Claims
- 1. A system for managing the intercommunication of provisioning-related data between interconnected provisioning systems in an interactive television network (ITV), comprising:
an ITV client device for receiving a provisioning request from a client; an ITV provisioning manager device for managing the provisioning request forwarded by the ITV client device; and at least one ITV network component and an associated provisioning system for receiving a provisioning message from the ITV provisioning manager device.
- 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one ITV network component and associated provisioning system connected to said ITV provisioning manager includes at least one communications network and wherein the system is configured such that the provisioning request by the client is forwarded by the at least one ITV network component to the ITV provisioning manager device.
- 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one ITV network component and associated provisioning system connected to said ITV provisioning manager includes at least one billing system for maintaining billing information for a client of the ITV network.
- 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one ITV network component and associated provisioning system connected to said ITV provisioning manager includes at least one ITV server for providing provisioning information to the at least one ITV network component.
- 5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one communications network is a wired communications network.
- 6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the at least one communications network includes a packet data network for providing services to a client of the ITV network.
- 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the packet data network includes an Internet protocol data packet network.
- 8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the packet data network includes an asynchronous transfer mode network.
- 9. The system according to claim 5, wherein the at least one communications network includes a circuit-oriented switched telephone network for providing telephone services to a client of the ITV network.
- 10. The system according to claim 3, wherein the at least one billing system includes an ITV billing system.
- 11. The system according to claim 4, wherein the at least ITV server includes at least one of the following: an e-mail server, an address book server, a calendar server, a search server, a registration server, a web server, and an E-chat server.
- 12. The system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ITV client device connected to the at least one ITV network component includes a set-top video/audio converter decoder box.
- 13. The system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ITV client device connected to the at least one ITV network component includes a television set.
- 14. The system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ITV client device connected to the at least one ITV network component includes a device which processes video, audio or data signals for transmission, storage, visual display or sound emission.
- 15. A method of managing the provisioning of interactive client devices for connection to an interactive television (ITV) network for using interactive television services, comprising:
receiving, at an ITV client device, a subscriber request containing update subscriber information, the update subscriber information including user information regarding at least one of a user to be deleted, a user to be modified, and a user to be added; receiving, at an ITV provisioning manager device, the subscriber request; storing at least a portion of the subscriber update information in a provisioning management database accessible by the ITV provisioning manager device; and providing said at least a portion of the subscriber update information from said provisioning management database to a first ITV network component other than the ITV provisioning manager device.
- 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising:
providing a response to a second ITV network component regarding receipt by the ITV provisioning manager device of the subscriber update information.
- 17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the receiving step includes the steps of:
providing a first display, on a television connected to the ITV client device, to a subscriber, the display including a bug associated with at least one of delete a user, modify a user, and add a user; detecting a selection of the bug by the subscriber; providing a second display, on the television, requesting the subscriber to enter the update subscriber information; and receiving the update subscriber information from the subscriber.
- 18. A system for provisioning a subscriber in an interactive television network, comprising:
an ITV client means for receiving a customer provisioning request containing update customer information, the update customer information including user information regarding at least one of a user to be deleted, a user to be modified, and a user to be added; an ITV provisioning manager means for communicating the update customer information between interconnected provisioning systems in an interactive television network; and memory means, accessible by the ITV provisioning manager, for storing at least a portion of the customer update information.
- 19. The apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising at least one provisioning message interface connecting the ITV provisioning manager means with a provisioning system of at least one subscriber management billing system.
- 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising at least one provisioning message interface connecting the ITV provisioning manager means with a provisioning system of at least one communications network.
- 21. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the ITV client means is a set-top box and further comprising a television connected to the ITV client means for displaying one or more provisioning requests to a customer associated with the television.
- 22. A method of managing the provisioning of interactive client devices for connection to an interactive television network for using interactive television services, comprising:
receiving from a first ITV network component service information relating to at least one subscriber, the service information identifying said at least one subscriber and requesting at least one of updating subscriber information corresponding to the at least one subscriber, user information corresponding to at least one user affiliated with the at least one subscriber, a geographical location corresponding to the at least one subscriber, and an ITV client device corresponding to the at least one subscriber; determining which of a plurality of other ITV network components are to receive at least some of the service information; and communicating the at least some of the service information to at least one other ITV network component, the at least one other ITV component network being different from the first ITV network component and providing a service requested by the at least one subscriber.
- 23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising:
storing said service information in a provisioning management database; retrieving said service information from said provisioning management database; and communicating said service information to a provisioning system of an ITV network component.
- 24. The method according to claim 22, further comprising:
storing said service providing information in a provisioning management database; retrieving said service providing information from said provisioning management database; and providing the service providing information to an ITV network component.
- 25. The method according to claim 22, further comprising:
providing the service providing information to an ITV network component that is a billing system.
- 26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the service providing information includes one or more network addresses from the provisioning system of an IP data network.
- 27. A system for managing the provisioning of interactive client devices for connection to an interactive television network for using interactive television services, comprising:
first receiving means for receiving from a first ITV network component service information relating to at least one subscriber, the service information identifying said at least one subscriber and requesting at least one of updating subscriber information corresponding to the at least one subscriber, user information corresponding to at least one user affiliated with the at least one subscriber, a geographical location corresponding to the at least one subscriber, and an ITV client device corresponding to the at least one subscriber; determining means for determining which of a plurality of other ITV network components are to receive at least some of the service information; communicating means for communicating the at least some of the service information to at least one other ITV network component, the at least one other ITV network component being different from the first ITV network component and providing a service requested by the at least one subscriber; second receiving means for receiving from the at least one other ITV network component service providing information, the service providing information at least one of enabling and disabling a user associated with the subscriber to access the service provided by the at least one other ITV component; and providing means for providing the service providing information to the subscriber.
- 28. The system according to claim 27, further comprising:
storing means for storing said service information in a provisioning management database; retrieving means for retrieving said service information in said provisioning management database; and communicating means for communicating said service information to a provisioning system of an ITV network component.
- 29. The system according to claim 22, further comprising:
storing means for storing said service providing information in a provisioning management database; retrieving means for retrieving said service providing information in said provisioning management database; and providing means for providing the service providing information to an ITV network component.
- 30. The system according to claim 22, further comprising:
providing means for providing the service providing information to an ITV network component that is a billing system.
- 31. The system according to claim 22, wherein the service providing information includes one or more network addresses from the provisioning system of an IP data network.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is related to U.S. patent application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING THE PROVISIONING OF CLIENT DEVICES CONNECTED TO AN INTERACTIVE TV NETWORK”, Ser. No. 09/671,329, filed Sep. 26, 2000, to Donlan, et al., and U.S. patent application entitled “______”, Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently herewith, each of which is incorporated herein by this reference.