Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A method for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network, the method comprising:
creating, by an automated configuration system, a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of devices based on details related to the plurality of devices;
updating, by the automated configuration system, a network inventory associated with the heterogeneous network based on the device profile of each of the plurality of devices;
assigning, by the automated configuration system, a temporary IP to each of the plurality of devices for obtaining an initial access to each of the plurality of devices through respective temporary IPs; and
configuring, by the automated configuration system, each of the plurality of devices with permanent IPs and VLAN configurations after obtaining the initial access to the plurality of devices.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device profile corresponding to a device comprises at least one of type of the device, default configuration files and firmware versions of the device, details of a parent device of the device, number of ports and type of ports on the device and login credentials associated with the device.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein updating the network inventory comprises defining an IP pool for the plurality of devices, defining a VLAN pool for the plurality of devices, associating each of the plurality of devices with a parent device and tagging each of the plurality of devices with a logical network-level location.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temporary IPs are assigned from a pool of temporary IPs associated with a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the heterogeneous network.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the temporary IPs are released to the pool of temporary IPs after the permanent IPs are assigned to the plurality of devices.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring each of the plurality of devices comprises defining a geographical zone of each of the plurality of devices, defining a hierarchy for each of the plurality of devices within the heterogenous network and updating the device profile of each of the plurality of devices with information about the geographical zone and the hierarchy of each of the plurality of devices.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring each of the plurality of devices further comprises:
selecting a service port on each of the plurality of devices based on IP and VLAN configuration of a parent device of the plurality of devices and user account information associated with each of the plurality of devices; and
enabling the selected service port on each of the plurality of devices for providing Internet service access to a user associated with each of the plurality of devices.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heterogenous network comprises at least one of Metro Ethernet networks or Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON).

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the heterogeneous network is a Q-in-Q network or a network having double VLAN tagging.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the VLAN configurations configured on each of the plurality of devices are dedicated VLAN configurations comprising a combination of outer VLAN and inner VLAN, and is uniquely traceable from any location of the heterogeneous network.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method is provisioned for configuring IP and VLAN for the plurality of devices of one or more models and from one or more vendors.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprises performing, using the automated configuration system, replacement of the plurality of devices, relocation and re-parenting of the plurality of devices, relinquishing the plurality of devices, shifting user between the plurality of devices, de-provisioning the plurality of devices and blocking a selected port on the plurality of devices when the plurality of devices is faulty.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprises performing, using the automated configuration system, one or more on-field operations comprising at least one of dual homing, link shifting and generating configurations on the plurality of devices.

14. An automated configuration system for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network, the automated configuration system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory, coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor to:
create a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of devices based on details related to the plurality of devices;
update a network inventory associated with the heterogeneous network based on the device profile of each of the plurality of devices;
assign a temporary IP to each of the plurality of devices for obtaining an initial access to each of the plurality of devices through respective temporary IPs; and
configure each of the plurality of devices with permanent IPs and VLAN configurations after obtaining the initial access to the plurality of devices.

15. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the device profile corresponding to a device comprises at least one of type of the device, default configuration files and firmware versions of the device, details of a parent device of the device, number of ports and type of ports on the device and login credentials associated with the device.

16. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processor updates the network inventory by defining an IP pool for the plurality of devices, defining a VLAN pool for the plurality of devices, associating each of the plurality of devices with a parent device and tagging each of the plurality of devices with a logical network-level location.

17. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processor assigns the temporary IPs from a pool of temporary IPs associated with a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the heterogeneous network.

18. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the processor releases the temporary IPs to the pool of temporary IPs after assigning the permanent IPs to the plurality of devices.

19. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein for configuring each of the plurality of devices, the processor is further configured to perform operations comprising defining a geographical zone of each of the plurality of devices, defining a hierarchy for each of the plurality of devices within the heterogenous network and updating the device profile of each of the plurality of devices with information about the geographical zone and the hierarchy of each of the plurality of devices.

20. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:
select a service port on each of the plurality of devices based on IP and VLAN configuration of a parent device of the plurality of devices and user account information associated with each of the plurality of devices; and
enable the selected service port on each of the plurality of devices for providing Internet service access to a user associated with each of the plurality of devices.

21. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the heterogenous network comprises at least one of a Metro Ethernet networks or Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON).

22. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the heterogeneous network is a Q-in-Q network or a network having double VLAN tagging.

23. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the VLAN configurations configured on each of the plurality of devices are dedicated VLAN configurations comprising a combination of outer VLAN and inner VLAN, and is uniquely traceable from any location of the heterogeneous network.

24. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the processor provisions configuration of IP and VLAN for the plurality of devices of one or more models and one or more vendors.

25. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14 further comprises one or more tools configured to perform regular configuration changes and updates at the network level, wherein the one or more tools comprises at least one of a firmware upgrade tool, a nomenclature change tool, a read post speed tool and a port disconnection tool.

26. The automated configuration system as claimed in claim 14 further comprises a deferred engine configured to:
identify an unreachable device in the network;
store one or more IP and VLAN configurations to be transmitted to the unreachable device in a parent device of the unreachable device;
transmit the one or more IP and VLAN configurations to the unreachable device when the unreachable device becomes reachable.

Dated this 9th Day of June 2021
SANDEEP N P
ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANT
IN/PA – 2851
OF K & S PARTNERS.

, Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present subject matter is, in general, related to network provisioning and more particularly, but not exclusively, to method and system for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network.

BACKGROUND

Generally, a well architected home broadband network expects an uninterrupted and personalized provisioning of Quality of Service (QoS) to every user. In order to achieve this in a distributed and hierarchical metro-ethernet network, it is desired to provide a dedicated virtual connection to every user. The virtual connection can be provided by reserving a dedicated Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) to every user.

However, there is a limitation on the number VLANs that can be provided and/or configured in a Layer 2 Ethernet network. This becomes further challenging when the network has to cater to tens of thousands of users. To address this problem, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has introduced IEEE 802.1Q or Dot1q standard for implementation of tunneling (Q-in-Q) mechanism or double VLAN tagging in the Ethernet network. Existing mechanisms use manual processes for VLAN tagging.

However, the manual process is highly cumbersome and majorly hinders operational efficiency of the VLAN tagging. For instance, when a network device needs to be deployed in the network, based on the network hierarchy, the device has to be configured and provisioned by a skilled network operations engineer. Further, appropriate VLAN and IP need to be configured to the device, depending on where the device is going to deployed. Practically, it may be very difficult for devices to be pre-configured in a lab before they are deployed at a particular location, because the field engineers will be carrying multiple devices and there is a high chance of devices getting swapped between the locations. Hence, it is necessary that the provisioning of the devices is performed only when they reach the deployment location.

Additionally, in the manual process, the field deployment team needs to pick the devices from a warehouse, have it preconfigured with the required base configurations before deploying them in the network. Also, the field deployment must make calls to-and-fro to the backend service team to get the final configurations on the device, to provision the device with the required services and then to test the device for reachability on the network. Consequently, the manual process requires availability of trained engineers, who know configuration of all kinds of devices and different standards of network. Also, manually ‘pushing’ the configurations to the devices is highly prone to errors and time consuming. As a result, the manual configuration process is not suitable for large and simultaneous deployments.

Therefore, there is a need for automating configuration of IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogeneous network.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein is a method for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network. The method comprises creating, by an automated configuration system, a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of devices based on details related to the plurality of devices. Further, the method comprises updating a network inventory associated with the heterogeneous network based on the device profile of each of the plurality of devices. Thereafter, the method comprises assigning a temporary IP to each of the plurality of devices for obtaining an initial access to each of the plurality of devices through respective temporary IPs. Finally, the method comprises configuring each of the plurality of devices with permanent IPs and VLAN configurations after obtaining the initial access to the plurality of devices.

Further, the present disclosure relates to an automated configuration system for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network. The automated configuration system comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor to create a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of devices based on details related to the plurality of devices. Further, the instructions cause the processor to update a network inventory associated with the heterogeneous network based on the device profile of each of the plurality of devices. Thereafter, the instructions cause the processor to assign a temporary IP to each of the plurality of devices for obtaining an initial access to each of the plurality of devices through respective temporary IPs. Finally, the instructions cause the processor to configure each of the plurality of devices with permanent IPs and VLAN configurations after obtaining the initial access to the plurality of devices.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary environment illustrating a method for automatically configuring Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of an automated configuration system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show exemplary architectures illustrating deployment of the automated configuration system in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates scalability of the automated configuration system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically configuring IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogenous network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present document, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration”. Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.
In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
The present disclosure relates to method and automated configuration system for automatically configuring and provisioning Internet Protocol (IP) and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) for devices in a heterogenous network. In an embodiment, the present disclosure aims to provide a fully controlled network with visibility up to end users/service consumers, which is identified by a unique and dedicated combination of outer and inner VLANs in a per-user, per-VLAN configuration. The following features of the instant invention make it unique:

1. First Time Deployment:
The present disclosure performs both VLAN and IP planning for a heterogeneous network. The heterogenous network may be a network comprising of Metro Ethernet and Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON). The proposed platform and/or architecture is device agnostic and works on a large set of devices from different manufacturers. Also, the platform uses a configuration library that is very flexible and supports devices of any make and model and their corresponding drivers. In addition to configuring a device, the platform also parallelly passes necessary VLAN and Port configurations from parent devices to the device being configured in a network segment. Further, an architecture of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, which gives an initial IP access for the devices, is designed in a flexible manner, such that the server can either be a centralized one or local to a particular geographic location/city. The proposed solution, in addition to Metro Ethernet and GPON, may be further extended to various network segments such as serving retail broadband architecture, corporate broadband, Internet Lease Lines, Wi-Fi hotspot network and the like. Also, the proposed disclosure supports ‘dual homing’, where a last mile device may have multiple parent network devices for providing greater redundancy in multiple network paths.

2. User Provisioning and Management:
In an embodiment, the proposed architecture may be extended for enabling a fully controlled network, wherein even an end user is enabled through this and each user is identified by a unique and dedicated set of outer and inner VLAN combinations according to Q-in-Q or double VLAN tagging standards according to IEEE 802.1Q standard. In an embodiment, once a user is provisioned on the network, the same may be tracked and even de-provisioned, leading to shutting down of the port, and eventually making an entry in a backend database pool for tracking purposes.
3. Streamlined and System driven Operational Processes:
In an embodiment, the proposed architecture, along with first time deployment and configuration, also supports following activities to be performed on the network:
a. Device replacement: A faulty device in the network may be replaced in a few minutes through the automated configuration system, at the click of a button.
b. Similarly, if a device goes faulty, it may be marked as faulty, and it’s redeployed at a different location is put on hold unless a Quality Analyst (QA) team has checked and released the device for reuse.
c. In addition to devices, even specific ports may be marked as faulty and prevented from further use to avoid any issues in the network.
d. Further, a device may be relinquished from the network and immediately put for use at a different location/under a different parent device, without requirement of any manual reset of configurations.
e. Device firmware may be upgraded for any number of devices, and for any number of profiles at any time.

4. External Integration Interfaces and Reports:
In an embodiment, the proposed architecture may be integrated for seamless communication between various Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services, Field Force Management services and GIS systems for getting visibility of the network segment, utilization of ports, utilization of connected devices, their hierarchy and any other utility checks that are required to be carried out. Further, the automated configuration system may generate various reports, which provide flexible views to any information required to be known about the network devices, ranging from inventory, device make and device model, device configuration and the like.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary environment 100 illustrating a method for automatically configuring IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogenous network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the environment 100 represents a layered architecture of a networking ecosystem. On one side of the network, there may be network devices 107 that are being used by a plurality of consumers/customers. On the other side of the network, there may be a plurality of network admins 101 or administrative systems, which may be used by a backend service team for managing and configuring the network devices 107 for providing them a seamless access to the network. In an embodiment, the network may be a heterogeneous network 105 comprising at least one of Metro Ethernet networks and/or Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON).

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system 103 proposed in the present disclosure may be configured at the end of network admins 101, such that the network admins 101 may use the automated configuration system 103 to configure and manage the network devices 107. Eventually, the automated configuration system 103 may be used for automatically configuring the network devices 107 on the heterogeneous network 105.

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system 103 may be any computing device capable of automatically configuring IP and VLAN for the network devices 107 in the heterogeneous network 105, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In an implementation, the automated configuration system 103 may be a standalone system and may be at least one of a desktop computer, a laptop, a server and the like. In another implementation, the automated configuration system 103 may be integrated within the one or more network admins 101. In an embodiment, the network devices 107 may be end user devices used by the customers and/or consumers of the heterogeneous network 105. As an example, the network devices 107 may include, without limitation, a handheld device, a home network device, an office network device, a business network device and the like.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of an automated configuration system 103 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, the automated configuration system 103 may include a I/O Interface 201, a memory 203, processor 205 and a planning and automation unit 207. In an embodiment, the I/O interface 201 may be communicatively interfaced with a heterogeneous network 105 that connects to a plurality of network devices 107. Further, the I/O interface 201 may be communicatively interfaced with a validation platform 225 that performs one or more validation operations while configuring and provisioning IP and VLAN for the one or more network devices connected on the heterogeneous network 105. Additionally, the I/O Interface 201 may be used for communicatively interfacing the automated configuration system 103 with an auto provisioning orchestration unit 235, which in turn, connects the automated configuration system 103 to one or more web interfaces 237. In an embodiment, the memory 203 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 205 and may store one or more data and one or more modules of the automated configuration system 103. The processor 205 may be configured to perform one or more functions of the automated configuration system 103, using the data and the one or more modules of the automated configuration system 103.

In an embodiment, the planning and automation unit 207 may be responsible for automatically planning, provisioning and configuring the IP and VLAN services to the network devices 107 connected to the heterogeneous network 105. In an embodiment, the planning and Automation unit 207 may comprise, without limiting to, a service definition module 209, a provisioning engine 215, an update manager 217, a device discovery module 219, a device state controller 221 and one or more connector services 223, as shown in FIG. 2.

In an embodiment, the service definition module 209 may be configured with a network segment definition module 211 and a configuration library 213. In an embodiment, the network segment definition module 211 may be responsible for defining the segment of the heterogeneous network 105 and planning resources for the network devices 107 connecting to that segment of the heterogeneous network 105. In an embodiment, the configuration library 213 may be used for storing standard configurations for each type of network devices 107 in each segment of the heterogenous network. In an embodiment, when a Network Operations Center (NOC) administrator needs to populate the network architecture with new network devices 107, the NOC administrator may configure all attributes associated with the new network devices 107 into the network segment definition module 211.

Thereafter, the provisioning engine 215 may match the attributes saved on the network segment definition module 211 with corresponding configuration files stored on the configuration library 213 to create a configuration file corresponding to the newly added network devices 107. In an embodiment, the update manager 217 may be configured to fetch the configuration files created by the provisioning engine 215 and push them into intended network devices 107, which are being newly added to the heterogenous network.

In an embodiment, the device discovery module 219 may be responsible for discovering the network devices 107 in the heterogenous network by scanning the heterogenous network through various protocols like Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), followed by Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) requests. In an embodiment, the device discovery module 219 identifies the new network devices 107 that are seen online and/or seen as connected to the heterogenous network, to enable further configuration on the newly added network devices 107.

In an embodiment, the device state controller 221 may be responsible for checking and ensuring that each of the newly added network devices 107 are in the right configuration state before an operation is carried out on them. In an embodiment, the connector services 223 enable the device discovery module 219 and the device state controller 221 to reach and connect to the network devices 107 in the heterogenous network through an auto provisioning orchestration unit 235 associated with the planning and Automation unit 207.

In an embodiment, the auto provisioning orchestration unit 235 may be configured for provisioning and/or writing the required VLAN and IP configurations on to the newly added network devices 107 according to the defined network structure and plan. Additionally, the auto provisioning orchestration unit 235 may be configured for controlling and executing the following operations for the network devices 107 in the heterogeneous network 105: device replacement, device relinquishment, device relocation, firmware upgrade for the device, port blocking, operating various network management tools, link shifting and the like. In an embodiment, each of these operations may involve complexity of capturing the existing snapshot of the configuration, running a check to determine whether a newly relinquished or relocated device has the required VLAN, IP and port resources to provision the services. Further, each of these operations may be scheduled in way of reducing the downtime of the heterogeneous network 105.

In an embodiment, the auto provisioning orchestration unit 235 may perform the above operations using a validation platform 225 associated with the automated configuration system 103. The validation platform 225 may be configured within the automated configuration system 103 or external to the automated configuration system 103. In an embodiment, the validation platform 225 may comprise, without limiting to, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) unit 227, a Geographic Information System (GIS) 229, an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server 231 and a field operations manager 233.

In an embodiment, the CRM unit 227 may be configured for keeping track of and storing all the information related to the network devices 107 in the heterogeneous network 105. The GIS system 229 may be used for collecting, storing and displaying geographical and spatial data of all the network devices 107 in the heterogeneous network 105 and thereby gives a visibility of the network devices 107. The AAA server 231 may be configured for validating the newly added network devices 107 by authenticating and authorizing credentials of the customers associated with the newly added network devices 107. Further, the AAA server 231 may be also responsible for maintaining a service account for the network devices 107. In an embodiment, the field operations manager 233 may be configured for managing actual field operations involved in configuring and provisioning the new network devices 107 in the heterogeneous network 105.

In an embodiment, the web interfaces 237 associated with the auto provisioning orchestration layer provides necessary User Interfaces (UIs) for the end users and/or customers for accessing the automated configuration network and managing their network devices 107 by performing actions such as, upgrading network subscription plan, changing network security credentials, requesting service assistance and the like.

As used herein, the term ‘module’ or ‘unit’ may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a hardware processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality. In an implementation, the modules and units referred herein above may be configured as stand-alone hardware computing units. In an embodiment, automated configuration system 103 may comprise various other modules, other than the ones shown in FIG. 2, which may be configured for performing various miscellaneous functionalities of the automated configuration system 103. It will be appreciated that such one or more modules may be represented as a single module or a combination of different modules.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show exemplary architectures illustrating deployment of the automated configuration system 103 in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the entire architecture of the automated configuration system 103 may be built in a fluid manner such that various modules involved in the automated configuration are put together to form a complete ecosystem and ease all the activities and operations related to automated provisioning and configuration of the network. One of the objectives behind the fluidity of the system and designing a modular structure for the automated configuration system 103 is to cater operations across multiple cities located in distinct geographical locations.
In an embodiment, each city may either have its own datacenter or share a datacenter with another city. Generally, due to the complexity and technical heaviness of the operations involved, there may be a requirement to maintain a local instance of the datacenter in each city. In such instances, the local databased may depend on a single core datacenter and/or application and function as peripheral extensions to the core datacenter. The centralization among the datacenters helps in providing a central visibility to the entire architecture/network. Consequently, each city may be provided with its own database, and then ultimately, all the local databases may be connected to a single central server at one main city for enabling central management of the network.

FIG. 3A illustrates the network architecture as illustrated above. In an embodiment, the central and/or core planning and automation unit 301 may be configured to extend its services and operations to multiple cities. The core planning and Automation unit 301 may be associated with a central database 305 that stores all the configuration details related to the heterogeneous network 105 and all the network devices 107 connected to the heterogenous network. Additionally, the core planning and Automation unit 301 may be associated with one or more external CRMs 308 for enabling addition of new network devices 107 to the heterogenous network. The external CRMs 308 help in performing a sanity check before activating a customer’s account. A process check may be put in place within the CRMs 308, which ensures that all the required activities are completed for the customer and the customer may start using the service immediately. Following activities may be performed while activating the customer for the network:
- A new customer’s account may be created in one of the CRMs 308 upon receiving a purchase of network subscription.
- A field engineer may be assigned for the on-field deployment of the network connection.
- The field engineer may be provided with an application that communicates with the core planning and Automation unit 301.
- The customer’s network elements may be configured and subsequently the service may be activated on the device deployed at the customer location.
- During the configuration process, the core planning and Automation unit 301 may constantly check with the CRM 308 if a customer credential (for example, subscriber ID) is valid in the system and/or if the customer account is in a non-activated state. The configuration and service enablement may happen only when the above check is successfully completed.
- Upon successful configuration and service enablement, the final step may be to activate the customer account in the CRM 308, so that the service flow and the corresponding accounting activities start. During this process, the account may be activated by configuring an access network for the network device according to the network segment to which the network device belongs. Finally, the service port may be enabled for allowing the customer to access the required service.

In an embodiment, the core planning and Automation unit 301 may be configured with a report manager 303 that collects and stores event updates and regular updates from the local databases associated with each of the cities.

In an embodiment, the central database 305 may connect to the city-specific databases 309 corresponding to various cities using a database manager 307 configured in the central database 305. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, if there are four cities namely, city X, city Y, city Z and city N, each of the four cities may be provided with a local instance of the central database 305, namely City X database, City Y database, City Z database and City N database. Further, each of the city-specific databases 309 may be maintained in real-time sync with the central database 305, such that the core planning and Automation unit 301 has complete visibility to the configuration or other changes happening in the cities.

In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, each of the city-specific local database may be configured with a primary database and a secondary database, arranged in a Master-Slave architecture that are in sync with each other in real-time. As an example, an access network 315 of a city ‘City X’ may be controlled by two automation units namely, a primary planning and automation unit 311 and a secondary planning and automation unit 313. Further, the primary planning and automation unit 311 and the secondary planning and automation unit 313 may be connected to a primary database 317 and a secondary database 319, respectively. In an embodiment, the primary database 317 and the secondary database 319 may be configured in real-time sync with each other and enabled for connecting to any external systems 320 through system-specific Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In an embodiment, the primary planning and automation unit 311 and the secondary planning and automation unit 313 add redundancy to the access network 315 and ensure that the access network does not face any downtime even when one of the planning and automation unit fails to operate.

FIG. 4 illustrates scalability of the automated configuration system 103 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system 103 may be built in a way that it is easily scalable and can be expanded to multiple cities. In an embodiment, the automated configuration system 103 may have a geographically distributed architecture in a Master-Slave architecture as shown in FIG. 4. Due to the distributed nature and due to presence of multiple salve copies, the architecture has multi-point failure nodes. Accordingly, the architecture makes the automated configuration system 103 failproof and scalable.

Further, as seen in FIG. 4, a city ‘City X’ may have its own web interface 321, a set of databases, namely City X Master DB 323a and a City X Salve DB 323b that are configured in a Master-Slave configuration. Similarly, each of the other cities – ‘City Y’ and ‘City N’ may have dedicated web interfaces and databases. Finally, the databases associated with each of the cities may be synchronized in real-time with the central database 305. In an embodiment, each of the city-specific databases may be managed and controlled through the central web interface 333.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically configuring IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogenous network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the method 500 may include one or more blocks illustrating a method for automatically configuring IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogeneous network 105 using an automated configuration system 103 illustrated in FIG. 1. The method 500 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform specific functions or implement specific abstract data types.

The order in which the method 500 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

At block 501, the method 500 includes creating, by the automated configuration system 103, a device profile corresponding to each of the plurality of devices based on details related to the plurality of devices. As an example, the device profile corresponding to a device may comprise, without limiting to, at least one of type of the device, default configuration files and firmware versions of the device, details of a parent device of the device, number of ports and type of ports on the device and login credentials associated with the device.

At block 503, the method 500 includes updating, by the automated configuration system 103, a network inventory associated with the heterogeneous network 105 based on the device profile of each of the plurality of devices. In an embodiment, updating the network inventory may include defining an IP pool for the plurality of devices, defining a VLAN pool for the plurality of devices, associating each of the plurality of devices with a parent device and tagging each of the plurality of devices with a logical network-level location.

At block 505, the method 500 includes assigning, by the automated configuration system 103, a temporary IP to each of the plurality of devices for obtaining an initial access to each of the plurality of devices through respective temporary IPs. In an embodiment, the temporary IPs may be assigned from a pool of temporary IPs associated with a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the heterogeneous network 105. In an embodiment, the temporary IPs may be released to the pool of temporary IPs after the permanent IPs are assigned to the plurality of devices.

At block 507, the method 500 includes configuring, by the automated configuration system 103, each of the plurality of devices with permanent IPs and VLAN configurations after obtaining the initial access to the plurality of devices. In an embodiment, configuring each of the plurality of devices may include defining a geographical zone of each of the plurality of devices, defining a hierarchy for each of the plurality of devices within the heterogenous network and updating the device profile of each of the plurality of devices with information about the geographical zone and the hierarchy of each of the plurality of devices.

Further, configuring each of the plurality of devices may further comprise performing operations of selecting a service port on each of the plurality of devices based on IP and VLAN configuration of a parent device of the plurality of devices and user account information associated with each of the plurality of devices, and then performing the operation of enabling the selected service port on each of the plurality of devices for providing Internet service access to a user associated with each of the plurality of devices. In an embodiment, the VLAN configurations configured on each of the plurality of devices may be dedicated VLAN configurations comprising a combination of outer VLAN and inner VLAN, and is uniquely traceable from any location of the heterogeneous network 105.

In an embodiment, the heterogenous network may comprise, without limitation, at least one of Metro Ethernet networks or Gigabit Passive Optical Networks (GPON). Further, the heterogeneous network 105 may be a Q-in-Q network or a network having double VLAN tagging.

In an embodiment, the method 500 may be provisioned for configuring IP and VLAN for the plurality of devices of one or more models and from one or more vendors.

In the embodiment, the method 300 helps in resolving various on-field deployment scenarios and challenges. In general, a vast network is very volatile and requires multiple activities to be performed, in addition to deployment of new customers. Further, since a large part of the network is located at various sites distributed across the city, there is a constant need of upgrades, fault management and network restructuring. The proposed method enables all such activities to be taken-up seamlessly in an automated approach. The automated configuration system enables automation of these activities for an error-free and low-downtime maintenance. Some of the activities automated by the automated configuration system are listed in the following paragraphs:

1. Replacement of devices:
A network device may go faulty at any point in time and require a replacement to ensure that the services are not affected to the users. Therefore, it is essential for the process to be automated considering that each device has a different configuration and may have any number of ports activated at a given point of time. This automated configuration system creates a snapshot of the configuration on a faulty device from all the details in the database and pushes these details to a new device connected on the same parent and same ports as that of the older device. Thus, the only job required to be done by manually is to remove the faulty device and connect the new device. The system takes care of everything at the click of a button in a couple of minutes.

2. Relocation/Re-parenting a device:
The devices in a network are placed at different sites across the city. There may be various scenarios, wherein a device needs to be restructured under a different parent. The automated configuration system enables easy network restructuring involving device re-parenting. In an embodiment, if the relocation is that of a device that has child devices, all the child devices also get configured with new configuration and all the users associated with the child devices get provisioned too. Further, the automated configuration system takes care of re-planning of the entire VLANs and IPs for the device being re-parented, based on the destination of the device. Also, the system re-configures the pe-parented device along with the child devices, such that the on-site engineer only has to plug-out and plug-in to complete the procedure.

3. Relinquishing a device:
For various reasons, a device will require to be decommissioned from the network. The system takes care of the operation by sending a default configuration to the device and releasing all the network resources associated with the device, like IP address, VLANs and shutting down the ports on parent device. The field engineer may then simply unplug the device and take it back to warehouse, so it can be repurposed and redeployed at any other location in the network.

4. Shifting of users:
A user might need to be shifted from one device to another for reasons such as network restructuring or because the user has physically moved to a different place. The automated configuration system performs this activity. In an embodiment, the source for shifting may be the existing location or network parent of the customer. The destination of shifting may be the new device under which the user needs to be activated.

5. Customer de-provisioning:
Similar to the shifting activity, a user may want to move out of the subscription and end the services. The automated configuration system helps in terminating the services by de-provisioning the user from the network and releasing all the associated resources with the port, making them available for any new user who would be required to be provisioned on the same port.

6. Port blocking:
Just like how a network device can go faulty, a specific port only can go faulty as well. To avoid a faulty port from being used again without knowledge by on-field engineers, a port can be flagged as faulty port. Apart from flagging a faulty port, this feature is also helpful in earmarking a port for a specific use and can be kept blocked so no other network equipment is connected on this. this greatly eases on field scenarios.

In an embodiment, each of the activities illustrated above may be performed for a generic home network user or retail users. For users in the category of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Internet Lease Line (ILL), the configuration and VLAN planning may be performed differently as they need dedicated Internet and hence go through different aggregators in the core network. Similarly, different configuration and VLAN changes may be required for vast range of Wi-Fi hotspots that cover large public areas across cities. The automated configuration system may be adjusted to manage these network configurations as well. That is, the architecture of the automated configuration system may be built to be very flexible and to have the ability to manage and configure multiple VLAN and IP planning structures supporting different types of network deployments.

Additionally, the automated configuration system may be configured for resolving following on-field operational issues:

1. Dual homing:
The connection to an enterprise user may be very critical as it is an office having own operations requiring Internet. With Internet being a vital one, all the enterprise users need redundancy from two different locations in the vicinity. This involves complex VLAN plan and network structure to ensure there are no loops and service issues in the network. In an embodiment, the automated configuration system enables this dual homing mechanism wherein an end device in case of Metro Ethernet Network (MEN) and Optical Network Terminal (ONT) in the case of GPON network get two uplinks from two different parents in two different directions. This ensures redundancy at fiber level, wherein if one link is disrupted, the second one takes up the load and hence avoids an outage and maintains the desired SLA.

Also, a structure like dual homing requires the end device to have the same VLAN but being extended from two different parents. If not done rightly, and if same VLAN is passed to two different devices, it may potentially cause issues in the network. The automated configuration system seamlessly manages this structure.

2. Link shifting:
In a dual homing scenario, there may be cases where one link of a dual homed device needs to be shifted under a different parent for restructuring purposes. This involves removal of the VLAN from current parent, passing it in the network leg of the new parent. The automated configuration system enables this operation at the click of a button, wherein an on-field engineer has to only unplug the device from the old parent and plug the link into the new parent.

3. Configuration generator:
The automated configuration system may be configured to generate the configuration in case the backend team needs a copy of the configuration on the device. The configuration may be also downloaded into a document for any further reading or use.

In an embodiment, there may be a lot of network-level configuration changes and updates required regularly. Some examples include, without limitation, firmware upgrade, nomenclature change, port speed changes, or to be able to read certain information from the devices like port speed and link status for various reasons. Since the automated configuration system is the single central system connecting to the entire network, the system has a lot of features for running various tools that are required by a network admin. Some of the most important features include:
1. Firmware upgrade
2. Nomenclature change
3. Read port speed
4. Port shut down for users due to nonpayment of service charges

In an embodiment, the network admin may be also allowed to define a schedule for the tools to run at a later point in time, which often takes place during night. The tools may also be broken into phases and run on the network. The admin can also define a window to run the tools. For example, if there are 1 lakh devices on which an operation is required, and the scheduled window is between 12 AM to 6 AM, the automated configuration system stops the operation at 6 AM, restarts from the same point at 12 AM the next day till completion. The admin also has an option to terminate an activity at any point in time. All statistics regarding a tool run, like time taken, number of devices covered, their status etc., may be made available to the admin.

In an embodiment, any device, which is a part of the operation may go unreachable in the middle of the operation. This poses a challenge to manage these devices. With the complexity and urgency, rolling back may not be an option. Thus, having to track failed cases and manually check them would be a cumbersome task. To handle such scenarios, the automated configuration system uses a deferred engine, which runs parallelly to the automated configuration system and ensures that, for a device on which the operation has failed due to reachability issues, all the relevant configuration that need to go into the device are parked/marked. The deferred engine is configured with required intelligence to ensure that the required VLANs remain in the parent device to reach this unreachable device once the device becomes reachable again. The deferred engine periodically tries to reach these failed devices under each operation. The moment communication is established, the new configuration is pushed according to the relocation operation. A reachability check is carried out once the new configuration is pushed. Post this check being successful, the old VLANs are cleaned up as part of sanity maintenance. This whole operation is carried out by the deferred engine.

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system may achieve integration with external systems for seamless operations with the help of following tools:

1. Auto Activation Tool (AAT):
In an embodiment, AAT is an application available to the on-field engineers to independently operate on field. By entering specific inputs on the app, the on-field engineers can communicate with the automated configuration system for execution of the task. The automated configuration system performs the required tasks and eliminates the need of a backend engineer.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
CRM is the unit that maintains all user data and their account lifecycle. There are multiple integrations between the automated configuration system and the CRM. Some of these operations may include checking if the required devices are configured before activating a user’s account to use the services. Post activation of the user, the end device, from which the user’s connection is drawn, needs to be pushed to the CRM to maintain this information. Every few minutes, this information is sent to the CRM from the automated configuration system for all activated customers in the window.

3. Geo Information System (GIS):
One of the major challenges for a network of the scale and nature of an internet provider is to know the physical location of the devices on-field, which are spread across the city. The automated configuration system has an integration with GIS system to makes a check, through an API, call to ensure that before deploying a device with final configuration, it is geo-tagged and the information is available in the GIS system. A failure response stops the on-field engineer from executing the further deployment steps till this check is completed.

4. Field Workflow Management Platform (FWMP):
All the on-field operations like provisioning a customer, replacement of a device, restructuring and relocation, shifting etc., are tasks done by the on-field engineers. Additionally, a user may face issues with the internet connection at any point in time. There lies an integration between the automated configuration system and the FWMP to assist the on-field engineers with all of their activities and put valid checks and balances in place during these scenarios. For any operation or deployment on the device, there is a workorder that the FWMP holds with details of the device and the activity required to be done on it. While executing any of the tasks on AAT, done by the on-field engineer on his hand-held device or even by a backend engineer, the automated configuration system checks if there is a valid work order associated with the device. The operation is taken up for execution only if there is a workorder for the task in the FWMP. The automated configuration system marks the workorder as ‘closed’ once the task is finished.

Another scenario may be that the fault repair engineers need more and more information while working on the field to resolve issues pertaining, specially for the technical issues faced by customers. The fault repair engineer needs a lot of visibility on the technical parameters of the device, the links etc. The FWMS also provides an application that is available with the on-field engineer and houses multiple utilities like checking parent device, port numbers on which a device is connected on its parent, number of free ports, faulty ports if any, ping a device to check its reachability etc. All of these are made possible through the automated configuration system as it holds all of these information.

5. Network Hierarchy View (NHV):
At any given point in time, it is vital and required to know the hierarchy of network elements. This information is readily available on the automated configuration system. Hence, the automated configuration system is integrated with a system called the NHV, which based on a user’s account ID, pulls the hierarchy of the user till the last device, including the customer port. The NHV works in conjunction with the network monitoring system that conjointly creates the network hierarchy for the customer along with status of each device, so anyone interacting with a customer, like the customer care, technical helpdesk team members, know the hierarchy and the status of each device in the network.

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system also provides a unique customer identification mechanism to avoid misuse of the services enabled through the proposed invention. With increasing number of users, it becomes critical to know the exact network element and the associated VLAN of the users. At a point when the scale grows to a colossal one, it is imperative to have each user on a separate VLAN to avoid network overloads/loops due to VLAN leaks in the network, which may in turn lead to larger area for broadcast and outages. However, there may be two challenges with this scenario: 1) availability of the VLANs as the number is limited to 4096, and 2) managing the VLANs without replication and leaks.

In an embodiment, a manual management of the VLANs in a high scale network is impractical and needs a system. The automated configuration system is the system that makes this possible. There are two features built into the automated configuration system to manage this issue:
1. Per User Per VLAN (PUPV), wherein each customer needs a unique VLAN, and
2. Scarcity of VLANs lead to having a Q-in-Q structure, wherein a VLAN is marked as an outer VLAN at start point of the access network referred to as AX. One outer VLAN is unique to an AX. Under each outer VLAN, there are all the 4096 VLANs that can be utilized. The same structure can be repeated under each AX with a different outer VLAN. This created a vast pool of VLANs and hence each port to which a customer is associated has a unique combination of outer and inner VLAN

In an embodiment, with the help of automated configuration system’s VLAN planning, the above functions may be achieved seamlessly without any issues, overlaps or replication. The VLAN planning module kicks in at the creation of an AX referred to as AX in the network. Each AX is assigned an outer VLAN. The automated configuration system ensures if the entered VLAN is not used for any AX. Under each outer VLAN, again the entire set of 4096 VLANs are available and ePAT intelligently manages the assignment of VLANs per customer that is associated to a port of the last mile device CX in a MEN or ONT in the case of GPON, without any replication.

A setup like the above provides a lot of control on misuse of the Internet service. Earlier to the introduction of automated configuration system and PUPV, anyone could connect to a port on the last mile device CX / ONT and get the service as long as the port is enabled. This lead to unauthorized use, on-field exchange of end user ports on the CX, thus losing data sanity. To counter this issue, since the PUPV was configured, a procedure called ‘location lock’ was introduced. Since automated configuration system holds every user’s account information and the associated VLAN, a dump of data is sent to the central AAA system, which Authenticates, Authorizes and Accounts each user’s usage to create a location lock. Essentially, a network lock tags a customer against a combination of outer and inner VLAN, achieved through PUPV. The AAA system allows access and authorizes a user to use the services only if the request comes from the defined pair. This aspect helps in curbing misuse and maintaining sanity of the network structure on-field, where a user always remains on the port he is designated to be on. In other words, the automated configuration system manages all the VLAN tagging and assigning to each customer seamlessly enabling a clean and fully managed network.

Thus, in summary, following salient features may be attributed to the method and the automated configuration system proposed in the instant disclosure:

1. Multi-Vendor Support: The automated configuration system supports multivendor devices configuration and is flexible to add devices of any make, any model into the purview of the system with a simple device driver addition.

2. Support for heterogeneous network: The automated configuration system supports both Metro Ethernet and GPON network architectures and the corresponding devices deployed in the respective networks.

3. Flexible VLAN and IP Planning: The network comprises multiple types of end users – home users, enterprise users, WiFi hotspots and each of these users require a different VLAN and IP planning. The automated configuration system performs this in a completely integrated and automated approach.
4. Multi-Layer Configuration: The network architecture has multiple layers and the automated configuration system works at all the layers to configure and manage the operations on the devices. The architecture is flexible to add layers as required in a hierarchical fashion.

5. End to end configuration: The automated configuration system not only configures the device on which the operation is required but also encompasses everything that is required to be done in terms of configuration of the devices in the entire hierarchy to enable access through the end device.

6. On-field operational scenarios: The automated configuration system not just configures devices, it is also designed and configured for end-to-end operations that include replacement, relocation, customer de-provisioning, customer shifting to name a few.

7. External integrations to create a cohesive ecosystem: The automated configuration system functions as a central, connected, single source of truth to all the systems that are in touch with the lifecycle of the user, fault finding, fault repair and maintenance systems.

8. Large list of reports: Every operation done on the automated configuration system has a separate report. These reports are used by admins for operational requirements and any data mining that is required.

In an embodiment, with the help of aforesaid features, the proposed automated configuration system provides following technical advancements over the existing network management tools and approaches.

1. Increase in operational efficiency:
• The automated configuration system performs tasks equivalent to a skilled NOC team comprising of not less than 100 human resources
• The automated configuration system increases operational efficiency and the field force productivity to a great extent.
• All the manual and monotonous work done by the NOC teams are now system-driven with minimum manual intervention. This readily increases on-field operation efficiency as the on-field team has to no longer wait on the call with the backend team, dictate details and have the device configured. This, in turn, boosts the morale for the NOC teams by not having to do the monotonous work and may engage in more value adding responsibilities.

2. Error-free and uniform network deployment and provisioning:
• The automated configuration system helps in implementing uniform architecture across heterogenous network with devices belonging to different OEMs.
• Also, the automated configuration system helps in achieving “Zero” errors in the network configurations.

3. A central repository of all network devices and accurate reporting:
• The automated configuration system enables functions as one system for all information on the entire network including history, repairs, age of devices on the network.
• Thus, the system eliminates manual network inventory management (for example, using excel sheets). The system led network segment design and definition makes the network work in the expected manner.
• Also, the system provides a wide range of reports, which give all the information at the click of a button, and downloadable.

4. Platform and basis for automation for the entire life cycle of the user device:
• Multiple other network process automations may be accomplished on top of the proposed automated configuration system.
• Also, the automated configuration system functions as a backbone to a lot of other automations implemented on top of the automated configuration system to achieve significant process innovations in the entire user service life cycle.

Computer System
FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 600 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the computer system 600 may be the automated configuration system 103 illustrated in FIG. 1, which may be used for automatically configuring system IP and VLAN for devices in a heterogeneous network 105. The computer system 600 may include a Central Processing Unit (“CPU” or “processor”) 602. The processor 602 may comprise at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user- or system-generated business processes. A user may include a technician, a network operator, any Internet Service Provider (ISP) or any system/sub-system being operated parallelly to the computer system 600. The processor 602 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.
The processor 602 may be disposed in communication with one or more Input/Output (I/O) devices (611 and 612) via I/O interface 601. The I/O interface 601 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, stereo, IEEE®-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE® 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or the like), etc. Using the I/O interface 601, the computer system 600 may communicate with one or more I/O devices 611 and 612.
In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 609 via a network interface 603. The network interface 603 may communicate with the communication network 609. The network interface 603 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE® 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Using the network interface 603 and the communication network 609, the computer system 600 may connect with one or more backend administrative systems associated with network admins 101, which may be used by a team of network administrators or backend service managers for controlling operations of the automated configuration system 103. Further, the communication network 609 may be used for interfacing the computer system 600 with one or more frontend web interfaces for enabling configuration and provisioning of the network devices 107 on customer end.
In an implementation, the communication network 609 may be implemented as one of the several types of networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN) and such within the organization. The communication network 609 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of several types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the communication network 609 may include a variety of network devices 107, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc.
In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in communication with a memory 605 (e.g., RAM 613, ROM 614, etc. as shown in FIG. 6) via a storage interface 604. The storage interface 604 may connect to memory 605 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.
The memory 605 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, user/application interface 606, an operating system 607, a web browser 608, and the like. In some embodiments, computer system 600 may store user/application data 606, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle® or Sybase®.
The operating system 607 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 600. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® OS X®, UNIX®, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION® (BSD), FREEBSD®, NETBSD®, OPENBSD, etc.), LINUX® DISTRIBUTIONS (E.G., RED HAT®, UBUNTU®, KUBUNTU®, etc.), IBM® OS/2®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (XP®, VISTA®/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOS®, GOOGLE TM ANDROID TM, BLACKBERRY® OS, or the like.
The user interface 606 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, the user interface 606 may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to the computer system 600, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, and the like. Further, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® operating systems’ Aqua®, IBM® OS/2®, MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX®, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, AJAX, HTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, etc.), or the like.
The web browser 608 may be a hypertext viewing application. Secure web browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), and the like. The web browsers 608 may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, JAVASCRIPT®, JAVA®, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and the like. Further, the computer system 600 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may utilize facilities such as ASP, ACTIVEX®, ANSI® C++/C#, MICROSOFT®, .NET, CGI SCRIPTS, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, PERL®, PHP, PYTHON®, WEBOBJECTS®, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), MICROSOFT® exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 600 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as APPLE® MAIL, MICROSOFT® ENTOURAGE®, MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK®, MOZILLA® THUNDERBIRD®, and the like.

Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

Advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated herein.
In an embodiment, the present disclosure helps in automatically configuring and provisioning IP and VLAN for one or more devices of different make and different models in a heterogenous network.

In an embodiment, the automated configuration system of present disclosure provides visibility to network operators on how many devices are operating on the network and also gives the network operators a complete control over the devices.

In an embodiment, the method of present disclosure reduces and/or eliminates the manual intervention required for configuring and provisioning the devices in a network. Consequently, the claimed invention increases operational efficiency, eliminates chances of errors in configuration and reduces cost of deployment/configuring the devices.

In an embodiment, the method of present disclosure helps in large and simultaneous deployments of devices in a shorter timespan without requiring a large skilled manpower.

In light of the technical advancements provided by the proposed method and the automated configuration system, the claimed steps, as discussed above, are not routine, conventional, or well-known aspects in the art, as the claimed steps provide the aforesaid solutions to the technical problems existing in the conventional technologies. Further, the claimed steps clearly bring an improvement in the functioning of the system itself, as the claimed steps provide a technical solution to a technical problem.

The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some embodiments", and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention(s)" unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms "including", "comprising", “having” and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be clear that more than one device/article (whether they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device/article is described herein (whether they cooperate), it will be clear that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device/article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of invention need not include the device itself.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:
Reference Number Description
100 Environment
101 (1011, …, 101N) Network admins
103 Automated configuration system
105 Heterogeneous network
107 (1071, …, 107N) Network devices
201 I/O Interface
203 Memory
205 Processor
207 Planning and Automation unit
209 Service definition module
211 Network segment definition module
213 Configuration library
215 Provisioning engine
217 Update manager
219 Device discovery module
221 Device state controller
223 Connector services
225 Validation platform
227 CRM unit
229 GIS System
231 AAA server
233 Field operations manager
235 Auto provisioning orchestration unit
237 Web interfaces
301 Central/Core planning and automation unit
303 Report manager
305 Central database
307 Database manager
308 External CRMs
309 City-specific databases
311 Primary planning & automation unit (City-X)
313 Secondary planning & automation unit (City-X)
315 Access network – city X
317 Primary database
319 Secondary database
320 External systems
600 Exemplary computer system
601 I/O Interface of the exemplary computer system
602 Processor of the exemplary computer system
603 Network interface
604 Storage interface
605 Memory of the exemplary computer system
606 User/Application
607 Operating system
608 Web browser
609 Communication network
611 Input devices
612 Output devices
613 RAM
614 ROM