Data service including channel group

• US 10,009,190 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2014
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Desai, Bhavesh N., Shankaranarayanan, Nemmara K., Shur, David Hilton, Smiljanic, Aleksandra, Totland, Todd J., Van der Merwe, Jacobus E., Woodward, Sheryl Leigh
• Primary Examiner(s): MILLS, DONALD L
• Application Number:
  US14/471,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20140369353A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,398 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2861 Point-to-multipoint connection from the data network to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2898 Subscriber equipments DSL modems H04M11/062; cable modems H04L12/2801
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/14 Channel dividing arrangements , i.e. in which a single bit stream is divided between several baseband channels and reassembled at the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method at a cable modem termination system includes dividing a transmit stream into multiple data streams and transmitting the multiple data streams over multiple radio frequency channels of a group of channels. The group of channels supports traffic to a plurality of destinations. Each channel in the group of channels is a downstream channel.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a cable modem termination system;

dividing a transmit stream into multiple data streams, wherein each of the multiple data streams has a bit rate that is lower than a bit rate of the transmit stream; and

transmitting the multiple data streams over multiple radio frequency channels of a group of channels,

wherein the group of channels comprises more than two channels,

wherein the group of channels supports traffic to a plurality of destinations,

wherein each channel in the group of channels is a downstream channel, and

wherein at least one channel in the group of channels is a frequency division multiplexing channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein first data is communicated to a first destination of the plurality of destinations via one or more first channels of the group of channels, and wherein second data is communicated to a second destination of the plurality of destinations via one or more second channels of the group of channels.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of destinations includes at least one cable modem.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple data streams are recombinable to form a combined data stream, and wherein the combined data stream has a bit rate equal to the bit rate of the transmit stream.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein packets transmitted by the cable modem termination system include sequence numbers to enable selective re-sequencing of the packets based on the sequence numbers.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

7. The method of claim 1, where each channel in the group of channels is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

8. A system comprising:

a processor to divide a transmit stream into multiple data streams, wherein each of the multiple data streams has a bit rate that is lower than a bit rate of the transmit stream; and

one or more modulators to modulate the multiple data streams to provide modulated data to be transmitted over multiple radio frequency channels of a group of channels,

wherein the group of channels comprises more than two channels,

wherein the group of channels supports traffic to a plurality of destinations,

wherein each channel in the group of channels is a downstream channel, and

wherein at least one channel in the group of channels is a frequency division multiplexing channel.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein first data is communicated to a first destination of the plurality of destinations via one or more first channels of the group of channels, and wherein second data is communicated to a second destination of the plurality of destinations via one or more second channels of the group of channels.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of destinations includes at least one cable modem.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the multiple data streams are recombinable to form a combined data stream, and wherein the combined data stream has a bit rate equal to the bit rate of the transmit stream.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor and the one or more modulators are included in a cable modem termination system.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein packets of the multiple data streams include sequence numbers to enable selective re-sequencing of the packets based on the sequence numbers.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one channel is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

15. The system of claim 8, where each channel in the group of channels is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

16. A cable modem termination system comprising:

a processor to divide a transmit stream into multiple data streams, wherein each of the multiple data streams has a bit rate that is lower than a bit rate of the transmit stream; and

a transmit device to transmit the multiple data streams over multiple radio frequency channels of a group of channels of a cable network,

wherein the group of channels comprises more than two channels,

wherein the cable network comprises a hybrid fiber-coaxial network or a coaxial network,

wherein each channel in the group of channels is a downstream channel, and

wherein each channel of the group of channels supports traffic to a plurality of destinations, and

wherein at least one channel in the group of channels is a frequency division multiplexing channel.

17. The cable modem termination system of claim 16, wherein packets of the multiple data streams include sequence numbers.

18. The cable modem termination system of claim 16, wherein the multiple data streams are recombinable to form a combined data stream that includes internet protocol traffic, and wherein the combined data stream has a bit rate equal to the bit rate of the transmit stream.

19. The cable modem termination system of claim 16, wherein the at least one channel is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

20. The cable modem termination system of claim 16, where each channel in the group of channels is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

21. A cable modem termination system comprising:

a processor to divide a transmit stream into multiple data streams, wherein each of the multiple data streams has a bit rate that is lower than a bit rate of the transmit stream; and

a transmit device to transmit the multiple data streams over multiple radio frequency channels of a group of channels of a cable network,

wherein the group of channels comprises more than two channels,

wherein the cable network comprises a hybrid fiber-coaxial network or a coaxial network,

wherein each channel in the group of channels is a downstream channel,

wherein the group of channels supports traffic to a plurality of destinations, and

wherein at least one channel in the group of channels is a frequency division multiplexing channel.

22. The cable modem termination system of claim 21, wherein the multiple data streams are recombinable to form a combined data stream that includes internet protocol traffic.

23. The cable modem termination system of claim 22, wherein packets of the multiple data streams include sequence numbers to enable selective re-sequencing of the packets based on the sequence numbers.

24. The cable modem termination system of claim 21, wherein the at least one channel is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.

25. The cable modem termination system of claim 21, where each channel in the group of channels is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel.