UPSTREAM BANDWIDTH CONDITIONING DEVICE BETWEEN CATV DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND CATV USER
First Claim
1. A upstream bandwidth conditioning device that can be inserted into a signal transmission line of a CATV system on a premise of a user, the device comprising:
- a variable signal level adjustment device configured to create an amount of signal level adjustment to an upstream bandwidth;
a signal measurement circuit configured to measure a first signal strength value of the upstream bandwidth prior to applying an incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment and a second signal strength after applying the amount of additional signal level adjustment; and
a circuit configured (i) to compare the first signal strength to the second signal strength and (ii) to remove at least a portion of the incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment when the first signal strength is greater than the second signal strength.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An upstream bandwidth conditioning premise device for use as part of a CATV system and for placement on or near a user'"'"'s premise to reduce noise created on the user'"'"'s premise that would otherwise be injected into upstream transmission channels and passed into an RF main signal distribution system of the CATV system. The device includes a variable attenuation device, a signal measurement circuit, a memory circuit and an electronic circuit, which is configured to iteratively determine (i) whether an incremental amount of additional attenuation is to be applied and (ii) whether at least a portion of a previously applied incremental amount of attenuation is to be removed. The electronic circuit includes a counting circuit, a threshold comparison circuit configured to compare a peak signal strength to a predetermined threshold, and a peak comparison circuit configured to compare a contemporary peak signal strength to a previous peak signal strength.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A upstream bandwidth conditioning device that can be inserted into a signal transmission line of a CATV system on a premise of a user, the device comprising:
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a variable signal level adjustment device configured to create an amount of signal level adjustment to an upstream bandwidth; a signal measurement circuit configured to measure a first signal strength value of the upstream bandwidth prior to applying an incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment and a second signal strength after applying the amount of additional signal level adjustment; and a circuit configured (i) to compare the first signal strength to the second signal strength and (ii) to remove at least a portion of the incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment when the first signal strength is greater than the second signal strength. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for conditioning an upstream bandwidth transmitted through a transmission line of a CATV system using a device located on a premise of a user, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a device having a premise side and a supplier side; (b) providing a variable signal level adjustment device between the premise side and the supplier side; (c) measuring a first signal strength value of an upstream bandwidth at a location downstream from the variable signal level adjustment device; (d) applying an incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment to upstream bandwidth; (e) measuring a second signal strength value; (f) comparing the first signal strength value to the second signal strength value; and (g) iteratively performing steps (c)-(f) for a predetermined number of cycles, wherein at least a portion of the incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment is removed when the second signal strength value is less than the first signal strength value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A method for conditioning an upstream bandwidth transmitted through a transmission line of a CATV system using a device located on premise of a user, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a device having a premise side and a supplier side; (b) providing a variable signal level adjustment device between the premise side and the supplier side; (c) measuring a first signal strength value of an upstream bandwidth at a location downstream from the variable signal level adjustment device; (d) applying an incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment to the upstream bandwidth; (e) measuring a second signal strength value after the additional amount of signal level adjustment is applied; (f) comparing the first signal strength value to the second signal strength value; (g) proceeding to step (k) when the second signal strength value is less than the first signal strength value; (h) iteratively performing steps (c)-(g) for a predetermined number of cycles, and proceeding to step (j) upon completion of the predetermined number of cycles; (i) reducing the incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment by a predetermined amount and proceeding to step (j); and (j) providing continued signal level adjustment of the upstream bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A CATV system for conditioning an upstream bandwidth generated on a premise of a user and passed through to a supplier of the CATV services, the system comprising:
a plurality of upstream bandwidth conditioning devices, each device being located on the premise of a user and each device comprising; a variable signal level adjustment device configured to apply an amount of signal level adjustment to an upstream bandwidth; a signal level measurement circuit configured to measure a first signal strength value of the upstream bandwidth prior to applying an incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment and a second signal strength after applying the amount of additional signal level adjustment; and a circuit configured (i) to compare the first signal strength to the second signal strength and (ii) to remove at least a portion of the incremental amount of additional signal level adjustment when the first signal strength is greater than the second signal strength. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
Specification