Patent ID: 8310926
Filing Date: 2012-11-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) comprising: a network interface for sending and receiving data to and from a network; RF interfaces to implement RF channels for communications between the CMTS and at least one cable modem; registration logic for assigning selected RF channels to a requesting modem for communications between the CMTS and the modem; and load balancing logic associated with the registration logic for selecting the RF channels to assign to the requesting modem so as to balance loading across the RF channels based on a modem count heuristic, wherein: the CMTS is configured to maintain a channel load profile in memory for use by the load balancing logic, the channel load profile storing an effective modem count for each channel; and the modem count heuristic implements a relative weight of each modem, for determining the effective modem count, the relative weight being inversely related to the number of channels supported by the modem.