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US 6,637,030 B1Granted
Broadband cable television and computer network
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorDean A. Klein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A communication system is provided which may comprise an upstream source of broadband communications and a downstream local area network, wherein the upstream source of broadband communications is coupled to the downstream local area network through a notch filter. In some embodiments, the upstream source of broadband communications may be a cable television service provider, and the local area computer network may use existing cable television wiring as communication cable.
Claims17
A method of communicating data between computing devices comprising:
- receiving a video signal from headend transmission equipment of a cable television transmission system;
- filtering out a portion of said video signal in the range of approximately 50 MHz to approximately 750 MHz to produce a filtered signal;
- coupling said filtered signal to unlooped cable television wiring;
- coupling a plurality of personal computers to said cable television wiring, wherein each of at least some of said personal computers comprises a receiver configured to receive video signals from said headend transmission equipment, a transmitter for forwarding signals to said headend transmission equipment, and a modem configured to receive and transmit broadband signals between said personal computers;
- communicating messages between different ones of said personal computers via said modem by modulating a carrier having a frequency within said filtered out portion;
- and
- forwarding signals from at least one of said personal computers to said cable television transmission system using a carrier frequency in the range of approximately 0 MHz to approximately 50 MHz.
4 more elements
A method of making a local-area-network, said local-area-network comprising a first personal computer and a second personal computer, the method comprising:
- receiving a video signal from headend transmission equipment of a cable television distribution system, said video signal comprising a plurality of separate television broadcasts within the frequency range of approximately 50 MHz to 750 MHz;
- filtering out one or more of said television broadcasts of said video signal with a notch filter to produce a filtered signal;
- outputting said filtered signal to an unlooped cable;
- providing at least one of said first and second personal computers with a receiver configured to receive video signals from said headend transmission equipment, a transmitter for forwarding signals to said headend transmission equipment, and a modem configured to receive and transmit broadband signals between said first and second personal computers;
- and
- connecting said first personal computer and said second personal computer to said cable.
3 more elements
A local area network comprising:
- a notch filter configured to receive a video signal from a cable television transmission system and to filter out a portion of said video signal in the range of approximately 50 MHz to approximately 750 MHz to produce a filtered signal;
- an unlooped cable television wire configured to receive said filtered signal;
- a plurality of personal computers coupled to said wire, wherein at least some of said personal computers comprise a receiver configured to receive video signals from said cable television transmission system, a transmitter configured to forward signals to said cable television transmission system, and a modem configured to receive and transmit broadband signals between said personal computers;
- wherein said personal computers are configured to communicate messages between different ones of said personal computers via said modem by modulating a carrier having a frequency within said filtered out portion;
- and
- wherein at least one of said personal computers is configured to forward signals to said cable television transmission system using a carrier frequency in the range of approximately 0 MHz to approximately 50 MHz.
3 more elements
A local area network comprising:
- means for receiving a video signal from a cable television transmission system;
- means for filtering out a portion of said video signal in the range of approximately 50 MHz to approximately 750 MHz to produce a filtered signal;
- an unlooped cable television wire configured to receive said filtered signal, wherein said wire is located in a residential building;
- a plurality of personal computers coupled to said wire, wherein each of at least some of said personal computers comprises:
- means for receiving said filtered signal;
- means for forwarding signals to said cable television transmission system;
- and
- means for receiving and transmitting signals between different ones of said personal computers;
- wherein said personal computers are configured to communicate via said modem by modulating a carrier having a frequency within said filtered out portion;
- and
- wherein at least one of said personal computers is configured to forward signals to said cable television transmission system using a carrier frequency in the range of approximately 0 MHz to approximately 50 MHz.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.