Changing communication mode in a CATV pathway using mute commands

• US 7,765,576 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2004
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: II-VI Delaware, Inc. (Coherent Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Finisar Corporation (II-VI Incorporated)
• Inventors: Oyadomari, Randy Ichiro, Gordy, Stephen Charles, Lawson, Arthur Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Koenig; Andrew Y
• Assistant Examiner(s): Leija; James
• Application Number:
  US10/845,006
• Publication Number:
  US 20050273836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,267 Days
• Field of Search: 725/129, 725/203, 370/487, 370/465, 398/115
• US Class Current: 725/129
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/2589 Bidirectional transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6168 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/22 Adaptations for optical transmission

Abstract

A cable node and a cable hub that communicate on a CATV network are configured to switch communication modes without signal loss or degradation due to delays in switching communication modes. In particular, a cable node sends one or more mute commands in an outgoing data stream to the cable hub, causing the cable hub to disable the RF outputs. Afterward, or along with the one or more mute commands, the cable node can send a switch mode command, thereby causing the cable hub to switch to the appropriate next communication mode, such as a communication mode using a new compression rate. When the cable hub has switched to the appropriate next communication mode, the cable hub can then properly receive and decode a corresponding data stream using the next communication mode.

Claims

1. In a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, a method for the cable node to configure the cable hub to operate in either a first communication mode or a second communication mode to avoid inconsistent communication with the cable hub, the method comprising the following:

an act of the cable node transmitting a mute command in a first data stream to the cable hub using a first communication mode, the mute command causing the cable hub to abstain from recognizing any communications received from the cable node subsequent to the mute command until a switch command is received from the cable node;

an act of the cable node transmitting the switch command to the cable hub; and

an act of the cable node transmitting a second data stream to the cable hub using the second communication mode after transmitting the switch command,

wherein RF data is transmitted without Ethernet data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus Ethernet data is transmitted over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of transmitting the subsequent communication to the cable hub comprises an act of transmitting the subsequent communication, along with data transmitted using the first communication mode.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of transmitting the subsequent communication from the cable node comprises an act of transmitting the subsequent communication, while transmitting data using the second communication mode.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the cable node transmits the mute command an identifiable number of times;

wherein the cable hub abstains from changing its current state until receiving the mute command the identifiable number of times; and

wherein the subsequent communication is the final mute command in the identifiable number of times.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the cable node comprises a node transmission component, and a node receiving component;

and wherein the cable hub comprises a hub receiving component and a hub transmission component.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising an act of the node transmission component detecting the presence of the node receiving component.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the presence of the node receiving component is detected by identifying a transmission to the node receiving component from the hub transmission component.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the presence of the node receiving component is detected by the node transmission component detecting a connection to the node receiving component.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first data stream comprises one or more RF data channels.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein abstaining from recognizing communications received from the cable node as valid comprises muting the one or more RF data channels of the first data stream.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the first communication mode is a 10-bit mode, and wherein the second communication mode is a 9-bit communication mode.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the second data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and one or more Ethernet data channels when the cable node switches to the second communication mode.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first communication mode is a 9-bit mode, and wherein the second communication mode is a 10-bit communication mode.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the first data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and one or more Ethernet data channels when the cable node communicates in the first communication mode.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the second data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and no Ethernet data channels when the cable node communicates in the second communication mode.

43. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of the cable node transmitting the mute command in the second data stream to the cable hub using the second communication mode, the mute command causing the cable hub to abstain from recognizing all communications received from the cable node subsequent to the mute command until a switch command is received from the cable node.

16. In a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, a method for the cable hub to be configured in either a first communication mode or a second communication mode as appropriate in order to avoid inconsistent communications with the cable node, the method comprising the following:

an act of the cable hub receiving one or more of a predetermined number of mute commands from the cable node while receiving a first data stream using one of a first and a second communication mode;

in response to receiving the one or more mute commands, an act of the cable hub abstaining from changing its current state until receiving all of the predetermined number of mute commands from the cable node;

after the act of the cable hub receiving all of the predetermined number of mute commands, an act of the cable hub disabling RF outputs so as to prevent transmission of communications through the RF outputs until a predetermined number of switch mode commands are received; and

after the act of the cable hub receiving the predetermined number of switch mode commands, an act of the cable hub receiving a second data stream from the cable node using the other one of the first and second communication modes,

wherein RF data is received without Ethernet data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus Ethernet data is received over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of receiving one or more of the predetermined number of mute commands from the cable node comprises an act of receiving the one or more of the predetermined number of mute commands while receiving data using the second communication mode.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein at least one of the predetermined number mute commands and at least one of the predetermined number of switch mode commands are received by the cable hub from the cable node at the same time.

19. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the cable node comprises a node transmission component, and a node receiving component;

and wherein the cable hub comprises a hub receiving component and a hub transmission component.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein, prior to the cable node sending the mute command, the method further comprises an act of the hub transmission component sending a hub signal to the node receiving component, such that the node receiving component is identified.

21. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the first data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and wherein muting or disabling the RF outputs comprises muting the one or more RF data channels of the first data stream.

22. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the first communication mode is a 10-bit mode, and wherein the second communication mode is a 9-bit communication mode.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the second data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and one or more Ethernet data channels when the cable node switches to the second communication mode.

24. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the first communication mode is a 9-bit mode, and wherein the second communication mode is a 10-bit communication mode.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein the first data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and one or more Ethernet data channels when the first data stream is received using the first communication mode.

26. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the second data stream comprises one or more RF data channels and no Ethernet data channels when the cable hub receives data from the cable node using the second communication mode.

27. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the first communication mode comprises communicating RF data without using a compression algorithm.

28. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the second communication mode comprises communicating RF data compressed using the compression algorithm along with Ethernet data.

29. A cable node for use in a cable distribution network environment that also includes a cable hub, the cable node being configured to perform the following:

an act of the cable node transmitting a mute command in a first data stream to the cable hub, the first data stream being transmitted using a first communication mode and the mute command causing the cable hub to abstain from activating one or more RF outputs until a switch command is received from the cable node;

an act of the cable node transmitting the switch command to the cable hub; and

an act of the cable node transmitting a second data stream to the cable hub using a second communication mode while and/or after transmitting the switch command,

wherein RF data is transmitted without Ethernet data using one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus Ethernet data is transmitted using the other one of the first and second communication modes.

30. The cable node as recited in claim 29, wherein the first communication mode comprises communicating RF data without Ethernet data and without using a compression algorithm.

31. The cable node as recited in claim 30, wherein the second communication mode comprises communicating RF data compressed using the compression algorithm along with Ethernet data.

32. The cable node as recited in claim 29, wherein the first communication mode comprises communicating RF data compressed using a compression algorithm along with Ethernet data.

33. The cable node as recited in claim 32, wherein the second communication mode comprises communicating RF data without Ethernet data and without using the compression algorithm.

34. A cable hub for use in a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, the cable hub being configured to perform the following:

in response to receiving a mute command from the cable node while receiving a first data stream using one of a first and a second communication mode, an act of the cable hub disabling RF outputs until receiving a switch mode command from the cable node;

after the act of the cable hub receiving the mute command, an act of the cable hub receiving a subsequent communication that would be transmitted through the RF outputs but for the mute state of the RF outputs;

after the act of the cable hub receiving the subsequent communication, an act of the cable hub receiving the switch mode command from the cable node thereby causing the cable hub to switch to the other of the first and second communication modes; and

after the act of the cable hub receiving the switch mode command, an act of the cable hub receiving a second data stream from the cable node using the other one of the first and second communication modes,

wherein RF data is received without Ethernet data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus Ethernet data is received over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.

35. The cable hub as recited in claim 34, wherein the first communication mode comprises communicating RF data without using a compression algorithm.

36. The cable hub as recited in claim 35, wherein the second communication mode comprises communicating RF data compressed using the compression algorithm along with Ethernet data.

37. In a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, a method for the cable node to configure the cable hub to operate in either a first communication mode or a second communication mode to avoid inconsistent communication with the cable hub, the method comprising the following:

an act of the cable node transmitting a mute command in a first data stream to the cable hub using a first communication mode, the mute command causing the cable hub to abstain from recognizing any communications received from the cable node subsequent to the mute command until a switch mode command is received from the cable node;

an act of the cable node transmitting the switch mode command to the cable hub; and

an act of the cable node transmitting a second data stream to the cable hub using the second communication mode after transmitting the switch mode command,

wherein RF data is transmitted with substantially no non-RF data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus non-RF data is transmitted over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the non-RF data comprises digital data communicated via at least one of an Ethernet and a Token Ring data communication protocol.

39. In a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, a method for the cable hub to be configured in either a first communication mode or a second communication mode as appropriate in order to avoid inconsistent communications with the cable node, the method comprising the following:

an act of the cable hub receiving one or more of a predetermined number of mute commands from the cable node while receiving a first data stream using one of a first and a second communication mode;

in response to receiving the one or more mute commands, an act of the cable hub abstaining from changing its current state until receiving all of the predetermined number of mute commands from the cable node;

after the act of the cable hub receiving all of the predetermined number of mute commands, an act of the cable hub disabling RF outputs; and

after the act of the cable hub receiving a predetermined number of switch mode commands, an act of the cable hub enabling the RF outputs and receiving a second data stream from the cable node using the other one of the first and second communication modes,

wherein RF data is received with substantially no non-RF data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus non-RF data is received over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the non-RF data comprises digital data communicated via at least one of an Ethernet and a Token Ring data communication protocol.

41. A cable node for use in a cable distribution network environment that also includes a cable hub, the cable node being further configured to perform the following:

an act of the cable node transmitting a mute command in a first data stream to the cable hub, the first data stream being transmitted using a first communication mode and the mute command causing the cable hub to abstain from activating one or more RF outputs until a switch command is received from the cable node;

an act of the cable node transmitting the switch command to the cable hub; and

an act of the cable node transmitting a second data stream to the cable hub using a second communication mode while and/or after transmitting the switch command,

wherein RF data is transmitted with substantially no non-RF data using one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus non-RF data is transmitted using the other one of the first and second communication modes.

42. A cable hub for use in a cable distribution network environment that includes a cable hub and a cable node, the cable hub further being configured to perform the following:

in response to receiving a mute command from the cable node while receiving a first data stream using one of a first and a second communication mode, an act of the cable hub disabling RF outputs until receiving a switch mode command from the cable node;

after the act of the cable hub receiving the mute command, an act of the cable hub receiving a subsequent communication that would be transmitted through the RF outputs but for the mute state of the RF outputs;

after the act of the cable hub receiving the subsequent communication, an act of the cable hub receiving the switch mode command from the cable node thereby causing the cable hub to switch to the other of the first and second communication modes; and

after the act of the cable hub receiving the switch mode command, an act of the cable hub receiving a second data stream from the cable node using the other one of the first and second communication modes,

wherein RF data is received with substantially no non-RF data over a return path to the cable hub in one of the first and second communication modes and wherein RF data plus non-RF data is received over the return path in the other one of the first and second communication modes.