Network and method for transmitting reverse analog signals by sub-sampling the digital reverse bandwidth

In a communications system including a transmitter for transmitting a digital serial stream, a receiver for receiving the digital serial stream, the receiver comprising:

• a deserializer for receiving the digital serial stream and converting the stream into a digital word;
• an interleaver coupled to the deserializer for interleaving a predetermined number of words between each digital word to create an interleaved digital stream;
• and
• a converter coupled to the interleaver for converting the interleaved digital signal to an analog output signal, the analog output signal including a plurality of aliases of the digital serial stream, one of the plurality of aliases corresponding to the digital serial stream;
• wherein the predetermined number of interleaved words is chosen such that the amplitude of the alias corresponding to the digital serial stream is sufficient to extract signal information included within the digital serial stream.

An HFC communications system for transmitting and receiving signals including information within a predetermined portion of a frequency band, the HFC communications system comprising:

• subscriber equipment for generating and transmitting a first analog signal having a first bandwidth;
• a transmitter coupled to the subscriber equipment for providing a digital serial stream by sampling at a frequency greater than twice the first bandwidth;
• a receiver coupled to the transmitter, the receiver comprising:
• a deserializer for converting the digital serial stream into a digital word;
• an interleaver coupled to the deserializer for interleaving a predetermined number of words between each digital word at a specified clock rate to create an interleaved digital signal;
• and
• a converter for converting the interleaved digital signal to a second analog signal, the second analog signal including a plurality of aliases of the digital serial stream, one of the plurality of aliases corresponding to the predetermined portion of the frequency band containing the digital serial stream;
• wherein the predetermined number of interleaved words is chosen such that the amplitude of the alias corresponding to the predetermined portion of the frequency band containing the digital serial stream is sufficient to extract the information included within the first analog signal.