent, which is the IP address associated with the telephone modem.

The PPRA searches in the incoming DHCP messages from the network on the telephone modem, identifies that the message is for the cable modem by searching the content (for example, UDP / DHCP data portion) of the message, and sends the message to the cable modem block. The response of the cable network server in the initialization session returns along the telephone path, and not to the cable path (eg, RF transmission). The addresses of the cable network are assigned from a different network than the ISP network. The Internet server to which the user has access answers the address of the cable network assigned to the cable modem. All packets with destination addresses that belong to the cable network are routed from the Internet to an MSO routing device by the normal IP routing and routing rules. Once in the MSO routing device, the packets with destination addresses belonging to the cable modems are sent to a transmission network center to communicate with the cable modems. In addition, at the end of the session, when a user presses the button to disconnect the session on the I screen of the PC or similar, the cable modem is de-initialized first. The DHCP client in the cable modem block sends a message to the address server of the cable network indicating that it is releasing the IP address. The DHCP server is now free to assign this address to any other cable modem. After the DHCP release message is sent, the telephone connection is closed using the PPP to initialize the IP address associated with the telephone modem block, and then the telephone link is disconnected. A particular method is presented for initializing a one-way adapter that receives data from a computer network via a first communication path, and communicates with a two-way adapter, via a packet relay agent, where the adapter Two-way is adapted to receive data from, and send data to, a service provider (eg, ISP) of the computer network via a second communication path. The method includes the steps of: establishing: > link between the two-way adapter and the service provider via the second communication path, for example, in response to a request from a user to access the Internet, obtain an address from the service provider, and communicate the address to the agent relay packet processor via the second communication path and the two-way adapter. It is proportioned; a session initialization request packet i ^ i one-way adapter to the relay agent packet processor. The packet processor relay agent provides the session initialization request packet, with: (a) a resource address according to the address obtained from the service provider, and (b) a destination address of an address server of the network (resource server) associated with the first communication path. The initialization request packet of the session is then communicated to the network address server via the two-way adapter and the second communication path according to the destination address thereof. The network address server responds to the packet communicated to it, by communicating the address configuration information to the two-way adapter via the second communication path according to the address of the relay agent. The packet relay relay agent obtains the configuration information of the two-way adapter address for use in initializing the one-way adapter. The link between the two-way adapter and the service provider is established via the second communication path in response to a request from the user to access the computer network. The session initialization request packet is provided from the one-way adapter to the packet relay agent in response to the Request of a user to have access to the computer network. The first communication path may include a cable television link, a satellite television link, a MMDS link, LMDS, and / or UHF. Similarly, the one-way adapter may include a cable television modem, satellite television modem, »MMDS modem, LMDS, and / or UHF or other wired or wireless modem. The MMDS uses land line sight signals, such as microwave signals. The second communication path may include a telephone link, and the two-way adapter may include a modem. The packet relay relay agent may be adapted to process packets of data sent to it to provide functional improvements, including at least one of: application level proximity, DHCP relay agent, IGMP proximity, IP encapsulation, filtering of the IP, tunneling of the link layer? -data, filtering of the data link layer, and proximity ARP agent. The address configuration information can be provided by the network address server according to a DHCP. The method may include the additional step of providing a one-way adapter confirmation message to the network address server via the packet relay relay agent, the two-way adapter, and the second communication path to confirm receipt of the address configuration information in the one-way adapter. The method may further include, in addition, the step of providing a confirmation message from the network address server to the one-way adapter, via the second communication path, the two-way adapter and the relay agent and packet processor to confirm receipt of the one-way adapter confirmation message. A corresponding apparatus is also presented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 illustrates an architecture of the system according to the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a protocol packet according to the present invention. Figure 3 illustrates a procedure flow for a cable modem controller in accordance with the present invention. Figure 4 illustrates a processing flow for a telephone modem controller in accordance with the present invention. Figure 5 illustrates a packet that is transmitted from a telephone modem to an IP decapper in an ISP telephone network in accordance with the present invention. Figure 6 illustrates a packet that is transmitted from a cable operator network to a cable modem according to the present invention. Figure 7 illustrates a processing flow for initializing a two-way adapter, such as a telephone modem according to the present invention. Figure 8 (a) illustrates the first part of a processing flow for initializing a one-way adapter, such as a cable modem according to the present invention. Figure 8 (b) illustrates the second part of a processing flow for initializing a one-way adapter such as a cable modem according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a dynamic network configuration and a one-way adapter in a one-way communication system, such as a cable television system or the like. A proximity agent is provided to communicate with a resource server of the computer network through a configured return path adapter, thereby providing bidirectional communication between a one-way adapter and the resource server. The term "computer network" is used here to refer to any network, internal network, the Internet, subnet or the like. A protocol for communicating data in a computer network is often defined by a protocol layer package. Each layer performs a service for the next higher layer, and each protocol of the layer depends on the other protocols of the layer. The services performed may include adding header and / or queue information, calibrating a timer, or performing error detection and / or error correction, for example. The lowest layer in the packet is the physical layer, which is a physical medium. Next, a data link layer, network layer, transport layer and application layer can be provided. The application layer refers to programs such as a browser that operates on a PC. The transport layer improves the reliability of the network layer taking into account lost and erroneous packets, and allows a standard package of primitives with different networks to be used. The network layer chooses the appropriate paths (eg, links and routing devices) to communicate source data packets to a destination, and allows communication between different types of networks. In particular, bandwidth management is provided in different links and routing devices. The data link layer takes into account the structuring of the data packets (for example, appropriate size of the data block), error control, flow control and error detection and correction. The physical layer, which may include a copper or fiber optic or wireless wire path, is the medium over which the data packets are communicated. At the network layer, the transport layer data is provided as a packet, and a header can be added to the packet. In the data link layer, the data of the network layer is provided as a block, and a header can be added to the block. The processing of the packets can be referred to a data link layer, wherein it is understood that those packet blocks are provided. Finally, in the physical layer, the block is modulated on a carrier for transmission through the physical medium. The data blocks that are received by the destination machine are processed in inverted order, for example, from the physical layer to the physical layer. data link layer, network layer, transport layer and application layer. In particular, the Internet typically uses a connection-oriented transport layer protocol known as TCP, and a network layer protocol, known as IP. The TCP service is established when the sending and receiving machines have created the endpoints known as connectors. Each connector has a connector number or address that includes the IP address of the host computer and a 16-bit loccl number for the host computer, known as a port. In this way, the TCP header includes a source port and a destination port. An explicit connection is established between a connector on the sending machine and a connector on the receiving machine using the calls from the connector. However, difficulties are encountered in the TCP / IP packet when data from the computer network is communicated to a PC or routing / bridge device, via a one-way transmission network, where the return path is provided, by example, by a telephone link of an upward flow from the PC or to the routing / bridge device to the computer network. For example, for a cable modem system, the cable television plant can allocate a standard television channel (eg, 6 MHz) to transfer data for Internet service and multiple media. A PC is interconnected with the network of the television plant (for example, the "transmission plant") via the cable modem using the same type of connection as a television. Once connected, the cable modem tunes to the fixed channel to transfer data to access the Internet and other multi-media services offered by the cable television operator. The cable modem receives digital information transported over the television network and passes it through the PC. The communication of the signal of return of the PC in the premises of the subscriber towards the server do i? The Internet is provided on an alternative path, such as a telephone connection. In addition, in a "double-housing" cable modem architecture, the IP addresses for a cable modem and a telephone modem (eg, return path adapter) are usually assigned dynamically and are managed from different sets of directions. The cable modem and the telephone modem are also known as "adapters". The term "double hosting" refers to an architecture where there are two network adapters in a single device, such as a PC, and different IP addresses are used for each of those adapters. The address of the telephone adapter can be assigned using the IPCP, while the address of the cable modem is typically assigned using a DHCP, for example. In the dual-mode cable modem network architecture, due to the nature of a cable television link path, all the traffic in ascending flow is directed towards the telephone modem. Data sent from the Internet server to the PC should be directed to the IP packet associated with the cable modem adapter. However, packets that leave the telephone adapter usually have the IP address associated with the telephone adapter. This fixes the routing / addressing conventions of most clients' TCP / IP packets. Figure 1 illustrates the architecture of a system according to the present invention. The architecture includes a network of operator MSO / cable 110, a PC do! client 120, which may be located in a user's home, an ISP 140 telephone network (eg, switching facility), and a computer network 150 such as the Internet. The operator network of the MSO / cable 110 includes a routing device of the MSO 116 to communicate with the Internet 150, an address server of the cable network 114 for assigning a DHCP address to different server cable modems over the network 110 , and a broadband network center 112 that provides data on an RF channel 118 to a population of cable modems. An IP 148 de-encapsulator module may also be associated with the cable operator network 110. Optionally, the decoy module of the IP 148 may be provided between the telephone network of the ISP 140 and the Internet 150. The RF channel may be a link cable, for example, comprising optical fiber and / or coaxial cable or a wireless network, such as a satellite link, or a link of an MMDS. Note that the RF channel 113 also; _; it can transmit television signals and other data to a set of decoders in a conventional manner. The present invention is compatible with the existing transmission and reception equipment. The PC 120, which could alternatively be a routing / bridging device connected to one or more PCs at a location, for example, on a LAN, includes a one-way cable modem 122 (eg, a one-way adapter) ), a packet relay relay agent 124 in accordance with the present invention, and a telephone modem 126 (e.g., a two-way adapter). The telephone modem 126 includes transmit and receive capabilities, while the cable modem 122 only receives. A communication path 128 only allows communication between those elements. The cable modem 122 and the telephone modem 126 can be provided as internal or external PC cards, for example. The relay agent 124 can be implemented in the programs, the fixed instructions and / or the physical equipment of the PC 120 or in an external device of the PC 120. The modem 122 can be used with cable, satellite, MMDS, LMDS, UHF or other signals, for example. Note that the PC 120 includes conventional equipment components such as a CPU and memory, which can provide control signals to the cable modem 122 and the telephone modem 126, as well as implement the functions of the relay agent 124. The ISP telephone network 140 receives data from the telephone modem 126 via a telephone line 138. The telephone network of the ISP 140 includes a terminal server 144, a server of the telephone network 146, and a device c = routing of the ISP 142 that connects the telephone network of the ISP 140 to the Internet 150. The Internet 150 includes a representative server 155 that stores data that can be retrieved by the PC 120. The PPRA 124 is a sending entity of the data link layer that can be used in one-way systems in where the data is received through an interface, but is sent through a different return path interface. An additional link transport, layer or network may be included in the packet processing agent, transparent to the upper layers in the protocol block. PPRA 124 searches all packets received from the protocol block attached to a one-way adapter. In the illustrated embodiment, the one-way adapter is the cable modem 122, which only receives in ormad¿-i ,. In downward flow of the cable television network lla, via an RF channel 118, In addition, the relay agent 124 checks all packets sent to, and received from, the adapter of the return path, which in the mode illustrated is a telephone modem 126. At least, the PPRA 124 sends packets on the data link layer of the one-way adapter 122 to the adapter of the return path 126.

In some cases, the routing devices in the return telephone network, such as the routing device of the ISP 142, can reject packets if the source address of the packet does not come from the network that handles them. For example, if a packet has a source address corresponding to the cable modem 122, it will not be recognized by the routing device of the ISP 142, and therefore it is removed (discarded) in the routing device of the ISP 142. Without However, a packet with a home address of the telephone modem 126 will be recognized, and it will be allowed to move from the ISP 140 network to the Internet 150. The routing device of the ISP 142 uses a filter for anti-interference to filter the packets that are not recognized. Additionally, the source addresses in the recognized packets are those addresses commonly assigned by the address server of the telephone network 146. The data link layer or tunneling protocols of the network layer can be used to bypass the anti-interference filter . The tunneling allows the communication between the main computers of origin and destination that is in the different networks that are of the same type, but are separated by a network with a different type. With the tunneling, an entire package is transported in the cargo data field of another package. The tunnels defined on the data link layer (Layer 2, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol "PPTP", Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol "L2TP") and network layer (Layer 3, IP Tunneling) They are two-way tunnels. Since the network architecture of the cable modem is asymmetric with respect to routing, an IP tunneling scheme, such as that defined in IETF RFC 2003, can be partially implemented in the cable modem system. The invention implements a one-way tunnel in the upstream direction, through the telephone network of the IP 140, for example, from the PC 120 to the decoiler of the IP 148 in the network of the operator of the MSO / cable 110, in the network layer, the source address in the external IP header of each packet is the IP address that is addressed to the PPP adapter, or the IP address of the telephone modem 125. The destination address in the header is that address. of the IP 148 Decapsulator module. When an anti-interference filter is used in the routing device of the ISP 142, all packets leaving the cable modem block are encapsulated as discussed hereinabove being sent out of the telephone adapter 126 by a function. IP encapsulation implemented in the PPRA 124. As mentioned, the address of the telephone modem 126 is assigned using the IPCP, while preferably the address cable modem 122 is assigned using DHCP. Providing the network using DHCP requires bidirectional communication from the address server of the DHCP 114 cable network through the adapter that needs the configuration parameters, for example, the cable adapter 122. Figure 2 illustrates a protocol block according to the present invention. Block 200, which represents the protocol? Of PC 120, includes user applications 210 (for example, such as an Internet browser running on a PC), a layer of transport controller 220, for example, which uses the TCP, a network controller 230, for example, that uses the IP, a data link layer 240, and a physical layer 250. The data link layer 240 includes a telephone modem driver 226, a PPRA 224 and a cable modem driver 222. The physical layer includes the telephone modem 126 and the cable modem 122. The PC receives data via the receive cable modem only 122, and sends and receives data via the telephone modem 126.

For example, a user can enter a request in the user application layer 210 to observe a page of the global network on a global network site on the Internet. In this case, the processing flows from the user application layer 210, towards the transport layer controller 220, towards the network layer controller 230, towards the cable modem controller, towards the relay agent 224, towards the telephone modem driver 226, and finally to the telephone modem 122. Note that the cable modem driver 222 sends the user's request to the relay agent 224, instead of the cable modem 122. The telephone modem 126 then uses the telephone link to send a message to the telephone network. The message is then routed to the appropriate Internet server based on its destination address. The server 155 receives the request from the appropriate global network page, typically according to HTTP. The server 155 sends the requested information back to the PC 120 at the IP address associated with the cable module adapter 122. Specifically, the requested information is sent to the network of the MSO / cable operator, and is then sent on the KF channel 118 and is received by the cable modem 222, the processing of this data flows from the cable modem 122, towards the cable modem controller 222, towards the network layer controller 230, towards the controller of the transport layer 220, and finally to the application layer of the user 210, where they are processed by the browser and presented on the screen of the PC. Initially, when the PC 120 wishes to establish a connection with the telephone network of the ISP 140 of Figure 1, an initialization of the session must occur. First, the telephone modem 126 needs to connect to the terminal server 144 and obtain an IP address which is then assigned to the TCP / IP block associated with the telephone modem. The exchange of information between the PC and the telephone network of the ISP 140 during the initialization of the session includes connection requests and connection indication primitives. At this point, two-way communication with the servers on the Internet over the telephone link is possible. Next, the cable modem block needs to be initialized. This means that the cable modem needs to obtain its IP address and network configuration information. Since the cable modem 122 is a one-way adapter, which only receives, the information that is sent through the telephone modem adapter 126 is requested using the PPRA 124.

In response to the request, the IP address for the cable modem and the initialization information of the address server network of the cable network 114 are received in the telephone modem adapter 126 via the Internet 150 and the telephone network of the ISP 140. Once the cable modem block is initialized, all data communicated to the cable modem block is received in the cable modem 122 and not through the telephone modem 126. Once a cable modem has been established connection to the PC, communication and upward flow of the cable modem block to the Internet, packets are sent to the data link layer 240 of the cable modem controller 222 to the telephone modem controller 226, via the PPRA 124 The packets are then provided from the telephone modem controller 226 to the return path adapter (e.g., telephone modem) 126, and are transmitted in upward flow to the ISP 140 telephone network. Additional packet processing to increase application, transport, network and data link layer functions can be included in the PPRA 224. Functional improvements that can be implemented in the PPRA include proximity of the application level, DHCP relay agent, proximity of the IGMP, IP encapsulation, IP filtering, tunneling of the data link layer and filtering of the ARP approach agents. Note that it can be conceptually considered that the block 200 represents a block of the telephone modem 202 on the left side, and a block of the cable modem 204 on the right side. In the data link layer 240, the PPRA 224 can be considered an interface between the telephone modem block 202 and the cable modem block 204 in the data link layer. In general, in Figure 2, dotted lines represent possible data flow during initialization, while thick lines represent possible data streams in a cable-modem normal-Internet access mode, then of the initialization. The path between the telephone modem driver 226 and the telephone modem 126 is bidirectional at all times, and can therefore carry both initialization data and data d > Internet, as required. Figure 3 illustrates a procedure flow for a cable modem controller according to the present invention. Processing begins in frame 300. In frame 305, it is determined if a packet is received by a cable modem driver. If so, the processing proceeds to frame 310, where it is determined whether the packet comes from a higher protocol layer. Processing may also proceed to frame 310 via "A" 312 of Figure 4 for packets received by the cable modem driver 222 of the PPRA 224. Note that the data received by the cable modem controller of the PPRA (e.g. , from "A" 312) may include initialization data of the session to establish a session with the Internet. In addition, DHCP transactions in the initialization of the cable modem session require a two-way communication with the address server of the cable network 114. The initialization data is sent from the address server of the cable network 114 to the interface of the telephone modem, and it is intended that they be sent to the cable modem block. If the packet does not come from a higher protocol layer, the packet comes from the cable modem 122 in the physical layer, lower, in the cable modem block 204. In this case, in box 315, the packet is sent in ascending form towards the network layer controller and the subsequent upper layers in the cable modem block 204. The data received by the cable modem driver 222 of the cable modem 122 is the data, such as a page of the global network, sent over the downstream channel of a cable television glide (e.g., RF channel 118), satellite transmission link, or other channel. If the packet comes from the upper protocol layer (for example, layers 210, 220, or 220), in box 220, the packet is sent to the PPRA. In box 325, the PPRA processes the packet as required. This processing may include encapsulation or de-encapsulation, or any functional improvements referred to above. Upon completion of processing in PPRA 224, in frame 330, the PPRA sends a "ready to be sent" signal to the telephone modem 226 controller. In the 335 box, the packet is sent to the telephone modem controller, and in frame 340, the packet is sent from the telephone modem controller 226 to the telephone modem 126. The packet is then ready to be transmitted upstream over a telephone link. Processing ends in frame 345. Figure 4 illustrates the procedure flow for a telephone modem controller in accordance with the present invention. The procedure flow begins in frame 400. In frame 405, it is determined whether a packet is received by the telephone modem driver 226. Recall that modems comprising several packets are processed by the telephone modem driver in the telephone layer. telephone link If a packet is present, it is determined in Table 410 whether the packet comes from the upper protocol layer. If so, in Table 415, the packet comes from a higher level controller in the protocol block of the telephone modem (such as the network layer controller 230). The package is then processed as required. The packet can then be transmitted to the telephone network of the ISP 140 via a telephone link in frame 417. If the packet is not of a higher level in the protocol block of the telephone modem, in box 420 it is determined whether the package should be directed to the cable modem block. If not, in box 425, the packet is sent up in the telephone modem block. For example, it is intended that the packet for the telephone modem block may include the session initialization data for the telephone modem. If the packet is directed to the cable modem block, in box 430, the packet is processed by the PPRA as required. This processing may include encapsulation or de-encapsulation, or any of the other functional improvements referred to above. For example, the packet that is intended to be for the cable modem block may include the session initialization data for the cable modem. Data communication to the cable modem block via the telephone modem driver will typically occur during the initialization phase of the cable modem block. Once the system is initialized and the network is in operation, communications from the Internet to the cable modem occur via the transmission RF channel, and not via the telephone modem. When processing is completed in the PPRA, in frame 440, the PPRA sends a "pack ready to be sent" signal to the cable modem driver. In frame 445, the packet is sent to the cable modem controller, and the processing continues in "A" 312 in Figure 3. Figure 5 illustrates a packet that is transmitted from a telephone modem to an IP decoder in a ISP telephone network according to the present invention. A packet of TCP or UDP 500 (for example, the encapsulation packet, includes an encapsulation header of the IP 510 and a charge of 550. Note that packet 500 is shown in a simplified form, while several other fields, such as the check field and the sequence number field are not displayed The encapsulation header of the IP 510, includes an IP destination address for a 512 IP decapsulator module, and an IP source address for the telephone modem 514. The 550 charge contains another 555 full TCP packet, which includes an IP destination address for an Internet server 560 (or another place in the computer network), an IP source address for a 565 cable modem block, and a 570 charge, such as the data request to view a world network page for the particular Internet server at destination address 560. Here, the TCP 555 packet is tunneled with the TCE 500 packet. This configuration circumvents the anti-interference filters used by telephone networks. Specifically, a telephone network employing anti-interference filters may not recognize the IP source address by the cable modem block 565, since the cable modem is not part of the telephone network. However, the telephone network will recognize the IP source address for the cable modem 514, since the telephone modem is part of the telephone network. When the TCP 500 packet is received by the IP 148 decapper module (Figure 1), the 555 packet is extracted and routed to the server 155 identified by the IP address of 560. Note that if filter ** anti-interference is not used the telephone network of the ISP 140, the 555 packet can be transmitted directly without tunneling. When the server of the Internet 155 of Figure 1 receives a request to view a page of the particular world network, the server transmits the page of the world network as HTML data according to the IP address of origin for the modem block cable 565 of Figure 5. This IP 565 source address designates that the MSO 116 routing device should receive the requested global network page or other data. Figure 6 illustrates a packet that is transmitted from a cable operator network to a cable modem according to the present invention. The page of the world network or other data of the Internet is transmitted from the server 155 to the MSO routing device "116 as a TCP / IP 650 packet, which includes the IP destination address for the cable modem block. 620, the IP source address of the Internet server 630, and a portion of the Cargo 640 comprising the data of the requested global network page or other data.When the TCP 650 packet is retrieved by the routing device of the MSO 116 is sent to the center of the transmission network 112, since the destination IP address in the packet is that which was assigned to the cable modem in the downstream RF channel.The center of the band network Wide 112 transmits a total data packet 600, which includes the TCP / IP 650 block to the cable modem 122 via the RF channel 118 at an available channel location Figure 7 illustrates the flow of a procedure for initializing an adapter two way such as a telephone modem according to the present invention. Initialization begins in block 700. In block 710, a user requests an Internet connection by selecting the "program connection" icon of the cable modem, for example, on the PC screen. The connection procedure includes two phases (for example, initialization of the telephone modem adapter, and the cable modem adapter) and is controlled by a PC connection management application. In block 720, the telephone is dialed. and the telephone link is established with the ISP terminal server (for example, the terminal server 144 in Figure 1) using a PPP. In block 730, the terminal server obtains an IP address from the address server of the telephone network (for example, server 146 in Figure 1) and assigns the IP address using the TCP / IP packet of the telephone modem adapter using the IPCP. In block 740, the two-way telephone adapter is fully initialized, and is capable of providing two-way communication with any server on the Internet or other computer network. In block 750, initialization of the cable modem begins via "A" 755 as described in connection with Figures 8 (a) and 8 (b), below. Figure 8 (a) illustrates the first part of the procedure flow for initializing a one-way adapter such as a cable modem according to the present invention. In block 800, the cable modem package (CM) (e.g., pack 204 in Figure 2) sends a session initialization request to the cable modem driver (e.g., controller 22 in the Figure 2) . The request can be in the form of a DHCP / UDP / IP packet. In block 805, the PPRA (for example, PPRA 224 in Figure 2) receives the initialization request from the DHCP session of the CM controller. In block 810, the PPRA can modify the initialization request packet of the DHCP session with the "relay agent / proximity agent" functionality. Additionally, the IP address of the telephone modem (see block 730 of Figure 7) is inserted into the address pack of the "relay agent". In addition, the destination address of the IP packet is sent to the address server of the cable network (eg, server 114 in Figure 1), also known as the DHCP server address. In block 815, the PPRA can make additional modifications to the packet, such as IP encapsulation / tunneling functions, as required, and then send the packet out of the telephone adapter, and the upward flow over the telephone line. In block 820, the packet reaches the address server of the cable network according to the destination address in the session initialization packet using the normal Internet packet sending rules. In block 825, the DHCP server, for example the address server of the cable network, responds to the packet with the information of the IP address configuration for the relay agent address. That is, the destination address of the answer is the IP address of the telephone adapter. The procedure continues via "B" 830 in Figure 8 (b). Figure 8 (b) illustrates the second part of the flow of a method for initiating a one-way adapter such as a cable modem according to the present invention. In block 850, the telephone modem receives the response from the DHCP server and looks in the IP / UDP / DHCP packet to determine if the packet is for the cable modem, and if so, passes the packet to the PPRA. If the packet is intended not to be for the cable modem, it is passed to the telephone modem block. In block 855, the PPRA processes the packet by the DHCP relay agent functions. In block 860, the PPRA sends the packet to the cable modem block. In block 865, the cable modem receives the IP address and configuration information. At block 870, the cable modem sends another DHCP request to the address server of the cable network confirming that it received the information. The request is modified by the PPRA as in the original application (see blocks 810 and 815 in Figure 8 (a)). At block 875, the cable network management server sends a confirmation message to the cable modem, confirming that the cable modem received the CM's acceptance of the offered configuration parameters. In block 880, the cable modem is initialized and is ready to receive data from the Internet via a one-way RF channel.

It should now be appreciated that the present invention provides a method for sending data between a one-way network adapter and a two-way return path adapter. The invention is not limited to use with cable television system or telephone return paths. Any one-way network adapter and two-way return path adapter can be linked using the PPRA described here. In addition, the term "one-way adapter" encompasses an adapter that has only the ability to receive only on one track, as well as an adapter that has a two-way capability but is operating in the one-way mode. The present invention provides the dynamic network configuration of a one-way adapter in a one-way communication system such as a cable television system or the like. A proximity agent is provided to communicate with a resource server in the computer network through a configured return path adapter, thus providing bidirectional communication between the one-way adapter and the resource server. First, a two-way adapter such as a telephone modem is initialized by establishing a telephone link to the terminal server of a telephone network of an Internet service provider. The terminal server obtains an IP address from the address server of the telephone network, and assigns the IP address to the telephone modem block. Next, a one-way adapter such as a cable modem is initialized. The cable modem block sends a session initialization request to a cable modem driver. The request is processed by a PPRA, and the IP address of the telephone modem is inserted in the package. The destination address of the IP packet is sent to the address server of the cable network. The packet is sent to the telephone adapter and the upward flow to the address server of the cable network via the telephone line. The cable network address server responds to the packet with the IP address and confirmation information for the relay agent's address. The telephone modem receives the response from the address server of the cable modem and passes it to the cable modem block via the PPRA to retrieve the IP address and configuration information. The cable modem is then initialized and is ready to receive Internet data via the one-way RF channel. Although the invention has been described in connection with several specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations can be made and modifications to the present without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1. A method to initialize a one-way adapter that receives data from a computer network via a first communication path, and communicates with a two-way adapter, via a packet relay agent, where the Two-way adapter is adapted to receive data from, and send data to, a service provider of the computer network via a second communication path, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: establishing a link between the two-way adapter and the service provider via the second communication path; obtaining an address from the service provider, and communicating such an address to the relay agent packet processor via the second communication path and the two-way adapter; provide a one-way adapter session initiation request packet to the packet processor relay agent; the packet relay relay agent provides the session initialization request packet with: (a) an origin address according to the address obtained from the service provider, and (b) a destination address of an address server network associated with the first communication path; and communicating the initialization request package of the session to the network address server, via the two-way adapter and the second communication path according to the address of the same; wherein: the address server of the network responds to the packet communicated to it, by communicating the configuration information of the two-way adapter address, via the second communication path; and the packet relay relay agent obtains configuration information from the address of the two-way adapter to be used to provide initialization of the one-way adapter, 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the link is established between the two-way adapter and the service provider via the second communication path in response to a request from the user to access the computer network. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the session initialization request packet is provided by the one-way adapter to the packet relay agent in response to a request from the user to access to the computer network. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the first communication path comprises at least one of a cable television link, a satellite television link, and a terrestrial transmission television link. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the one-way adapter comprises one of a cable television modem, a satellite television modem, and a terrestrial transmission television modem. 6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the second communication path comprises a telephone link. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the two-way adapter comprises a modem. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the packet relay relay agent is adapted to process the data packets sent to it to provide functional improvements including - at least one of: application level proximity, relay agent of the Dynamic Configuration Protocol of the Main Purchaser, proximity of the Internet Group Management Protocol, encapsulation of the Internet Protocol, filtering of the Internet Protocol, tunneling of the data link layer, filtering of the link layer of data, and agent of the Proximity Resolution Resolution Protocol. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the address configuration information is provided by the address server of the network according to the Dynamic Computer Configuration Protocol of the main computer. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises the step of: providing a configuration message of the one-way adapter to the network address server via the packet relay agent, the packet adapter two ways, and the second communication path to confirm receipt of the address configuration information in the one-way adapter. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that it further comprises the step of: providing a confirmation message from the address server of the network to the one-way adapter, via the second communication path, the two-way adapter, and the packet relay relay agent to confirm receipt of the one-way adapter confirmation message. 12. An apparatus for initializing a one-way adapter that receives data from a computer network via a first communication path, characterized in that it comprises: a relay agent packet processor; a two-way adapter that communicates with the one-way adapter, via the relay agent packet processor; the two-way adapter is adapted to receive data from, and send data to, a service provider of the computer network via a second communication path; means for establishing a link between the two-way adapter and the service provider via the second communication path; means for obtaining an address from the service provider, and communicating the address to the packet relay agent via the second communication path and the two-way adapter; and means for providing a session initialization request packet from the one-way adapter to the packet relay agent; the packet relay relay agent provides the session initialization request packet with: (a) an origin address according to the address obtained from the service provider, and (b) a destination address of an address server network associated with the first communication path; and means for communicating the session initialization request packet to the network address server via the two-way adapter and the second communication path according to the destination address thereof; wherein: the address server of the network responds to the packet communicated to it, by communicating the configuration information of the two-way adapter address, via the second communication path; and the packet relay relay agent obtains configuration information from the two-way adapter address to be used to provide initialization of the one-way adapter. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that: the link was established between the two-way adapter and the service provider via the second communication path in response to a request from the user to access the computer network 14. The apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that: the session initialization request packet is provided by the one-way adapter to the packet relay agent in response to a request from the user to have access to the computer network. 15. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that: the first communication path comprises at least one of a cable television link, a satellite television link, and a terrestrial transmission television link. 16. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that: the one-way adapter comprises one of a cable television modem, a satellite television modem, and a terrestrial transmission television modem, 17, The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that: the second communication path comprises a telephone link. 18. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that: the two-way adapter comprises a modem. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that the packet relay relay agent is adapted to process the data packets sent to it to provide functional improvements including at least one of: application level proximity , relay agent of the Dynamic Configuration Protocol of the Main Computer, proximity of the Internet Group Management Protocol, encapsulation of the Internet Protocol, filtering of the Internet Protocol, tunneling of the data link layer, filtering of the data link, and agent of the Proximity Resolution Resolution Protocol. 20. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that: The address configuration information is provided by the address server of the network according to the Dynamic Computer Configuration Protocol of the Main Computer. 21. The apparatus according to any of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that it further comprises: * means for providing a configuration message of the one-way adapter to the network address server via the packet relay relay agent, the two-way adapter, and the second communication path to confirm the reception of the address configuration information in the one-way adapter. The apparatus according to claim 21, characterized in that it further comprises: means for providing a confirmation message from the network address server to the one-way adapter, via the second communication path, the two-way adapter, and the relay agent packet processor to confirm receipt of the one-way adapter confirmation message. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A one-way adapter such as a cable modem is initialized to allow a personal computer to retrieve data from a network of computers such as the Internet, via a transmission channel, which transmits data at the same time in upward flow to the network * * of computers via a telephone line. First, a two-way adapter such as a telephone modem is initialized, establishing a telephone link with the server of a telephone network terminal and an Internet Service Provider. The terminal server obtains an IP address from an address server of the telephone network, and assigns the IP address to the telephone modem block. Next, the cable modem block sends a session initialization request to a cable modem driver. The request is processed by a packet relay agent (PPRA), and the IP address of the telephone modem is inserted into the packet. The destination address of the IP packet is sent to that address server of the cable network. A cable network address server receives the packet via an upstream telephone line and responds with the IP address and configuration information for the relay agent's address. The telephone modem receives the response and passes it to the cable modem block via the PPRA. The cable modem is thus initialized with the IP address and configuration information and is ready to receive data from the Internet via a one-way RF channel.