Method and apparatus for communicating between a client device and a linear broadband network

• US 6,377,782 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2000
• Issued: 04/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pacific Communication Sciences , Inc. (Cirrus Logic Incorporated), Wavestar Communications Systems LLC (Equitable IP Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mediacell, Inc.
• Inventors: Bishop, Donald M., Green, George R. J., Shyu, Archie R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Persino, Raymond B.
• Application Number:
  US09/505,107
• Time in Patent Office: 798 Days
• Field of Search: 455/13.01, 455/13.05, 455/422, 455/66, 455/67.3, 455/501, 725/106, 725/13.1, 725/109, 725/110, 725/114, 725/111, 725/126, 725/123, 725/119, 725/120, 370/346, 370/391, 370/277, 370/482, 370/486, 370/487, 379/56.2
• US Class Current: 455/3.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/03038 with a non-recursive structure H04L25/03031 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/20 Modulator circuits; Transmitter circuits

Abstract

A method of upstream communication over a linear broadband network includes the steps of generating an upstream baseband signal and modulating it onto an upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to produce a first upstream modulated carrier signal. The modulated carrier signal is transmitted wirelessly, received, and demodulated to reproduce the information integrity of the upstream baseband signal. The signal is then modulated onto an upstream linear broadband radio frequency carrier for transmission on the linear broadband network. Advantageously, noise that accumulates at the subscriber premises is removed from the upstream signal prior to presentation of the signal to the upstream path of the linear broadband network. A system for communicating over a linear broadband network includes network access interface devices coupled to the linear broadband network. A subscriber access interface device accepts upstream communication signals and modulates and transmits the signal to the network access interface device. The network access interface device 6 receives and demodulates the signal and then modulates it for transmission on the linear broadband network.

Claims

1. A method of wirelessly communicating information from a client device located at a subscriber'"'"'s premises to a linear broadband network located remotely from said subscriber'"'"'s premises to eliminate a wired subscriber drop, said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics, said method comprising the steps of:

generating an upstream baseband signal, said upstream baseband signal having a predefined format,

modulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to generate at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal,

transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from said client device, located at said subscriber'"'"'s premises, to a network interface device, located proximately to sad linear broadband network, thereby eliminating said wired subscriber drop,

receiving said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal at said network access interface device that is located proximately to and coupled to said linear broadband network,

demodulating said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to produce an upstream demodulated baseband signal, and

modulating said upstream demodulated baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband radio frequency carrier to produce at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal having a signal format compatible with said linear broadband network.

2. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of processing said upstream demodulated baseband signal to substantially reconstruct said upstream baseband signal to said predefined format.

3. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of processing said upstream demodulated baseband signal to substantially reconstruct said upstream baseband signal to a format different from said predefined format.

4. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein the step of processing further comprises the step of correcting errors present in said upstream demodulated baseband signal to restore information integrity of said upstream baseband signal.

5. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of filtering said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

6. A method of communicating as recited in claim 5 wherein said step of filtering occurs prior to the step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

7. A method of communicating as recited in claim 5 wherein said step of filtering occurs after the step of receiving said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

8. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein said linear broadband network is a hybrid fiber coaxial network.

9. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein said linear broadband network is a linear fiber network.

10. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein said linear broadband network is a linear coaxial network.

11. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein said linear broadband network is a cable TV network.

12. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the step of generating and modulating occurring in said client device.

13. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the client device communicating with a subscriber access interface device, the subscriber access interface device performing the steps of modulating and transmitting.

14. A method of communicating as recited in claim 13, said client device communicating with said subscriber access device over a wireless connection.

15. A method of communicating as recited in claim 13, the client device communicating with said subscriber access device over a wired connection.

16. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of generating said upstream baseband signal further comprises the steps of generating an upstream analog signal, digitizing said upstream analog signal to produce a corresponding upstream digital signal, and converting said upstream digital signal to said upstream baseband signal.

17. A method of communicating as recited in claim 16, wherein the step of generating said upstream analog signal comprises generating a telephone signal.

18. A method of communicating as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a voice signal.

19. A method of communicating as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a telephonic fax signal.

20. A method of communicating as recited in claim 17, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a telephonic data modem signal.

21. A method of communicating as recited in claim 16, wherein the step of generating said analog signal comprises generating a video signal.

22. A method of communicating as recited in claim 16, wherein the step of generating said analog signal comprises generating an audio signal.

23. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly comprises transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from each one of a plurality of subscriber access interface devices.

24. A method of communicating as recited in claim 23, the step of transmitting said at least one upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from each one of said plurality of subscriber access interface devices further comprising the step of arbitrating for access to said network access interface device from said plurality of subscriber access interface devices.

25. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a direct sequence spread spectrum process.

26. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a frequency hopping spread spectrum process.

27. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a vector modulation process.

28. A method of communicating as recited in claim 27, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a quadrature phase shift keying process.

29. A method of communicating as recited in claim 27, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a bi-phase shift keying process.

30. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using an IEEE 802.11 compliant process.

31. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a HiperLAN2 compliant process.

32. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the steps of:

generating a polling signal at said network access interface device,

receiving said polling signal at a subscriber access interface device,

responding to said polling signal by generating a response upstream baseband signal,

transmitting said response upstream baseband signal, and

receiving said response upstream baseband signal in said network access interface device.

33. A method of communicating as recited in claim 32 and further comprising the step of forwarding said response upstream baseband signal to a headend on said linear broadband network.

34. A method of communicating as recited in claim 32 and further comprising the step of storing said response upstream baseband signal for retrieval of said response upstream baseband signal upon request.

35. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1, the step of generating an upstream baseband signal further comprising the steps of generating a communication signal in each one of a plurality of said client devices, converting each said communication signal into a respective one of said upstream baseband signals, time division multiplexing each said upstream baseband signal in a subscriber access interface device to produce a multiplexed upstream baseband signal and the step of modulating further comprising the step of modulating said multiplexed baseband signal onto said at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier.

36. A method of communicating as recited in claim 35, wherein the step of converting said communication signal further comprises the step of coupling said upstream baseband signal to said subscriber access interface through a wired connection.

37. A method of communicating as recited in claim 35, wherein the step of converting said communication signal further comprises the step of coupling said upstream baseband signal to said subscriber access interface device through a wireless connection.

38. A method of communicating as recited in claim 35, each upstream baseband signal comprising a plurality of upstream data packets, the method further comprising the steps of prioritizing a launch of each upstream data packet onto said multiplexed upstream baseband signal to control latency of each individual upstream data packet.

39. A method of communicating as recited in claim 38 and further comprising the steps of interpreting a header of each upstream data packet, assigning a priority to each upstream data packet, producing an assigned priority for each upstream data packet, and multiplexing each upstream data packet according to said assigned priority.

40. A method of communicating as recited in claim 38 and further comprising the steps of assigning a priority to each upstream data packet based upon a source port configuration, producing an assigned priority for each upstream data packet, and multiplexing each upstream data packet according to said assigned priority.

41. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of:

controlling a timing of the step of receiving said first upstream modulated carrier signal.

42. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of filtering a spectral range of all of said at least one upstream modulated carrier signal.

43. A method of communicating as recited in claim 1 and further comprising the step of establishing a communications link with an alternate network access interface device in the event of a communication link degradation below a predetermined threshold with said network access interface device.

44. A method of bidirectionally and wirelessly communicating bi-directional information between a client device located at a subscriber'"'"'s premises and a linear broadband network located remotely from said subscriber'"'"'s premises to eliminate a wired subscriber drop, said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics comprising steps of:

generating an upstream baseband signal, said upstream baseband signal having a predefined format,

modulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to generate at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal,

transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from said client device, located at said subscriber'"'"'s premises, to a network interface device located proximately to said linear broadband network, hereby eliminating said wired subscriber drop,

receiving said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal at a network access interface device that is located proximately to and coupled to the linear broadband network,

demodulating said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to produce an upstream demodulated baseband signal,

modulating said upstream demodulated baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband radio frequency carrier to produce at least one;

second upstream modulated carrier signal having a sign format compatible with the linear broadband network,

receiving at least one downstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier signal comprising a first downstream modulated carrier signal from the linear broadband network,

demodulating said at least one first downstream modulated carrier signal to produce at lest one first downstream baseband sign having a predefined format,

modulating said at least one first downstream baseband signal onto at least one downstream wireless radio frequency carrier to generate at least one second modulated downstream carrier signal,

transmitting said at least one second modulated downstream carrier signal wirelessly,

receiving said at least one second modulated downstream carrier signal,

demodulating said at least one second modulated downstream carrier signal to produce at least one second downstream baseband signal,

transmitting said at least one second downstream baseband signal.

45. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of processing said upstream demodulated baseband signal to substantially reconstruct said upstream baseband signal to said predefined format.

46. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of processing said upstream demodulated baseband signal to substantially reconstruct said upstream baseband signal to a format different from said predefined format.

47. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein the step of processing further comprises the step of correcting errors present in said upstream demodulated baseband signal to restore information integrity to correspond with said upstream baseband signal.

48. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of filtering said at least one upstream modulated carrier signal.

49. A method of communicating as recited in claim 48 wherein said step of filtering occurs prior to the step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

50. A method of communicating as recited in claim 48 wherein said step of filtering occurs after the step of receiving said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

51. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein said linear broadband network is a hybrid fiber coaxial network.

52. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein said linear broadband network is a linear fiber network.

53. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein said linear broadband network is a linear coaxial network.

54. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein said linear broadband network is a cable TV network.

55. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the step of generating and modulating occurring in said client device.

56. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the client device communicating with a subscriber access interface device, the subscriber access interface device performing the steps of modulating and transmitting.

57. A method of communicating as recited in claim 56, said client device communicating with said subscriber access interface device over a wireless connection.

58. A method of communicating as recited in claim 56, said client device communicating with said subscriber access interface device over a wired connection.

59. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 wherein said step of generating said upstream baseband signal further comprises the steps of generating an upstream analog signal, digitizing said upstream analog signal to produce a corresponding upstream digital signal, and converting said upstream digital signal to said upstream baseband signal.

60. A method of communicating as recited in claim 59, wherein the step of generating said analog signal comprises generating a telephone signal.

61. A method of communicating as recited in claim 60, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a voice signal.

62. A method of communicating as recited in claim 60, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a telephonic fax signal.

63. A method of communicating as recited in claim 60, wherein the step of generating said telephone signal comprises generating a telephonic data modem signal.

64. A method of communicating as recited in claim 59, wherein the step of generating said analog signal comprises generating a video signal.

65. A method of communicating as recited in claim 59, wherein the step of generating said analog signal comprises generating an audio signal.

66. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly comprises transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from each one of a plurality of subscriber access interface devices.

67. A method of communicating as recited in claim 66, the step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from each one of said plurality of subscriber access interface devices further comprising the step of arbitrating for access to said network access interface device from said plurality of subscriber access interface devices.

68. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one first upstream radio frequency carrier using a direct sequence spread spectrum process.

69. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one first upstream radio frequency carrier using a frequency hopping spread spectrum process.

70. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a vector modulation process.

71. A method of communicating as recited in claim 69, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a quadrature phase shift keying process.

72. A method Of communicating as recited in claim 69, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a bi-phase shift keying process.

73. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using an IEEE 802.11 compliant process.

74. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the steps of modulating and demodulating said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier using a HiperLAN2 compliant process.

75. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the steps of:

generating a polling signal at said network access interface device,

receiving said polling signal at a subscriber access interface device,

responding to said polling signal by generating a response upstream baseband signal,

transmitting said response upstream baseband signal, and receiving said response upstream baseband signal in said network access interface device.

76. A method of communicating as recited in claim 75 and further comprising the step of forwarding said response upstream baseband signal to a headend on said linear broadband network.

77. A method of communicating as recited in claim 75 and further comprising the step of storing said response upstream baseband signal for retrieval of said response upstream baseband signal upon request.

78. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44, the step of generating an upstream baseband signal further comprising the steps of generating a communication signal in each one of a plurality of said client devices, converting each said communication signal into respective ones of said upstream baseband signals, time division multiplexing each said respective ones of said upstream baseband signals in a subscriber access interface device to produce a multiplexed upstream baseband signal and the step of modulating further comprising the step of modulating said multiplexed baseband signal onto said at least one first upstream radio frequency carrier.

79. A method of communicating as recited in claim 78, wherein the step of converting said communication signal further comprises the step of coupling said upstream baseband signal to said subscriber access interface through a wired connection.

80. A method of communicating as recited in claim 78, wherein the step of converting said communication signal further comprises the step of coupling said upstream baseband signal to said subscriber access interface device through a wireless connection.

81. A method of communicating as recited in claim 78, each said upstream baseband signal comprising a series of upstream data packets, the method further comprising the steps of prioritizing a launch of each said upstream data packet onto said multiplexed upstream baseband signal to control latency of each said upstream data packet.

82. A method of communicating as recited in claim 81 and further comprising the steps of interpreting a header of each upstream data packet, assigning a priority to each upstream data packet, producing an assigned priority for each upstream data packet, and multiplexing each upstream data packet according to said assigned priority.

83. A method of communicating as recited in claim 81 and further comprising the steps of assigning a priority to each upstream data packet based upon a source port configuration, producing an assigned priority for each upstream data packet, and multiplexing each upstream data packet according to said assigned priority.

84. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of:

controlling a timing of the step of receiving said first upstream modulated carrier signal.

85. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of filtering a spectral range of all of said at least one upstream modulated carrier signal.

86. A method of communicating as recited in claim 44 and further comprising the step of establishing a communications link with an alternate network access interface device in the event of a communication link degradation below a predetermined threshold with said network access interface device.

87. A method of communicating bi-directional information as recited in claim 44 the step of transmitting said second downstream baseband signal further comprising the step of routing said at least one second downstream baseband signal to a plurality of client devices.

88. A method of communicating bi-directional information as recited in claim 44 wherein said step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier and said step of transmitting said at least one second downstream modulated carrier uses a full-duplex process.

89. A method of communicating bi-directional information as recited in claim 44 wherein said step of transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier and said step of transmitting said at least one second downstream modulated carrier uses a half-duplex process.

90. A system for wirelessly communicating without a wired subscriber drop between a client device and a linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics comprising:

means for generating an upstream baseband signal,

means for modulating said upstream baseband signal to produce at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal,

means for transmitting said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from said client device located at a subscriber'"'"'s premises, to a network interface device, located proximately to said linear broadband network, thereby eliminating said wired subscriber drop,

means for receiving said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal at a network access interface device coupled to said linear broadband network,

means for demodulating said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to produce an upstream demodulated baseband signal, and

means for modulating said upstream demodulated baseband signal onto at least one second upstream radio frequency carrier to produce at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal having a signal format compatible with said linear broadband network.

91. A system for upstream wireless communication comprising:

a linear broadband network located remotely from a subscriber'"'"'s premises having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics, a first upstream modulator that modulates at least one upstream baseband signal received from a client device located at said subscriber'"'"'s premises to eliminate a wired subscriber drop, said at least one upstream baseband signal being modulated onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to produce a first upstream modulated carrier signal, an upstream transmitter that wirelessly transmits said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal, an upstream receiver that receives said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal, an upstream demodulator that demodulates said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to generate at least one upstream demodulated baseband signal, a second upstream modulator that modulates said at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier for transmission onto said linear broadband network.

92. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91 and further comprising a plurality of client devices, each said plurality of client devices generating a one of said at least one upstream baseband signals.

93. A system for communicating as recited in claim 92, and further comprising a multiplexer that multiplexes said plurality of said at least one upstream baseband signals to produce a multiplexed upstream baseband signal.

94. A system for communicating as recited in claim 93, said upstream baseband signal comprising a plurality of upstream data packets, the system further comprising a prioritization device that assigns a priority to each upstream data packet, said priority informing said multiplexer of an appropriate order in which said multiplexer selects each upstream data packet.

95. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said client device is a telephone.

96. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said client device is a video device.

97. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said client device is a computer.

98. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said client device is an audio device.

99. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91 and further comprising an arbitrator that controls an order in which said upstream transmitter transmits said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

100. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91 and further comprising an arbitrator that controls an order in which said receiver receives said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

101. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, and further comprising a forward error correction encoder and a forward error correction decoder.

102. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91 wherein said upstream baseband signal is transmitted over a wired connection.

103. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91 wherein said upstream baseband signal is modulated onto a local upstream carrier and transmitted wirelessly.

104. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said first upstream modulator and said upstream transmitter are integral with said client device.

105. A system for communicating as recited in claim 91, wherein said first upstream modulator and said upstream transmitter comprise a peripheral device to said client device.

106. A system for wireless, bi-directional communication between a client device located at a subscriber'"'"'s premises and a bi-directional linear broadband network located remotely from said subscriber'"'"'s premises to eliminate a wired subscriber drop, said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics comprising:

a first upstream modulator that modulates at least one upstream baseband signal received from said client device, said at least one upstream baseband signal being modulated onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to produce at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal,

an upstream transmitter, located proximately to said subscriber'"'"'s premises, that wirelessly transmits said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal from said subscriber'"'"'s premises to said bi-directional linear broadband network, thereby eliminating said wired subscriber drop,

an upstream receiver, located proximately to said linear broadband network, and that receives said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal,

an upstream demodulator that demodulates said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to generate at least one upstream demodulated baseband signal,

a second upstream modulator that modulates said at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier for transmission onto said linear broadband network,

a first downstream receiver that receives at least one first downstream modulated carrier signal from said linear broadband network,

a first downstream demodulator that demodulates said at least one first downstream modulated carrier signal to produce a first downstream baseband signal,

a downstream modulator that modulates said first downstream baseband signal onto a downstream wireless radio frequency carrier to produce a second downstream modulated carrier signal,

a downstream transmitter, located proximately to said linear broadband network, that transmits said downstream modulated carrier signal, thereby eliminating said subscriber drop,

a second downstream receiver, located proximately to said subscriber'"'"'s premises, that receives said downstream modulated carrier signal,

a second downstream demodulator that demodulates said downstream modulated carrier signal to produce a second downstream baseband signal for delivery to said client device.

107. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106 and further comprising a plurality of client devices, each said plurality of client devices generating one of said at least one upstream baseband signals.

108. A system for communicating as recited in claim 107, and further comprising a multiplexer that multiplexes said plurality of said at least one upstream baseband signals to produce a multiplexed upstream baseband signal.

109. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said client device is a telephone.

110. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said client device is a video device.

111. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said client device is a computer.

112. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said client device is an audio device.

113. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106 and further comprising an arbitrator that controls an order in which said upstream transmitter transmits said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal.

114. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106 and further comprising an arbitrator that controls an order in which said upstream receiver receives said at least one upstream modulate carrier signal.

115. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, and further comprising a forward error correction encoder and a forward error correction decoder.

116. A system for communicating as recited in claim 108, said upstream baseband signal comprising a plurality of upstream data packets, the system further comprising a prioritization device that assigns a priority to each upstream data packet, said priority informing said multiplexer of an appropriate order in which said multiplexer selects each upstream data packet.

117. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106 wherein said upstream baseband signal is transmitted over a wired connection.

118. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106 wherein said upstream baseband signal is modulated onto a local upstream carrier and transmitted wirelessly.

119. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said first upstream modulator and said upstream transmitter are integral with said client device.

120. A system for communicating as recited in claim 106, wherein said first upstream modulator and said upstream transmitter comprise a peripheral device to said client device.

121. An apparatus for wirelessly coupling a subscriber to a remotely located linear broadband network to eliminate a wired subscriber drop, said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics comprising:

an upstream receiver, located proximately to said linear broadband network, that wirelessly receives at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal from said subscriber, thereby eliminating said wired subscriber drop,

an upstream demodulator that demodulates said at least one upstream modulated carrier signal to produce at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal,

an upstream modulator that modulates said at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier to produce at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal for transmission on the linear broadband network, and

an upstream transmitter that transmits said at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal onto the linear broadband network.

122. An apparatus for coupling as recited in claim 121 and further comprising an arbitrator for controlling a timing of receipt of said at least one upstream radio frequency carrier from a plurality of client devices.

123. An apparatus for coupling as recited in claim 121 and further comprising a polling device for acquiring information from a client device.

124. A system for wireless upstream communication from a subscriber location to a linear broadband network to eliminate a wired subscriber drop between said subscriber location and said linear broadband network comprising:

said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics,

a subscriber access interface device that receives an upstream baseband signal from a client device located at said subscriber location, modulates said upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to produce at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal, and wirelessly transmits said at least one first upstream wireless modulated carrier signal from said subscriber location to said linear broadband network,

a network access interface device, coupled to said linear broadband network, that receives said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal, demodulates said at least one first upstream modulated carrier signal to produce at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal, modulates said at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier having a format compatible with said linear broadband network to produce at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal, and transmits said at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal onto said linear broadband network.

125. A system for upstream communication as recited in claim 124 and further comprising a first client device coupled to said subscriber access interface device, wherein said first client device interfaces to a local area network that is connected to a plurality of second client devices.

126. A system for upstream communication as recited in claim 124 and further comprising an alternate network access interface device wherein said subscriber access interface device communicates with said network access interface device until a communication link with said network access interface device falls below a predetermined threshold and upon falling below said predetermined threshold, said subscriber access interface device establishes an alternate communication link with said alternate network access interface device.

127. A system for upstream communication as recited in claim 124 and further comprising an alternate network access interface device wherein said subscriber access interface device communicates with said network access interface device and said alternate network access interface device according to the existence of an adequate communication link.

128. A system for wireless upstream communication from a subscriber location to a linear broadband network to eliminate a wired subscriber drop between said subscriber location and said linear broadband network comprising:

said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics,

a subscriber access interface device that receives an upstream baseband signal, modulates said upstream baseband signal, and wirelessly transmits said modulated upstream baseband signal to said linear broadband network,

a network access interface device, coupled to said linear broadband network, that receives said modulated upstream baseband signal, demodulates said modulated upstream baseband signal to produce at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal, modulates said at least one demodulated upstream baseband signal onto at least one upstream linear broadband network radio frequency carrier having a format compatible with said linear broadband network to produce at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal, and transmits said at least one second upstream modulated carrier signal onto said linear broadband network.

129. A method of wirelessly communicating information without a wired subscriber drop from a client device to a linear broadband network, said linear broadband network having substantially linear and broadband frequency characteristics comprising:

generating an upstream baseband signal, modulating the upstream baseband signal onto an upstream wireless radio frequency carrier to generate a first upstream modulated carrier signal, transmitting said first upstream modulated carrier signal wirelessly from said client device to a network access interface to eliminate said wired subscriber drop, receiving said first upstream modulated carrier signal at said network access interface device, said network access interface coupled to the linear broadband network, demodulating said first upstream modulated carrier signal to produce an upstream demodulated baseband signal, and modulating said upstream demodulated baseband signal onto an upstream linear broadband radio frequency carrier to produce a second upstream modulated carrier signal that is compatible with said linear broadband network.