CMTS plant topology fault management

1. A cable modem termination system comprising:

machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to maintain an operational status indicating whether each of a plurality of fiber nodes coupled to the cable modem termination system is operationally capable of providing service to cable modems over each of a plurality of MAC domains, wherein each MAC domain communicates with a plurality of fiber nodes over a plurality of downstream channels and a plurality of upstream channels, at least one downstream channel from each MAC domain coupled to carry data from the MAC domain to a first plurality of the fiber nodes, at least one upstream channel to each MAC domain coupled to carry data from a second plurality of the fiber nodes to the MAC domain, the CMTS maintaining the operational status separately for each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node, the operational status including which downstream channels and which upstream channels are active and properly functioning between each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node, which downstream channels and which upstream channels have a respective fault, and a respective state of each fiber node; and

machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to formulate a minimum requirement for identifying each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node as operationally capable of providing service to the cable modems, and logic to generate, from a DOCSIS MIB, a suitability metric for a particular cable modem architecture to a particular fiber node, the minimum requirement comprising:

at least one active and properly functioning downstream channel from each MAC domain is assigned and coupled to a corresponding fiber node of the unique pair;

at least one of the MAC domain's active downstream channels to the corresponding fiber node is primary capable;

at least one active and properly functioning physical upstream channel with at least one active and properly functioning logical upstream channel associated with the MAC domain is assigned and coupled to the corresponding fiber node; and

access supervision information for the logical upstream channels is carried on at least one of the active downstream channels assigned to the corresponding fiber node.

2. The cable modem termination system of claim 1 , further comprising: machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to act to prevent a state change notification avalanche from cable modems coupled to a fiber node when a MAC domain for the fiber node is not verified as suitable.

3. A cable television plant comprising fiber nodes, cable modems, a management information base (MIB), and a cable modem termination system (CMTS), the CMTS comprising machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to apply information from the MIB to determine a suitability for providing data communications of resources assigned to the fiber nodes from particular MAC domains, wherein each MAC domain communicates with the fiber nodes over a plurality of downstream channels and a plurality of upstream channels, at least one downstream channel from each MAC domain coupled to carry data from the MAC domain to a first plurality of the fiber nodes, at least one upstream channel to each MAC domain coupled to carry data from a second plurality of the fiber nodes to the MAC domain, the CMTS maintaining the operational status separately for each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node, the operational status including which downstream channels and which upstream channels are active and properly functioning between each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node, which downstream channels and which upstream channels have a respective fault, and a respective state of each fiber node; and

the CMTS further comprising machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to formulate a minimum requirement for identifying each unique pair of MAC domain and fiber node as operationally capable of providing service to the cable modems, and logic to generate, from the DOCSIS MIB, a suitability metric for a particular cable modem architecture to a particular fiber node, the minimum requirement comprising:

at least one active and properly functioning downstream channel from each MAC domain is assigned and coupled to a corresponding fiber node of the unique pair;

at least one of the MAC domain's active downstream channels to the corresponding fiber node is primary capable;

at least one active and properly functioning physical upstream channel with at least one active and properly functioning logical upstream channel associated with the MAC domain is assigned and coupled to the corresponding fiber node; and access supervision information for the logical upstream channels is carried on at least one of the active downstream channels assigned to the corresponding fiber node.

4. The cable television plant of claim 3 , the CMTS further comprising: machine memory and/or circuits comprising logic to act to prevent a state change notification avalanche from cable modems coupled to a particular fiber node when a MAC domain changes to an unsuitable state.