Methods and System for Efficient Data Transfer Over Hybrid Fiber Coax Infrastructure

Abstract

The invention is directed to a method for providing client-server data transfer over a Hybrid Fiber Coax network, comprising interfacing, at a client, a channel, wherein the channel is one of a video channel and a DOCSIS channel, intercepting a content request made from an end-user computing device, notifying a server of a relevant intercepted message via one of using an interactive channel and tagging the request, selecting content sent by the server over the channel, processing the content selected so as to return it to its IP traffic format, and forwarding the content in its IP traffic format to the end-user computing device.

1 . A method for providing client-server data transfer over a Hybrid Fiber Coax network, comprising: interfacing, at a client, a channel, wherein the channel is one of a video channel and a DOCSIS channel; intercepting a content request made from an end-user computing device; notifying a server of a relevant intercepted message via one of using an interactive channel and tagging the request; selecting content sent by the server over the channel; processing the content selected so as to return it to its IP traffic format; and forwarding the content in its IP traffic format to the end-user computing device. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: decapsulating a DOCSIS MAC frame; rebuilding an IP frame; and forwarding the IP frame to the end-user computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive channel is a DOCSIS channel. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client and the server are proxies in a performance enhancing proxy (PEP) setup and are configured to transform a windows ACK dependent protocol into a windows ACK independent protocol connection over a last-mile link. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the windows ACK dependent protocol is TCP and windows ACK independent protocol is UDP. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising blocking ACK originating from traffic reception. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending ACK to the server upon successful reception of a window of traffic. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client operates in a DOCSIS 3 CM. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein at least one of a plurality of tuners is controlled by regular DOCSIS control and at least one of the plurality of tuners is available for client control. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client operates in one of a DOCSIS 2 CM and another compatible tuner, and CMTS registration is performed prior to interfacing the channel. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client operates in a pre-DOCSIS 3 CM, and wherein at least one of multiple DOCSIS 2 and backward-compatible tuners are bonded together to effectively provide DOCSIS 3 functionality. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tagging the content request to indicate to the server where to send the request response. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content and the relevant intercepted message is of a type chosen from the group consisting of P2P application type, Video application type, file transfer application type, content over TCP protocol, and content over UDP protocol. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising preprocessing one of the content and the relevant intercepted message. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising altering one of the content and the relevant intercepted message according to one of the content destination, a key, and other end-user related information. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing includes replacing a video frame and inserting an advert. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing includes one of encryption and decryption of the content. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network is of a type chosen from the group consisting of cable, xDSL, and Satellite. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client-server data transfer occurs over a high bandwidth, high latency channel. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising intercepting a server message sent by the server.