Fiber optic telecommunication system employing continuous downlink, burst uplink transmission format with preset uplink guard band
First Claim
1. A fiber optic communication system for conveying telecommunication messages over an optical fiber communication link from a master site to a plurality of remote sites, geographically separated from one another, and from said plurality of remote sites to said master site, said system comprising:
- at said master site,a first transceiver unit, to which a plurality of television channel-representative signals are supplied, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and being operative to transmit first messages over said optical fiber communication link to said plurality of remote sites, said first messages containing television channel-representative signals, requests for transmission of which have been received from remote sites, and for receiving second messages transmitted from remote sites, said second messages containing television channel request messages requesting said master site to transmit specified television channel-representative signals as part of said first messages, and identifying the remote sites sourcing said second messages, said first transceiver unit including a controllable television channel selector which is coupled to receive a plurality of M digital television channel-representative signals and to controllably output N ones of said digital television channel-representative signals as part of a first message over said optical fiber communication link to said remote sites; and
at a respective remote site,a second transceiver unit, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and operative to transmit said second messages over said optical fiber communication link to said master site in time division multiple access format.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fiber optic telecommunication system has master site linked to a plurality of subscriber interface sites by a single pair of optical fibers. Downlink messages are transmitted in a continuous TDM format over a first optical fiber from the master site to subscriber interface sites, and in a burst mode TDMA format over a second optical fiber from the subscriber interface sites to the master site. Each subscriber interface site is coupled to the optical fiber link by way of a multiple fan-out fiber coupling pedestal at a common location on the fiber pair. To prevent collisions between successive uplink bursts from the subscriber interface sites, a guard band separates successive uplink messages from one another. The guard band duration accommodates optical fiber transmission distance between the common location on the uplink optical fiber and the subscriber interface site whose differential optical fiber transmission distance from the common location is greatest. A subscriber location has a television decoder associated with the subscriber'"'"'s television set, through which television channel selection signals are input by the subscriber for transmission from the subscriber interface site to the master site. Power is provided by way of a replaceable battery pack, housed in a subterrestrial bell jar configuration, effectively insulating the battery pack from extreme temperature changes and the intrusion of moisture.
46 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A fiber optic communication system for conveying telecommunication messages over an optical fiber communication link from a master site to a plurality of remote sites, geographically separated from one another, and from said plurality of remote sites to said master site, said system comprising:
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at said master site, a first transceiver unit, to which a plurality of television channel-representative signals are supplied, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and being operative to transmit first messages over said optical fiber communication link to said plurality of remote sites, said first messages containing television channel-representative signals, requests for transmission of which have been received from remote sites, and for receiving second messages transmitted from remote sites, said second messages containing television channel request messages requesting said master site to transmit specified television channel-representative signals as part of said first messages, and identifying the remote sites sourcing said second messages, said first transceiver unit including a controllable television channel selector which is coupled to receive a plurality of M digital television channel-representative signals and to controllably output N ones of said digital television channel-representative signals as part of a first message over said optical fiber communication link to said remote sites; and at a respective remote site, a second transceiver unit, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and operative to transmit said second messages over said optical fiber communication link to said master site in time division multiple access format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A fiber optic communication system for conveying one or more selected digital television channel-representative signals as part of telecommunication messages over an optical fiber communication link from a master site, to which a plurality of M television channel-representative signals are supplied, to any of a plurality of remote sites, geographically separated from one another, said system comprising:
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at said master site, a first transceiver unit, to which said plurality of M television channel-representative signals are supplied, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and being operative to transmit first messages over said optical fiber communication link to said plurality of remote sites, said first messages containing television channel-representative signals, requests for transmission of which have been received from remote sites, and for receiving second messages transmitted from remote sites, a second message containing a television channel request message requesting said master site to transmit specified television channel-representative signals as part of a first message, and identifying a remote site sourcing a second message, said first transceiver unit including a controllable television channel selector which is coupled to receive said plurality of M digital television channel-representative signals and to controllably output one or more of said plurality of M digital television channel-representative signals as part of a first message over said optical fiber communication link to said remote sites; and at a respective remote site, a second transceiver unit, coupled to said optical fiber communication link and operative to transmit a second message over said optical fiber communication link to said master site, and wherein a remote site serves multiple subscriber locations via telecommunication links coupled therebetween, a respective subscriber location having a television decoder, associated with a subscriber'"'"'s television set, through which a television channel selection signal is input by the subscriber for transmission from the remote site to the master site, thereby selecting a television channel for the said subscriber'"'"'s television set, and through which a subscriber-selected television channel-representative signal is interfaced from the remote site to the television set, said television decoder being operative to generate television channel selection signals for delivery to said remote site for transmission by said second transceiver unit to said master site. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of obtaining information at one of plurality of remote sites by way of the transmission of telecommunication signals over an optical fiber communication link from a master site comprising the steps of:
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(a) supplying, to said master site, a plurality of television channel-representative signals; (b) at a remote site, providing a decoding mechanism associated with a subscriber'"'"'s television set, through which television channel selection signals are input by a subscriber for requesting the transmission of specified television channel-representative signals from said master site, and through which television channel-representative signals received from said master site are provided for presentation to said subscriber'"'"'s television set; (c) controllably transmitting, from said master site to said remote sites, a first message containing television channel-representative signals associated with selected ones of said plurality of television channel-representative signals, which have been requested in second messages transmitted in time division multiplex format over said optical fiber communication link from said plurality of remote sites, a respective second message requesting said master site to transmit television signals associated with a specified television channel and identifying the remote site sourcing said respective second message; and (d) receiving said first message at said one of said plurality of remote sites and extracting therefrom television channel-representative signals associated with said television channel selection signals that have been input by said subscriber in step (b). - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification