Claims
- 1. A client controller comprising:
a modulator to modulate information streams over selected physical frequency bands on a single wiring infrastructure; a demodulator to demodulate information streams from the selected physical frequency bands on the single wiring infrastructure; a connection port to attach a client device; and an internal processor to provide intelligence to the client controller.
- 2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the single line comprises at least one of telephone wire, a local area network wire, and a power supply wire.
- 3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the single wiring infrastructure comprises CATV cable and wherein the CATV cable is coupled to a video server at a CATV head-end.
- 4. The controller of claim 3, wherein the internal processor can be programmed remotely from the CATV head-end.
- 5. The controller of claim 1, wherein the client device comprises a video conferencing station.
- 6. The controller of claim 1, further comprising additional connection ports to attach at least one of a camera, a video source, a microphone, a computer, a display device, and a television;
- 7. The controller of claim 1, wherein the physical frequency bands comprise logical information channels.
- 8. The controller of claim 1, wherein the information streams comprise at least one of computer data, television data, and video conferencing data.
- 9. The controller of claim 1, further comprising data compression circuitry to compress the information streams before being modulated.
- 10. The controller of claim 1, further comprising a digital to analog converter to convert the information stream to an analog signal before being modulated.
- 11. The controller of claim 1, wherein the selected physical frequency band for telephone information is a baseband frequency band and the selected frequency band for a video channel is a broadband frequency band.
- 12. The controller of claim 1, wherein the modulator shifts video information streams to a higher frequency broadband frequency band.
- 13. A method comprising:
modulating information streams over selected physical frequency bands on a single wiring infrastructure; demodulating information streams from the selected physical frequency bands on the single wiring infrastructure; and communicating the information streams through a connection port to a client device.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the single wiring infrastructure comprises CATV cable and wherein the CATV cable is coupled to a video server at a CATV head-end.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the information streams comprise at least one of computer data, television data, and video conferencing data.
- 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising compressing the information streams before modulating.
- 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising converting an information stream to an analog signal before modulating.
- 18. The method of claim 13, wherein modulating comprising shifting video information streams to a higher frequency broadband frequency band.
- 19. A head-end controller comprising:
a plurality of inputs coupled to a single wiring infrastructure; modulator circuitry for each input to modulate respective data and video signals into the single wiring infrastructure; demodulator circuitry for each input to demodulate respective data and video signals from the single wiring infrastructure; and a fan-in multiplexor to couple the data signals to a data network hub, and to couple the video signals to a video gateway.
- 20. The controller of claim 19, wherein the data and video signals comprise computer data, video conferencing data and TV data signals and wherein the fan-in multiplexor couples the computer data to a network hub, couples the video conferencing data to a WAN gateway, and couples the TV data signals to a TV switch.
- 21. The controller of claim 19, wherein the single wiring infrastructure comprises a CATV infrastructure and wherein the TV switch is at a CATV head-end
- 22. The controller of claim 19, wherein the single wiring infrastructure comprises a CATV infrastructure and wherein the fan-in multiplexer resides within a video server at the CATV head-end so that the video server serves a network neighborhood served by a CATV provider residing at the CATV head-end.
- 23. The controller of claim 19, wherein when a physical channel on the single wiring infrastructure is selected to serve a video-conference originating from a particular subscriber, a video server connects that physical channel to a channel between the video server and the wiring infrastructure head end for video-conferencing.
- 24. The controller of claim 19, wherein the data and video signals comprise telephone information and wherein the modulator modulates the telephone information to a baseband frequency band and modulates video signals to a broadband frequency band.
- 25. The controller of claim 19, wherein the modulator shifts video signals to a higher frequency broadband frequency band.
- 26. A method comprising:
modulating respective data and video signals received at multiple inputs into a single wiring infrastructure; demodulating respective data and video signals from multiple inputs of the single wiring infrastructure; coupling the data signals to a data network hub; and coupling the video signals to a video gateway.
- 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the data and video signals comprise computer data, video conferencing data and TV data signals and wherein a fan-in multiplexor couples the computer data to a network hub, couples the video conferencing data to a WAN gateway, and couples the TV data signals to a TV switch.
- 28. The method of claim 26, wherein when a physical channel on the single wiring infrastructure is selected to serve a video-conference originating from a particular subscriber, connecting that physical channel to a channel between the video server and a wiring infrastructure head end for video-conferencing.
- 29. The method of claim 26, wherein modulating the video signals comprises modulating video signals to a broadband frequency band, and wherein the data and video signals comprise telephone information, the method further comprising modulating the telephone information to a baseband frequency band.
- 30. The method of claim 26, wherein modulating comprises shifting video signals to a higher frequency broadband frequency band.
- 31. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver to receive outgoing signals; a processor to determine which signals are digital signals and which signals are analog signals; a digital to analog converter to convert signals determined to be digital signals to analog signals; a modulator to modulate each of the analog signals to a unique carrier frequency; and a multiplexor to multiplex the modulated analog signals onto a single wire for transmission to a remote site.
- 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the outgoing signals comprise video and telephone signals.
- 33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the outgoing signals comprise network data signals.
- 34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the single wire comprises telephone wiring.
- 35. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the single wire comprises cable television wiring.
- 36. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a filter to filter away harmonics in each of the modulated analog signals which do not belong in the frequency range of the analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency.
- 37. A method comprising:
receiving outgoing signals; determining which signals are digital signals and which signals are analog signals; converting signals determined to be digital signals to analog signals; modulating each of the analog signals to a unique carrier frequency; and multiplexing the modulated analog signals onto a single wire for transmission to a remote site.
- 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the outgoing signals comprise video and telephone signals.
- 39. The method of claim 37, wherein the outgoing signals comprise network data signals.
- 40. The method of claim 37, wherein the single wire comprises telephone wiring.
- 41. The method of claim 37, wherein the single wire comprises cable television wiring.
- 42. The method of claim 37, further comprising filtering away harmonics in each of the modulated analog signals which do not belong in the frequency range of the analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency.
- 43. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver to receive multiplexed analog signals on a single wire; a filter to filter incoming modulated analog signals to isolate carrier frequency bands of each of the modulated analog signals; a demodulator to demodulate each of the modulated analog signals using the frequency of the modulated analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency; a processor to determine which of the demodulated analog signals are to be processed digitally; and an analog to digital converter to convert the analog signals determined to be processed digitally to digital signals.
- 44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the outgoing signals comprise video and telephone signals.
- 45. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the outgoing signals comprise network data signals.
- 46. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the single wire comprises telephone wiring.
- 47. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the single wire comprises cable television wiring.
- 48. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising filtering away harmonics in each of the demodulated analog signals which do not belong in the frequency range of the analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency before converting.
- 49. A method comprising:
receiving multiplexed analog signals on a single wire; filtering incoming modulated analog signals to isolate carrier frequency bands of each of the modulated analog signals; demodulating each of the modulated analog signals using the frequency of the modulated analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency; determining which of the demodulated analog signals are to be processed digitally; and converting the analog signals determined to be processed digitally to digital signals.
- 50. The method of claim 49, wherein the outgoing signals comprise video and telephone signals.
- 51. The method of claim 49, wherein the outgoing signals comprise network data signals.
- 52. The method of claim 49, wherein the single wire comprises telephone wiring.
- 53. The method of claim 49, wherein the single wire comprises cable television wiring.
- 54. The method of claim 49, further comprising filtering away harmonics in each of the demodulated analog signals which do not belong in the frequency range of the analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency before converting.
- 55. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
modulating information streams over selected physical frequency bands on a single wiring infrastructure; demodulating information streams from the selected physical frequency bands on the single wiring infrastructure; and communicating the information streams through a connection port to a client device.
- 56. The article of claim 55, wherein the information streams comprise at least one of computer data, television data, and video conferencing data.
- 57. The method of claim 55, further comprising data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising converting an information stream to an analog signal before modulating.
- 58. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
modulating respective data and video signals received at multiple inputs into a single wiring infrastructure; demodulating respective data and video signals from multiple inputs of the single wiring infrastructure; coupling the data signals to a data network hub; and coupling the video signals to a video gateway.
- 59. The article of claim 58, wherein modulating the video signals comprises modulating video signals to a broadband frequency band, and wherein the data and video signals comprise telephone information, the method further comprising data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising modulating the telephone information to a baseband frequency band.
- 60. The article of claim 58, wherein modulating comprises shifting video signals to a higher frequency broadband frequency band.
- 61. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
receiving outgoing signals; determining which signals are digital signals and which signals are analog signals; converting signals determined to be digital signals to analog signals; modulating each of the analog signals to a unique carrier frequency; and multiplexing the modulated analog signals onto a single wire for transmission to a remote site.
- 62. The article of claim 61, wherein the single wire comprises telephone wiring.
- 63. The article of claim 62, wherein the single wire comprises cable television wiring.
- 64. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
receiving multiplexed analog signals on a single wire; filtering incoming modulated analog signals to isolate carrier frequency bands of each of the modulated analog signals; demodulating each of the modulated analog signals using the frequency of the modulated analog signal's corresponding carrier frequency; determining which of the demodulated analog signals are to be processed digitally; and converting the analog signals determined to be processed digitally to digital signals.
- 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the outgoing signals comprise video and telephone signals.
- 66. The method of claim 64, wherein the outgoing signals comprise network data signals.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 09/619,522 filed Jul. 19, 2000 which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 08/576,080, filed Dec. 21, 1995, the priority which is hereby claimed.
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09619522 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
10860728 |
Jun 2004 |
US |
Parent |
08576080 |
Dec 1995 |
US |
Child |
09619522 |
Jul 2000 |
US |