SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TESTING THE UPSTREAM CHANNEL OF A CABLE NETWORK
First Claim
1. A method for determining the performance of a portion of a network, the method comprising:
- transmitting a signal from a transmission point onto the portion of the network;
receiving the signal at a destination;
returning the signal to the transmission point;
correcting errors introduced into the signal in transmission from the destination to the transmission point; and
determining the performance of the portion of the network from the transmission point to the destination.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for testing a portion of a cable network provides a pattern generator, addresser, forward error corrector, and comparator. The system and method is particularly adapted to testing the upstream channel in a cable network. The pattern generator generates a test signal. The addresser addresses the signal to a known server and also instructs the known server to return the test signal to the test system. The forward error corrector corrects errors introduced in the test signal in transmission from the known server to the test system. The comparator then compares the returned test signal to the originally transmitted test signal to determine the performance of the back channel. Preferably, the comparator uses a bit error rate test to determine the performance of the back channel.
-
Citations
52 Claims
-
1. A method for determining the performance of a portion of a network, the method comprising:
-
transmitting a signal from a transmission point onto the portion of the network;
receiving the signal at a destination;
returning the signal to the transmission point;
correcting errors introduced into the signal in transmission from the destination to the transmission point; and
determining the performance of the portion of the network from the transmission point to the destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
6. A method for determining the performance of a portion of a network, the method comprising:
-
transmitting a signal from a transmission point onto the portion of the network;
receiving the signal at a destination;
detecting errors in the signal received at the destination;
discarding portions of the signal received at the destination that contain errors;
returning the non-discarded signal portions to the transmission point;
determining the magnitude of the discarded portions of the signal from the returned, non-discarded portions;
using a block error rate test to determine the performance of the portion of the network; and
determining the performance of the portion of the network from the transmission point to the destination.
-
-
15. A device for determining the performance of a portion of a network comprising:
-
a forward error corrector; and
a comparator coupled to the forward error corrector. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A device for determining the performance of a portion of a network comprising:
-
means for correcting errors in a signal; and
means for comparing a signal to a standard. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A memory device for storing program instructions comprising:
-
a forward error corrector; and
a comparator. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A method for determining the performance of a portion of a network, the method comprising:
-
transmitting a test packet from a tester onto an upstream portion of the network;
receiving the test packet at a cable modem termination system (CMTS);
returning the test packet from the CMTS to the tester on a downstream portion of the network; and
using the test packet in the tester to determine the performance of the upstream portion of the network. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
-
Specification