Methods for ingress mitigation in cable communication systems involving repair, replacement and/or adjustment of infrastructure elements

A method for reducing ingress in at least a first neighborhood node of a cable communication system, the cable communication system comprising a headend coupled to the first neighborhood node, the first neighborhood node comprising a first RF hardline coaxial cable plant to convey to the headend at least first upstream information from a plurality of first subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth including a range of frequencies, the first neighborhood node further comprising a plurality of first subscriber service drops coupled to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant and the plurality of first subscriber premises, the method comprising:

• A) transmitting at least one test signal at or proximate to at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress into at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises, the at least one test signal having at least one test signal frequency;
• B) receiving, at or proximate to the at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress, at least one test signal amplitude representing a first strength of a received upstream test signal at the headend, based on A) and test signal ingress of the at least one test signal into at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• C) based at least in part on the at least one test signal amplitude received in B), identifying, at or proximate to the at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress, the at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• and
• D) repairing, replacing or adjusting the at least one fault, based on C), so as to significantly reduce a noise power, as measured at the headend, associated with the first neighborhood node ingress in at least a portion of the upstream path bandwidth below approximately 20 MHz,
• wherein:
• the upstream path bandwidth includes at least one first modulated carrier wave having a first carrier frequency of less than or equal to 19.6 MHz, the at least one first modulated carrier wave being modulated with at least some of the first upstream information and defining a first upstream physical communication channel in the upstream path bandwidth, the at least one upstream physical communication channel having a first upstream average channel power;
• and
• D) comprises repairing, replacing or adjusting the at least one fault such that:
• D1) a highest value of an average noise power associated with the first neighborhood node ingress in at least a portion of the upstream path bandwidth below approximately 20 MHz, as measured over at least a 24 hour period at the headend, is at least 30 decibels (dB) below the first upstream average channel power;
• D2) the highest value for the average noise power associated with the first neighborhood node ingress in at least the portion of the upstream path bandwidth below approximately 20 MHz, as measured over at least the 24 hour period at the headend, is less than 15 decibels (dB) above a noise floor associated with the upstream path bandwidth below approximately 20 MHz, as measured over at least the 24 hour period at the headend;
• D3) a carrier-to-noise-plus-interference (CNIR) ratio of the first upstream physical communication channel is at least 31 dB;
• and
• D4) an unequalized modulation error ratio of the first upstream physical communication channel is at least 24 dB.

A method for reducing ingress in at least a first neighborhood node of a cable communication system, the cable communication system comprising a headend coupled to the first neighborhood node, the first neighborhood node comprising a first RF hardline coaxial cable plant to convey to the headend at least first upstream information from a plurality of first subscriber premises over an upstream path bandwidth including a range of frequencies, the first neighborhood node further comprising a plurality of first subscriber service drops coupled to the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant and the plurality of first subscriber premises, the method comprising:

• A) transmitting at least one test signal at or proximate to at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress into at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises, the at least one test signal having at least one test signal frequency;
• B) receiving, at or proximate to the at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress, at least one test signal amplitude representing a first strength of a received upstream test signal at the headend, based on A) and test signal ingress of the at least one test signal into at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• C) based at least in part on the at least one test signal amplitude received in B), identifying, at or proximate to the at least one potential point of first neighborhood node ingress, the at least one fault in the at least one of the first RF hardline coaxial cable plant, the at least one of the plurality of first subscriber service drops, and the at least one of the plurality of first subscriber premises;
• and
• D) repairing, replacing or adjusting the at least one fault, based on C), so as to significantly reduce a noise power, as measured at the headend, associated with at least one narrowband substantially persistent ingress signal constituting at least part of the first neighborhood node ingress, wherein the at least one narrowband substantially persistent ingress signal includes at least one short wave radio signal having a carrier frequency of less than approximately 16.4 MHz.