Systems and methods for active taps in cable networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11075472-B2
Application number	US-201916268322-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 5, 2019
Priority date	Feb 5, 2019
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

In various embodiment, the disclosed systems, methods and apparatuses are directed to active taps. In particular, the disclosure is directed to providing an input port of a device to receive a first radio frequency (RF) signal; providing a plurality of output ports of the device to transmit second RF signals based on the first RF signal; coupling a bidirectional amplifier to the input port and at least a portion of the plurality of output ports; and modifying, using the bidirectional amplifier, the magnitude of at least the first RF signal. Further, a controller may be coupled to the cable modem; further the controller may be used to control the bidirectional amplifier or operate, based on instructions received from the cable modem, relays associated with the plurality of output ports of the active tap.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
an input port for receiving a first radio frequency (RF) signal;
a plurality of output ports for transmitting second RF signals based on the first RF signal, the plurality of output ports associated with customer premise equipment;
a bidirectional amplifier electrically coupled to the input port and the plurality of output ports;
a first splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a first output port of the plurality of output ports;
a second splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a second output port of the plurality of output ports; and
a controller configured to activate the second splitter by sending a first instruction to the second splitter and to deactivate the first splitter by sending a second instruction to the first splitter while the second splitter is active,
wherein the bidirectional amplifier is configured to modify a magnitude of at least the first RF signal.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a cable modem including at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
determine one or more signal strength measurements associated with the first RF signal or the second RF signals; and
store the one or more signal strength measurements in the at least one memory.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the cable modem and is further configured to control, based on instructions from the cable modem, the bidirectional amplifier or operate, based on instructions from the cable modem, relays associated with the plurality of output ports.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein when the one or more signal strength measurements are greater than a first threshold, the controller deactivates at least one relay of the relays.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to operate on a frequency band from between approximately 0 MHz to approximately 3 GHz.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the bidirectional amplifier comprises at least one of a pushpin attenuator, a potentiometer, or a variable attenuator.

7. A system comprising:
an input port for receiving a first radio frequency (RF) signal;
a plurality of output ports for transmitting second RF signals based on the first RF signal, the plurality of output ports associated with customer premise equipment; and
a bidirectional amplifier electrically coupled to the input port and at least a portion of the plurality of output ports, wherein the bidirectional amplifier is configured to modify a magnitude of at least the first RF signal;
a first splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a first output port of the plurality of output ports;
a second splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a second output port of the plurality of output ports; and
a controller configured to activate the second splitter by sending a first instruction to the second splitter and to deactivate the first splitter by sending a second instruction to the first splitter while the second splitter is active.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the second RF signals are transmitted over a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network.

9. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a cable modem including at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and
at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
determine one or more signal strength measurements associated with the first RF signal or the second RF signals; and
store the one or more signal strength measurements in the at least one memory.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the cable modem and is further configured to control, based on instructions from the cable modem, the bidirectional amplifier or operate, based on instructions from the cable modem, relays associated with the plurality of output ports.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein when the one or more signal strength measurements are greater than a first threshold, the controller deactivates at least one relay of the relays.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is configured to operate on a frequency band from between approximately 0 MHz to approximately 3 GHz.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the bidirectional amplifier comprises at least one of a pushpin attenuator, a potentiometer, or a variable attenuator.

14. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first RF signal comprises an RF signal that is modulated using non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique.

15. A method, comprising:
receiving, by an input port of a device, a first radio frequency (RF) signal;
transmitting, by a plurality of output ports of the device, second RF signals and third RF signals, the second RF signals and the third RF signals based on the first RF signal, and the plurality of output ports associated with customer premise equipment;
amplifying, by a bidirectional amplifier electronically coupled to the input port and at least a portion of the plurality of output ports, a magnitude of the second RF signals;
splitting, by a first splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a first output port of the plurality of output ports, the first RF signal into the second RF signals;
splitting, by a second splitter electrically coupled to the bidirectional amplifier and a second output port of the plurality of output ports, the first RF signal into the third RF signals;
activating the second splitter, using a controller, by sending a first instruction to the second splitter; and
deactivating the first splitter, using a controller, by sending a second instruction to the first splitter while the second splitter is active.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining, by a cable modem, one or more signal strength measurements associated with the first RF signal or the second RF signals; and
storing the one or more signal strength measurements in at least one memory.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising controlling, via the controller, and based on instructions from the cable modem, the bidirectional amplifier or operating operate, based on instructions received from the cable modem, relays associated with the plurality of output ports.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining that the signal strength measurements are greater than a first threshold, and deactivating, by the controller, at least one relay of the relays.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the device is configured to operate on a frequency band from between approximately 0 MHz to approximately 3 GHz.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising modulating the first RF signal using a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique.

Assignees

• Cox Communications Inc
• Cox Communications Llc

Inventors

• Finkelstein Jeffrey L

Classifications

• H04B17/318 Primary

  Received signal strength · CPC title

• H01R9/0509 Primary

  Tapping connections · CPC title