Patent ID: 7421483
Filing Date: 2008-09-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: executing a service discovery protocol on a first customer premise device of a customer site network to communicate service related characteristics associated with the first customer premise device from the first customer premise device to a first public router of a service provider network, where the service related characteristics include information corresponding to a shared service provided by a service provider; in response to receiving the service related characteristics at the first public router of the service provider network, executing the service discovery protocol on the first public router to issue a plurality of queries to a plurality of other public routers of the service provider network to request identification information that identifies any other customer premise devices that are connected to those other public routers and that share the same service related characteristics as the first customer premise devices; in response to the queries, executing the service discovery protocol on the first public router to receive the identification information from at least two different ones of the other public routers of the service provider network, the information identifying the customer premise devices that are connected to the at least two different public routers and that share the same service related characteristics as the first customer premise device; executing the service discover protocol to communicate from the first public router to the first customer premise device the identification information obtained about the other customer premise devices that share the service related characteristics; and configuring the first customer premise device in accordance with the service related characteristics and the information obtained about the other customer premise devices to join the first customer premise device to the shared service.