Apparatus and method for transmitting digital data over various communication media

• US 8,724,526 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2008
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Satius Holding, Inc. (Satius, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Satius Holding, Inc. (Satius, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reinert, Chris, Jarels, John E., Abraham, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Charles C
• Assistant Examiner(s): KAMARA, MOHAMED A
• Application Number:
  US12/142,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20080247447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,154 Days
• Field of Search: 370/208, 370/430, 370/310, 370338-339, 370222-223, 370/281, 370/295, 340/310.11, 340/825.25, 340/870.07, 455/550.1, 455/402, 455/11.1, 455 14- 15, 375/222, 375/271
• US Class Current: 370/295
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5408 using protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5416 by adding signals to the wave form of the power source
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/545 Audio/video application, e.g. interphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/547 via DC power distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0266 Arrangements for providing Galvanic isolation, e.g. by means of magnetic or capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/10 Frequency-modulated carrier systems, i.e. using frequency-shift keying H04L27/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/18 Phase-modulated carrier systems, i.e. using phase-shift keying H04L27/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/34 Amplitude- and phase-modulated carrier systems, e.g. quadrature-amplitude modulated carrier systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/023 Multiplexing of multicarrier modulation signals multicarrier modulation H04L27/2601

Abstract

A system is described for transmitting a communication signal between power lines. The system includes: a transmitter which outputs an OFDM or an FM-OFDM signal at a radio frequency greater than 200 MHz; a first power line which receives the OFDM or the FM-OFDM signal from the transmitter and radiates the OFDM or the FM-OFDM signal from a conductor of the first power line; a second power line which wirelessly receives, by a conductor of the second power line, the OFDM or the FM-OFDM signal radiated from the first power line, and a receiver connected to the second power line which receives the OFDM or the FM-OFDM signal from the second power line.

Claims

1. A system for wirelessly transmitting a communication signal between power delivery lines comprising:

a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a combined FM-DSP signal;

a transmitter which receives the FM-DSP signal from the FM device and outputs the FM-DSP signal at a radio frequency;

a first power delivery line which receives the FM-DSP signal from the transmitter and radiates the FM-DSP signal from a conductor of the first power delivery line;

a second power delivery line which wirelessly receives, by a conductor of the second power delivery line, the FM-DSP signal radiated from the first power delivery line, and

a receiver connected to the second power delivery line which receives the FM-DSP signal from the second power delivery line via a coupler;

said coupler being either a capacitive or a resin/dielectric-filled type of coupler which matches the characteristic impedance of the second power delivery line to the characteristic impedance of the receiver.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the FM-DSP signal output to the power delivery line has a carrier frequency greater than 200 Megahertz.

2. A system for transmitting and receiving a communication signal using a conductor of a power delivery line comprising:

a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a combined first FM-DSP signal;

a first transmitter/receiver connected to the power delivery line via a coupler;

said first transmitter/receiver configured to output the first FM-DSP signal at the power delivery line and receive a second FM-DSP signal from the power delivery line, the power delivery line having a conductor configured to radiate the first FM-DSP signal received from the first transmitter and to wirelessly receive the second FM-DSP signal;

said coupler being a capacitive or a resin/dielectric-filled type of coupler which matches the characteristic impedance of the power delivery line to the characteristic impedance of the first transmitter/receiver; and

a second transmitter/receiver configured to wirelessly transmit the second FM-DSP signal to the power delivery line and to wirelessly receive the first FM-DSP from the power delivery line.

3. The system of claim 2, further including an Internet backbone gateway connected to the first transmitter/receiver.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the second transmitter/receiver provides a wireless output and accepts an input from a computer or a television.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the second transmitter/receiver is a wireless communication device.

6. The system of claim 2, further including a third transmitter/receiver, the third transmitter/receiver configured to wirelessly transmit a third FM-DSP signal to the power delivery line and to wirelessly receive the first FM-DSP from the power line, wherein the first transmitter/receiver further receives the third FM-DSP signal and wherein the second and third FM-DSP signals are multiplexed using the frequency division multiplexing and/or time division multiplexing.

18. The system of claim 2, wherein the FM-DSP signal output to the power delivery line has a carrier frequency greater than 200 Megahertz.

7. A system for communication over a power delivery line comprising:

a master modem including a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a first plurality of combined FM-DSP signals, the master modem connected to the power delivery line and configured to transmit the first plurality of FM-DSP signals over the power delivery line, each of the FM-DSP signals is transmitted within one distinct transmit frequency band, the master modem further configured to receive a second plurality of FM-DSP signals from the power delivery line, each of the second plurality of FM-DSP signals is received on one of a plurality of distinct receive frequency bands, pairs of the transmit and receive frequency bands respectively defining operating frequencies of sub-networks;

a plurality of slave modems connected to the power delivery line, each being configured to operate in one of a plurality of sub-networks for receiving a corresponding FM-DSP signal from the master modem in a corresponding transmit frequency band, the slave modems further configured to transmit an FM-DSP signal to the master modem in a corresponding receive frequency band, wherein the slave modems in each sub-network transmit a time division multiplexed signal.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one slave modem is wirelessly connected to the power delivery line.

9. A system for wirelessly transmitting a communication signal between power delivery lines comprising:

a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a combined FM-DSP signal;

a transmitter which outputs the FM-DSP signal at a radio frequency;

a first power delivery line which receives the FM-DSP signal from the transmitter and radiates the FM-DSP signal from a conductor of the first power delivery line;

a second power delivery line which wirelessly receives, by a conductor of the second power delivery line, the FM-DSP signal radiated from the first power delivery line, and

a receiver connected to the second power delivery line which receives the FM-DSP signal from the second power delivery line.

19. The system of claim 9, wherein the transmitter outputs the FM-DSP at a carrier frequency greater than 200 Megahertz.

10. A system for wirelessly transmitting and receiving a communication signal using a conductor of a power delivery line comprising:

a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a combined first FM-DSP signal;

a first transmitter/receiver connected to the power delivery line, said first transmitter/receiver configured to output the first FM-DSP signal at the power delivery line and receive a second FM-DSP signal from the power delivery line, the power delivery line having a conductor configured to radiate the first FM-DSP signal received from the first transmitter and to wirelessly receive the second FM-DSP signal; and

a second transmitter/receiver configured to wirelessly transmit the second FM-DSP signal to the power delivery line and to wirelessly receive the first FM-DSP from the power delivery line.

11. The system of claim 10, further including an Internet backbone gateway connected to the first transmitter/receiver.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the second transmitter/receiver provides a wireless output and accepts an input from a computer or a television.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the second transmitter/receiver is a wireless communication device.

14. The system of claim 10, further including a third transmitter/receiver, the third transmitter/receiver configured to wirelessly transmit a third FM-DSP signal to the power delivery line and to wirelessly receive the first FM-DSP from a power line, wherein the first transmitter/receiver further receives the third FM-DSP signal and wherein the second and third FM-DSP signals are multiplexed using the frequency division multiplexing and/or time division multiplexing.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein the first transmitter/receiver is configured to output the FM-DSP signal to the power delivery line at a carrier frequency greater than 200 Megahertz.

15. A system for communication over a power delivery line comprising:

a master modem including a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) modulator having an output coupled to an input of a Frequency Modulator (FM) device, the DSP modulator outputting a DSP signal to the FM device, the FM device receiving the DSP signal and frequency modulating the DSP signal to generate a first plurality of combined FM-DSP signals, the master modem connected to the power delivery line and configured to transmit the first plurality of FM-DSP signals on a respective plurality of distinct transmit frequency bands and to receive a second plurality of FM-DSP signals from the power delivery line, each of the second plurality of FM-DSP signals are received on one of a plurality of distinct receive frequency bands, pairs of the transmit and receive frequency bands corresponding to operating frequencies of a sub-network;

a plurality of slave modems connected to the power delivery line, each slave modem being configured to operate in one of the plurality of sub-networks and adapted to receive a corresponding FM-DSP signal from the master modem in a corresponding transmit frequency band and to transmit an FM-DSP signal to the master modem in a corresponding receive frequency band, wherein the slave modems in each sub-network transmit a time division multiplexed signal.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one slave modem is wirelessly connected to the power delivery line.