Voice and data transmission over twisted wire pairs

Abstract

A system that provides video signal communication between a source of the video signal and a plurality of units that include destinations of the video signal includes an interface coupled to the source and to telephone lines, each of which serves at least one of the units and carries voice signals to and from one or more telephones coupled to the telephone line at said unit. The interface receives the video signal from the source, and transmits the received video signal onto at least one of the telephone lines in a selected frequency range that is different from frequencies at which the voice signals are carried on that telephone line. This causes the video signal to be coupled to a receiver which is connected to the telephone line at the unit served by that line and is adapted to recover the video signal from the telephone line and apply it to one or more of the destinations at the unit. The source is a cable (e.g., electrical or fiber optic) that is linked to the interface and that carries a plurality of video signals. The destinations are, e.g., televisions. The units can be residences (such as individual houses or apartments in an apartment building) or offices in an office building.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.