Wall-Mounted Digital Transport Adapter

A digital transport adapter (DTA) responsive to radio frequency digital content information distribution signals and cable-delivered electrical power conducted by an infrastructure coaxial cable of a signal distribution plant, the DTA is adapted for rigid attachment to a wall by at least one fastener which rigidly connects to the wall, the wall including a wall connection box within which an end of the infrastructure coaxial cable is located, the DTA operatively delivering signals containing the digital content information to an analog television (TV) set and to digital equipment that receives distribution signals from the signal distribution plant and sends upstream signals to the signal distribution plant and to high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) compatible equipment, the DTA comprising:

• a base plate having a structural configuration adapted to connect to the one fastener to rigidly attach the base plate to the wall in a position which overlies the wall connection box:
• an exterior cover which rigidly attaches to the base plate and which overlies the one fastener, the exterior cover defining at least one longitudinal side of the DTA when the base plate is rigidly attached to the wall, the exterior cover and the base plate defining an interior space when the exterior cover is attached to the base plate;
• an infrastructure coaxial cable connector adapted to connect to the infrastructure coaxial cable by which to receive the distribution signals and the cable-delivered electrical power, the infrastructure coaxial cable connector supplying the upstream signals to the infrastructure cable for delivery to the signal distribution plant, the infrastructure coaxial cable connector connected to the base plate in a position to extend into the wall connection box when the base plate is rigidly attached to the wall in the position which overlies the wall connection box, the infrastructure coaxial cable connector also connecting to the end of the infrastructure cable within the wall connection box;
• a divider connected to the infrastructure coaxial cable connector to receive the cable-delivered electrical power and the distribution signals, the divider separating the cable-delivered electrical power and the distribution signals and supplying the cable-delivered electrical power separate from the distribution signals, the divider also conducting the upstream signals to the infrastructure coaxial cable connector;
• a signal splitter connected to receive the distribution signals from the divider, the signal splitter splitting the distribution signals into a first copy and a second copy, the signal splitter also conducting the upstream signals to the divider;
• a pass through coaxial cable connector adapted to connect to the customer equipment, the pass-through coaxial cable connector connected to the signal splitter to receive the first copy of the distribution signals and to supply the first received copy to the connected customer equipment, the pass-through coaxial cable connector also adapted to receive the upstream signals from the digital equipment connected to the second connector and to supply the upstream signals to the signal splitter, the pass-through coaxial cable connector connected to the base plate;
• a power receptacle connected to the base plate, the power receptacle adapted to receive external electrical power;
• a power switching circuit connected to the divider to receive cable-delivered power and connected to the power receptacle to receive external electrical power, the power switching circuit operative to supply the external electrical power to power consuming electronic components of the DTA whenever external electrical power is available at the power receptacle and to supply the cable-delivered power to power the power consuming electronic components of the DTA whenever external electrical power is not available at the power receptacle.
• a central processing unit (CPU)/decoder connected to the signal splitter to receive the second copy of the distribution signals, the CPU/decoder operatively extracting the digital content information from the second copy of the distribution signals and responding to the extracted digital content information to create analog TV signals for use by the analog TV set and to create HDMI signals for use by the HDMI compatible equipment;
• a selection switch having a movable element for operating the selection switch, the movable switch element positioned for movement within an opening in the base plate which is located facing the wall when the base plate is rigidly attached to the wall in the position which overlies the wall connection box to make the movable switch element inaccessible for movement when the base plate is rigidly attached to the wall.
• a modulator for establishing a frequency of the analog TV signals at a selected one of a plurality of different channel frequencies, the modulator connected to the selection switch to select one of the plurality of different analog TV channel frequencies in accordance with the position of the movable switch element in the opening of the base plate;
• a reset switch connected to the base plate in a position to be accessible from the exterior of the DTA, the reset switch is connected to the CPU/decoder to send a signal for reinitiating functionality of the CPU/decoder;
• an analog coaxial cable connector adapted to connect to the analog TV set, the analog coaxial cable connector connected to the base plate, the analog coaxial cable connector connected to the modulator to receive the analog TV signals at the selected channel frequency and to supply the analog TV signals at the selected channel frequency to the connected analog TV set;
• and
• a HDMI connector adapted to connect to the HDMI compatible equipment, the HDMI connector connected to the base plate, the HDMI connector connected to the CPU/decoder to receive the HDMI signals and supply the HDMI signals to the connected HDMI compatible equipment;
• and wherein:
• the divider, signal splitter, power switching circuit, CPU/decoder, selection switch, modulator and reset switch are positioned within the interior space;
• the pass-through and analog coaxial cable connectors and the HDMI connector and the reset switch are each positioned to be accessible at the exterior of the DTA when the exterior cover is attached to the base plate and the base plate is attached to the wall in the position which overlies the wall connection box.