Extended distribution of ADSL signals
First Claim
1. Apparatus for distributing ADSL signals to customer premises from a central office, comprising:
- a central office;
the central office having a POTS switching system;
the central office having ADSL connection terminals that connect to a data network;
a plurality of customer locations at least some of which have at least one voice frequency POTS terminal and at least one ADSL terminal;
a field cabinet associated with the plurality of customers;
a plurality of individual metallic telephone lines each extending from a respective one of the customers to the field cabinet;
a trunk cable containing a large number of metallic telephone lines and extending from the field cabinet to the central office;
the field cabinet including a plurality of connections for connecting the individual telephone lines to the trunk cable for connection of signals between the customer locations and the central office;
the individual metallic telephone lines each being arranged to transmit both voice frequency POTS signals and ADSL signals between the respective customer location and the field cabinet;
a bi-directional link separate from the trunk cable for the transmission of ADSL signals between the field cabinet and the central office for connection to the data network; and
a splitter and interface module at the field cabinet having;
a plurality of signal splitting coupler units each associated with a respective one of the individual telephone lines and each arranged to separate the ADSL signals and the voice frequency POTS signals from the respective telephone line;
a plurality of connectors each arranged to connect the separated voice frequency POTS signals between the respective individual telephone line and the trunk cable; and
a plurality of interface units each associated with a respective one of the coupler units for receiving the separated ADSL signals from the coupler unit and for communicating the bi-directional ADSL signals on the bi-directional link between the central office and the respective individual telephone line.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of metallic telephone lines carrying both baseband POTS (plain old telephone service) and DSL (digital subscriber line) or ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) signals originate at customer premises and pass through a common field cabinet enroute to a telephone central office. Baseband POTS signals flow in an undisturbed manner through the field cabinet and maintain the normal, highly reliable, communication between the subscriber premises and the central office telephone switch. At the field cabinet, DSL/ADSL signals are removed from the metallic telephone line and are then communicated between the field cabinet and the central office using fiber optic broadband transmission. Fiber optic transmission increases the allowed distance between the ADSL transceiver located at the customer location and the respective ADSL transceiver located in the telephone central office. In one arrangement at the optical fiber, DSL and ADSL signals are retained in their 2B1Q, DMT, QAM or CAP analog format and are simply frequency translated in the process of frequency division multiplex (FDM) transmission. In another arrangement the analog data is converted by an analog front end of an ADSL modem into digital signals which are then made into a serial signal for transmission on the fiber optic cable The arrangements allow the provision of ADSL service to customers beyond the distance limit normally imposed by a completely metallic telephone line. It is understood that this arrangement is equally applicable to a variety of DSL (digital subscriber line) signals.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Apparatus for distributing ADSL signals to customer premises from a central office, comprising:
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a central office;
the central office having a POTS switching system;
the central office having ADSL connection terminals that connect to a data network;
a plurality of customer locations at least some of which have at least one voice frequency POTS terminal and at least one ADSL terminal;
a field cabinet associated with the plurality of customers;
a plurality of individual metallic telephone lines each extending from a respective one of the customers to the field cabinet;
a trunk cable containing a large number of metallic telephone lines and extending from the field cabinet to the central office;
the field cabinet including a plurality of connections for connecting the individual telephone lines to the trunk cable for connection of signals between the customer locations and the central office;
the individual metallic telephone lines each being arranged to transmit both voice frequency POTS signals and ADSL signals between the respective customer location and the field cabinet;
a bi-directional link separate from the trunk cable for the transmission of ADSL signals between the field cabinet and the central office for connection to the data network; and
a splitter and interface module at the field cabinet having;
a plurality of signal splitting coupler units each associated with a respective one of the individual telephone lines and each arranged to separate the ADSL signals and the voice frequency POTS signals from the respective telephone line;
a plurality of connectors each arranged to connect the separated voice frequency POTS signals between the respective individual telephone line and the trunk cable; and
a plurality of interface units each associated with a respective one of the coupler units for receiving the separated ADSL signals from the coupler unit and for communicating the bi-directional ADSL signals on the bi-directional link between the central office and the respective individual telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification