Cisco Technology, Inc.

Shannon I Hembrough

David Bainbridge

Adam Laurence Taylor

Automatically managing network addresses in a managed access environment is described. A managed access environment is defined as one in which a service provider delegates responsibility for a portion of their address space to an access provider, which is responsible for distributing the addresses to devices used by subscribers of the service provider. An aspect of the invention allows rule-action associations to be defined. The method includes accessing network address utilization data and evaluating rule conditions in relation to the utilization data. When a rule condition is met, an associated address management action is executed. Different embodiments of the invention provide execution of different actions, such as allocating, reconfiguring, and reclaiming addresses from a service provider's address space.

Automated management of network addresses in a broadband managed access environment

A method for automatically managing network addresses in a managed access environment is described. A managed access environment is defined as one in which a service provider delegates responsibility for a portion of their address space to an access provider, which is responsible for distributing the addresses to devices used by subscribers of the service provider. An aspect of the invention allows rule-action associations to be defined. The method includes accessing network address utilization data and evaluating rule conditions in relation to the utilization data. When a rule condition is met, an associated address management action is executed. Different embodiments of the invention provide execution of different actions, such as allocating, reconfiguring, and reclaiming addresses from a service provider's address space.

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Shannon I Hembrough