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US 8,463,228 B2Granted
System and method for combined home network communications and broadcast reception in a settop box
AssigneeThomson Licensing
InventorsDavid Glen White, Alexander Sarapin, Hutchinson Daniel Mark
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for demodulating different type of signals having at least a portion of overlapping frequency ranges is provided. The method and apparatus receives at least one a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal. The system further determines if the received signal is a broadcast signal or a home networking signal and provides the respective signal to a demodulator for demodulation.
Claims23
A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- determining if the received signal is a broadcast signal or a home networking signal, the step of determining including:
- receiving configuration data;
- identifying a mode of operation in response to the configuration data;
- conditioning a switch to pass the broadcast signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a first demodulation process in a first mode of operation, the first demodulation process including the step of tuning a signal having a frequency range equal to or greater than a threshold frequency;
- and
- conditioning a switch to pass the home networking signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a second demodulation process in a second mode of operation.
5 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a signal, the signal having a first frequency range and a second frequency range;
- separating the received signal into a first portion in the first frequency range and a second portion in the second frequency range, the received first portion in the first frequency being a first signal type;
- determining if the second portion of the received signal is of the first signal type or a second signal type;
- and
- demodulating the second portion of the received signal using a first signal type demodulator if the second portion of the received signal is determined to be of the first signal type.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a diplexer that receives a signal and filters the signal to produce a portion of the received signal in a first frequency range and a portion of the received signal in a second frequency range;
- a switching circuit coupled to the diplexer that receives the portion of the received signal in the second frequency range;
- a controller coupled to the output of the switching circuit that determines whether the portion of the signal in the second frequency range is of a first signal type or a second signal type;
- and
- at least one demodulator coupled to the switching circuit that receives the portion of the received signal in the second frequency range signal for demodulation based on whether the portion of the received signal in the second frequency range is of a first signal type or a second signal type.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- means for receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- means for determining if the received signal is a broadcast signal or a home networking signal, the means for determining further including:
- means for receiving configuration data;
- means for identifying a mode of operation in response to the configuration data;
- means for conditioning a switch to pass the broadcast signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a first demodulation process in a first mode of operation, the first demodulation process including a means for tuning a signal having a frequency range equal to or greater than a threshold frequency;
- and
- means for conditioning a switch to pass the home networking signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a second demodulation process in a second mode of operation.
5 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- determining if the received signal is a broadcast signal or a home networking signal, the step of determining including:
- receiving configuration data;
- identifying a mode of operation in response to the configuration data;
- conditioning a switch to pass the broadcast signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a first demodulation process in a first mode of operation;
- and
- conditioning a switch to pass the home networking signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a second demodulation process in a second mode of operation, the second demodulation process being performed by a home network transceiver on a signal having a frequency range less than a threshold frequency.
5 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- means for receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- means for determining if the received signal is a broadcast signal or a home networking signal, the means for determining further including:
- means for receiving configuration data;
- means for identifying a mode of operation in response to the configuration data;
- means for conditioning a switch to pass the broadcast signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a first demodulation process in a first mode of operation;
- and
- means for conditioning a switch to pass the home networking signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a second demodulation process in a second mode of operation, the second demodulation process being performed by a home network transceiver on a signal having a frequency range less than a threshold frequency.
5 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- determining a mode of operation;
- providing the received signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the broadcast signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a first mode of operation, the demodulation process for the broadcast signal including tuning a signal having a frequency range equal to or greater than a threshold frequency;
- and
- providing the received signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the home networking signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a second mode of operation.
3 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- determining a mode of operation;
- providing the received signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the broadcast signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a first mode of operation;
- and
- providing the received signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the home networking signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a second mode of operation, the demodulation process for the home networking signal being performed by a home network transceiver on a signal having a frequency range less than a threshold frequency.
3 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- means for receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- means for determining a mode of operation;
- means for providing the received signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the broadcast signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a first mode of operation, the demodulation process for the broadcast signal including means for tuning a signal having a frequency range equal to or greater than a threshold frequency;
- and
- means for providing the received signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the home networking signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a second mode of operation.
3 more elements
A method comprising the steps of:
- means for receiving at least one of a broadcast signal and a home networking signal, wherein the frequency range of the broadcast signal overlaps the frequency range of the home networking signal;
- and
- means for determining a mode of operation;
- means for providing the received signal to an input of a routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the broadcast signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a first mode of operation;
- and
- means for providing the received signal to said input of said routing circuit for demodulation using a demodulation process for the home networking signal if it is determined that the mode of operation is a second mode of operation, the demodulation process for the home networking signal being performed by a home network transceiver on a signal having a frequency range less than a threshold frequency.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.