Abstract: A power distributor for a communications system for controlling delivery of electrical power drawn over a plurality of electrical communications connections allocated to respective customer premises equipment, to provide electrical power to network components within a network is arranged to control collection of electrical power to be drawn from each connection in accordance with power requirements of services operated by or for its respective customer premises equipment, independent of the identities of the electrical connections used to deliver those services. In particular when electrical connections are not being used by their respective customers they may instead be used by a beam-forming system to support improved service to a customer associated with a different connection, and the additional electrical power to power the beam-former is drawn from the connection associated with the customer receiving the enhanced service.

Abstract: In a system formed of user devices, a home access point routing device connected to an Internet Service Provider, performance issues such as contention and interference on the home network can be determined. The home access point is arranged to monitor IP Flow information for data sessions between user devices and remote servers over a wireless or powerline Ethernet home network and performance issues are determined by the home access point or by a management server.

Abstract: The disclosure provides an improved method of operating a mobile terminal or user equipment in a cellular telecommunications network to efficiently discover preferred cells, in particular a HeNB, prior to connecting. Whilst constant searching for a preferred cell can ensure it is found as soon as it is within range, this has a significant impact on resources at the UE, such as battery power, and can disrupt any existing services that might be running. The proposed method determines the probability of the UE being within range of a preferred cell based on measurements already available to the UE or by the network. Additional measurements can then be made as required, and made with increasing frequency as the probability of being within range of the preferred cell increases.

Abstract: A method for deploying virtualized network functions (VNFs) as virtualized implementations of logical network devices in a virtualized computing environment for providing network services, the method including determining a VNF deployment plan including a specification, for each point in time over a planning period, of zero or more VNF instances to be released at the point in time and zero or more VNF instances to be deployed at the point in time, wherein the deployment plan is determined by an optimization function based on: a constraint on a number of VNFs in all states of undeployed, being deployed, deployed and being release; constraints based on a demand for VNFs defined by characteristics of the VNFs and the virtualized computing environment; and constraints based on a capacity of the virtualized computing environment to accommodate a resource consumption of the VNFs, and wherein the optimization function is configured to minimize one or more of: a number of VNFs in a deployed state; and a resource cost

Abstract: A method of operating a communications network is disclosed. Modern communications networks produce vast amounts of network operational data which have the potential to provide a useful summary of the operational state of the network. Whilst processes such as clustering are known for arranging the vast amount of data into groups, the clusters themselves do not provide data which might be easily interpreted by network elements or administrators. Network operational data often comprises a plurality of data items, each of which gives a value for each of a set of attributes. By processing a cluster to identify attributes in the cluster whose values vary less in the cluster then they vary outside of the cluster, and then generating a cluster description which is based on a measure of the central tendency of the values of those attribute in the cluster, an easily interpretable general description of the data items in the cluster is provided.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for selecting encoding specifications for encoding audio and/or video data to be streamed from a sender to a receiver via a network. Methods and apparatus for encoding data using a selected encoding specification, and for streaming data which has been encoded using a selected encoding specification from a sender to a receiver via a network are also disclosed. The selecting method comprises selecting an encoding specification (s930) in dependence on performance measures (86) previously obtained using a plurality of different encoding specifications in respect of a monitored network when in each of a plurality of different network conditions (87), respective network conditions being characterised by different combinations of data-transmission characteristics.

Abstract: In order to confirm that a telephone call received by a network termination on a first connection is from a trusted party, the called party connects over a second, independent, connection 7 to a server associated with the trusted party and shares a code with the server. That code is then transmitted over the first connection and, if the connection is genuine, it is intercepted by the server which generates a message over the second connection confirming that the code has been matched. This gives the called party assurance that the call is from a party associated with the trusted server. If a rogue caller attempts to call the termination, the called party's transmission of the shared code will be routed over the caller's connection, which is not associated with the trusted server, so no match will be identified by the server and no confirmation is returned over the second connection.

Abstract: A system for managing compositions of software components or applications is disclosed. In particular, systems in which the software components or applications communicate with one another using message-oriented middleware are considered. Each component processing a data feed item adds an annotation to the data feed item, so that the cumulative annotation which is seen in the processed feed for an application provides a history of the processing carried out on the input data feed(s). Each software component or application in the processing system is arranged to store a log of each message it inputs, the process(es) it carries out on that message, and the output message generated. The software component or application further includes a reference to a log interface (e.g. a Uniform Resource Locator) in the entry it makes to the message annotation. A downstream node is then able to use that interface reference to extract (192) the more detailed information to be found in the log.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for communicating in a telecommunication system. In particular methods and apparatus are disclosed for establishing communications in a telecommunication system having an access node (16) and a plurality of Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs) (21, 22, 23) each of which may be used to allow communication between the access node (16) and a respective Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) device (51, 52, 53), where communications on a plurality of lines (21, 21) are being performed using vectoring, and where it is desired to add one or more new lines (23) to the existing vectoring group.

Abstract: An intermediate data transmission device arranges for mutual authentication between itself and a remote terminal to allow data to be exchanged between the remote terminal and a server through the device. The server sends first and second key codes to the intermediate device, the key codes both being derived from a shared secret known to the server and remote terminal but not to the intermediate device. In response to a challenge from the intermediate device the remote terminal uses the shared secret to generate a duplicate of the first key code and transmits the duplicate to the intermediate device. The intermediate device compares the first key code and the duplicate of the first key code received respectively from the server and the remote terminal to verify the authenticity of the remote terminal.

Abstract: A computer implemented method to identify malicious software in a computer system includes receiving an indication of a detection of malicious network traffic communicated via a computer network accessed by the computer system; identifying a software component involved in the malicious network traffic at the computer system; evaluating a measure of a correlation fractal dimension (CFD) for at least a portion of the software component; and storing the measure of CFD for subsequent comparison with a second measure of CFD for a corresponding portion of a second software component in the computer system to identify the second software component as a software component involved in malicious network communication.

Abstract: A system for transmitting data to a first and a second user device within a user's premises, the system including a distribution point having an aggregation device comprising a plurality of access network modems and having a plurality of lines connected thereto, a splitter device connected to the aggregation point 10 via one of the lines connected thereto and being located within the user's premises, a first connection between the splitter device and a first customer premises equipment modem, the first customer premises equipment modem being connected to the first user device, and a second connection between the splitter device and a second customer premises equipment modem, the second customer premises equipment modem being connected to the second user device, wherein the aggregation device is operable to transmit data for the first device via a first one of the plurality of modems in the aggregation device, the splitter device and the first customer premises equipment modem using a Digital Subscriber Line p

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for processing local area network diagnostic data obtained in respect of a local area network (LAN). The method includes identifying, from local area network diagnostic data obtained in respect of the LAN, a set of data units including a first and an associated second data unit having a predetermined relationship; updating the first data unit of the set to include an indication that the associated second data unit of the set has been identified; and sending the updated first data unit without the associated second data unit from the LAN for performance analysis at a remote network diagnostic device outside the LAN.

Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying a computer security threat based on communication via a computer network.

Abstract: Interference on DSL (Digital Subscriber Lines) systems can be identified by collecting modem data and determining, for a plurality of time intervals, whether the line is carrying traffic and/or whether there are errors on the line. The presence of interference can be inferred from the correlation of the traffic data and the error data.

Abstract: A method of establishing bearers for a device in a wireless communication network, including collecting for the device data over a period of time from communication sessions the device participates in, the communication sessions supported by a first and second bearer for the network wherein the first bearer transports packets of the second bearer between nodes of the network; calculating from the collected data a likelihood the first bearer will be established for the device at one or more different time values, and predicting the first bearer will be established for the device at a time value if the likelihood of establishment at that time value exceeds a specified threshold; and initiating establishment of the first bearer to establish the first bearer for the predicted time value.

Abstract: A user entity (UE) such as a smartphone is configured to connect to both Wi-Fi and a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network for voice and data services. For voice, the UE supports both Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi). When the UE is connected to VoWiFi and roaming from a first Wi-Fi access point to a second Wi-Fi access point, the UE and Mobility Management Entity in the cellular network carry out a preparatory handover to VoLTE to prevent service loss in the event of an unsuccessful VoWiFi connection from the second Wi-Fi access point.

Abstract: A method for the automatic pairing of a device (401) wirelessly with a user's secure WLAN provided by an access point (403), the pairing access point (403), that provides the secure wireless LAN and a second wireless LAN (e.g. a public Wi-Fi hotspot). A connection is established automatically between the device (401) and a wireless LAN provided by an available access point (410) using security credentials stored on the device (401). If it is determined that the available access point (410) is also the pairing access point (403), using the established connection to securely transfer second security credentials from the available access point (410) to the device (401). The transferred second security credentials can then be used to establish a secure connection between the device (401) and the first secure wireless LAN provided by the pairing access point (403).

Abstract: A method of determining the bandwidth of a link carrying a plurality of data streams between a plurality of sources and a plurality of destinations in a network, the method including sending data packets from a first data stream over the link from one source to one destination at a first transmission rate, and measuring an associated first packet loss rate; sending further data packets from the first data stream over the link from the one source to the one destination at a second transmission rate, and measuring an associated second packet loss rate; and determining the bandwidth of the link in dependence on the first and second packet loss rates and the first and second transmission rates.

Abstract: A method of dimensioning a link in a telecommunications network, and a device for implementing the method, the method including determining, for a first plurality of sets of traffic observations, wherein each set of the first plurality of sets includes a series of traffic observations each indicating the amount of traffic on a link within an observation interval of a particular duration for that set, a peak value of a traffic observation of the series of traffic observations within each set of the first plurality of sets and an average value of the series of traffic observations within each set of the first plurality of sets; calculating a first peak to average ratio for each observation interval duration based on the determined peak and average values within each set of the first plurality of sets; determining a goodness of fit value for a power function of the first peak to average ratio against its respective observation interval duration; selecting a dimensioning interval duration based on the determined