Server Support Approach to Zero Configuration of Power Line Communication Modems and Coaxial Cable Modems

In this paper, we propose a new approach to auto configure a power line communication modem and a coaxial cable modem with minimum user intervention. The proposed approach is based on the following strategies: (1) An ISP establishes servers, (2) An ISP operator inputs information to configure modems to the server before configuration and (3) The software for the zero configuration of modems is built into a residential gateway. We implement a system based on the proposed approach, and measure the configuration time. The result shows that the configuration time is about 280 seconds. The system allows us to zero configure modems with minimum user intervention and moreover, the configuration time is faster than manual settings.