Home network system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A home network, comprising:
- a network backbone;
a plurality of modules connected to the network backbone, each module being connected between the network backbone and a local bus; and
a demarcation point unit receiving a home network signal from one of the modules over the network backbone and passing the home network signal to the plurality of modules.
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Abstract
A home network, in one embodiment including a home wiring system; a demarcation point unit in electrical communication with the home wiring system; and a home network module in electrical communication with the home wiring system. The home network module is adapted for connection to a home electronic device. The demarcation point unit passes data to and receives data from the home electronic device through the home network module.
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Citations
70 Claims
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1. A home network, comprising:
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a network backbone;
a plurality of modules connected to the network backbone, each module being connected between the network backbone and a local bus; and
a demarcation point unit receiving a home network signal from one of the modules over the network backbone and passing the home network signal to the plurality of modules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49)
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26. A home network comprising:
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a demarcation point unit receiving a signal from a network that is external to the home;
a plurality of modules each connected to the demarcation point unit by one or more coax cables and to a device by a local bus, one of the modules receiving a message from the device connected to that one module by the corresponding local bus and transmitting the message to the demarcation point unit;
wherein the demarcation point unit receives the message from that one module and transmits the message and the signal together to each of the plurality of modules over the coax cables.
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27. A demarcation point unit connected between a home network backbone and an external network, the demarcation point unit comprising:
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a diplexer receiving a home network signal from the home network backbone and an external signal from the external network, the diplexer separating the home network signal from the external signal; and
a signal reflector unit receiving the home network signal from the diplexer and returning the home network signal back to the home network backbone.
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48. A network module connected between a network backbone and a local bus, comprising:
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a diplexer receiving from the network backbone an analog signal and separating a home network signal from the analog signal;
a modem converting the home network signal to a digital signal;
a media access controller (MAC) controlling communications of the network module with other modules connected to the network backbone; and
a switching fabric interfacing with a protocol of the local bus to deliver the digital signal to the local bus.
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50. In a home network having a plurality of network modules connected to a coax backbone, a method for communicating over the coax backbone between network modules, the method comprising;
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transmitting a cycle start burst over the backbone to start a transmission cycle during which the network modules transmit bursts over the backbone;
allocating a first portion of the transmission cycle for the transmission of isochronous bursts by the network modules; and
allocating a second portion the transmission cycle for the transmission of asynchronous bursts by the network modules. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. In a home network having a plurality of 1394 buses each connected to a network backbone by a network module, the network backbone including a plurality of coax cables, each network module providing a bridge between the network backbone and the 1394 bus connected to that network module, the bridge comprising:
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a 1394 Phy layer; and
a 1394.1 link layer routing communications among the plurality of 1394 buses over the coax cables of the network backbone. - View Dependent Claims (67, 69, 70)
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68. In a home network having a plurality of network modules connected to a network backbone, the network modules communicating with each other over the network backbone using bursts having a plurality of burst types, a burst comprising:
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a preamble signifying a start of the burst and the type of the burst;
a header providing at least one parameter for decoding the burst; and
a data portion carrying QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) symbol data.
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Specification