Patent ID: 7701956

Claim:
A method for transferring a configuration file to a cable modem, comprising: intercepting by a relay agent within a cable modem termination system (CMTS) a DHCP packet destined for the cable modem, recording information contained in the DHCP packet, including the address of a TFTP server and the file name of a configuration file; forwarding the DHCP packet to the cable modem with the address of the relay agent in place of the address of the TFTP server; associating the destination address, the source address and the source port number value of a TFTP read request packet with a transfer identifier selected from a pool of predetermined port number values; verifying that the configuration file name contained in the TFTP request packet matches the file name contained in the DHCP packet; if the configuration file name contained in the TFTP request packet does not match the file name contained in the DHCP packet, signaling a file name mismatch error; and forwarding the TFTP read request packet with the address of the relay agent as the source address, the transfer identifier as the source port and the recorded address of the TFTP server as the destination address; determining whether one or more configuration settings identified within one or more configuration packets are anomalous; and if the configuration settings are anomalous, taking a predetermined action comprising one or more of: denying registration of the requesting cable modem; granting the registration request, but at a lower bandwidth; or allowing the requested registration at the requested bandwidth and initiating a warning or message display that the cable modem has been granted an unauthorized bandwidth level.