System and method for remotely identifying physical location of communications device

1. A method of evaluating a customer premise equipment (CPE) device, comprising:

sending, via a processor in a network element management system, an alteration request to a configurable coaxial tap, the alteration request causing the configurable coaxial tap to:

alter characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap; or

manipulate the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of the CPE coupled to the configurable coaxial tap;

sending alteration information to a data repository;

receiving impaired operation reports from a cable modem termination system and sending the impaired operation reports to the data repository;

sending an un-alteration request to the configurable coaxial tap to undo the alterations to the characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap and/or to correct or undo the manipulated RF characteristics of the CPE;

sending un-alteration information to the data repository; and

receiving restored operation reports from the cable modem termination system and sending the restored operation reports to the data repository.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a modem-tap-port correlation.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising using the generated modem-tap-port correlation to determine a physical location of the CPE.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising using the determined physical location of the CPE to determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the CPE.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising using the determined physical location of the CPE to determine a media access control (MAC) address of the CPE.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the modem-tap-port correlation comprises:

receiving information identifying the CPE;

receiving the alteration information;

receiving the impaired operation reports; and

generating the modem-tap-port correlation based on the received information identifying the CPE, the received alteration information, and the received impaired operation report.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the modem-tap-port correlation comprises:

receiving un-alteration information;

receiving restored operation reports; and

generating the modem-tap-port correlation based on the received information identifying the CPE, received alteration information, received impaired operation report, received un-alteration information, and the received restored operation reports.

8. A computing device, comprising:

a processor configured with processor-executable software instructions to:

send an alteration request to a configurable coaxial tap, the alteration request causing the configurable coaxial tap to:

alter characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap; or

manipulate the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of a customer premise equipment (CPE) coupled to the configurable coaxial tap;

send alteration information to a data repository;

receive impaired operation reports from a cable modem termination system and sending the impaired operation reports to the data repository;

send an un-alteration request to the configurable coaxial tap to undo the alterations to the characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap or to correct or undo the manipulated RF characteristics of the CPE;

send un-alteration information to the data repository; and

receive restored operation reports from the cable modem termination system and send the restored operation reports to the data repository.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a modem-tap-port correlation.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , further comprising using the generated modem-tap-port correlation to determine the physical location of the CPE.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to use the determined physical location of the CPE to determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the CPE.

12. The computing device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to use determined physical location of the CPE to determine a media access control (MAC) address of the CPE.

13. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to generate the modem-tap-port correlation by:

receiving information identifying the CPE;

receiving the alteration information;

receiving the impaired operation reports; and

generating the modem-tap-port correlation based on the received information identifying the CPE, the received alteration information, and the received impaired operation report.

14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the modem-tap-port correlation by:

receiving un-alteration information;

receiving restored operation reports; and

generating the modem-tap-port correlation based on the received information identifying the CPE, received alteration information, received impaired operation report, received un-alteration information, and the received restored operation reports.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

sending an alteration request to a configurable coaxial tap, the alteration request causing the configurable coaxial tap to:

alter characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap; or

manipulate the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of a customer premise equipment (CPE) coupled to the configurable coaxial tap;

sending alteration information to a data repository;

receiving impaired operation reports from a cable modem termination system and sending the impaired operation reports to the data repository;

sending an un-alteration request to the configurable coaxial tap to undo the alterations to the characteristics of the configurable coaxial tap and/or to correct or undo the manipulated RF characteristics of the CPE;

sending un-alteration information to the data repository; and

receiving restored operation reports from the cable modem termination system and sending the restored operation reports to the data repository.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations further comprising generating a modem-tap-port correlation.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations further comprising using the generated modem-tap-port correlation to determine a physical location of the CPE.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations further comprising using the determined physical location of the CPE to determine an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the CPE.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations further comprising using the determined physical location of the CPE to determine a media access control (MAC) address of the CPE.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that generating the modem-tap-port correlation comprises:

receiving information identifying the CPE;

receiving the alteration information;

receiving the impaired operation reports;

receiving un-alteration information;

receiving restored operation reports; and

generating the modem-tap-port correlation based on the received information identifying the CPE, received alteration information, received impaired operation report, received un-alteration information, and the received restored operation reports.