CATV entry adapter and method utilizing directional couplers for MoCA signal communication

• US 8,429,695 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2010
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PPC Broadband Incorporated (Belden Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PPC Broadband Incorporated (Belden Inc.)
• Inventors: Halik, Gregory F., Wells, Chad T., Egan, John M. Jr., Newby, Charles F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dubasky, Gigi L
• Application Number:
  US12/704,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20100146564A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• Field of Search: 725/74, 725 78- 82, 725/119, 725127-129, 725/149
• US Class Current: 725/78
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/104 Switchers or splitters

Abstract

A cable television (CATV) entry adapter connects to a CATV network and serves as a hub in a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) network. MoCA signals are communicated between passive and active ports of the entry adapter through a pair of directional couplers which allow a MoCA-enabled embedded multimedia device (eMTA) at the passive port to communicate with multimedia devices of the MoCA network connected to the active ports.

Claims

1. A cable television (CATV) entry adapter having an entry port, a passive port and a plurality of active ports for communicating CATV signals between a CATV network and subscriber equipment and also communicating Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) signals between MoCA enabled subscriber equipment connected to the passive and active ports in a subscriber premises MoCA network, the CATV entry adapter comprising:

a first bidirectional splitter/combiner, within the CATV entry adapter, having a common terminal and first and second signal component legs to communicate CATV downstream and upstream signals with the CATV network, the first splitter/combiner splitting the CATV downstream signals at its common terminal into split active and passive CATV downstream signals at each of its first and second legs corresponding and also combining active and passive CATV upstream signals at the first and second legs into a single signal at its common terminal;

a second bidirectional splitter/combiner, within the CATV entry adapter, having a common terminal and a plurality of separate signal component legs to communicate the CATV downstream and upstream signals to and from a plurality of the MoCA enabled subscriber equipment, the second splitter/combiner splitting the active CATV downstream signals at its common terminal into split active CATV downstream signals at each of its separate legs and also combining the active CATV upstream signals at its separate legs into a single signal at its common terminal;

an active-side directional coupler, within the CATV entry adapter, having a input port, a through port, a main leg between its input and through ports, a coupled port and a directional leg between its input and coupled ports to communicate the active CATV downstream and upstream signals to and from the second bidirectional splitter/combiner, wherein the active CATV downstream signals are prevented from passing between the active-side directional coupler through port and the active-side directional coupler coupled port;

a passive-side directional coupler, within the CATV entry adapter, having a input port, a through port, main leg between its input and through ports, a coupled port and a directional leg between its input and coupled ports to communicate the passive CATV downstream and upstream signals to and from the first bidirectional splitter/combiner, wherein the passive CATV downstream signals are prevented from passing between the passive-side directional coupler through port and the passive-side directional coupler coupled port,

wherein;

the common terminal of the first bidirectional splitter/combiner is operatively connected to the entry port;

the separate signal component legs of the second bidirectional splitter/combiner are connected individually to the active ports which are connected to the plurality of the MoCA enabled subscriber equipment;

the main leg of the passive-side directional coupler is operatively connected between the passive port and the first leg of the first bidirectional splitter/combiner, wherein the passive port is connected to the MoCA enabled subscriber equipment;

the main leg of the active-side directional coupler is operatively connected between the input port of the second bidirectional splitter/combiner and the second leg of the first bidirectional splitter/combiner;

the coupled ports of the passive-side and active-side directional couplers are operatively connected together to establish a MoCA bypass path for conducting the MoCA signals between the passive and active ports through the taps legs of both directional couplers, the MoCA signals are isolated from the respective through port of each of the directional couplers; and

a MoCA signal frequency resection filter, within the CATV entry adapter, connected between the common terminal of the first signal splitter/combiner and the CATV entry port to operatively prevent a conduction of the MoCA signals from passing through the first bidirectional splitter/combiner onto the CATV network, but allowing the active CATV upstream signal and the passive CATV downstream and upstream signals to pass without impairment.

2. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 1, wherein the operative connection between the second leg of the first bidirectional splitter/combiner and the common terminal of the second bidirectional splitter/combiner comprises an active CATV signal communication path;

and

the active CATV signal communication path comprises a power-consuming electronic component which conditions CATV signals conducted in the active CATV signal communication path.

3. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 2, wherein

the active CATV signal communication path comprises an ingress noise mitigation circuit operative to suppress upstream ingress noise originating from the MoCA enabled subscriber equipment connected to the active ports.

4. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 2, wherein the active CATV signal communication path further comprises:

an active CATV downstream signal communication path which contains a CATV downstream signal bypass filter which blocks all signals except for the active CATV downstream signals; and

an active CATV upstream signal communication path which contains a CATV upstream signal bypass filter which blocks all signals except for the active CATV upstream signals.

5. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 4, wherein:

the power-consuming electronic component is connected in the active CATV downstream signal communication path; and

the power-consuming electronic component comprises an amplifier.

6. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 1, wherein signals conducted through the main legs of the directional couplers experience less signal attenuation than the signals conducted through the directional legs of the directional couplers.

7. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 6, wherein

the main legs attenuate the signals conducted therethrough by no greater than approximately 2 dB;

and

the directional legs attenuate the signals conducted therethrough by at least 20 dB.

8. A method of using a cable television (CATV) entry adapter having an entry port, a passive port and a plurality of active ports to communicate CATV signals with a CATV network connected to the entry port and subscriber devices connected to the passive and active ports while simultaneously communicating Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) signals between MoCA enabled multimedia devices in a MoCA network connected at the passive and active ports, comprising:

conducting CATV upstream and downstream signals to and from the CATV network at the entry port;

conducting passive CATV downstream and upstream signals through a main leg of a passive-side directional coupler formed internal to the CATV entry adapter, operatively connected between the entry port, through a first bidirectional splitter/combiner formed internal to the CATV entry adapter, and the passive port which is connected to the MoCA enabled multimedia device;

preventing the passive CATV downstream signals from passing between a through port and a coupled port of the passive-side directional coupler;

conducting active CATV downstream and upstream signals through a main leg of an active-side directional coupler formed internal to the CATV entry adapter, operatively connected between the entry port, through the first bidirectional splitter/combiner and a second bidirectional splitter/combiner formed internal to the CATV entry adapter, and the plurality of active ports which are connected to the plurality of the MoCA enabled multimedia devices; and

preventing the active CATV downstream signals from passing between a through port and a coupled port of the active-side directional coupler;

conducting the MoCA signals between the passive and active ports through a MoCA signal bypass path established by connecting together the coupled ports of the passive-side and the active-side directional couplers through both directional legs of the passive-side and active-side directional couplers, wherein the MoCA signals are isolated from the respective through port of each of the directional couplers;

preventing, by a MoCA signal frequency resection filter formed internal to the CATV entry adapter, a conduction of the MoCA signals from leaving the entry port onto the CATV network; and

allowing, by a MoCA signal frequency rejection, the active CATV upstream signal and the passive CATV downstream and upstream signals to pass without impairment onto the CATV network.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, further comprising:

attenuating the signals conducted through the main legs of the directional couplers by a relatively lesser amount; and

attenuating the signals conducted through the directional legs of the directional couplers by a relatively greater amount.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, further comprising:

passing the CATV downstream and upstream signals through an active electronic component to create the active CATV downstream and upstream signals conducted between the entry port and the plurality of active ports.

11. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

passing the passive CATV downstream and upstream signals between the entry port and the passive port through electronic components that do not require a supply of electrical power.

12. A method as defined in claim 8, further comprising:

passing the active CATV signals through separate signal communication paths in upstream and downstream directions between the entry port and the active-side directional coupler.

13. A cable television (CATV) entry adapter having a CATV entry port, a passive port and a plurality of active ports for communicating CATV signals between a CATV network and subscriber equipment and also communicating Multimedia Over Coax Alliance (MoCA) signals between MoCA enabled subscriber equipment connected to the passive and active ports in a subscriber premises MoCA network, the CATV entry adapter comprising:

a housing;

a MoCA signal frequency rejection filter within the housing connected to the entry port to operatively prevent a conduction of the MoCA signals from passing onto the CATV network, but allowing active CATV upstream signal and passive CATV downstream and upstream signals to pass through without impairment; and

a pair of directional couplers within the housing, each directional coupler having a main leg between its input and through ports and a directional leg between its input and coupled ports, the main leg of one directional coupler operatively connected between the MoCA signal frequency rejection filter and the passive port to communicate the passive CATV downstream and upstream signals, the main leg of the other directional coupler operatively connected between the MoCA signal frequency rejection filter and the active ports to communicate the active CATV downstream and upstream signals, and the directional legs of the pair of directional couplers are operatively connected together to establish a MoCA signal bypass path for communicating the MoCA signals between the passive and active ports,

wherein the MoCA signals incident at the coupled port of each of the pair of directional couplers are isolated from the respective through port of each of the pair of directional couplers, and the active and passive CATV downstream signals are prevented from passing between the through port and the coupled port of each respective directional coupler of the pair of directional couplers.

14. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 13, further comprising:

an active electronic component which amplifies or otherwise conditions the CATV signals passing through it, and which is positioned between the entry port and the active ports.

15. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

a CATV signal bypass filter connected in series with the active electronic component; and

wherein;

the MoCA signals communicated between the passive and active ports are entirely communicated over the MoCA signal bypass path and are prevented from being communicated through the active electronic component by the CATV signal bypass filter.

16. A CATV entry adapter as defined in claim 15, wherein the MoCA signals which are communicated through the directional couplers between the passive and active ports incur a greater amount of signal attenuation than do the CATV signals which are communicated through the directional couplers between the entry port and the passive and active ports.