10 Gbps Coaxial Cable Networking System

A low loss splitter having:

• a) an N-way signal splitter having an input and a plurality of outputs, wherein N is an integer number in the range from 2 through 32;
• b) a first low pass filter for receiving a signal from a coaxial cable for delivery to the input of the N-way signal splitter;
• c) a plurality of additional low pass filters for receiving signals from respective outputs of the N-way signal splitter and providing respective signal outputs from the low loss splitter for connection to respective coaxial cable output lines;
• and
• d) a plurality of high pass filters, each between one of the signal outputs of the low loss splitter and a common junction, each high pass filter having non-overlapping passband with a corresponding low pass filter.

A low loss splitter comprising:

• a) an N-way signal splitter having an input for receiving a signal from a coaxial cable and a plurality of outputs, wherein N is an integer number in the range from 2 through 32;
• b) a plurality of low pass filters for receiving signals from respective outputs of the N-way signal splitter and providing respective signal outputs from the N-way signal splitter for connection to respective coaxial cable output lines;
• and
• c) and a plurality of high pass filters between the respective signal outputs from the N-way signal splitter, each high pass filter having non-overlapping passband with each respective low pass filter.

A low loss splitter having:

• a) an N-way signal splitter having an input and a plurality of outputs, wherein N is an integer number in the range from 2 through 32;
• b) a first low pass filter for receiving a signal from a coaxial cable for delivery to the input of the N-way signal splitter;
• c) a plurality of additional low pass filters for receiving signals from respective outputs of the N-way signal splitter and providing respective signal outputs from the low loss splitter for connection to respective coaxial cable output lines;
• and
• d) a plurality of band pass filters, each between one of the signal outputs of the low loss splitter and a common junction, each band pass filter having non-overlapping passband with a corresponding low pass filter.

A low loss splitter comprising:

• a) an N-way signal splitter having an input for receiving a signal from a coaxial cable and a plurality of outputs, wherein N is an integer number in the range from 2 through 32;
• b) a plurality of low pass filters for receiving signals from respective outputs of the N-way signal splitter and providing respective signal outputs from the N-way signal splitter for connection to respective coaxial cable output lines;
• and
• c) and a plurality of band pass filters between the respective signal outputs from the N-way signal splitter, each band pass filter having non-overlapping passband with each respective low pass filter.

A coaxial cable network, comprising:

• a) a network entry point for connection to pass signals to and from an external coax plant;
• b) a top-level signal splitter, having a signal input port and a plurality of signal output ports;
• c) an active node for receiving and sending the signals to and from the network entry point at a first frequency, to receive signals from coaxial cable network nodes at the first frequency through the top-level splitter, and to send amplified signals to the network nodes at a second frequency through the top-level splitter;
• and
• d) a plurality of lower level signal splitters, each having an input connected to receive signals from a respective signal output port of the top-level signal splitter, and each having a plurality of signal output ports for connection to respective network nodes.

A coaxial cable network, comprising:

• a) a network entry point for connection to pass signals to and from an external coax plant;
• b) a top-level signal splitter, having a signal input port and a plurality of signal output ports;
• c) an active node for receiving and sending the signals to and from the network entry point, to receive signals from coaxial cable network nodes through the top-level splitter, and to transmit repeated signals to the network nodes through the top-level splitter and to the network entry point;
• and
• d) a plurality of lower level signal splitters, each having an input connected to receive signals from a respective signal output port of the top-level signal splitter, and each having a plurality of signal output ports for connection to respective network nodes.

A method of configuring a coaxial cable network, comprising:

• a) providing a top-level signal splitter having an input port connected to receive a signal from a network entry point and having a plurality of output ports;
• b) providing a plurality of lower level signal splitters, each having an input port connected to receive a signal from a respective one of the plurality of the output ports of the top-level signal splitter, and each having a plurality of output ports;
• and
• c) configuring said coaxial cable network such that a path loss along a path that includes said top-level signal splitter is less than about 70 dB at signal frequencies above about 2 GHz.