EXTENSIBLE SERVICE PROVISIONING ENGINE

摘要

In a network system, services are proviced to users (14) via network interconnections from a service provider. Such services include data, voice, video, and others, and are typically implemented and/or initiated via an interconnection from a network node operated by the service provider to customer premises equipment (CPE 26) operable to receive the service. Service provisioning includes identifying the service to be provided, identifying the CPE to receive the service, and determining the manner in which the service is to be provided. In an execution environment such as a hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network, service deployment time and cost, and maintenance are reduced, and reliability increased, by an executable element generator operable to generate workflow definition files, such as an XML (Extensible Markup Language) script. A plurality of services are defined according to a workflow model, in which each of the services corresponds to one or more of the executable scripts. A service provisioning engine (22) such as a workflow manager is operable to execute the executable scripts for providing the corresponding service via the network (16). The service provisioning engine (22) reads the executable scripts from a common repository such as an LDAP directory, and provides or initiates the service by communicating, via the network (16), with the CPE (26).