HFC cable system with wideband communications pathway and coax domain nodes

A method for enhancing the data carrying capacity of a hybrid fiber cable (HFC) network with a cable head end, at least one optical fiber, at least one optical fiber node terminating on at least one cable television (CATV) cable, said CATV cable connected to a plurality of branch CATV cables thus forming a CATV Tree and Branch Network, and a plurality of communication devices connected to said CATV Tree and Branch Network, said method comprising:

• creating a bidirectional wideband communications pathway mediated by radio frequencies (RF) of approximately 1 GHz or greater between said at least one optical fiber node and to and between a plurality of Coax Domain Nodes disposed along said CATV Tree and Branch network;
• wherein said Coax Domain Nodes are junctions in said CATV Tree and Branch network, and pass CATV RF signals of approximately 1 GHz frequency or more, but intercept and terminate at least some CATV RF signals of approximately 1 GHz frequency or less;
• at least some of said plurality of Coax Domain Nodes also communicating with their own set of local CATV cable connected communications devices on a local domain specific basis;
• using said Coax Domain Nodes to
• A:
• intercept local upstream CATV RF signals from said communications devices, said local upstream CATV RF signals having a frequency of approximately 1 GHz or less;
• B:
• terminate at least some of said local upstream CATV RF signals;
• C:
• modulate either said local upstream CATV RF signals or data obtained from said local upstream CATV RF signals to an RF frequency of approximately 1 GHz or more;
• D:
• and backhaul either said local upstream CATV RF signals or data obtained from said local upstream CATV RF signals to said at least one optical fiber node using said wideband communications pathway;
• and
• E:
• using said Coax Domain Nodes, and data obtained from said wideband communications pathway, to transmit domain specific downstream data to said local CATV cable connected communications devices by modulating and transmitting at least selected portions of said data obtained from said wideband communications pathway using downstream CATV RF signals of approximately 1 GHz or less;
• wherein said Coax Domain Nodes modulate said local upstream CATV RF signals by the steps of:
• a) digitizing at least some of said upstream CATV RF signals of approximately 1 GHz frequency or less;
• b) modulating at least some of the digitized upstream CATV RF signals to RF frequencies of approximately 1 GHz or greater, creating wideband communications pathway signals;
• wherein at least some of said Coax Domain Nodes contain at least one Quadrature Amplitude Modulated (QAM) modulator device capable of encoding, on a domain specific basis, selected portions of said downstream wideband communications pathway data into RF QAM waveforms;
• and
• wherein modulating at least selected portions of said downstream wideband communications pathway data into downstream CATV RF signals of approximately 1 GHz frequency or less at said Coax Domain Nodes is done using said at least one QAM modulator device.