Patent Publication Number: US-2022232285-A1

Title: Proactively identifying cable network impairments based on telemetry data from customer-premises equipment (cpe) devices

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The proliferation of cable networks and the services provided by cable networks (such as telephony, data transmission, video conferencing, telemedicine, remote education, and the like) has resulted in a greater demand for high levels of reliability and availability. In particular, a multiple-system operator (MSO) that provides or supports customer-premises equipment (CPE) devices (e.g., cable boxes, cable modems, routers, and the like) may require efficient mechanisms for identifying cable network impairments and appropriate responsive actions in order to maintain desired levels of service. 
     SUMMARY 
     The embodiments disclosed herein proactively identify cable network impairments based on telemetry data from customer-premises equipment (CPE) devices. In some embodiments, a maintenance service of a computing device retrieves telemetry parameters, such as Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) telemetry data, from CPE devices at a customer site communicatively coupled to a cable network infrastructure. The maintenance service analyzes the telemetry parameters to detect and evaluate any cable network impairments experienced by the CPE devices at the customer site (based on, e.g., whether a telemetry parameter from any CPE devices fails a corresponding telemetry threshold, whether the same telemetry failure is experienced by all CPE devices at the customer site, whether other neighboring customer sites also experience the same failure on all CPE devices, and/or whether a high post main tap (HPMT) parameter and an HPMT magnitude (HPMTM) parameter for the customer site fail corresponding thresholds, according to some embodiments). The maintenance service then assigns a maintenance classification that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site. 
     In another embodiment, a method is provided. The method comprises retrieving, by a maintenance service of a computing device, a plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of a plurality of CPE devices of a customer site communicatively coupled to a cable network infrastructure. The method further comprises performing an analysis of the plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices, wherein performing the analysis comprises performing a first determination of whether a telemetry parameter of the plurality of telemetry parameters for a CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices fails a corresponding telemetry threshold, and performing a second determination of whether the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices. The method also comprises, based on the analysis, assigning a maintenance classification that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site. 
     In another embodiment, a computing device is provided. The computing device comprises a system memory, and a processor device communicatively coupled to the system memory. The processor device is configured to retrieve a plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of a plurality of CPE devices of a customer site communicatively coupled to a cable network infrastructure. The processor device is further configured to perform an analysis of the plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices by being configured to perform a first determination of whether a telemetry parameter of the plurality of telemetry parameters for a CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices fails a corresponding telemetry threshold, and perform a second determination of whether the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices. The processor device is also configured to, based on the analysis, assign a maintenance classification that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site. 
     In another example, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product is stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, and includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor device of a computing device to retrieve a plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of a plurality of CPE devices of a customer site communicatively coupled to a cable network infrastructure. The computer-executable instructions further cause the processor device to perform an analysis of the plurality of telemetry parameters from each CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices by causing the processor device to perform a first determination of whether a telemetry parameter of the plurality of telemetry parameters for a CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices fails a corresponding telemetry threshold, and perform a second determination of whether the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices. The computer-executable instructions also cause the processor device to, based on the analysis, assign a maintenance classification that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary cable network infrastructure and an exemplary computing device configured to proactively identify cable network impairments within the cable network infrastructure based on telemetry data from customer-premises equipment (CPE) devices, in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations of the computing device of  FIG. 1  for proactively identifying cable network impairments based on telemetry data from CPE devices, in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIGS. 3A and 3B  are flowcharts illustrating in greater detail exemplary operations of the computing device of  FIG. 1  for analyzing telemetry parameters and assigning maintenance classifications in accordance with some embodiments, in accordance with some embodiments; and 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a computing device suitable for implementing embodiments disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments set forth below represent the information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims. 
     Any flowcharts discussed herein are necessarily discussed in some sequence for purposes of illustration, but unless otherwise explicitly indicated, the embodiments are not limited to any particular sequence of steps. The use herein of ordinals in conjunction with an element is solely for distinguishing what might otherwise be similar or identical labels, such as “first message” and “second message,” and does not imply a priority, a type, an importance, or other attribute, unless otherwise stated herein. The term “about” used herein in conjunction with a numeric value means any value that is within a range of ten percent greater than or ten percent less than the numeric value. 
     As used herein and in the claims, the articles “a” and “an” in reference to an element refers to “one or more” of the element unless otherwise explicitly specified. The word “or” as used herein and in the claims is inclusive unless contextually impossible. As an example, the recitation of A or B means A, or B, or both A and B. 
     As noted above, the proliferation of cable networks and the services provides thereby (e.g., telephony, data transmission, video conferencing, telemedicine, remote education, and the like) has resulted in a greater demand for high levels of reliability and availability. In particular, a multiple-system operator (MSO) that provides or supports customer-premises equipment (CPE) devices (e.g., cable boxes, cable modems, routers, and the like) may require efficient mechanisms for identifying cable network impairments and appropriate responsive actions in order to maintain desired levels of service. 
     In this regard, embodiments disclosed herein proactively identify cable network impairments based on telemetry data from CPE devices. The term “impairment” and derivatives thereof are used herein to refer to any issues that may negatively affect the transmission of signals to and from CPE devices on a cable network. In one embodiment, a maintenance service of a computing device retrieves telemetry parameters from CPE devices at a customer site communicatively coupled to a cable network infrastructure. The maintenance service may be operated by, e.g., an MSO, and the telemetry parameters may comprise Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) telemetry data. The telemetry parameters in some embodiments may include a downstream receive (RX) level parameter, a downstream uncorrectable parameter, a downstream Modulation Error Ratio (MER) parameter, a high post main tap (HPMT) parameter, an HPMT magnitude (HPMTM) parameter, an upstream uncorrectable parameter, an upstream transmit (TX) level parameter, a ripple parameter, a Full Band Capture (FBC) parameter, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) parameter, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) parameter, a T3 timeout parameter, and a T4 timeout parameter, as non-limiting examples. 
     The maintenance service performs an analysis of the telemetry parameters to detect and evaluate any cable network impairments experienced by the CPE devices at the customer site. Based on the analysis, the maintenance service assigns a maintenance classification that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site. In this manner, the MSO can proactively dispatch an appropriate service technician to the customer site to correct any cable network impairments without any action required on the part of the customer. In particular, the MSO can determine whether a fulfillment technician (who addresses individual issues at the customer site) or a maintenance technician (who addresses issues with the cable network infrastructure that affects multiple customer sites) is more appropriate based on the analysis. 
     The analysis of the telemetry parameters may follow a logical flow that first involves making a first determination regarding whether a telemetry parameter retrieved for the CPE devices at the customer site fails a corresponding telemetry threshold. The telemetry threshold may specify, for example, a minimum or maximum acceptable value for the corresponding telemetry parameter, or may specify an acceptable range of values for the corresponding telemetry parameter. If the first determination evaluates to false, then the customer site is assigned a no service required maintenance classification to indicate that no service call is required. If the telemetry parameter does fail the corresponding telemetry threshold (i.e., the first determination evaluates to true), the maintenance service next makes a second determination regarding whether the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices at the customer site. If the second determination evaluates to false (i.e., if not all CPE devices experience the same issue with the telemetry parameter), then the maintenance service in some embodiments assigns a partial home maintenance classification to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site. 
     According to some embodiments, if the second determination indicates that the telemetry parameter does fail the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices at the customer site (i.e., the second determination evaluates to true), the maintenance service next performs a third determination and a fourth determination. The third determination involves determining whether the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices of one or more neighboring customer sites on a same infrastructure node as the customer site. The one or more neighboring customer sites may comprise, e.g., customer sites that are within a specified proximity of the customer site being evaluated by the maintenance service. If the third determination evaluates to true, a plant issue maintenance classification is assigned to indicate that a maintenance technician is recommended for the cable network infrastructure. If the third determination indicates that there are not one or more neighboring customer sites on the same infrastructure node for which the telemetry parameter fails the corresponding telemetry threshold for all CPE devices (i.e., the third determination evaluates to false), the maintenance service in some embodiments assigns a whole home maintenance classification to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site. 
     The fourth determination involves determining whether an HPMT telemetry parameter for the customer site fails an HPMT drop logic threshold, and an HPMTM telemetry parameter for the customer site fails an HPMTM drop logic threshold. The HPMT drop logic threshold and the HPMTM drop logic threshold are used as part of “drop logic” that is used to determine whether a cable network impairment is within the customer site, is between the customer site and the cable network infrastructure, or within the cable network infrastructure itself. If the fourth determination indicates that the HPMT telemetry parameter fails the HPMT drop logic threshold and the HPMTM telemetry parameter fails the HPMTM drop logic threshold, the maintenance service according to some embodiments assigns a drop issue maintenance classification to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site (i.e., to address the cable network impairment between the customer site and the cable network infrastructure). Otherwise, the maintenance service in some embodiments assigns the whole home maintenance classification to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site (i.e., to address the cable network impairment within the customer site). 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computing device  10  that may be utilized to perform proactive identification of cable network impairments based on telemetry data from CPE devices. The computing device  10  in  FIG. 1  comprises a system memory  12  and a processor device  14  that is communicatively coupled to the system memory  12 . The computing device  10  of  FIG. 1  and the constituent elements thereof may encompass any one of known digital logic elements, semiconductor circuits, processing cores, and/or memory structures, among other elements, or combinations thereof. Examples described herein are not restricted to any particular arrangement of elements, and it is to be understood that some embodiments of the computing device  10  may include more or fewer elements than illustrated in  FIG. 1 . For example, the processor device  14  may further include one or more functional units, instruction caches, unified caches, memory controllers, interconnect buses, and/or additional memory devices, caches, and/or controller circuits, which are omitted from  FIG. 1  for the sake of clarity. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , the computing device  10  is communicatively coupled (e.g., via a fiber or coaxial connection) to a cable network  16  that is part of a cable network infrastructure  18 . The cable network infrastructure  18  includes all physical hardware involved in providing one or more of commercial television services, internet data services, and voice services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP)), as non-limiting examples, to one or more customer sites  20 ( 0 )- 20 (S) within a given geographic area. The cable network infrastructure  18  may be an all-fiber network, an all-coaxial network, or a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network, or may include the use of other communication media. 
     The cable network  16  comprises a distribution network that distributes signals throughout the cable network infrastructure  18 , and may include, as non-limiting examples, a headend facility (HEF) and other elements not illustrated in  FIG. 1  for the sake of clarity. As seen in  FIG. 1 , the cable network  16  distributes signals to a plurality of hubs  24 ( 0 )- 24 (H), each of which services one or more nodes  26 ( 0 )- 26 (N). Each of the nodes  26 ( 0 )- 26 (N), in turn, utilizes one or more taps  28 ( 0 )- 28 (T) to deliver signals to a plurality of customer sites  20 ( 0 )- 20 (S). The customer sites  20 ( 0 )- 20 (S) may comprise, for instance, homes located within a given region or neighborhood. It is to be understood that, while not shown in  FIG. 1 , each hub of the plurality of hubs  24 ( 0 )- 24 (H) may service one or more nodes, each node of the plurality of nodes  26 ( 0 )- 26 (N) may service one or more taps, and each tap of the plurality of taps  28 ( 0 )- 28 (T) may service a plurality of customer sites. 
     Customer sites such as the customer site  20 ( 0 ) may contain multiple 
     CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) at which signals are ultimately received from the cable network  16 , and from which signals may be transmitted back though the cable network infrastructure  18  to the cable network  16 . The CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) may include, as non-limiting examples, cable modems, set top boxes, televisions equipped with set top boxes, DOCSIS terminal devices, media terminal adapters (MTA), and the like. Although not shown in  FIG. 1 , it is to be understood that each of the customer sites  20 ( 0 )- 20 (S) contain one or more CPE devices such as the CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C). 
     Each of the CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C), such as the CPE device  30 ( 0 ), generates a plurality of telemetry parameters, such as telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T). The telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may comprise, as non-limiting examples, DOCSIS parameters that indicate a quality of a downstream link and/or an upstream link between the cable network  16  and the corresponding CPE device  30 ( 0 ). The telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may include a downstream RX level parameter, a downstream uncorrectable parameter, a downstream MER parameter, an HPMT parameter, an HPMTM parameter, an upstream uncorrectable parameter, an upstream TX level parameter, a ripple parameter, an FBC parameter, an OFDM parameter, an OFDMA parameter, a T3 timeout parameter, and a T4 timeout parameter, as non-limiting examples. Each of the telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may be associated with a corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 )- 34 (T) that indicates a threshold above or below which the CPE device  30 ( 0 ) may experience a cable impairment. Table 1 below provides a more detailed description of exemplary telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) and associated exemplary telemetry thresholds  34 ( 0 )- 34 (T) against which the telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may be compared when proactively identifying cable network impairments, according to one embodiment. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Telemetry 
                 Telemetry Parameter 
                 Exemplary Telemetry 
               
               
                 Parameter 
                 Description 
                 Threshold 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Downstream 
                 Strength of signal 
                 &lt;−10 
                 dBmV 
               
               
                 Receive (RX) 
                 provided to customer- 
               
               
                 Level 
                 premises equipment 
               
               
                   
                 (CPE) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 Downstream 
                 Percentage of 
                  &gt;3% 
               
               
                 Uncorrectable 
                 uncorrectable codewords 
               
               
                   
                 received by CPE 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Downstream 
                 Ratio of average symbol 
                 &lt;30 
                 dB 
               
               
                 Modulation Error 
                 power to average error 
               
               
                 Ratio (MER) 
                 power, in downstream 
               
               
                   
                 direction 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 High Post Main 
                 Micro-reflection 
                 ≥12 
               
               
                 Tap (HPMT) 
                 impairment on CPE as a 
               
               
                   
                 measure of distance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 HPMT Magnitude 
                 Micro-reflection 
                 &gt;−25 
                 dBmV 
               
               
                 (HPMTM) 
                 impairment on CPE as a 
               
               
                   
                 measure of amplitude 
               
               
                 Upstream 
                 Upstream signal 
                 &gt;55 
                 dB 
               
               
                 Transmit (TX) 
                 transmitted from the CPE 
               
               
                 Level 
                 to the CMTS 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 Upstream 
                 Measurement of 
                 ≥5% 
               
               
                 Uncorrectable 
                 uncorrectable codeword 
               
               
                   
                 errors in the upstream 
               
               
                   
                 path generated by cable 
               
               
                   
                 impairments 
               
               
                 Ripple 
                 Measurement of 
                  ≥6 
               
               
                   
                 impedance mismatch 
               
               
                   
                 within frequency that 
               
               
                   
                 causes a reflective wave 
               
               
                 Full Band Capture 
                 Measurement of ability to 
                 Implementation- 
               
               
                 (FBC) 
                 capture all downstream 
                 specific 
               
               
                   
                 channels from CPE. 
               
               
                 Orthogonal 
                 Downstream modulation 
                 Implementation- 
               
               
                 Frequency 
                 scheme 
                 specific 
               
               
                 Division 
               
               
                 Multiplexing 
               
               
                 (OFDM) 
               
               
                 Orthogonal 
                 Upstream modulation 
                 Implementation- 
               
               
                 Frequency 
                 scheme 
                 specific 
               
               
                 Division Multiple 
               
               
                 Access (OFDMA) 
               
               
                 T3 Timeouts 
                 A count of how many 
                 Implementation- 
               
               
                   
                 Upstream messages are 
                 specific 
               
               
                   
                 not being delivered 
               
               
                   
                 correctly of a set amount 
               
               
                   
                 of time 
               
               
                 T4 Timeouts 
                 A count of how many 
                 Implementation- 
               
               
                   
                 Downstream messages 
                 specific 
               
               
                   
                 are not being delivered 
               
               
                   
                 correctly of a set amount 
               
               
                   
                 of time 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In addition, an HPMT drop logic threshold  36  and an HPMTM drop logic threshold  38  may be provided for use in “drop logic” for determining whether a cable network impairment is within the customer site  20 ( 0 ), is between the customer site  20 ( 0 ) and the cable network infrastructure  18 , or within the cable network infrastructure  18  itself. In some embodiments, an HPMT telemetry parameter of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may be considered to fail the HPMT drop logic threshold  36  if the HPMT telemetry parameter has a value of 9, 10, or 11, while an HPMTM telemetry parameter of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) may be considered to fail the HPMTM drop logic threshold  38  if the HPMTM telemetry parameter has a value equal to or greater than −15 dBmV, excluding a value of zero (0). 
     To proactively identify cable network impairments and assign an appropriate maintenance classification, the processor device  14  in the example of  FIG. 1  executes a maintenance service  40 . While the example of  FIG. 1  shows the maintenance service  40  as a process in the system memory  12  executed by the processor device  14 , some embodiments may provide that the maintenance service  40  may be implemented as a dedicated hardware circuit of the processor device  14  or as microcode in firmware of the processor device  14 . It is to be understood that, because the maintenance service  40  is a component of the computing device  10 , functionality implemented by the maintenance service  40  may be attributed to the computing device  10  generally. Moreover, in examples where the maintenance service  40  comprises software instructions that program the processor device  14  to carry out functionality discussed herein, functionality implemented by the maintenance service  40  may be attributed herein to the processor device  14 . 
     In conventional operation, the maintenance service  40  receives the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) for a CPE device such as the CPE device  30 ( 0 ) of the customer site  20 ( 0 ), and also receives corresponding telemetry parameters for other CPE devices among the CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) of the customer site  20 ( 0 ). The maintenance service  40  then performs an analysis, discussed below in greater detail with respect to  FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B , of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T). Based on the analysis, the maintenance service  40  assigns a maintenance classification  42  that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site  20 ( 0 ). Table 2 below provides a more detailed description of exemplary maintenance classifications and the associated type of service technician recommended for each maintenance classification. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Exemplary 
                   
                 Service 
               
               
                 Maintenance 
                   
                 Technician 
               
               
                 Classification 
                 Description 
                 Type 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 No Service 
                 No customer-premises 
                 N/A 
               
               
                 Required 
                 equipment (CPE) devices have 
               
               
                   
                 telemetry parameters that fail 
               
               
                   
                 telemetry thresholds 
               
               
                 Partial Home 
                 At least one CPE device at 
                 Fulfillment 
               
               
                   
                 customer site has a telemetry 
                 Technician 
               
               
                   
                 parameter that fail its telemetry 
               
               
                   
                 threshold 
               
               
                 Whole Home 
                 All CPE devices at customer site 
                 Fulfillment 
               
               
                   
                 have a same telemetry 
                 Technician 
               
               
                   
                 parameter that fails its telemetry 
               
               
                   
                 threshold 
               
               
                 Drop Issue 
                 All CPE devices at customer site 
                 Fulfillment 
               
               
                   
                 have a same telemetry 
                 Technician 
               
               
                   
                 parameter that fails its telemetry 
               
               
                   
                 threshold AND high post main 
               
               
                   
                 tap (HPMT) and HPMT 
               
               
                   
                 magnitude (HPMTM) indicate 
               
               
                   
                 that impairment is on outside of 
               
               
                   
                 customer site 
               
               
                 Plant Issue 
                 All CPE devices at customer site 
                 Maintenance 
               
               
                   
                 AND one or more neighboring 
                 Technician 
               
               
                   
                 customer sites within a same 
               
               
                   
                 node have a same telemetry 
               
               
                   
                 parameter that fails its telemetry 
               
               
                   
                 threshold 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG. 2  provides a flowchart  44  to illustrate exemplary operations of the computing device  10  of  FIG. 1  for proactively identifying cable network impairments based on telemetry from CPE devices, in accordance with some embodiments. Elements of  FIG. 1  are referenced in describing  FIG. 2  for the sake of clarity. Operations in  FIG. 2  begin with the maintenance service  40  of the computing device  10  retrieving the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) from each CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) of the customer site  20 ( 0 ) communicatively coupled to the cable network infrastructure  18  (block  46 ). The maintenance service  40  performs an analysis of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) from each CPE device of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) (block  48 ). The operations of block  48  for performing the analysis include includes performing a first determination of whether a telemetry parameter (e.g., the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) of  FIG. 1 ) of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) for a CPE device (e.g., the CPE device  30 ( 0 ) of  FIG. 1 ) of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ). The operations of block  48  for performing the analysis also include performing a second determination of whether the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C). The telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) and the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) in some embodiments may be any of the telemetry parameters and corresponding telemetry thresholds illustrated in Table 1 above. Based on the analysis, the maintenance service  40  assigns the maintenance classification  42  that indicates a recommended service technician type for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  50 ). The maintenance classification  42  in some embodiments may comprise any of the maintenance classifications illustrated in Table 2 above. 
     To illustrate in greater detail exemplary operations of the computing device of  FIG. 1  for analyzing telemetry parameters and assigning maintenance classifications in accordance with some embodiments,  FIGS. 3A and 3B  provide a flowchart  52 . For the sake of clarity, elements of  FIG. 1  are referenced in describing  FIGS. 3A and 3B . It is to be understood that one or more of the decision blocks described in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  may be performed as part of the analysis of telemetry parameters described in block  48  of  FIG. 2 , and further that one or more of the assignments of the maintenance classification described in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  may be performed as part of the assignment of the maintenance classification described in block  50  of  FIG. 2 . 
     In  FIG. 3A , operations begin with the maintenance service  40  of  FIG. 1  performing a first determination of whether a telemetry parameter (such as the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) of  FIG. 1 ) of the plurality of telemetry parameters  32 ( 0 )- 32 (T) for a CPE device (such as the CPE device  30 ( 0 ) of  FIG. 1 ) of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) (block  54 ). If the first determination evaluates to false, the maintenance service  40  in some embodiments assigns the no service required maintenance classification  42  to indicate that no service visit is recommended for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  56 ). However, if the first determination evaluates to true (i.e., the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 )), the maintenance service  40  next performs a second determination of whether the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C) (block  58 ). If the second determination evaluates to false, the maintenance service  40  according to some embodiments assigns the partial home maintenance classification  42  to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  60 ). If the maintenance service  40  determines at decision block  58  that the second determination evaluates to true (i.e., the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) does fail the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) for all CPE devices of the plurality of CPE devices  30 ( 0 )- 30 (C)), operations resume at block  62  and/or block  68  of  FIG. 3B . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3B , the maintenance service  40  in some embodiments next performs both a third determination and a fourth determination. The maintenance service  40  performs the third determination of whether the telemetry parameter  32 ( 0 ) fails the corresponding telemetry threshold  34 ( 0 ) for all CPE devices of one or more neighboring customer sites (e.g., the customer sites  20 ( 1 ) and  20 ( 2 ) of  FIG. 1 ) on a same infrastructure node (i.e., the node  26 ( 0 ) of  FIG. 1 ) as the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  62 ). In some embodiments, the one or more neighboring customer sites  20 ( 1 ) and  20 ( 2 ) may be selected based on their proximity to the customer site  20 ( 0 ). Thus, for example, the third determination may be applied to any neighboring sites within 300 feet (as a non-limiting example) of the customer site  20 ( 0 ), which may encompass the neighboring customer sites  20 ( 1 ) and  20 ( 2 ). If the third determination evaluates to true, the maintenance service  40  assigns the plant issue maintenance classification  42  to indicate that a maintenance technician is recommended for the cable network infrastructure  18  (block  64 ). However, if the third determination evaluates to false, the maintenance service  40  assigns the whole home maintenance classification  42  to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  66 ). 
     Similarly, the maintenance service  40  performs the fourth determination of whether an HPMT telemetry parameter for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) fails an HPMT drop logic threshold  36  and an HPMTM telemetry parameter for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) fails an HPMTM drop logic threshold  38  (block  68 ). If the fourth determination evaluates to true, the maintenance service  40  assigns the drop issue maintenance classification  42  to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  70 ). If the fourth determination evaluates to false, the maintenance service  40  assigns the whole home maintenance classification  42  to indicate that a fulfillment technician is recommended for the customer site  20 ( 0 ) (block  66 ). 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a computing device  74 , such as the computing device  10  of  FIG. 1 , suitable for implementing examples according to one embodiment. The computing device  74  may comprise any computing or electronic device capable of including firmware, hardware, and/or executing software instructions to implement the functionality described herein, such as a computer server or the like. The computing device  74  includes a processor device  76 , a memory  78 , and a system bus  80 . The system bus  80  provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory  78  and the processor device  76 . The processor device  76  can be any commercially available or proprietary processor. 
     The system bus  80  may be any of several types of bus structures that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and/or a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The memory  78  may include non-volatile memory  82  (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc.), and volatile memory  84  (e.g., random-access memory (RAM)). A basic input/output system (BIOS)  86  may be stored in the non-volatile memory  82  and can include the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computing device  74 . The volatile memory  84  may also include a high-speed RAM, such as static RAM, for caching data. 
     The computing device  74  may further include or be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as a storage device  88 , which may comprise, for example, an internal or external hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)), HDD (e.g., EIDE or SATA) for storage, flash memory, or the like. The storage device  88  and other drives associated with computer-readable media and computer-usable media may provide non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and the like. 
     A number of modules can be stored in the storage device  88  and in the volatile memory  84 , including an operating system  90  and one or more program modules  92 , which may implement the functionality described herein in whole or in part. All or a portion of the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program product  94  stored on a transitory or non-transitory computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device  88 , which includes complex programming instructions, such as complex computer-readable program code, to cause the processor device  76  to carry out the steps described herein. Thus, the computer-readable program code can comprise software instructions for implementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by the processor device  76 . The processor device  76  may serve as a controller, or control system, for the computing device  74  that is to implement the functionality described herein. 
     An operator may also be able to enter one or more configuration commands through a keyboard (not illustrated), a pointing device such as a mouse (not illustrated), or a touch-sensitive surface such as a display device (not illustrated). Such input devices may be connected to the processor device  76  through an input device interface  96  coupled to the system bus  80  but can be connected through other interfaces such as a parallel port, an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394 serial port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an infrared (IR) interface, and the like. 
     The computing device  74  may also include a communications interface  98  suitable for communicating with a network as appropriate or desired. The computing device  74  includes one or more graphic processing units (GPUs)  100 . 
     Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.