Iterative mapping methods for ingress mitigation in cable communication systems

A method for facilitating a reduction of ingress in at least a first neighborhood node of a cable communication system, the cable communication system comprising a headend coupled to the first neighborhood node, the first neighborhood node comprising a first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, and a plurality of first subscriber service drops coupled to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, to convey to the headend at least first upstream information from a plurality of first subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth, the method comprising:

• A) directing a mobile broadcast apparatus equipped with a transmitter along a first neighborhood node drive path proximate to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant;
• B) during A), broadcasting from the transmitter a test signal at a plurality of locations distributed along at least a substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, the test signal having at least one test signal frequency falling within the upstream path bandwidth;
• C) during A), electronically recording first geographic information corresponding to respective positions of the mobile broadcast apparatus along at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path so as to generate a first record of the first geographic information;
• D) during A) and throughout traversing at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, recording, via an analyzer at the headend, a plurality of signal amplitudes at the test signal frequency so as to generate a second record, the plurality of signal amplitudes representing a strength of a received upstream test signal as a function of time, based on B) and test signal ingress of the test signal into at least one fault in at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• E) based on the first record generated in C) and the second record generated in D), electronically generating a first neighborhood node ingress map so as to illustrate the test signal ingress of the test signal into the at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the plurality of first subscriber premises, wherein:
• the first neighborhood node ingress map comprises a two-dimensional heat map;
• the two-dimensional heat map comprises a color code including a plurality of colors;
• and
• respective colors of the plurality of colors represent different signal amplitudes of the plurality of signal amplitudes;
• and
• F) after a first remediation of the at least one fault based on E), repeating A), B), C), D) and E) at least once to generate at least a second iteration of the first neighborhood node ingress map.

A method for facilitating a reduction of ingress in at least a first neighborhood node of a cable communication system, the cable communication system comprising a headend coupled to the first neighborhood node, the first neighborhood node comprising a first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, and a plurality of first subscriber service drops coupled to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, to convey to the headend at least first upstream information from a plurality of first subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth, the method comprising:

• A) directing a mobile broadcast apparatus equipped with a transmitter along a first neighborhood node drive path proximate to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant;
• B) during A), broadcasting from the transmitter a test signal at a plurality of locations distributed along at least a substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, the test signal having at least one test signal frequency falling within the upstream path bandwidth;
• C) during A), electronically recording first geographic information corresponding to respective positions of the mobile broadcast apparatus along at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path so as to generate a first record of the first geographic information;
• D) during A) and throughout traversing at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, recording, via an analyzer at the headend, a plurality of signal amplitudes at the test signal frequency so as to generate a second record, the plurality of signal amplitudes representing a strength of a received upstream test signal as a function of time, based on B) and test signal ingress of the test signal into at least one of at least one hardline plant-related fault in the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, and at least one subscriber-related fault in at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops and/or the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• E) based on the first record generated in C) and the second record generated in D), electronically generating a first neighborhood node ingress map including a representation of the test signal ingress of the test signal into the at least one of the at least one hardline plant-related fault and the at least one subscriber-related fault, wherein the representation includes different visual codes for the at least one subscriber-related fault and the at least one hardline plant-related fault, respectively;
• and
• F) after a first remediation of the at least one of the at least one hardline plant-related fault and the at least one subscriber-related fault based on E), repeating A), B), C), D) and E) at least once to generate at least a second iteration of the first neighborhood node ingress map.

A method for facilitating a reduction of ingress in at least a first neighborhood node of a cable communication system, the cable communication system comprising a headend coupled to the first neighborhood node, the first neighborhood node comprising a first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, and a plurality of first subscriber service drops coupled to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, to convey to the headend at least first upstream information from a plurality of first subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth, the method comprising:

• A) directing a mobile broadcast apparatus equipped with a transmitter along a first neighborhood node drive path proximate to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant;
• B) during A), broadcasting from the transmitter a test signal at a plurality of locations distributed along at least a substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, the test signal having at least one test signal frequency falling within the upstream path bandwidth;
• C) during A), electronically recording first geographic information corresponding to respective positions of the mobile broadcast apparatus along at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path so as to generate a first record of the first geographic information;
• D) during A) and throughout traversing at least the substantial portion of the first neighborhood node drive path, recording, via an analyzer at the headend, a plurality of signal amplitudes at the test signal frequency so as to generate a second record, the plurality of signal amplitudes representing a strength of a received upstream test signal as a function of time, based on B) and test signal ingress of the test signal into at least one fault in at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• E) based on the first record generated in C) and the second record generated in D), electronically generating a first neighborhood node ingress map so as to illustrate the test signal ingress of the test signal into the at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the plurality of first subscriber premises, wherein the first neighborhood node ingress map includes a graphical representation of a cable facilities map showing at least a portion of an infrastructure of the first neighborhood node;
• and
• F) after a first remediation of the at least one fault based on E), repeating A), B), C), D) and E) at least once to generate at least a second iteration of the first neighborhood node ingress map.