HK1262679B - System for providing data communication over a coaxial network - Google Patents

Description

System for providing data communication over coaxial network

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the architecture of a system for providing data communication over a coaxial network, and to a network termination device for connection to a coaxial network in such a system. And more particularly to improvements to MoCA (multimedia over coax alliance) network deployments.

Background

Since televisions have become commodity in homes, hotels, offices, and other buildings, coaxial (or simply, coaxial cable (coax)) networks have often been implemented in these facilities. Therefore, a significant portion of these facilities built in developed countries have been provided with such coaxial networks for at least 50 years. Providing signal access to buildings, from earlier solutions using local antenna receivers to wired cable television connections, and later fiber optic networks, has been done in different ways for many years. There is still a need to distribute access within a building for which a local coaxial network may be used.

The multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) is an industry standard alliance development technology for networked homes, which operates over existing home coax to enable full-house distribution of digital content. MoCA provides a backbone for home digital entertainment networks and supports streaming media, such as standard television, and allows existing wiring to link set-top boxes to televisions and other entertainment facilities, such as computers or game consoles in multiple rooms.

MoCA was designed and used to provide data access within the home. In order to operate and gain access to external network providers, MoCA terminal equipment is required. The MoCA termination device may be a MoCA adapter or modem having at least a coaxial connector for connecting to a coaxial network, and may be a network output, such as an ethernet switch. The end device also includes a MoCA chip or chipset configured to control media sharing in a cable-equipped home according to one or more MoCA specifications. However, each such MoCA terminal device has a relatively high level of complexity, which results in high production and configuration costs.

SUMMARY

An improved system for providing data communication over a MoCA network, and a MoCA terminal device configured to operate in such a system, is provided in accordance with the appended claims.

In current MoCA terminal device designs, there is always a host device that includes a microcontroller or microprocessor device. The host device acts as a translator for received configuration messages and communicates with various network devices and other circuitry on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). This requires complexity on the PCB for the host device to function, and requires that code for the host function must be developed independently for each specific MoCA modem type. This creates design and production related costs and increases time to market.

In the system provided herein, MoCA technology is implemented for providing data access to multiple independent user entities connected to a common coaxial network. In this way, already existing coaxial networks, e.g. in multi-family homes, hotels, etc., can be implemented for providing access to external physical broadband data channels (e.g. fiber optic cables). The network management device connects the external data channel to the coaxial network, and the management device is configured with a MoCA chip. One or more connected MoCA terminal devices are connected to the coaxial network, each MoCA terminal device including a MoCA chip. In this case, multiple modems on the same channel share the same access medium, i.e., the coaxial network. The configuration of each MoCA modem is critical in the MoCA access application to enable access to external access networks, to ensure network traffic isolation for individual access modems, to ensure quality of service (QoS), and to configure other functions related to network parameters typically found in network chip devices. In the proposed solution, the control unit comprising a MoCA chip in the network management device is configured to establish an access function that creates a control channel to each connected MoCA terminal device over the coaxial network. In a MoCA terminal device, a network access unit is connected to a bus on a MoCA chip. In this way, the hardware signals triggered by the access functions are input/output on the MoCA chip and directly input/output to the network access unit in the MoCA terminal device via the bus. This creates the potential for a much cheaper MoCA access modem to be manufactured and designed. The saving includes: reduced component count and reduced development time.

Brief Description of Drawings

In the following, embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a deployment of a system providing data communication over a MoCA network in a building complex (construction complex);

fig. 2 schematically shows a schematic diagram of the system according to fig. 1;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a network management device for use in a system for providing data communications over a MoCA network;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a MoCA terminal device, such as a network adapter, according to the prior art; and

fig. 5 schematically shows a MoCA terminal device for use in a system for providing data communication over a MoCA network according to fig. 2.

Detailed Description

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It will be further understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the invention. Thus, variations from the shapes of the illustrations and relative dimensions are contemplated, for example, as a result of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances. Thus, embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes and relative sizes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes and/or relative sizes that result, for example, from various operating limitations and/or from manufacturing limitations. Thus, the elements illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows by way of example a building complex 1 in the form of a single building. For the sake of completeness, it may be noted that the invention described herein may be implemented in a building complex comprising a plurality of buildings with a common coaxial network or interconnected coaxial networks. The building complex 1 may be, for example, an apartment or hotel. In the building complex, individual building units, such as apartments, hotel rooms, offices, etc., are shown in dashed lines. The coaxial network 2 is arranged in a building complex 1 with a socket in all or a number of different building units, such as building units 4 and 5. Apartment buildings and hotels typically have a coaxial network covering all the apartment or hotel rooms for television signal distribution. These cables can also be used for high speed internet access, IPTV, VoIP, internet television services, etc., without affecting television signal quality. In the proposed solution, the network management unit 10 is connected to the coaxial network 2 and to an external data channel 3, for example a power supply data cable or an optical fibre. The network management device 10 may for example be installed in a basement, as shown, or on the attic of the building 1, and may be connected after the TV amplifier. Network management device 10 utilizes spectrum in the coaxial cable that was previously unused on the conventional TV spectrum (5-790MHz) for data transmission. The network management device 10 is configured to combine the incoming data stream from the external data channel 3 and the TV signal (if applicable) into the same cable and transmit over the coaxial network 2. At the other end of the coaxial network 2, the signals are separated by terminal equipment 100, 101 (e.g., access modems) operating under the MoCA specification. Since the data stream and the television signal use separate frequency spectrums, the television signal is effectively isolated from the data stream.

Fig. 2 shows the basic architecture of a system according to one embodiment, in which a network management device 10 is shown on top, connected between an external data channel 3 and a coaxial network 2. A plurality of MoCA terminal devices 100 and 104 are connected to the coaxial network 2 and are operable to gain access to the external data channel 3 through the network management device 10. By way of example, the MoCA terminal device 100 may receive television signals over the coaxial network 2 for output on a connected television 202, the television 202 may include or be connected by a set-top box (not shown). Further, the MoCA terminal device 100 may be configured to provide network access to the connected computer 201, available for receiving multimedia data. The MoCA terminal device 100 may also include a wireless access point for radio access to the MoCA terminal device 100 from various portable radio communication devices (e.g., computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc.). Further configuration and operation of the system will be described by way of example with reference to the drawings of the network management device 10 and the MoCA terminal device 100, respectively.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a network management device 10 in an embodiment comprising a connector 14 for connecting to an external data channel 3, e.g. an optical fiber or other physical carrier of broadband data. At the other end of the network management device 10, a connector 13 is provided for connecting to the coaxial network 2. The control unit 11 is provided in the network management device 10, and particularly controls communication with MoCA terminal devices connected to the coaxial network 2. For this purpose, the control unit 11 comprises a MoCA chip 12. MoCA chips are hardware chips that implement the MoCA protocol and HW required to meet the MoCA specification, and such chips are commercially available. The hardware content in a MoCA chip typically includes a baseband radio/power amplifier as well as low noise amplifiers, mixers, radio frequency switches, microprocessors, clock circuits, and some type of ethernet packet bus. MoCA chip manufacturers apply the MoCA specification to chip designs by selecting the chip content required to meet the specification. This may vary depending on the MoCA specification version (currently there are versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.5). In the network management apparatus, the control unit 11 is operated to control the MoCA chip in the connected MoCA terminal apparatus 100 and access the apparatus connected to the MoCA chip in such a MoCA terminal apparatus 100. In the network management device 10, the CATV and MoCA channels may be combined in a combiner (not shown), which is a band selection device. The combiner may combine several MoCA channels and several CATV channels for distribution to the same coaxial network 2. The network management device 10 may have several MoCA channels of different frequencies connected to the combiner and distributed to the coaxial network 2. The CATV signals may come from a satellite system, terrestrial television system, fiber CATV distribution network, or other CATV source.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a MoCA terminal device 40, such as a MoCA modem or network adapter, according to the prior art. Such MoCA terminal equipment 40 includes a plurality of components that are connected to one or more PCBs 114, held in a housing (not shown). The connector 112 is provided for connection to the coaxial network 2. The coaxial connector 112 is connected to the MoCA chip 110. The MoCA chip, in turn, is connected to a Management Data Clock (MDC)/management data input/output (MDIO) interface 115 and an ethernet bus 116 from a general purpose input/output (GPIO) to the host device 113. Host device 113 can be connected to one or more of Double Data Rate (DDR) memory 1131, host clock circuit 1132, boot memory 1133, operating system memory 1134, and power supply 1135 for host components and filters. In the prior art arrangement, the host device 113 is the master device and the MoCA device 110 is the slave device. The host device, typically a microprocessor or microcontroller, switches data communications from the MoCA device to all other connected hardware devices, such as the pointing devices 111, 117 and 120, which may include memory 117 connected through a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), LED control 118 connected through a GPIO, sensor 119 connected through an I2C interface, ethernet switch 111 connected through an ethernet bus, and Wi-Fi access points (not shown).

As described above, this configuration of MoCA end devices requires high complexity on the PCB114 for the host device to function properly, and requires that code for the host function must be developed independently for each particular MoCA end device type. This creates a significant amount of cost associated with design and production and increases time to market. Further, in the arrangement as shown in fig. 2, a plurality of terminal apparatuses on the same channel share the same access medium (coaxial cable channel, i.e., network). The configuration of each MoCA terminal device is critical in this MoCA access application to enable access to the external access network 3, secure network traffic isolation for the respective MoCA terminal devices 100 and 104, ensuring quality of service (QoS), and other functions such as configuring ethernet network parameters related to discovery in an ethernet switch.

Fig. 5 shows a MoCA terminal device 100 for use in the system shown in fig. 1 and 2 according to one embodiment. Also in this configuration, the coaxial connector 112 is connected to the MoCA chip 110, which MoCA chip 110 is in turn connected to the host device 113. However, in this configuration, the MoCA chip 110 is the master of the various connected devices, such as the memory (SPI)117, LED control devices (GPIOs) 118, temperature sensor (I2C bus) 119, network access device 111 (e.g., ethernet switch), and Wi-Fi access point 120, or any other device using a data bus (I2C, SPI, MDC/MDIO, GPIO). If desired, the MoCA chip 110 may also be connected to the host 113 through MDC/MDIO, and the host 113 may in turn be connected to various devices 1132 and 1135, as outlined in conjunction with the description of FIG. 4. This reversed configuration, in which the MoCA chip 110 acts as the master for the bus-connected devices (including the network access device 111), means that the MoCA terminal device 100 can be produced with less complexity because the host does not need to be specially programmed for the various devices 111, 117 and 120 on the PCB114 that are connected to the MoCA chip 110. Instead, each connected device 111, 117, 120 may be specifically addressed (be addressed) from the MoCA chip 12 in the network management device 10 over a control channel on the coaxial network.

Turning back to fig. 2, the control of the connected MoCA terminal device 100 by the network management device 10 will now be described for an embodiment of the system. The solution presented herein supports the market standard hardware protocols required for successful configuration and use of most hardware devices on the electronic market. Common protocols in the market are MDIO (management data input/output) described in IEEE802.3 subclause 22.2.4.5, I2C (inter-integrated circuit) described in NXP-UM10204, and SPI (serial peripheral interface) originally developed by motorola but adopted as a de facto standard by many chip manufacturers on the market. MDIO is mainly used for communication with ethernet devices. I2C uses a two-wire bus and is typically used for simpler devices such as sensors, real-time clocks, analog-to-digital converters, and the like. SPI is commonly used for memory and high speed devices, but may also be used for simpler devices. These three hardware protocols constitute a large portion of the standards currently implemented by the market for communicating with hardware devices.

In the preferred embodiment, the ACCESS function (ACCESS function) is implemented on the network management device 10 and on the MoCA terminal device 100 by means of the control unit 11 and in the MoCA chip 12, 110. The ACCESS function nomenclature includes three software components. One in the MoCA chip 12 on the management device 10 and one in the MoCA chip 110 on the MoCA terminal device 100. The software implementation in the MoCA chip 12, 110 enables bidirectional data transmission via the communication channel 20 (also referred to as control channel) to all connected MoCA terminal devices 100, 40. And in particular, MoCA chip 110, in which a software application parses received data and performs hardware functions, such as MDIO, I2C, SPI, GPIO commands. The control channel 20 may be an existing control channel, such as L2ME already existing in the MoCA specification; data may be transmitted in a variety of ways within the MoCA protocol and in ethernet packets, and the invention is not limited by the method and/or protocol of data transmission between MoCA chips. The third software part is an API (application programming interface) implemented on the control unit 11 of the management device 10. The API enables direct access to the hardware devices 111, 117 and 120 on the MoCA terminal device 100. The control unit 11 communicates with the MoCA chip 12 through an API, through MDIO or an ethernet bus. The command argument flag enables distinction between the respective MoCA terminal devices in communication. This enables the configuration process of the MoCA terminal device 10 to move from the host device 113 to the control unit 11. The availability of the hardware bus on the MoCA terminal device 100 from the control unit 11 will be transparent, which means that hardware/software developers can work with the development of hardware/software functions on the MoCA terminal devices 100, 40 from the control unit 11 as if they directly control the host device 113 connected to the various devices 111, 117 and 120. Since the host device 113 is not required, the software development of the MoCA terminal device 100 can be solved only on the control unit 11 (addressed).

The established channel 20 may be set using existing MoCA procedures. MoCA provides a layer 2 communication protocol that can be used for management and monitoring, called MoCA layer 2 management entity (L2ME), and is an integral part of the MoCA protocol. Another layer 2 protocol that can be used to manage and monitor MoCA nodes is the IEEE 1905 standard. In another embodiment tested by the applicant, an unused MoCA management and statistics word field is used, which transmits raw data between the management device 10 and the terminal device 100 at regular intervals. A custom communication protocol is implemented around the raw data transmission, which transmits a frame with a configuration command to the terminal device 100. The configuration command is parsed by the host on the end device 100, which further configures the ethernet switch 111 or any other device 117 and 120. The terminal device 100 is also able to transmit the current configuration state through the communication channel and notify the management unit 10.

The hw signal triggered from the ACCESS function is input/output on the MoCA chip 110 on the MoCA terminal device 100. Preferably, an application frame format is applied in the network management device 10, which is directed to the MoCA chip 110 bus. In this way, the benefits of connecting the MoCA chip 110 in the MoCA end device 100 directly to various devices, such as the ethernet switch 111, rather than through a translation host device, will be apparent.

In one embodiment, the application frame format is applied in the ACCESS function for the MDIO command. In this context, the following function arguments may be used:

-w: writing from a MoCA chip 110 connected to an Ethernet switch 111 over an MDIO bus

-r: reading from an Ethernet switch 111 connected to a MoCA chip 110 over an MDIO bus

-i: node IDs {1,2, 3., 63} of remote MoCA chip 110 and thus MoCA terminal device 100

-a: physical address of Ethernet switch 111 on remote MoCA terminal 100 (several Ethernet devices can be addressed)

-s: register addresses in Ethernet switch 111 on MoCA terminal device 100

-h: set GPIO on MoCA chip 110 high

-l: clearing Low GPIO on MoCA chip 110

-v: reading GPIO on MoCA chip 110

According to this principle, any device connected to the MDIO bus on the MoCA chip 110 may be addressed using the-a flag. As an example, when the target is to write to the noded (MoCA terminal device 100)3 in the register 1 of the ethernet switch 111 with the physical address 2 of the ethernet switch 111, data being 0x12345678, the command may be:

Access–i 3–w–a 0x02-s 0x01 0x12345678

conversely, when the target is to read data from NodelD3 with Ethernet switch 111 physical address 2, register 1, the command may be:

Access–i 3–r–a 0x02-s 0x01

the response may be: 0x12345678

Corresponding commands available for GPIOs:

setting GIOP:

Access–i 3–h 3

and clearing GPIO:

Access–i 3–l 3

reading GPIO:

Access–i 3–v 3

preferably, the ACCESS function must authenticate the recipient of the command, i.e. the node device must respond to the OK, but the command itself cannot be authenticated. In other words, a write command cannot be verified, but a read command may be issued to verify the write command.

In one embodiment, the MoCA chip 110 includes at least one MDC/MDIO port, preferably implemented in accordance with Ethernet clause 22.2.4.5. This is a standard used and implemented by almost all ethernet switches. Through this channel, all configurations of the MoCA network access modem implemented by the network access unit 111 can be implemented. Several ethernet devices may be addressed by a physical address parameter-a to distinguish between the devices.

The MoCA chip should also include at least one GPIO port for SET/CLEAR/READ. With these commands, common signals such as network device reset, self reset, LED control, etc. can be actively configured and controlled. SET or CLEAR makes the port output (driver enabled) and a read command makes the port input (driver disabled).

The MoCA chip may also include I2C (inter-integrated circuit) ports that use hardware protocols commonly used by various memory devices and sensors. This port may be simulated in SW with the above GPIO port.

The MoCA chip may also include an SPI (serial peripheral interface) port, which operates under HW protocols commonly used by various memory devices and sensors. This port may be simulated in SW with the above GPIO port.

Further, other communication buses may be SW emulated by the GPIO port above, where applicable.

The MoCA system and terminal device, which have been described with reference to the various embodiments described above, provide a solution for conveniently accessing external data channels over a coaxial network. The proposed solution has several advantages compared to the prior art. In particular, the system solution has the advantage that a plurality of MoCA terminal devices associated with different user entities (such as different users, individuals, companies, hotel rooms, etc.) are connected to a common coaxial network for independent data access scenarios. The proposed solution moves the software development to the network management unit side and reduces the complexity of the MoCA terminal device configuration. With the novel configuration of MoCA terminal devices, such as modems or network adapters, no software development is required during development (R & D). This reduces cost and time to market, and reduces the size, weight, and power consumption of MoCA terminal devices.

The description set out above relates to various general and specific embodiments, but the scope of the invention is only limited by the claims that follow.

Claims (12)

1. A system for providing data communication over a multimedia over coax alliance, MoCA, network in a building complex (1) having a coaxial network (2), comprising:

a network management device (10) connectable to an external data channel (3), comprising a control unit (11) and a connector (13) for connecting to the coaxial network; and

at least one MoCA terminal device (100, 101) connected to the coaxial network, comprising a first MoCA chip (110) and a network access unit (111) connected to a bus on the first MoCA chip;

wherein the control unit comprises a second MoCA chip (12) and is configured to establish an access function creating a control channel (20) to the or each MoCA terminal device over the coaxial network, wherein the access function is configured to exclusively address the bus on the first MoCA chip connected to the network access unit.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising a plurality of MoCA terminal devices connected to the coaxial network, the plurality of MoCA terminal devices associated with different user entities having independent data access.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the access function is configured to independently address one of the plurality of MoCA terminal devices.

4. The system according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the network access unit (111) is an Ethernet switch or an Ethernet PHY.

5. The system according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the or each MoCA termination device comprises one or more additional hardware devices (117) directly connected to each bus on the first MoCA chip.

6. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the or each MoCA termination device includes one or more additional hardware devices (117) directly connected to each bus on the first MoCA chip.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the additional hardware device comprises a wifi access point (120).

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the additional hardware device comprises a wifi access point (120).

9. A MoCA terminal device (100) for use in the system of claim 1, the MoCA terminal device comprising a coaxial connector (112) for connecting to a coaxial network, the MoCA terminal device comprising:

a first MoCA chip (110), and

a network access unit (111) directly connected to a bus on the first MoCA chip, wherein the first MoCA chip is configured to receive an addressed control command from a remote network management device over a connected coaxial network, the control command specifying the bus on the first MoCA chip.

10. The MoCA terminal device of claim 9, comprising a PCB (114) carrying the first MoCA chip, and wherein the network access unit is an ethernet switch or an ethernet PHY.

11. The MoCA terminal device of claim 9 or 10, comprising one or more additional hardware devices (117) directly connected to each bus on the first MoCA chip.

12. The MoCA terminal device of claim 11, wherein the additional hardware device comprises a wifi access point (120).