Patent ID: 6704288
Filing Date: 2004-03-09
Classification: H04H,H04L,H04N

Abstract:
In a hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) access network comprising a head end including a cable modem termination system (CMTS), a plurality of optical fiber communication paths coupled to the head end, each optical fiber terminating at a different node, forming a plurality of nodes, a plurality of coaxial transmission path branches, each branch emanating from a different node of the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of end point terminations along each coaxial transmission path of the plurality of coaxial transmission paths, a method of discovering the topology of said access network defined by the steps of:a) providing a plurality of telephony test points distributed through the access network, at least one telephony test points associated with each coaxial transmission path branch of each node; and b) at each telephony test point, performing the following steps: 1) intercepting downstream messages from the head end to determine the identity of channels used for upstream communication from the end point terminations to the head end; 2) monitoring the determined upstream channels for transmissions from end point terminations; 3) upon detecting a transmission on an upstream channel, identifying device information associated with the transmitting end point termination; and 4) sending the end point termination identifying information to a topology manager database at the CMTS in the head end.