Title of Invention

METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTING SERVICE ACCORDING TO TERMINAL TYPE

Abstract An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for distributing a service according to a terminal type, wherein a correspondence relation table for storing correspondence relations between a terminal type and an IP address of a network administration server, and an IP address of a service server is preset in a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, and the method comprises the steps of: a terminal initiating, a DHCP access request to a network with terminal type information included in the access request; the DHCP server issuing an assigned IP address to the terminal, and querying for and issuing an IP address of a network administration server and an IP address of a service server corresponding to the terminal type information; the terminal registering with the network administration server according to the obtained IP address of the network administration server, and obtaining an access to the network; the terminal initiating a service request to the service server according to the obtained IP address of the service server, and the service server distributing the service.
Full Text Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the Internet, and particularly to a method for
distributing a service according to a terminal type.
Background of the Invention
With the development of networks, functions of terminals become more diversified,
such as terminals on which various types of services of voice, data, video, etc. may occur
simultaneously in a home network. Therefore, it is required in the network that a BRAS
(Broadband Remote Access Server) distribute, according to different types of terminals,
access requests of the terminals to different DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
servers in order to obtain both IP (Internet Protocol) addresses thereof and those of a terminal
network administration server and of a service server, and thus service applications can be
available at different ASPs (Application Service Providers). Moreover, the different services
requested by the different types of terminals need to be carried on the same network.
Fig.l is a schematic diagram for different types of service terminals with their
accesses to a network. Here, the terminals provided with different functions, such as an STB
(Set Top Box) 111, an IAD (Integrated Access Device) 112 and a PC (Personal Computer)
113, have accesses to the network via a network access node 121, a BRAS 122 and a DHCP
server 160. The network can be functionally divided into an access network 120 and a core
network 130, which cooperate to serve a subscriber for an access and to achieve service
functions. After a terminal has an access to the network, a network administration server 140
performs uniform management and control, and service servers 150 of respective APs
distribute services.
In the prior art, for the terminals provided with different service functions (i.e. of
different types), the access node in the network is required to enable the different types of
terminals to be attached with different VLAN/PVC (Virtual Local Area Network/Permanent
Virtual Circuit) identifiers, and thus, the BRAS distributes the services to different DHCP
servers for processing according to the VLAN identifiers. A simplified flow chart is shown in
Fig.2 as following.
The terminal initiates a request for an access to the network so as to request for an IP
address and other access information.
The access node assigns a VLAN/PVC identifier to the access terminal, and forwards
the access request to the BRAS. If numerous terminals have accesses to the network at the
same time, then VLAN/PVC identifiers different from each other can be assigned to each
terminal.
The BRAS forwards the access request to a corresponding DHCP server according to
the VLAN identifier included in the access request.
The DHCP server distributes network configuration parameters (including an IP
address, a mask code, a domain name server, a domain name, route information, etc.) to the
terminal.
The terminal receives the network configuration parameters distributed from the
DHCP server, and after the user inputs the IP address of the network administration server
and the IP address of the service server (which can be either provided to the user by an
operator or configured manually in the terminal by the operator), initiates a service request to
the service server of the ASP.
The service server of the ASP responds to the service request of the terminal by
distributing the service.
The disadvantages of the prior art described above are as follows.
(1) Requirements for the access node are high. The access node needs to attach
different VLAN/PVC identifiers to each terminal, and many VLAN/PVC resources are
occupied. Since the VLAN/PVC resources are limited, the access node may be of a limited
capacity and high cost. Moreover, the many VLAN/PVC resources can bring troubles to the
management.
(2) When a new service is added, corresponding configuration information and a
corresponding VLAN/PVC identifier has to be added, and hence the workload may be heavy.
(3) The BRAS has to configure a lot of mapping relations between the VLAN and the
DHCP servers, and hence the configuration workload may be heavy. In addition, many
BRASs in an existing network can not support such a feature, and the cost of their
adaptations may be high;
(4) Different types of terminals can not obtain IP addresses of corresponding terminal
network administration servers and IP addresses of corresponding ASP service servers
through the DHCP server, and thus can neither register with the network administration
server nor request the service server of the ASP for a service correctly and automatically.
Summary of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods for distributing a service
according to a terminal type in view of the limitation of capabilities of an access node in the
existing network in the case of a service request from a terminal.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method applied in the Internet for
distributing a service according to a terminal type, wherein correspondence relations between
a terminal type and an IP address of a network administration server, and an IP address of a
service server are preset in a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, and when
a terminal initiates a DHCP access request to a network, the method includes the steps of:
initiating, by an terminal, a DHCP access request to a network with terminal type
information included in the access request;
issuing, by the DHCP server, an assigned IP address to the terminal, and issuing an IP
address of a network administration server and an IP address of a service server
corresponding to the terminal type information;
registering, by the terminal, with the network administration server according to the
obtained IP address of the network administration server, and obtaining an access to the
network;
initiating, by the terminal, a service request to the service server according to the
obtained IP address of the service server, and distributing, by the service server, the service.
Optionally, the step of initiating a DHCP access request may include: initiating, by the
terminal, a DHCP access request to a BRAS (Broadband Remote Access Server) via an
access node, and transmitting transparently, by the access node, a message for the DHCP
access request;
Optionally, a correspondence relation between a terminal type and a DHCP server
may be stored in the BRAS, and upon receiving the DHCP access request from the terminal,
the BRAS forwards the message for the DHCP access request to the corresponding DHCP
server.
Optionally, the terminal type information may be included in an optional OPTION
field of the message for the DHCP access request.
Optionally, the terminal type information may include a manufacturer ID, a terminal
type and a terminal model number.
Optionally, the format of the terminal type information may be manufacturer ID:
terminal type: terminal model number.
Optionally, a DHCP response message may be issued to the terminal, an OPTION
field of which may include the IP address of the network administration server and the IP
address of the service server.
Optionally, the IP address assigned to the terminal may be an idle IP address in an IP
address pool configured by the DHCP server, and the IP address pool may be determined by a
network segment corresponding to the IP address of the ingress port of the BRAS.
Optionally, the step of issuing may further include: issuing, by the DHCP server,
corresponding network configuration parameters through an OPTION field of an DHCP
response message according to the request from the terminal.
Optionally, the step of registering may further include:
requesting, by the terminal, for obtaining terminal software and/or terminal
configuration parameters from network administration server;
issuing, by the network administration server, the terminal software and/or the
terminal configuration parameters to the terminal.
The embodiments of the present invention may be advantageous in the following
aspects:
(1) According to the embodiments, there is neither requirement for the access node
device nor adaptation to the BRAS hardware, and it is possible to implement various services
carried in the network. Therefore, the investment of the operator for the broadband access
network and the access node can be protected.
(2) According to the embodiments, the different types of terminals are distinguished
according to the terminal types reported by the terminals, and the different addresses of
network administration servers are issued. Furthermore, the different types of terminals
automatically register with and hence controlled by their respective terminal network
administration servers, and thus zero configuration for the terminals can be achieved.
(3) According to the embodiments, the services are distinguished for the different
types of terminals since different addresses of the service servers are issued. Thus, the
services are distributed to the different types of terminals through the different ASP service
servers, so the terminal can request correctly and automatically a service from a
corresponding ASP service server.
Brief Description of the Accompaning Drawings
Fig.1 is a schematic diagram for different types of service terminals with their access
to a network;
Fig.2 is a flow chart for initiating a service request by a terminal in the prior art;
Fig.3 is a flow chart for initiating a service request by a terminal according to an
embodiment of the present invention; and
Fig.4 is a schematic diagram for a format of a DHCP message.
Detailed Description of the Embodiments
A method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a terminal
initiates a request, which includes terminal type information, for a DHCP access to a
network; a DHCP server issues to the terminal an IP address of a corresponding network
administration server and an IP address of a corresponding service server according to the
terminal type; the terminal registers with the network administration server and gets an access
to the network; and the terminal initiates a service request to the service server, and the
service server distributes the service.
The differences between the method according to the embodiment of the present
invention and the prior art are that the terminal upon being powered on automatically initiates
an access request and reports its own terminal type, such as STB, IAD, RG (Residential
Gateway) of User, RTU (Remote Terminal Unit), PC or other personal NGN (Next
Generation Network) terminal. Particularly, the terminal identifies its own terminal type in an
OPTION field of the DHCP access request message, and the network side parses the field to
obtain the terminal type information. Moreover, the network side issues to the terminal the IP
address of the corresponding network administration server and the IP address of the
corresponding service server according to preset correspondence relations between a terminal
type and an IP address of a network administration server, and an IP address of a service
server.
With reference to Fig.3, a procedure for the method according to the embodiment of
the present invention is described in detail as follows.
A BRAS initially configures a mapping relation table of a terminal type and a service
type, a terminal type and a DHCP server, and a service type and a network segment. Here, the
service type may be a data service, a voice service, a video service or another value added
service derived therefrom, and the network segment corresponds to the IP address of an
ingress port of the BRAS (each ingress port of the BRAS is assigned with a fixed IP address).
With the development of the network, if a new service type is added in the network, only the
initial configuration needs to be modified so as to implement a service extension.
The correspondence relation table of a terminal type and an IP address of a terminal
network administration server, and a terminal type and an IP address of a service server needs
to be configured in the DHCP server. If a new terminal type is added in the network, only
mapping relations between the new terminal type and an IP address of a corresponding
network administration server, and an IP address of a corresponding service server need to be
added in the DHCP server.
The terminal upon being powered on automatically initiates a DHCP request, and
includes terminal type information in an OPTION field of a DHCP request message. A format
of the DHCP request message is shown in Fig.4. Here, the OPTIONS is an extensible field.
The format of the DHCP request message keeps unchanged in the embodiment of the present
invention, and the terminal type information is identified simply through the extensible field
OPTIONS. Therefore, descriptions of particular meanings of other fields are omitted herein.
The terminal type information can include a manufacturer ID, a terminal type and a terminal
model number, and its specific format is defined as follows: Manufacturer ID: Terminal Type:
Terminal Model Number, such as xxx:STB:STB888, where xxx represents the manufacturer
ID, and the number of bytes thereof is variable, at most 32 bytes; the STB indicates that the
terminal type is a set top box, and the number of bytes thereof is variable, at most 32 bytes;
and the STB888 represents the terminal model number, and the number of bytes thereof is
variable length, at most 62 bytes. By way of an example, huawei:STB:STB628, the
corresponding lengths of the manufacturer ID, the terminal type and the terminal model
number are 6 bytes, 3 bytes and 6 bytes. The terminal type information can be identified
through the OPTION60 in the OPTIONS field. Note that in the method according to the
embodiment of the present invention, the network access node makes no modification to the
DHCP access request initiated from the terminal, and merely transmits transparently the
request to BRAS, that is, the embodiment of the present invention has no requirement for an
existing network access node.
Upon receiving the DHCP request, the BRAS parses the OPTION field in the DHCP
request message to obtain the terminal type information of the terminal, then forwards the
DHCP request to a corresponding DHCP server according to the preset correspondence
relation table of a terminal type and a DHCP server. Here, the BRAS identifies, in the giaddr
field of the forwarded DHCP message, IP address information on an ingress port receiving
this DHCP request.
Upon receiving the DHCP request, the DHCP server searches in the configured
correspondence relation table of a terminal type and an IP address of a terminal network
administration server, and a terminal type and an IP address of a service server according to
the terminal type information included in the OPTION field, locates a IP address of a network
administration server and an IP address of a service server corresponding to this terminal, and
determines an IP address pool configured by the DHCP server according to the network
segment corresponding to the IP address information in the giaddr field. Furthermore, the
DHCP server selects an idle IP address in the determined IP address pool as an IP address to
be assigned to the terminal, and obtains other network configuration parameters in the DP
address pool, including a mask code, a domain name server, a domain name, route
information, etc. The DHCP server issues the IP address to the terminal by means of the
yiaddr field in a DHCP response message, and by means of OPTIONS field, issues the IP
address of the network administration server and the IP address of the service server both of
which are assigned to the terminal. Moreover, the DHCP server issues the corresponding
network configuration parameters including a mask code, a domain name server, a domain
name, route information, etc. according to the request from the terminal. For example, the
mask code is returned through the OPTION 1, the route information is returned through the
OPTION3, the domain name server is returned through the OPTION6, the domain name is
returned through the OPTION15, the IP address of the network administration server is
returned through the OPTION43, the IP address of the service server is returned through the
OPTION120.
Upon receiving the DHCP server response message, the terminal parses the related
fields to obtain die IP address assigned to the terminal, the IP address of corresponding
network administration server, the IP address of the corresponding service server, and the
requested network configuration parameters. The terminal registers with the network
administration server according to the obtained IP address of network administration server,
and requests for obtaining terminal software (i.e. an application(s) running in an embedded
operating system of the terminal) and terminal configuration parameters. Here, the terminal
configuration parameters include terminal-related configuration parameters, such as, the
terminal identifier, a port(s) used by the terminal, etc., and some configuration parameters of
a service, such as, a user name and a password for an access to the service server, a visited
port number, a service identifier, etc. The configuration parameters vary from one terminal
service to another.
The network administration server issues the terminal software and the terminal
configuration parameters to the terminal.
The terminal requests a service from the service server according to the obtained IP
address of the service server.
The service server responds to the service request from the terminal by issuing the
service to the terminal.
In steps 6 and 7 of the above procedure, the step of the terminal requesting for
obtaining terminal software and terminal configuration parameters is optional since some
service types may not required to be supported by special terminal software, or the service
can be performed without related parameters to be provided by the terminal, and thus the
corresponding step can be omitted. Instead, the terminal can initiate directly the service to the
service server according to the obtained the IP address of the corresponding service server.
The present invention has been described and illustrated by the embodiments of the
present invention and the drawings, it shall be recognized by those skilled in the art that those
embodiments and drawings are merely illustrative and not restrictive, that the present
invention shall be not limited thereto, and that various modifications and variations can be
made thereto in light of the descriptions and the drawings without departing from the sprit
and scope of the present invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
WE CLAIM:
1. A method applied in the Internet for distributing a service according to a terminal
type, wherein correspondence relations between a terminal type, and an IP
address of a network administration server, and an IP address of a service server
are stored in a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, and wherein
the method comprises:
initiating, by a terminal, a DHCP access request to a network with terminal type
information included in the access request;
issuing, by the DHCP server, an assigned IP address to the terminal, and querying
for and issuing an IP address of a network administration server and an IP address
of a service server corresponding to the terminal type information;
registering, by the terminal, with the network administration server as claimed in
the obtained IP address of the network administration server, and obtaining an
access to the network;
initiating, by the terminal, a service request to the service server as claimed in the
obtained IP address of the service server, and distributing, by the service server,
the service.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of initiating a DHCP access
request comprises:
initiating, by the terminal, a DHCP access request to a BRAS (Broadband Remote
Access Server) via an access node, and transmitting transparently, by the access
node, a message for the DHCP access request;
forwarding, by the BRAS, the access request to a corresponding DHCP server.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a correspondence relation between a
terminal type and a DHCP server is stored in the BRAS, and the step of
forwarding the access request comprises: querying for, by the BRAS upon
receiving the DHCP access request from the terminal, a DHCP server
corresponding to the terminal type information, and forwarding the message for
the DHCP access request to the corresponding DHCP server.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein in the step of initiating a DHCP access
request, the terminal type information is included in an optional OPTION field of
the message for the DHCP access request.
5. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the terminal type
information comprises a manufacturer ID, a terminal type and a terminal model
number.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the format of the terminal type
information is manufacturer ID: terminal type: terminal model number.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of issuing further comprises:
issuing to the terminal a DHCP response message an OPTION field of which
comprises the IP address of the network administration server and the IP address
of the service server.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the IP address assigned to the terminal
in the step of issuing is an idle IP address in an IP address pool configured by the
DHCP server, the IP address pool being determined by a network segment
corresponding to the IP address of the ingress port of the BRAS.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the step of issuing further comprises:
issuing, by the DHCP server, corresponding network configuration parameters
through an OPTION field of an DHCP response message as claimed in the
request from the terminal.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of registering further
comprises:
requesting, by the terminal, for obtaining terminal software and/or terminal
configuration parameters from network administration server;
issuing, by the network administration server, the terminal software and/or the
terminal configuration parameters to the terminal.

Documents:

03773-kolnp-2006-abstract-1.1.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-abstract.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-claims.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-correspondence others-1.1.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-correspondence others.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-description(complete).pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-drawings.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-form-1.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-form-2.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-form-3.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-form-5.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-international publication.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-international search authority report-1.1.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-international search authority report.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-others document.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-pa.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-pct others-1.1.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-pct others.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-pri0rity document.pdf

03773-kolnp-2006-priority document-1.1.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-CLAIMS 1.1.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-CORRESPONDENCE 1.1.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-CORRESPONDENCE 1.2.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-correspondence1.3.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-DRAWINGS 1.1.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-examination report.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-FORM 1.1.1.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-form 18.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-FORM 3.1.1.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-form 3.2.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-form 5.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-FORM-27.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-abstract.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-claims.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-description (complete).pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-drawings.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-form 1.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-form 2.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-granted-specification.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-OTHERS 1.1.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-OTHERS.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-others1.1.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-pa.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-PRIORITY DOCUMENT.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-priority document1.1.pdf

3773-KOLNP-2006-REPLY F.E.R.pdf

3773-kolnp-2006-reply to examination report.pdf

abstract-03773-kolnp-2006.jpg


Patent Number 246443
Indian Patent Application Number 3773/KOLNP/2006
PG Journal Number 09/2011
Publication Date 04-Mar-2011
Grant Date 28-Feb-2011
Date of Filing 15-Dec-2006
Name of Patentee HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
Applicant Address HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 XIONG, WEI HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
2 WEI, JIAHONG HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
3 CHEN, YUANXIANG HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
4 LIU, CHENGLONG HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
5 LAI, XIAMING HUAWEI ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, BANTIAN, LONGGANG DISTRICT, SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE 518129, P.R. CHINA
PCT International Classification Number H04L 12/28
PCT International Application Number PCT/CN2006/000832
PCT International Filing date 2006-04-28
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 200510067881.X 2005-04-29 China