Network architecture for intelligent network elements
First Claim
1. A communications system comprising:
- a plurality of communications devices for supporting additional data bandwidth to end users including;
a coaxial input port for receiving a signal having legacy signal components and high-frequency signal components of data at frequencies greater than 860 MHz;
one or more output ports for combining high-frequency signal components with legacy signal components and transmitting the combined signal over a coaxial cable;
a legacy component passthrough electrically coupled to the coaxial input port and to the output ports and configured to separate out the high-frequency signal components from the signal and to forward the legacy signal components to the output ports; and
a high-frequency signal component processor having;
a modem in electrical communication with the input port and at least one of the output ports, the modem configured to convert incoming high-frequency signal components into packets of data and outgoing packets of data into high-frequency signal components;
a processor in communication with the modem for determining an intended destination of the data and for selecting one of the output ports based on the determined intended destination of the data; and
a switch responsive to the processor for directing data to the selected output port; and
a plurality of coaxial cable connections coupling the output ports of communication devices to input ports of other communications devices.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Hybrid fiber/coax networks employ the existing cable plant used for cable TV and transmit data signals in a frequency bandwidth above that which is used for cable TV. The present system used point-to-point data links between intelligent network elements located in the feeder/distribution network to provide reliable, secure, bi-directional broadband access. Digital signals are terminated at the intelligent network elements, switched and regenerated for transmission across additional upstream or downstream data links as needed to connect a home to a headend or router. The intelligent network elements can be co-located with or replace the standard network elements. A tree-and-branch network architecture is therefore established in which each intelligent network element is assigned a routing ID employed in the point-to-point transmissions while leaving legacy analog signals unimpeded. In this manner, the data links are made over relatively short runs of coax cable, which can provide greater bandwidth.
119 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A communications system comprising:
a plurality of communications devices for supporting additional data bandwidth to end users including;
a coaxial input port for receiving a signal having legacy signal components and high-frequency signal components of data at frequencies greater than 860 MHz;
one or more output ports for combining high-frequency signal components with legacy signal components and transmitting the combined signal over a coaxial cable;
a legacy component passthrough electrically coupled to the coaxial input port and to the output ports and configured to separate out the high-frequency signal components from the signal and to forward the legacy signal components to the output ports; and
a high-frequency signal component processor having;
a modem in electrical communication with the input port and at least one of the output ports, the modem configured to convert incoming high-frequency signal components into packets of data and outgoing packets of data into high-frequency signal components;
a processor in communication with the modem for determining an intended destination of the data and for selecting one of the output ports based on the determined intended destination of the data; and
a switch responsive to the processor for directing data to the selected output port; and
a plurality of coaxial cable connections coupling the output ports of communication devices to input ports of other communications devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of transmitting data over a coaxial cable network comprising:
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sending to a communications device over the coaxial cable network a signal having legacy signal components and high-frequency signal components of data at frequencies over 860 MHz;
receiving at the communications device the signal;
separate out the high frequency signal components and forwarding the legacy signal components to a set of communications devices;
determining the intended destinations of the high-frequency signal components of the data;
switching high-frequency signal components of the data to a subset of the set of communications devices based on the determined intended destinations wherein the switching is based at least in part on priority level queuing. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification