Function virtualization for multimedia network topology adaptation

1. A system comprising: a service provider network interface; and

a cable interface to a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) network of MoCA nodes, the MoCA network of MoCA nodes organized in a physical tree network topology; and

network controller circuitry in communication with the service provider network interface, the network controller circuitry configured to:

execute as a MoCA network controller (NC) for the MoCA nodes in the MoCA network;

implement bandwidth scheduling for the MoCA nodes as the MoCA network controller, including asymmetric provisioning of bandwidth to provide gateway to MoCA node downlink bandwidth for broadband program content that is greater than MoCA node to gateway uplink bandwidth;

receive the broadband program content through the service provider network interface; and

communicate the broadband program content received from the service provider network interface to the MoCA nodes using the downlink bandwidth, according to a logical star network topology over the physical tree network topology.

2. The system of claim 1 , where:

the service provider network interface is configured to:

terminate a broadband service provider connection at a location where the system is located; and

the network controller circuitry is configured to:

provide a gateway connection for a broadband service provider to the MoCA network.

3. The system of claim 2 , where:

the network controller circuitry is configured to receive the broadband program content from the broadband service provider.

4. The system of claim 1 , where the network controller circuitry comprises a MoCA NC configured to:

create a media access plan of assigned bandwidth for the MoCA nodes; and

transmit the media access plan to the MoCA nodes.

5. The system of claim 4 , where the network controller circuitry is further configured to:

receive acknowledgement from the MoCA nodes of receiving the broadband program content.

6. The system of claim 4 , where the network controller circuitry is further configured to:

receive acknowledgement from the MoCA nodes of receiving the broadband program content in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communications from the MoCA nodes.

7. The system of claim 6 , where the MoCA NC is further configured to:

allocate OFDMA bandwidth for the MoCA nodes in the media access plan.

8. The system of claim 7 , where:

the MoCA NC is configured to allocate the OFDMA bandwidth for communication of general purpose data packets.

9. The system of claim 7 , where:

the MoCA NC is configured to allocate the OFDMA bandwidth for communication of general purpose data packets under a pre-defined size threshold.

10. The system of claim 7 , where:

the MoCA NC is configured to allocate the OFDMA bandwidth for communication of transmission control protocol (TCP) acknowledgements.

11. A method comprising: in a gateway device serving a predetermined location:

terminating a content service provider network connection entering the predetermined location;

providing a local network interface to a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) network of MoCA nodes, the MoCA network of MoCA nodes organized in a physical tree network topology at the predetermined location;

implementing, in the gateway device, a network controller (NC), and, with the NC:

transmitting a configuration message to the MoCA nodes, the configuration message specifying that the gateway device will operate as the MoCA NC for the MoCA network, and to disable NC functionality in the MoCA nodes;

providing MoCA NC functionality for the MoCA nodes in the MoCA network;

creating a bandwidth schedule for the MoCA nodes in the MoCA network; providing downlink bandwidth from the gateway device to the MoCA nodes that exceeds uplink bandwidth from the MoCA nodes to the gateway device;

distributing the bandwidth schedule from the NC to the MoCA nodes; defining orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) bandwidth for the MoCA nodes in the bandwidth schedule; and

receiving acknowledgments (ACKs) from the MoCA nodes of having received network packets sent by the gateway device, including receiving the ACKs over the OFDMA bandwidth defined in the bandwidth schedule.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

establishing a packet size threshold; and

defining the OFDMA bandwidth in the bandwidth schedule for uplink packets shorter than the packet size threshold that are sent from the MoCA nodes to the gateway device, including the ACKs.

13. The method of claim 12 , where receiving ACKs comprises:

receiving ACKs in ACK packets that are shorter than the packet size threshold.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving program content requests from requesting MoCA nodes; and

transmitting the program content requests through the content service provider network connection.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving program content packets from the content service provider network connection; and

distributing the program content packets to the requesting MoCA nodes.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

with the NC, receiving a request from a first MoCA node to communicate to a second MoCA node among the MoCA nodes in the MoCA network; and

creating a bandwidth assignment for the first MoCA node for communicating to the second MoCA node.

17. A system comprising:

in a single gateway device for installation at a predetermined service location:

a content provider network interface that terminates a content provider connection to the predetermined service location;

a cable interface to a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) network of MoCA nodes, the MoCA network of MoCA nodes organized in a physical tree network topology;

a network bridge between the content provider network interface and the cable interface; and

a MoCA network controller (NC) in communication with the cable interface and the network bridge, the MoCA NC configured to:

provide asymmetric uplink bandwidth and downlink bandwidth, the downlink bandwidth for gateway device to MoCA node communications, and the uplink bandwidth for MoCA node to gateway device communications;

create a bandwidth schedule for MoCA node communications on the MoCA network;

define orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) bandwidth for the MoCA nodes in the bandwidth schedule;

distribute the bandwidth schedule from the NC to the MoCA nodes; receive, over the OFDMA bandwidth defined in the bandwidth schedule, acknowledgments (ACKs) of having received transmission control protocol packets from the gateway device;

receive program content through the content provider network interface; and

communicate the program content received from the content provider network interface to the MoCA nodes over the downlink bandwidth according to a logical star network topology over the physical tree network topology.

18. The system of claim 17 , where the MoCA NC is further configured to:

receive a reservation request from a first MoCA node to communicate to a second MoCA node among the MoCA nodes in the MoCA network; and

provide a bandwidth allocation, in the bandwidth schedule, for the first MoCA node to communicate with the second MoCA node.

19. The system of claim 17 , where the gateway device is further configured to:

transmit a configuration message to the MoCA nodes, the configuration message comprising:

a notification that the gateway device will operate as the MoCA NC for the MoCA network; and

an instruction to disable NC functionality in the MoCA nodes.