HFC cable system with alternative wideband communications pathways and coax domain amplifier-repeaters

A method of selectively repeating radio frequency (RF) signals carried by a hybrid fiber cable (HFC) network with a cable head end, at least one optical fiber, at least one optical fiber node terminating on a set of cable television (CATV) cables, the set of CATV cables connected to a plurality of branch CATV cables thus forming a CATV Tree and Branch Network, and a plurality of communication devices connected to the CATV Tree and Branch Network,

• the RF signals comprising upstream RF signals with frequencies less than a threshold frequency of at most 1 GHz, downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency, upstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency, and downstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency;
• wherein at least some of the communications devices receive downstream RF signals at frequencies less than the threshold frequency, and wherein at least some of the communications devices further transmit upstream RF signals at frequencies less than the threshold frequency;
• wherein the coax domain amplifier-repeater additionally comprises at least one software controlled processor configured to receive control commands transmitted over the set of CATV cables;
• the method comprising:
• placing at least one coax domain amplifier-repeater comprising at least one processor at junctions in the set of CATV cables, thereby partitioning the set of CATV cables into cable segments between the at least one coax domain amplifier-repeater, at least some of the cable segments connected to at least some of the communications devices;
• and
• for the coax domain amplifier-repeater:
• receiving, gain adjusting, and retransmitting downstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency as downstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency;
• receiving and retransmitting the information or waveforms from a substitution set of narrowcast downstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency as selected narrowcast downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency,
• wherein the substitution set of narrowcast downstream RF signals are selected by the software controlled processor and the control commands;
• receiving, gain adjusting, and retransmitting upstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency as upstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency;
• receiving, gain adjusting, and retransmitting at least some downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency as downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency;
• actively canceling, a cancelable set of selected narrowcast downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency, wherein actively canceling comprises using information or waveforms carried by downstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency to cancel the cancelable set of selected narrowcast downstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency;
• receiving, canceling, frequency shifting, gain adjusting, and retransmitting upstream RF signals with frequencies less than the threshold frequency, as upstream RF signals with frequencies greater than the threshold frequency.