Network termination and methods for use therewith

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9967002-B2
Application number	US-201615095238-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2016
Priority date	Jun 3, 2015
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a network termination includes a downstream channel modulator modulates downstream data into downstream channel signals to convey the downstream data via a guided electromagnetic wave that is bound to a transmission medium of a guided wave communication system. A host interface sends the downstream channel signals to the guided wave communication system and receives upstream channel signals corresponding to upstream frequency channels from the guided wave communication system. An upstream channel demodulator demodulates upstream channel signals into upstream data. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A network termination comprising:
a first interface configured to receive first data from a communication network and to send second data to the communication network;
a channel modulator configured to modulate, by a first physical layer processing, the first data into first channel signals, the first physical layer processing formatting the first channel signals in accordance with a wireless standard communication protocol that is compatible with direct wireless connectivity to wireless devices via antennas of a distributed antenna system without requiring either an analog to digital conversion or a digital to analog conversion by a plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system, the formatting of the first channel signals further corresponding to first frequency channels of a guided wave communication system enabling the plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system to receive and repeat a first guided electromagnetic wave conveying the first data along a surface of a transmission medium;
a second interface, coupled to a fiber optic link, configured to send the first channel signals formatted in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol over the fiber optic link to the guided wave communication system and to receive second channel signals formatted in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol via the fiber optic link, the second channel signals corresponding to second frequency channels from the guided wave communication system conveyed via a second guided electromagnetic wave; and
a channel demodulator configured to demodulate, by a second physical layer processing, the second channel signals in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol into the second data.

2. The network termination of claim 1 wherein the channel modulator modulates the first channel signals to convey selected ones of the first channel signals to each of the plurality of repeaters to facilitate wireless transmissions to the wireless devices via the antennas of the distributed antenna system and wherein the plurality of repeaters each further generates selected ones of the second channel signals from wireless receptions from the wireless devices via the antennas of the distributed antenna system.

3. The network termination of claim 2 wherein the transmission medium includes a dielectric core surrounded by a cladding and the first guided electromagnetic wave is bound to the dielectric core.

4. The network termination of claim 3 wherein the first guided electromagnetic wave is bound to the transmission medium and propagates along the transmission medium with a first portion of the first guided electromagnetic wave propagating within the dielectric core and a second portion of the first guided electromagnetic wave propagating inside the cladding.

5. The network termination of claim 3 wherein the transmission medium further includes a jacket that surrounds the cladding.

6. The network termination of claim 1 wherein a first subset of the first channel signals is modulated in accordance with a first standard protocol and a second subset of the first channel signals is modulated in accordance with a second standard protocol that differs from the first standard protocol.

7. The network termination of claim 1 wherein a first subset of the second channel signals is demodulated in accordance with a first standard protocol and a second subset of the second channel signals is demodulated in accordance with a second standard protocol that differs from the first standard protocol.

8. The network termination of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the second channel signals and at least a portion of the first channel signals are formatted in accordance with a data over cable system interface specification (DOCSIS) protocol.

9. The network termination of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the second channel signals and at least a portion of the first channel signals are formatted in accordance with a fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless protocol.

10. A method comprising:
receiving first data from a communication network;
modulating, by a first physical layer processing, the first data into first channel signals, the first physical layer processing formatting the first channel signals in accordance with a wireless standard communication protocol that is compatible with direct wireless connectivity to wireless devices via antennas of a distributed antenna system without requiring either an analog to digital conversion or a digital to analog conversion by a plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system, the formatting of the first channel signals further corresponding to first frequency channels of a guided wave communication system enabling the plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system to receive and repeat a first guided electromagnetic wave conveying the first data that is bound to a transmission medium of the guided wave communication system;
sending the first channel signals formatted in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol to the guided wave communication system via a wired connection;
receiving second channel signals formatted in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol over the wired connection from the guided wave communication system via a second guided electromagnetic wave;
demodulating, by a second physical layer processing, the second channel signals in accordance with the wireless standard communication protocol into second data; and
sending the second data to the communication network.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the transmission medium includes a dielectric core surrounded by a cladding and the first guided electromagnetic wave is guided by the dielectric core.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first guided electromagnetic wave is bound to the transmission medium and propagates along the transmission medium with a first portion of the first guided electromagnetic wave propagating within the dielectric core and a second portion of the first guided electromagnetic wave propagating inside the cladding.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the transmission medium further includes a jacket that surrounds the cladding.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein a first subset of the first channel signals is modulated in accordance with a first standard protocol and a second subset of the first channel signals is modulated in accordance with a second standard protocol that differs from the first standard protocol.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein at least a portion of the second channel signals and at least a portion of the first channel signals are formatted in accordance with a data over cable system interface specification protocol or a fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless protocol.

16. A network termination comprising:
a channel modulator configured to modulate, by a first physical layer processing, first data into first channel signals, the first physical layer processing formatting the first channel signals in accordance with a wireless standard communication protocol that is compatible with direct wireless connectivity to wireless devices via antennas of a distributed antenna system without requiring either an analog to digital conversion or a digital to analog conversion by a plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system, the formatting of the first channel signals further enabling the plurality of repeaters of the distributed antenna system to receive and repeat a guided electromagnetic wave conveying the first data that is bound to a

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp
• At&T Intellectual I Lp

Inventors

• Bennett Robert
• Henry Paul Shala
• Gerszberg Irwin
• Barzegar Farhad
• Barnickel Donald J
• Willis Iii Thomas M

Classifications

• H02J13/1311

  using the power network as support for the transmission · CPC title

• H02J13/1323

  using optical fibres · CPC title

• H04B3/56

  Circuits for coupling, blocking, or by-passing of signals · CPC title

• H04L12/2854

  Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks · CPC title

• Y04S40/121

  using the power network as support for the transmission · CPC title