Abstract:
An upstream line card including a digital or analog multiplexer front end circuit for a Cable Modem Termination System. Each upstream line card has only upstream receivers and allows a CMTS to share one or a handful of receiver chips to receive and recover data from a larger number of input cables coupled to the front end multiplexer. A control circuit for the multiplexer uses MAP data and burst assignment data and upstream mini-slot counts for each of the input cables to determine when a burst is about to arrive on a cable and cause appropriate switching by the multiplexer or crossbar switch. In some embodiments, there is only one RF channel circuit coupled to the output of the multiplexer, so the multiplexer is controlled to couple the input cable upon which the burst is expected to the single RF channel. In other embodiments, there are multiple RF channels coupled to the inputs of the multiplexer so the multiplexer is controlled to connect each input cable on which a burst is expected to an available RF channel. In some embodiments, the sample data generated by each RF channel is buffered and an arbiter picks one burst at a time for application to the input of a CMTS receiver or doles out bursts to different receivers. In other embodiments, no buffers or arbiter are used, and each RF channel has its own dedicated CMTS receiver.
Abstract:
An impulse detector which can detect both low and high levels of impulse noise in a CDMA system is comprised of circuitry to calculate the background noise level in unused codes. Another circuit calculates the average noise power in the unused codes of each spreading interval to output the noise power per spreading interval. This average is continuously averaged over spreading intervals by another circuit which outputs the average background noise power. A comparator compares the noise power in the current spreading interval with the background noise power plus a programmable threshold and generates an erasure indication if the background noise power plus a discrimination threshold is exceeded.
Abstract:
A signal distribution system to save on the cost of cable modems for cable TV headend operators who wish to deliver broadband digital data services, DSL, video-on-demand or POTS service over their HFC CATV delivery networks. All species within the genus have a shared cable modem and a filtration and combining circuit comprised of a plurality of diplexer filters or junction boxes or both which mix baseband packet data with analog CATV signals onto coax drop lines coupled to the various subscribers and connect POTS or DSL signals onto twisted pair portions of siamese cables. Various species have the cable modem feeding digital data or packets of DOCSIS or other data or digitized DSL signals sent over the HFC to the cable modem or digitized POTS signals send over the HFC to the cable modem to either a packet switch, a DSL concentrator, a voice-over-IP gateway or some combination of the above. This data is either delivered to each subscriber as LAN packets or analog POTS signals or DSL signals or some combination of the above using coaxial cable or siamese cable drop lines.
Abstract:
A system for wireless remote control (30) of a gateway (10) and ordering or invocation of services provided by a headend (12). The remote control (30) includes a video display and user input device (30) or keyboard and can decompress and display compressed streaming video in some embodiments. Some species of the remote control can act as web browsers, appliance control, TIVO function control, an IP telephony telephone, a cellular telephone and or an MP3 player. In some embodiments, the gateway (10) and/or headend (12) can implement TIVO-like functions under control from a wireless remote of custom design or implemented on a Personal Digital Assistant.
Abstract:
A system for wireless remote control (30) of a gateway (10) and ordering or invocation of services provided by a headend (12). The remote control includes a video display (60) and user input device or keyboard (54) and can decompress and display compressed streaming video in some embodiments. Some species of the remote control (30) can act as web browsers, appliance control, TIVO function control, an IP telephony telephone, a cellular telephone and/or an MP3 player (163). In some embodiments, the gateway (10) and/or headend (12) can implement TIVO-Iike functions under control from a wireless remote of custom design or implemented on a Personal Digital Assistant.
Abstract:
A system for wireless remote control (30) of a gateway (10) and ordering or invocation of services provided by a headend (12). The remote control includes a video display (60) and user input device or keyboard (54) and can decompress and display compressed streaming video in some embodiments. Some species of the remote control (30) can act as web browsers, appliance control, TIVO function control, an IP telephony telephone, a cellular telephone and/or and MP3 player (163). In some embodiments, the gateway (10) and/or headend (12) can implement TIVO-like functions under control from a wireless remote of custom design or implemented on a Personal Digital Assistant.
Abstract:
Multiple-frame format data streams are selectively encrypted at a master head-end prior to distribution. Selective encryption includes monitoring packet for frame header information. Only packets that do not contain frame header information are encrypted, while those that contain frame header information are left unencrypted. Splicers at distribution hubs can then interject local content into the data streams and forward these to individual subscribers at the local node groups.
Abstract:
A method and apparatus transfer digital data between a coder/decoder circuit and a signal processor. The transfer of the digital data includes (a) obtaining, at a first circuit, a block of data values having certain statistical characteristics, the first circuit being one of the coder/decoder circuit and the signal processor, (b) generating, at the first circuit, a data stream by encoding the block of data values based on the statistical characteristics thereof, (c) transferring the data stream to a second circuit via a data bus connecting the first circuit and the second circuit, the second circuit being the other of the coder/decoder circuit and the signal processor, and (d) reconstructing, at the second circuit, the block of data values by decoding the data stream received from the first circuit.
Abstract:
An improved ingress cancellation filter comprising a Fast Fourier Transform circuit which replaces the analysis filter bank of the prior art to break the incoming signal down into sub bands, an ingress cancellation filter that weights each sub band based upon the probability that the sub band is corrupted by noise, and an inverse Fast Fourier Transform circuit to put the weighted sub bands back together into an output signal and replacing the synthesis filter bank of the prior art. Also, an improved predictor filter which can be used with CDMA circuitry by initializing the predictor filter at the beginning of each spreading interval using the samples received on the first L unused codes of the spreading interval.
Abstract:
A cable modem termination system is disclosed with flexible mapping of upstreams to downstreams and flexible mapping of downstreams to optical nodes and optical nodes to upstream receivers and the ability to add singe upstreams or downstreams as needed for load balancing. Multiple downstreams can share the same upstream. Multiple receivers can be coupled to the same upstream. Monitoring of upstream performance for overperforming or underperforming modems can be carried out, and new upstreams with higher and/or lower throughtput can be created to service the overperformers and/or underperformers. Modems can be grouped into logical groups with different performance levels and serviced by different upstreams or different upstream logical channels on the same upstream physical channel. An upstream linecard with a digital crosspoint switch is disclosed with the switch operated during contention intervals to allow reception with or without aggregation of noise where multiple upstream share the same receiver.