System and method for automatic provisioning of onsite networking services

Abstract

The system and method described herein may activate an automatic provisioning system within customer premise equipment via a digital subscriber line, cable modem, or other residential hub or gateway interface and access a remote directory service to locate appropriate addressing and other information to initialize the customer premise equipment. The gateway interface may automatically update a configuration, heal bugs, and perform other maintenance and tasks to manage the customer premise equipment. Multiple gateway interfaces or products or services associated therewith may be configured at one premise and version control may be maintained to ensure compatibility.

1 - 2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . A method, comprising:
 representing a piece of equipment as a managed object and populating the managed Object to a directory;   capturing, by the managed object, diagnostics for the piece of equipment; and   installing a new service to an environment associated with the piece of equipment in response to evaluation of the diagnostics, the new service having testing and monitoring capabilities relevant to the piece of equipment.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein capturing further includes logging errors identified with the diagnostics. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein logging further includes raising an alarm in response to the errors. 
     
     
         6 . The method of claim  1  further comprising, initiating a self-healing process to repair the errors. 
     
     
         7 . The method of claim  1 , wherein capturing further includes initiating diagnostic testing that produces the diagnostics. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein initiating further includes initiating the diagnostic testing on demand. 
     
     
         9 . The method of claim  1  further comprising, removing the new service from the environment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of claim  1  further comprising, updating a new version of the managed object to the directory. 
     
     
         11 . The method of claim  1 , wherein the piece of equipment is router, gateway, or hub connected to an end-user appliance within the environment. 
     
     
         12 . A method, comprising:
 interfacing a network device to a directory, the directory including a representation for a managed object;   executing the managed object in an environment of a customer;   monitoring the managed object for diagnostics: and   deploying a new service to the environment in response to the diagnostics.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the network device is one of: a router, a gateway, a proxy, or a hub. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein monitoring further includes initiating a self-healing process in response to an error identified in the diagnostics. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein deploying further includes deploying the new service to the environment in response to an alert raised from evaluation of the diagnostics. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein deploying further includes deploying the new service while the managed object executes and produces continually produces the diagnostics. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein deploying further includes selecting the new service based on evaluation of policy associated with the environment. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein deploying further includes selecting the new service based on information relevant to the customer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein deploying further includes deploying the new service as one of: a broadband service and an on-demand video service. 
     
     
         20 . A system, comprising:
 a directory;   a server configured and adapted to: i) represent a managed object in the directory, ii) execute the managed object on the server, iii) evaluate diagnostics produced by the managed object, and iv) install a new service to an environment based on the diagnostics.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the server is further adapted and configured to v) initiate a self-healing process within the environment to remedy an error detected in the evaluation of the diagnostics. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the server is further adapted and configured, in iv), to select the new service in response to a policy evaluation in view of the diagnostics.