Upstream physical interface for modular cable modem termination system
First Claim
1. An upstream cable Physical Interface (PHY), comprising:
- one or more cable Physical Interfaces (PHYs) containing Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) demodulators for demodulating Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) frames received over an upstream path of a cable plant into DOCSIS Media Access Control (MAC) PHY Interface (DMPI) blocks; and
a DOCSIS Remote PHY Interface (DRPI) framer configured to convert the DMPI blocks into packets and send the packets over a packet switched network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A modular Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) includes a packet shelf operating a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) Media Access Control (MAC) framer. One or more downstream Physical Interface (PHY) shelves receive DOCSIS data from the packet shelf over a packet switched network and modulate the DOCSIS data for sending on a downstream path of a cable plant. One or more upstream PHY shelves send DOCSIS data received from an upstream path of the cable plant over the packet switched network to the packet shelf. By separating the PHY components from the MAC and from the system software, the PHY components for a Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) plant may be replaced with different PHY components for other access technologies such as wireless, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), Ethernet-to-the-Home, Fiber-to-the-Home, or fiber Passive Optical Networks (PONs).
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An upstream cable Physical Interface (PHY), comprising:
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one or more cable Physical Interfaces (PHYs) containing Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) demodulators for demodulating Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) frames received over an upstream path of a cable plant into DOCSIS Media Access Control (MAC) PHY Interface (DMPI) blocks; and
a DOCSIS Remote PHY Interface (DRPI) framer configured to convert the DMPI blocks into packets and send the packets over a packet switched network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for operating a Physical Interface (PHY) for a cable plant, comprising:
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demodulating data from an upstream path of a cable plant into blocks; and
formatting the blocks into packets and sending the packets over a packet switched network. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A modular Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), comprising:
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a packet shelf operating a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) Media Access Control (MAC) framer; and
one or more upstream cable Physical Interface (PHY) shelves receiving DOCSIS data from a cable plant, formatting the DOCSIS data into packets, and sending the packets over a packet switched network to the packet shelf. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification