Home network configuration management and service assurance

With the growth in home networking driven by the growth of broadband delivery to home environments an opportunity exists for a network-based service assurance and configuration platform for multiple PC households. In the future we would expect this to include smart appliances, digital TV, Web tablets, etc. The configuration requirements become increasingly complex as broadband home network users start to appreciate the power of their connectivity and want to configure additional services such as remote corporate network access (VPN), personal Web server hosting, MP3-file sharing, and multi-player (on-line) gaming. In this paper we describe the motivation for this work, the requirements for providing a network-based home network management solution and then outline a potential solution architecture.