Patents by Inventor Kevin M. McBride

Kevin M. McBride has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210035125
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques for predictive AI automated cloud service turn-up are provided. A system includes an AI pipeline and service orchestration server coupled to the Ai pipeline. The AI pipeline includes a processor and non-transitory computer readable media comprising instructions executable by the processor to obtain customer usage data associated with a first customer from one or more customer data sources, wherein the customer usage data is indicative of usage patterns of one or more cloud services by the first customer, and generate, via a predictive model, predicted usage data based on the customer usage data, wherein the predicted usage data includes a prediction of an individual cloud service of the one or more cloud services predicted to be used by the first customer. The service orchestration server may be configured to turn-up the individual cloud service based on the predicted usage data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2019
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Steven M. Casey, Stephen Opferman, Felipe Castro, Paul Savill, Kevin M. McBride
  • Patent number: 10904108
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for invoking virtualized network functions. In some embodiments, a programmable service backbone might comprise at least one virtualized network function, and might provide virtualized network functions required to provision a service offering. In some cases, at least one application programming interface might be configured to invoke the at least one virtualized network function of the programmable service backbone. An application programming interface gateway might be configured to manage access to the at least one application programming interface, and the application programming interface gateway might comprise a security layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: CenturyLInk Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Schwengler, Steven M. Casey, Kevin M. McBride, Felipe Castro
  • Patent number: 10897523
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing extension of customer local area networks (“LANs”) and/or implementing isolated service overlays over a network. In some embodiments, a network service point that is located external to a demarcation point at each of a plurality of customer premises might establish a connection between a service provider network and a customer LAN, which has already been established within a customer premises. The system subsequently extends the customer LAN, via this connection, to span between the network service point and the customer premises. Alternatively, or additionally, the system might establish two or more isolated service overlays across the customer LAN between the network service point and the customer premises, each of the two or more isolated service overlays having network traffic that is isolated from network traffic transmitted along another of the two or more isolated service overlays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Charles I. Cook, Michael K. Bugenhagen, Kevin M. McBride, Andrew V. Cook, Michael J. Fargano
  • Patent number: 10893006
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing virtual platform media access control (“MAC”) address-based layer 2 and layer 3 network switching. In some embodiments, a method might comprise receiving, at a network node in a network, a data packet having a header comprising a MAC destination address, and routing, with the network node, the data packet over open systems interconnection (“OSI”) model layer 3 or network layer of the network, based at least in part on the MAC destination address in the header of the data packet. The MAC destination address comprises a first portion comprising an organizationally unique identifier (“OUI”) and a second portion comprising an identifier for a destination network interface controller (“NIC”) and/or virtual NIC (“VNIC”), which might be associated either with the same service provider associated with the network node or the network or with a different service provider, content provider, and/or application provider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Michael K. Bugenhagen, William R. Walker, Kevin M. McBride
  • Patent number: 10862822
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing intent-based service configuration, conformance, and auditing. In various embodiments, a computing system might receive a request for network services from a customer, the request for network services comprising desired characteristics and performance parameters for the requested network services, without information regarding specific hardware, hardware type, or network for providing the requested services. The computing system might analyze first metadata regarding resource attributes and characteristics of unassigned network resources to identify network resources among unassigned network resources for providing the requested network services, the first metadata having been striped to entries of the unassigned network resources in resource database(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Michael K. Bugenhagen, Kevin M. McBride
  • Patent number: 10797906
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques for provisioning OTT internet services are provided. A system includes a user device associated with a first customer, a first physical customer local area network, and an enhanced network gateway. The enhanced network gateway may be configured to instantiate a virtual gateway associated with the first physical customer local area network, create a secure domain associated with the first physical customer local area network, determine whether a subscriber account is associated with the first customer. Responsive to determining that a subscriber account is not associated with the first customer, the enhanced network gateway may further provide a consumer portal to the user device, receive a selection of one or more services through the consumer portal, establish a connection to a service provider network associated with the one or more services, and provision the one or more services over the first physical customer local area network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Thomas Charles Barnett, Jr., Stephen Opferman
  • Publication number: 20200280620
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing extension of customer local area networks (“LANs”) and/or implementing isolated service overlays over a network. In some embodiments, a network service point that is located external to a demarcation point at each of a plurality of customer premises might establish a connection between a service provider network and a customer LAN, which has already been established within a customer premises. The system subsequently extends the customer LAN, via this connection, to span between the network service point and the customer premises. Alternatively, or additionally, the system might establish two or more isolated service overlays across the customer LAN between the network service point and the customer premises, each of the two or more isolated service overlays having network traffic that is isolated from network traffic transmitted along another of the two or more isolated service overlays.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2020
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Applicant: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Charles I. Cook, Michael K. Bugenhagen, Kevin M. McBride, Andrew V. Cook
  • Patent number: 10762176
    Abstract: A license manager includes a processor and non-transitory computer readable media having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by the at least one processor to receive a request, from a virtual machine, to reserve an individual license of the set of authorized licenses for a vendor software instance, determine the availability licenses for the requested vendor software, register a unique identifier of the virtual machine in association with an available individual license, grant the individual license to the virtual machine, and prevent the granted individual license from concurrent use by other virtual machines or devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Steven M. Casey, Thomas Schwengler, Kevin M. McBride, Felipe Castro
  • Publication number: 20200250175
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing tracking or storing of equipment configuration data using immutable ledger functionality of blockchains. In various embodiments, in response to receiving a first request for first configuration data that is output by first equipment, a computing system might determine whether a communicatively coupled data repository contains the first configuration data. If so, the computing system might retrieve and send (to the requesting device) the first configuration data. If not, the computing system might send, to a blockchain system, a second request for identifying a blockchain containing a block containing the first configuration data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Hunter Rudd, James E. Sutherland, Steven M. Casey
  • Publication number: 20200252410
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing data and source validation for equipment output data and/or for equipment failure predict. In various embodiments, in response to receiving a first request for first data that is output by first equipment, a computing system might retrieve and analyze the first data to determine whether the first data can be trusted. If so, the computing system might send the first data to the requesting device. If not, the computing system might send a second request for identifying a blockchain containing a block containing a copy of the first data. In response to the blockchain system identifying such a blockchain, the computing system might receive the identified blockchain; might abstract the block containing the copy of the first data from the identified blockchain; might abstract the first data from the block; and might send the first data to the requesting device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Inventors: Steven M. Casey, Kevin M. McBride, William O'Brien, JR., Stephen Opferman
  • Publication number: 20200252220
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for utilizing blockchain to implement named data networking. In various embodiments, a computing system might determine whether a cache that is communicatively coupled to the computing system contains data that is responsive to a first request received from a user. If so, the computing system might retrieve and send (to the client device) data that is responsive to the received first request. If not, the computing system might send, to a blockchain system, a second request for identifying a blockchain containing a block containing data responsive to the received first request. In response to identifying such a blockchain, the computing system might receive a copy of the identified blockchain; might abstract, from the identified blockchain, the block containing the data responsive to the received first request; might abstract the data from the identified block; and might send the data to the client device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Stephen Opferman, Steven M. Casey, William O'Brien, JR.
  • Publication number: 20200244552
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for invoking virtualized network functions. In some embodiments, a programmable service backbone might comprise at least one virtualized network function, and might provide virtualized network functions required to provision a service offering. In some cases, at least one application programming interface might be configured to invoke the at least one virtualized network function of the programmable service backbone. An application programming interface gateway might be configured to manage access to the at least one application programming interface, and the application programming interface gateway might comprise a security layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2020
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Applicant: CenturyLInk Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Schwengler, Steven M. Casey, Kevin M. McBride, Felipe Castro
  • Patent number: 10698569
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques provide for implementing network configuration, and, in particular embodiments, to methods, systems, apparatus, and computer software for implementing customer control point or customer portal for enabling customer-based virtualized platform and network configuration. In some embodiments, a network node might receive, via a user portal (e.g., an app-based or web-based customer portal), a request from a user to change a network configuration of a network. In response to receiving the request, the network node might determine one or more network configuration changes to make to effect the request to change the network configuration of the network, and might reconfigure the network by effecting the determined one or more network configuration changes. In some cases, the user portal might be represented by a graphical user interface that allows the user to manipulate or interact with icons of devices, apps, VNFs, etc., as a form of making the request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Michael K. Bugenhagen, Charles I. Cook, Kevin M. McBride
  • Patent number: 10673777
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing intent-based network services orchestration. In some embodiments, a computing system might receive, over a network, a request for network services from a customer. The request for network services might include desired performance parameters for the requested network services, without information regarding any of specific hardware, specific hardware type, specific location, or specific network for providing the requested network services. The computing system might allocate network resources from one or more networks, based at least in part on the desired performance parameters. Based on a determination that at least one network can no longer provide at least one network resource having the desired performance parameters, the computing system might allocate at least one other network resource from at least one second network, based at least in part on network performance metrics, and based at least in part on the desired performance parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Aaron Jones, John McManus, William O'Brien, Jr., Carl Matthew Olson
  • Patent number: 10666772
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing extension of customer local area networks (“LANs”) and/or implementing isolated service overlays over a network. In some embodiments, a network service point that is located external to a demarcation point at each of a plurality of customer premises might establish a connection between a service provider network and a customer LAN, which has already been established within a customer premises. The system subsequently extends the customer LAN, via this connection, to span between the network service point and the customer premises. Alternatively, or additionally, the system might establish two or more isolated service overlays across the customer LAN between the network service point and the customer premises, each of the two or more isolated service overlays having network traffic that is isolated from network traffic transmitted along another of the two or more isolated service overlays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Charles I. Cook, Michael K. Bugenhagen, Kevin M. McBride, Andrew V. Cook
  • Publication number: 20200136864
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques for OTT access to local resources are provided. A system includes a user device associated with a first customer, a first physical customer local area network including at least part of a physical circuit from the user device to a first network edge, at least one local resource on a second customer local area network, and an enhanced network gateway. The enhanced network gateway may be configured to instantiate a virtual gateway associated with the first physical customer local area network, create a secure domain associated with the first customer, and provide access to the at least one local resource of the second physical customer local area network associated with the first customer. The at least one local resource of the second physical customer local area network may be coupled to the secure domain via a second virtual gateway of a second enhanced network gateway.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Thomas Charles Barnett, JR., Stephen Opferman
  • Publication number: 20200136855
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques for provisioning OTT internet services are provided. A system includes a user device associated with a first customer, a first physical customer local area network, and an enhanced network gateway. The enhanced network gateway may be configured to instantiate a virtual gateway associated with the first physical customer local area network, create a secure domain associated with the first physical customer local area network, determine whether a subscriber account is associated with the first customer. Responsive to determining that a subscriber account is not associated with the first customer, the enhanced network gateway may further provide a consumer portal to the user device, receive a selection of one or more services through the consumer portal, establish a connection to a service provider network associated with the one or more services, and provision the one or more services over the first physical customer local area network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Kevin M. McBride, Thomas Charles Barnett, JR., Stephen Opferman
  • Patent number: 10630558
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for invoking virtualized network functions. In some embodiments, a programmable service backbone might comprise at least one virtualized network function, and might provide virtualized network functions required to provision a service offering. In some cases, at least one application programming interface might be configured to invoke the at least one virtualized network function of the programmable service backbone. An application programming interface gateway might be configured to manage access to the at least one application programming interface, and the application programming interface gateway might comprise a security layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Schwengler, Steven M. Casey, Kevin M. McBride, Felipe Castro
  • Patent number: 10616377
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing network enhanced gateway functionality, and, in particular embodiments, for implementing network enhanced gateway functionality using network functions virtualization (“NFV”) and/or software defined networks (“SDNs”). In some embodiments, a network switch, which is disposed within a gateway device, might route network traffic to a host computing system, at least a portion of the network traffic being originally directed to a client device via a corresponding client port among a plurality of client ports. Based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the at least a portion of the network traffic, the host computing system selects one or more virtual network functions (“VNFs”), which are then sent to the host computing system via the network switch. According to some embodiments, the network switch and the host computing system are under control of a NFV entity and/or a SDN controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Charles I. Cook, Michael K. Bugenhagen, Kevin M. McBride, Andrew V. Cook
  • Publication number: 20200081734
    Abstract: Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing network experience shifting, and, in particular embodiments, using either a roaming or portable hypervisor associated with a user or a local hypervisor unassociated with the user. In some embodiments, a network node in a first network might receive, via a first network access device in a second network, a request from a user device to establish roaming network access, and might authenticate a user associated with the user device, the user being unassociated with the first network access device. Based on a determination that the user is authorized to access data, content, profiles, and/or software applications that are accessible via a second network access device, the network node might establish a secure private connection through a hypervisor or container communicatively coupled to the first network access device to provide the user with access to her data, content, profiles, and/or software applications.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: CenturyLInk Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Charles I. Cook, Kevin M. McBride, Matthew J. Post, William R. Walker