Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for managing power consumption utilizing inter-gateway communication are provided. In this regard, a first broadband gateway residing in a first location may determine past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the first location. The gateway may receive, from one or more other broadband gateways residing in one or more other locations, information that enables determining past, present, and/or expected power consumption of the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by controlling a state of operation of devices residing in the first location. The gateway may determine aggregate power consumption of the first location and the other location(s). The gateway may control power consumption of the first location by enabling operation of one or more devices during periods of lower aggregate power consumption and disabling operation the devices during periods of higher aggregate power consumption.

Abstract: A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content and associated metadata through the at least one network access service provider. The broadband gateway may determine, based on the received metadata and on one or more rules associated with a user profile, whether to enable access to at least a portion of the received content by a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may communicate to such device an indication that at least a portion of the received content is available for sharing. The metadata may comprise rating information, copyright information, language information, and privacy rules. The rating information may be modified based on information received by the broadband gateway from other users.

Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for content filtering in a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway may be operable to determine whether to allow access to content based on attributes of the content and based on one or more of: which of a plurality of electronic devices is attempting to access the content, sensor information identifying a user attempting to access the content, and a time at which a user is attempting to access the information. Attributes of the content may be determined by analyzing the content utilizing one or more pattern recognition techniques. The gateway may be operable to allow a first subset of the electronic devices to access the content during a first period of time, and allow a second subset of the electronic devices to access the content during a second period of time.

Abstract: A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service providers, may be operable to receive a request for content from a particular device of the plurality of devices. Content which corresponds to the request may be selected by the broadband gateway from content that may be available in one or more content sources, based on user preference information associated with a particular type of the content. The broadband gateway may receive the selected content from a selected content source of the one or more content sources for communication to the particular device. The broadband gateway may receive the selected content from a content provider and/or a network access service provider via broadcast communications and/or Internet communications. The selected content may also be received from a communication device via peer-to-peer communications.

Abstract: A broadband gateway, which that enables communication with a plurality of devices, handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may identify EPG information from service providers. The identified EPG information may be adapted to device attributes such as display resolution, and/or user profiles to generate user-specific EPG information for the corresponding devices. The generated user-specific EPG information may be dynamically configured in response to updates in the identified EPG information, the device attributes and/or the user profiles. The configured user-specific EPG information may be communicated to the corresponding devices, either upon the requests from the devices or by initiation of the broadband gateway, for content selection and/or content scheduling.

Abstract: A broadband gateway may provide energy efficient management of services delivered to a home network. The energy efficient service management may enable reducing and/or enhancing energy consumption within access networks utilized during the managed services. The energy management service may comprise determining energy-related costs associated with providing services, based on use of external physical layer connections. The services may then be provisioned based on energy-related costs associated with the services. The service provisioning may comprise controlling and/or adjusting bitrate selection, physical (PHY) layer selection, and/or service level agreement (SLA) parameters. The broadband gateway may negotiate with the network access service providers during the provisioning of the services. This may comprise negotiating and/or configuring micro-leases for use in providing the services.

Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for account maintenance via a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a subscriber associated with a gateway may have a plurality of subscriber accounts with a corresponding plurality of service/content providers. Information associated with the accounts may be stored in the gateway, and the gateway may present a user interface via which the subscriber may manage settings and balances associated with the accounts. The user interface may enable submitting a single payment such that funds from the single payment are applied to each of the accounts. Activity of the plurality of accounts may be displayed via the user interface. The gateway may be operable to monitor activity of one or more of the plurality of accounts. The gateway may be operable to generate one or more alerts based on the activity and based on criteria established for each of the plurality of accounts.

Abstract: A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content comprising an application through the at least one network access service provider and may store the content in a first portion of a memory. A software agent may be utilized to request the content and/or to store the received content in the first portion of the memory. The broadband gateway may execute the application after access by the application to a second portion of the memory is disabled. After the execution of the application is completed, access to the second portion of the memory may be enabled. In some instances, the application may be verified to determine whether it is secure for utilization and/or distribution. When verification fails, the application may be deleted.

Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for managing quality of service via a broadband gateway are provided. In this regard, a broadband gateway that supports one or more first QoS protocols may determine, based on communications with a plurality of communication devices, whether each of the plurality of communication devices supports the one or more first QoS protocols. The gateway may communicate a result of the determination to a content provider and/or service provider. In this manner, the content provider and/or service provider may determine whether to utilize one or more second QoS protocols to deliver content to a particular one of said plurality of communication devices based on whether said particular of communication devices based on whether said particular one of said plurality of communication devices supports the one or more first QoS protocols. The gateway may be operable to map between QoS protocols.

Abstract: Aspects of a method and system for customized acquisition of content by a broadband gateway are provided. A broadband gateway may be operable to determine options for acquiring particular content. The broadband gateway may be operable to rank the determined options. The ranking may be based on one or more characteristics of the options and based on user-specified criteria. The broadband gateway may be operable to select one of the options for acquiring the content based on results of the ranking. One or more of the options may be available via a first physical layer connection and one or more of the options may be available via a second physical layer connection. The gateway may rank the determined options based on attributes of one or more devices via which the particular content will be consumed.

Abstract: A broadband gateway may provide energy management service within a home network. The energy management service may enable reducing and/or enhancing energy consumption within the home network. The energy management service may comprise managing one or more devices in the home network by the broadband gateway. The energy management service may be performed based on energy-related information associated with devices, and the information may be stored by the broadband gateway. At least some of the energy-related information may be acquired from the managed devices. The energy management service may comprise controlling and/or configuring the managed devices, and/or communications between the managed devices within the home network. The broadband gateway may track actual energy usage by the managed devices. Information corresponding to energy-related activities and/or usage may be displayed via a user interface. The information may also be reported to entities external to the home network.

Abstract: A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may receive different content from different sources, may combine the content to produce a combined content, and may communicate the combined content to a device connected to the broadband gateway. The content may be automatically and/or manually synchronized. The synchronization may be based on a clock signal received from the device, a clock signal from another device connected to the broadband gateway, and/or a clock signal received through one or more network access service providers. The content may be video image data and/or audio data. Moreover, user-generated content may be received and combined by the broadband gateway when in a peer-to-peer communication configuration with the source of the content. When more than two different content are received, the broadband gateway may be utilized to select which contents to combine.

Abstract: A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices and handles at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider, may be operable to receive one or more programs in preview formats from one or more program sources. Each of the one or more programs may be specified in a list. The programs specified in the list may be from different program sources. The broadband gateway may process the received one or more programs in the preview formats for presentation to one or more of the plurality of devices. The processed one or more programs in the preview formats may be communicated by the broadband gateway to the one or more of the plurality of devices, via a programming guide, for program preview by one or more users during program selections from the list.

Abstract: A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may enable a guest or visitor to access content available to the broadband gateway. The content may be received by the broadband gateway through one or more of a plurality of network access service providers that may provide separate physical layer access to the broadband gateway. After a visitor's device is connected to the broadband gateway, the broadband gateway may classify the device. Based on the classification, the device may be authorized to access a portion of the content received. Once the authorization process is complete, the appropriate content may be made available and transferred to the device. The authorization process may include the authentication of a device identifier and/or a user identifier. The authorized access may be time-limited, but may be renewed or enabled when a request is received within a determined period of time.

Abstract: A broadband gateway configured to operate as a virtual broadband gateway may comprise a network portion and a local portion. The network portion is communicatively coupled to the local portion via a plurality of physical layer connections to one or more network access service providers. The virtual broadband gateway may acquire content from one or more providers, process the content for delivery to one or more local devices, and deliver the content to the one or more local devices. The remote portion may be implemented in one or more network devices. The network devices may be owned and/or operated by one or more content providers, one or more network access service providers, and/or one or more independent entities. Gateway functions performed by the network portion may comprise, for example, content downloading, content streaming, content authentication, data format conversion, service negotiation, service selection, data encryption, data decryption and/or data storage.

Abstract: A method and system are provided in which a user interface application may be received by a broadband gateway and may be configured to generate a user interface for display in a display device. The user interface may be generated based on programming information and/or associated metadata received through one or more network access service providers. Each of the network access service providers may be handled by the broadband gateway through a corresponding physical layer access. More than one user interface application may be received by the broadband gateway. In such instances, the broadband gateway may enable the selection of one of the available user interface applications to generate the user interface. For each user interface application, the associated user interface that is generated may have a particular layout, visual characteristics, set of functions, and/or theme that is different from that of the other user interfaces.

Abstract: A broadband gateway may be operable to receive network topology information to enable peer-to-peer communications between a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. A communication link which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources for enabling the peer-to-peer communications between the first communication device and the second communication device may be established by the broadband gateway, based on the received network topology information, a location of the first communication device and a location of the second communication device.

Abstract: A mobile device may be operable to determine, based on a known location of the mobile device, a location for a RF communication device that communicates with the mobile device, whenever the mobile device is within proximate range of the RF communication device. The determined location for the RF communication device may be stored in a location database in a location server and/or a memory in the RF communication device. The stored location of the RF communication device may then be used to determine a location for other mobile devices that may communicate with the RF communication device and are within proximate range of the RF communication device. The RF communication device may comprise a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device and/or a near field communication (NFC) device. The determined location for the RF communication device may comprise the known location of the mobile device.

Abstract: A mobile device may determine its initial absolute location; may track using a plurality of sensors, its movements relative to the initial absolute location; and may generate location related data for a location based on that tracking. Tracking movement of the mobile device may comprise generating data corresponding to three-dimensional (3D) linear and/or rotational changes in position and/or location of the mobile device. The initial absolute location may be determined directly by the mobile device, based on GNSS signals and/or assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) data received from one or more location servers; and/or it may be estimated based on a location of a communication device that is communicatively coupled to the mobile device. The generated location related data may propagated by the mobile device to other mobile and/or communication devices, and/or to the location servers, where a reference database for supporting location related services (LBS) may be updated accordingly.

Abstract: A global navigation satellite system-tracking (“GNSS-tracking”) device and method for determining one or more positions of the GNSS-tracking device utilizing a user-plane service is disclosed. The GNSS-tracking device may comprise: charging and tracking modules adapted to be disengagably coupled together, wherein the tracking module comprises (i) tracking circuitry for determining at least one position of the tracking module using the user-plane service in a satellite positioning system, and (ii) a chargeable source for supplying power to the tracking circuitry when disengaged from the charging module, and wherein the charging module is operable to charge the chargeable source when the charging module is coupled to the tracking module.