Network Device Installation

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a system and method of processing device settings of a device. In a particular embodiment, the method includes requesting the device to provide the device settings. The device settings include wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) network settings. The method further includes storing the device settings in a device independent format. After the device settings have been stored in the device independent format, the device settings may be subsequently retrieved and used for replacement of the network device in a computer network. In a particular embodiment, the device settings are stored in the device independent format in a second device, such as at a server or a personal computer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of processing device settings of a device, the method comprising:
 requesting the device to provide the device settings, the device settings including wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) network settings;   storing the device settings in a device independent format in a second device; and   after storing the device settings in the device independent format in the second device, identifying a replacement device for replacement of the device in a computer network   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying images to guide a user through a process of making physical connections of the second device to the computer network, updating the second device with firmware or software, configuring additional settings for the second device, and adding the second device to the computer network. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising provisioning the second device and registering the second device prior to adding the second device to the computer network. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second device is a server or a personal computer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device settings include static data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device independent format is a universal device configuration (UDC) format. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device settings include device specific information including audio codecs, video codecs, frame rates, resolution information, and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) support information. 
     
     
         8 . A network device replacement method comprising:
 identifying a replacement device;   querying the replacement device to determine whether the replacement device is compatible with configuration data in a device independent format; and   communicating configuration data in the device independent format to the replacement device after determining that the replacement device is compatible with configuration data in the device independent format.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising using a device driver or an alternate protocol to translate or transfer data onto the replacement device after determining that the replacement device is not compatible with the configuration data in the device independent format. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the configuration data in the device independent format includes universal device configuration data retrieved from a device to be replaced by the replacement device in a network and wherein the configuration data includes wide area network data and local area network data. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the replacement device is a replacement for an internet gateway device that was previously installed in a computer network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the configuration data in the device independent format includes universal device configuration data retrieved from a device to be replaced by the replacement device in a network, wherein the universal device configuration data is retrieved by use of a HTML driver to download a configuration file from a user interface of the device to be replaced, and wherein a web-crawler application is executed to automatically access the user interface to automatically create the HTML driver. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the configuration data in the device independent format includes universal device configuration data retrieved from a device to be replaced by the replacement device in a network, and wherein the universal device configuration data is retrieved by use of a HTML driver that automatically logs in to a web based user interface to collect device settings from the device to be replaced. 
     
     
         14 . A computer readable storage device including a set of computer program instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:
 request a network device to provide device settings, the device settings including wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) settings;   store the device settings in a device independent format;   identify a replacement device for replacement of the network device in a computer network   query the replacement device to determine whether the replacement device is compatible with configuration data in the device independent format; and   transfer configuration data in the device independent format to the replacement device after determining that the replacement device is compatible with configuration data in the device independent format.   
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions to cause the processor to display images to guide a user through a process of making physical connections of the replacement device to the computer network, import the device settings in the device independent format to the replacement device, update the replacement device with firmware or software, configure additional settings for the replacement device, and add the replacement device to the computer network as a replacement of the network device. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions to cause the processor to provision the replacement device and to register the replacement device prior to adding the replacement device to the computer network. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 14 , wherein the device settings are stored in a second device. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 17 , wherein the second device is a server or a personal computer. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 14 , wherein the device settings include static data. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 14 , wherein the device independent format is a universal device configuration (UDC) format.