Fiber optic status monitoring system
First Claim
1. A status monitoring system for a cable television system including a master hub having a plurality of transmitters for transmitting cable television signals, and at least one remote hub having a plurality of receivers for receiving said cable television signals, said status monitoring system comprising:
- transmitter monitoring/control units for respectively monitoring and controlling the plurality of transmitters, each said transmitter monitoring/control unit having first and second ports that are coupled together;
receiver monitoring/control units for respectively monitoring and controlling the plurality of receivers, each said receiver monitoring/control unit having first and second ports that are coupled together;
a status monitoring interface unit, located at the remote hub, for receiving status information from said receiver monitoring/control units and for transmitting the status information over a communication link between the remote hub and the master hub, wherein the first port of a first receiver monitoring/control unit of said receiver monitoring/control units is coupled to said status monitoring interface unit and the first port of the remaining receiver monitoring/control units are each coupled to the second port of another of said receiver monitoring/control units thereby forming a receiver monitoring/control common bus for coupling status information from said receiver monitoring/control units to said status monitoring interface unit;
an interface located at said master hub for receiving the status information transmitted from said status monitoring interface unit over the communication link and for receiving status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units wherein the first port of a first transmit or monitoring/control unit of said transmitter monitoring/control units is coupled to said interface and the first port of the remaining transmitter monitoring/control units are each coupled to the second port of another of said transmitter monitoring/control units thereby forming a transmitter monitoring/control common bus for coupling status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units to said interface; and
a computer, located at said master hub and operatively connected to said interface, for receiving the status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units and said receiver monitoring/control units via said interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fiber optic status monitoring system for a fiber optic cable television system is disclosed in which a computer serially polls a plurality of optical transmitter modules, optical receiver modules, or other cable television component modules to determine their operation. Each of the monitored components at a given location are connected together together by a common bus. In addition, each of the transmitter modules and the receiver modules include a monitoring/control unit. The computer transmits a command signal to an interface unit. The interface unit transmits the command signal to the transmitter modules via a bus. The command signal is modulated at the interface unit and transmitted over a bidirectional link. The modulated command signal is received and demodulated by a status monitoring interface unit. The status monitoring interface unit distributes the command signal to each of the monitored modules at that location. If the command signal is a query command signal, a monitoring unit transmits information on the operation of the module. If the command signal is a control command signal, a monitoring unit serves to supply control signals to the module.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A status monitoring system for a cable television system including a master hub having a plurality of transmitters for transmitting cable television signals, and at least one remote hub having a plurality of receivers for receiving said cable television signals, said status monitoring system comprising:
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transmitter monitoring/control units for respectively monitoring and controlling the plurality of transmitters, each said transmitter monitoring/control unit having first and second ports that are coupled together; receiver monitoring/control units for respectively monitoring and controlling the plurality of receivers, each said receiver monitoring/control unit having first and second ports that are coupled together; a status monitoring interface unit, located at the remote hub, for receiving status information from said receiver monitoring/control units and for transmitting the status information over a communication link between the remote hub and the master hub, wherein the first port of a first receiver monitoring/control unit of said receiver monitoring/control units is coupled to said status monitoring interface unit and the first port of the remaining receiver monitoring/control units are each coupled to the second port of another of said receiver monitoring/control units thereby forming a receiver monitoring/control common bus for coupling status information from said receiver monitoring/control units to said status monitoring interface unit; an interface located at said master hub for receiving the status information transmitted from said status monitoring interface unit over the communication link and for receiving status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units wherein the first port of a first transmit or monitoring/control unit of said transmitter monitoring/control units is coupled to said interface and the first port of the remaining transmitter monitoring/control units are each coupled to the second port of another of said transmitter monitoring/control units thereby forming a transmitter monitoring/control common bus for coupling status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units to said interface; and a computer, located at said master hub and operatively connected to said interface, for receiving the status information from said transmitter monitoring/control units and said receiver monitoring/control units via said interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A status monitoring system for monitoring a plurality of transmitters at a common location for transmitting television signals in a cable television transmitting system comprising:
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a plurality of status monitoring/control units having first and second ports coupled together, wherein each said status monitoring/control unit monitors and controls operations of a corresponding transmitter of said plurality of transmitters and transmits monitored information over at least one of the first and second ports; an interface in communication with said plurality of status monitoring/control units, wherein the first port of a first status monitoring/control unit of said plurality of status monitoring/control units is coupled to said interface and the second port of the remaining status monitoring/control units are each coupled to the first port of another of said status monitoring/control units thereby forming a common status monitoring/control bus for coupling the monitored information from said status monitoring/control units to said interface.; and a computer, operatively connected to said interface, for receiving the monitored information from said status monitoring/control units. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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12. The status monitoring system according to claim 12, wherein each said status monitoring/control unit further comprises:
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storage means for storing threshold windows corresponding to said monitored analog voltage levels; comparison means for comparing a monitored analog voltage level with a corresponding threshold window; and means for generating an alarm if said monitored analog signal falls outside of the threshold window.
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18. A status monitoring system for monitoring a plurality of receivers at a common location for receiving television signals in a cable television receiving system comprising:
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a plurality of status monitoring/control units having first and second ports coupled together, wherein each said status monitoring/control unit monitors and controls operations of a corresponding receiver of said plurality of receivers and transmits the monitored information over at least one of the first and second ports; and a status monitoring interface unit operatively connected for receiving the monitored information from said plurality of status monitoring/control units and for transmitting the monitored information to a transmitter for transmission to a central controller, wherein the first port of a first status monitoring/control unit of said plurality of status monitoring/control units is coupled to said interface and the second port of the remaining status monitoring/control units are each coupled to the first port of another of said status monitoring/control units thereby forming a common status monitoring/control bus for coupling the monitored information from said status monitoring/control units to said status monitoring interface unit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A status monitoring system for a television system including a master hub having a plurality of optical transmitters for transmitting television signals and control signals as optical signals and a reverse receiver, a remote hub having a plurality of optical receivers for receiving the optical signals and for demodulating the optical signals into television signals and control signals and a reverse transmitter for transmitting information signals to the reverse receiver, an optical communication link coupling the optical transmitters and optical receivers, and a communication link coupling said reverse transmitter and reverse receiver, said status monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of transmitter status monitoring/control units for monitoring the status of respective optical transmitters and for controlling an operation thereof, each said transmitter status monitoring/control unit comprising data transmitting means for transmitting status information data, and data receiving means for receiving control data; a plurality of receiver status monitoring/control units for monitoring the status of respective optical receivers and for controlling an operation thereof, each said receiver status monitoring/control unit comprising data transmitting means for transmitting status information data, and data receiving means for receiving control data; first and second common data buses, wherein said first common data bus comprises a first data line that couples in common said data transmitting means and a second data line that couples in common said data receiving means of said transmitter status monitoring/control units and wherein said second common data bus comprises a first data line that couples in common said data transmitting means and a second data line that couples in common said data receiving means of said receiver status monitoring/control units; a central computer, located at the master hub, for receiving status information data from and transmitting control data to said transmitter monitoring/control units and said receiver monitoring/control units; a status monitoring interface unit, located at the remote hub, (1) for receiving status information data from said receiver status monitoring/control units via said second common data bus and for transmitting status information generated from the received status information data to the reverse transmitter for transmission to the reverse receiver at the master hub over the communication link and (2) for receiving control signals from at least one of the optical receivers and for transmitting control data generated from the received control signals to said receiver status monitoring/control units via the second common data bus; and an interface, located at the master hub, (1) for receiving status information from the reverse receiver, (2) for receiving status information data from said transmitter status monitoring/control units, (3) for transmitting status information data generated from the received status information and the status information data received from said transmitter status monitoring/control units to said central computer, (4) for receiving control data from said central computer, (5) for transmitting the received control data to said transmitter status monitoring/control units over said first data bus, and (6) for transmitting control signals generated from the received control data to at least one optical transmitter for transmission over the optical communication link to the at least one optical receiver of the remote hub. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A status monitoring system for monitoring optical transmitters that transmit television signals as optical signals in a television transmitting system, the status monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of status monitoring/control units for monitoring the status of respective optical transmitters and for controlling an operation thereof, each said status monitoring/control unit comprising data transmitting means for transmitting status information data and data receiving means for receiving control data; a common data bus coupling in common the data receiving means and coupling in common the data transmitting means of said status monitoring/control units; a computer for receiving status information data from and transmitting control data to said status monitoring/control units; and a communications interface module coupling said computer to said common data bus thereby supplying control data from said computer to said data receiving means of said status monitoring/control units and supplying status information data from said data transmitting means to said computer. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A status monitoring system in a remote hub of a television system, the remote hub including a reverse transmitter for transmitting information to a central location and a plurality of optical receivers for receiving optical signals and for demodulating the received optical signals into broadband television signals and radio-frequency control signals, said status monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of status monitoring/control units for monitoring the status of respective optical receivers, each said status monitoring/control unit comprising data transmitting means for transmitting status information data and data receiving means for receiving control data; a common data bus coupling in common the data receiving means and coupling in common the data transmitting means of said status monitoring/control units; a status monitoring interface unit comprising; (1) a radio-frequency receiver for receiving radio-frequency control signals from the optical receivers and for generating control data therefrom; (2) a radio-frequency transmitter for generating radio-frequency status information from status information data and for transmitting the radio-frequency status information to the reverse transmitter; and (3) a communications interface module coupling said radio-frequency transmitter and said radio-frequency receiver to said common data bus thereby supplying status information data from said data transmitting means of said status monitoring/control units to said radio-frequency transmitter and supplying control data from said radio-frequency receiver to said data receiving means of said status monitoring/control units. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification