Claims
- 1. A method of providing services via a services operating system comprising:
providing a module builder operable to generate module scripts, the module scripts indicative of a service entity; providing a script engine, the script engine operable to process the module scripts to identify attributes of the corresponding service entity; providing at least one executable element generator, the executable element generator responsive to the script engine; generating, via the executable element generator, executable objects corresponding to the service entity by assigning values to the attributes; storing the executable objects in a knowledge base; and deploying the executable objects for providing services.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the service entities further comprise network elements, network services, and network subscriptions.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the module scripts corresponds to a particular one of a network element, a network service, and a network subscription.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the module scripts further comprises generating metalanguage files.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein assigning values to the attributes further comprises gathering data from a user interface.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an executable element generator further comprises providing at least one of a network pre-provisioning manager (NPP), a service plan administrator (SPA), and a service provisioning manager (SPM).
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an executable element generator comprises providing an network pre-provisioning manager responsive to module scripts corresponding to network elements.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein providing executable element generator further comprises providing a service plan administrator responsive to module scripts corresponding to network services.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the executable element generator further comprises providing a service provisioning manager responsive to module scripts corresponding to network subscriptions.
- 10. A system for providing services via a services operating system comprising:
a module builder operable to generate module scripts, the module scripts indicative of a service entity; a script engine operable to process the module scripts to identify attributes of the corresponding service entity; at least one executable element generator, the executable element generator responsive to the script engine; a plurality of executable objects, each executable object corresponding to at least one service entity, the executable objects generated by the executable element generator by assigning values to the attributes; a knowledge base operable to store the executable objects; and a service provisioning engine operable to access the knowledge base to deploy the executable objects for providing services.
- 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the service entities further comprise network elements, network services, and network subscriptions.
- 12. The system of claim 10 wherein the module scripts are adapted to correspond to a particular one of a network element, a network service, and a network subscription.
- 13. The system of claim 10 wherein the module scripts further comprise metalanguage files.
- 14. The system of claim 10 wherein the executable element generators are further operable to assign values to the attributes via gathering data from a user interface.
- 15. The system of claim 10 wherein the executable element generators further comprise a network pre-provisioning manager (NPP), a service plan administrator (SPA), and a service provisioning manager (SPM).
- 16. The system of claim 15 wherein the network pre-provisioning manager (NPP) is responsive to module scripts corresponding to the network elements.
- 17. The system of claim 15 wherein the service plan administrator (SPA) is responsive to module scripts corresponding to the network services.
- 18. The system of claim 15 wherein the service provisioning manager (SPM) is responsive to module scripts corresponding to the network subscriptions.
- 19. A method of creating and managing services in a HFC network comprising:
identifying a plurality of network services available via the network; identifying a plurality of network elements operable to deliver the network services; defining, for each of the identified network elements, an element module indicative of attributes of the particular element; defining, for each of the identified services, a service module indicative of attributes of the particular service; and deploying, via an executable element generator, an executable object corresponding to each of the element modules and service modules by assigning values to attributes.
- 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:
storing the executable objects in a common knowledge base; identifying a service for instantiation; and executing the executable objects corresponding to the identified service via a service provisioning engine to provide an instantiation of the service.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein identifying the service for instantiation further comprises:
receiving a request for instantiation at a service provisioning manager in communication with the common knowledge base; aggregating the executable objects from the common knowledge base corresponding to the requested service; and executing the aggregated executable objects.
- 22. The method of claim 19 wherein each of the service modules and each of the element modules is a template of attributes adapted to receive values.
- 23. The method of claim 19 wherein the executable element generator is a network pre-provisioning manager and deploying further comprises defining values for each of the attributes in the element module.
- 24. The method of claim 19 wherein the executable element generator is a service plan administrator (SPA) and deploying further comprises defining values for each of the attributes in the service module.
- 25. The method of claim 21 wherein aggregating the executable objects further comprises integrating the identified executable object into a combined executable element.
- 26. The method of claim 25 where executing the executable objects further comprises indexing a logic repository to reference service and element specific instructions in response to the executable element.
- 27. The method of claim 19 wherein assigning the values to attributes further comprises referencing a predetermined list of values and selectively determining a subset of the values as a result of parsing the module.
- 28. The method of claim 19 wherein deploying the executable objects corresponding to service modules further comprises identifying element modules corresponding to a particular service module, and associating the identified element modules with the particular service module via the executable element.
- 29. The method of claim 19 wherein the service modules and the element modules are indicative of a metalanguage.
- 30. The method of claim 19 wherein the executable objects correspond to a metalanguage.
- 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the metalanguage is XML.
- 32. The method of claim 19 wherein the service modules and the element modules are module scripts.
- 33. A method of enabling services via a network comprising:
identifying a plurality of entities available via the network; defining a module for each of the identified entities, the module indicative of characteristics of the entity; customizing, via a user interface, each of the modules by associating characteristics with values to generate an executable element; and aggregating the executable objects in a knowledge base.
- 34. The method of claim 33 further comprising instantiating a service by
receiving a request to instantiate a particular service at a service provisioning manager; identifying the executable objects corresponding the requested service; and executing, via an executable element generator, the identified executable objects.
- 35. The method of claim 33 wherein the entities further comprise network elements and network services.
- 36. A system for creating and managing services in an HFC network comprising:
a plurality of network services available via the network; a plurality of network elements operable to deliver the network services; at least one element module, each element module corresponding to a particular network element and indicative of attributes of the particular element; at least one service module, each service module corresponding to a particular network service and indicative of attributes of the particular service; and an executable element generator operable to deploy an executable object corresponding to each of the element modules and service modules by assigning values to attributes.
- 37. The system of claim 36 further comprising
a common knowledge base operable to store the executable objects; and a service provisioning engine operable to execute the executable objects corresponding to an identified service to provide an instantiation of the service.
- 38. The system of claim 36 further comprising:
a service provisioning manager in communication with the common knowledge base and operable to receive a request for instantiation; the service provisioning manger operable to aggregate the element modules and service modules corresponding to the requested service to generate an aggregated executable object.
- 39. The system of claim 36 wherein each of the service modules and each of the element modules is a template of attributes adapted to receive values.
- 40. The system of claim 46 wherein the executable element generator is a network pre-provisioning manager (NPP) and deploying further comprises defining values for each of the attributes in the element module.
- 41. The system of claim 36 wherein the executable element generator is a service plan administrator (SPA) and deploying further comprises defining values for each of the attributes in the service module.
- 42. The system of claim 36 further comprising a predetermined list of attributes wherein the executable element generators are further operable to assign values to attributes by referencing the predetermined list of values and selectively determining a subset of the attributes as a result of parsing the module.
- 43. The system of claim 36 wherein the element modules and the service modules are indicative of a metalanguage.
- 44. The system of claim 36 wherein the executable objects correspond to a metalanguage.
- 45. The system of claim 44 wherein the metalanguage is XML.
- 46. The system of claim 36 wherein the attributes further comprise behavior, capability, and operating variables.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/143,728, entitled “Extensible Service Provisioning Engine,” filed on May 8, 2002, Attorney's Docket No. 3070.1004-001, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/289,617, filed on May 8, 2001, Attorney's Docket No. 3070.1004-000. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60289617 |
May 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10143728 |
May 2002 |
US |
Child |
10247805 |
Sep 2002 |
US |