Reverse path allocation and contention resolution scheme for a broadband communications system

Claim 1

A telephony system for communicating telephony signals between a telephony network and a broadband communication network including a headend communicating to a plurality of subscribers, comprising: a modulator, coupled between the telephony network and the headend, for modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on a carrier in a first band of the broadband communication network; equipment for assigning a plurality of subscribers to a selected frequency subband in a second band of the subscription network; reverse path contention resolution equipment for detecting contention by more than one subscriber for the selected frequency subband and reassigning at least one subscriber to a different frequency subband in the second band; and a demodulator, coupled between the telephony network and the headend, for demodulating the telephony signals in the selected frequency subband and coupling them to the telephony network.

Claim 34

A method of operating a broadband communication network, including a telephony network interface for connection to a telephony network, for communicating signals between subscribers and the telephony network, comprising the steps of: receiving a multiplexed incoming telephony signal from the telephony network comprising a plurality of telephony signals provided in a standard multiplexed telephony format; demultiplexing the incoming multiplexed telephony signal to obtain at least one selected incoming telephony signal intended for a particular subscriber on the broadband communication network; transmitting the selected incoming telephony signal to the particular subscriber in a first frequency band on the broadband communication network; receiving the selected incoming telephony signal at a customer interface unit connected to the broadband communication network associated with the particular subscriber; coupling the selected incoming telephony signal to a telephony port associated with the customer interface unit; receiving an outgoing telephony signal from a particular subscriber at the telephony port; assigning plural subscribers to a selected subband in a second frequency band on the broadband communication network; transmitting said outgoing telephony signal on at least one assigned carrier in said selected subband; resolving contention between plural subscribers assigned to said selected subband; demodulating said outgoing telephony signal in the selected subband; multiplexing said outgoing telephony signal from the particular subscriber with other telephony signals associated with other subscribers to obtain a multiplexed outgoing telephony signal comprising a plurality of telephony signals in a standard multiplexed telephony format to telephony network; and coupling the multiplexed outgoing telephony signal to the telephony network.

Claim 35

A method of operating a broadband communication network, including a telephony network interface for connection to a telephony network, for communicating signals between subscribers and the telephony network, comprising the steps of: receiving a multiplexed incoming telephony signal from the telephony network comprising a plurality of telephony signals provided in a standard multiplexed telephony format; demultiplexing the incoming multiplexed telephony signal to obtain at least one selected incoming telephony signal intended for a particular subscriber on the broadband communication network; transmitting the selected incoming telephony signal to the particular subscriber in a first frequency band on the broadband communication network; receiving the selected incoming telephony signal at a customer interface unit connected to the broadband communication network associated with the particular subscriber; coupling the selected incoming telephony signal to a telephony port associated with the customer interface unit; receiving an outgoing telephony signal from a particular subscriber at the telephony port; assigning plural subscribers to a selected subband in a second frequency band on the broadband communication network; transmitting said outgoing telephony signal on at least one assigned carrier in said selected subband; resolving contention between plural subscribers assigned to said selected subband; demodulating said outgoing telephony signal in the selected subband; multiplexing said outgoing telephony signal from the particular subscriber with other telephony signals associated with other subscribers to obtain a multiplexed outgoing telephony signal comprising a plurality of telephony signals in a standard multiplexed telephony format to telephony network; and coupling the multiplexed outgoing telephony signal to the telephony network.

Claim 44

An apparatus for the communication of telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a subscription network having a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers in the subscription network and a second band of frequencies for communicating signals from the subscribers, comprising: a telephony network modulator for modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on said first band of said subscription network; a subscriber terminal including a subscriber terminal demodulator for demodulating the telephony signals in said first band from the subscription network and coupling them to a subscriber; a frequency tunable second modulator associated with each of said plurality of subscribers for modulating telephony signals from each subscriber in a selected frequency subbands in said second band of the subscription network; a telephony network demodulator for demodulating the telephony signals from said second band of the subscription network and coupling them to the telephony network; and a device for detecting contention in said selected frequency subband and reassigning one or more of said second modulators to a different frequency subband in said second band.

Claim 45

An apparatus for the communication of telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a subscription network having a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers in the subscription network and a second band of frequencies for communicating signals from the subscribers, comprising: a telephony network modulator for modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on said first band of said subscription network; a subscriber terminal including a subscriber terminal demodulator for demodulating the telephony signals in said first band from the subscription network and coupling them to a subscriber; a frequency tunable second modulator associated with each of said plurality of subscribers for modulating telephony signals from each subscriber in a selected frequency subbands in said second band of the subscription network; a telephony network demodulator for demodulating the telephony signals from said second band of the subscription network and coupling them to the telephony network; and a device for detecting contention in said selected frequency subband and reassigning one or more of said second modulators to a different frequency subband in said second band.

Claim 53

A method of operating a communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a tree-and-branch type broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: providing an interface for telephony signals from the telephony network to the headend; providing an interface for telephony signals from a subscriber to a subscriber terminal connected to the subscription network; providing a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers from the headend; modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on the first band of the subscription network; providing a second band of frequencies for communicating signals to the headend from subscribers; subdividing the second band of frequencies into a plurality of selectable subbands; initially assigning each of the plurality of subscribers to one of the plurality of selectable subbands, where more than one subscriber is assigned to any given selectable subband; transmitting the subband assignments to the plurality of subscribers in the first band; in response to a request for telephony service from a requesting subscriber, transmitting a signal in the selected subband comprising requesting subscriber identification information; at the headend, in response to receipt of subscriber identification information, re-assigning other subscribers that were initially assigned to the selected subband in which the requesting subscriber transmitted to another selected subband; and modulating telephony signals from the requesting subscriber in the selected subband.

Claim 54

A method of operating a communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a tree-and-branch type broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: providing an interface for telephony signals from the telephony network to the headend; providing an interface for telephony signals from a subscriber to a subscriber terminal connected to the subscription network; providing a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers from the headend; modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on the first band of the subscription network; providing a second band of frequencies for communicating signals to the headend from subscribers; subdividing the second band of frequencies into a plurality of selectable subbands; initially assigning each of the plurality of subscribers to one of the plurality of selectable subbands, where more than one subscriber is assigned to any given selectable subband; transmitting the subband assignments to the plurality of subscribers in the first band; in response to a request for telephony service from a requesting subscriber, transmitting a signal in the selected subband comprising requesting subscriber identification information; at the headend, in response to receipt of subscriber identification information, re-assigning other subscribers that were initially assigned to the selected subband in which the requesting subscriber transmitted to another selected subband; and modulating telephony signals from the requesting subscriber in the selected subband.

Claim 55

A method of operating a communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a tree-and-branch type broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: providing an interface for telephony signals from the telephony network to the headend; providing an interface for telephony signals from a subscriber to a subscriber terminal connected to the subscription network; providing a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers from the headend; modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on the first band of the subscription network; providing a second band of frequencies for communicating signals to the headend from subscribers; subdividing the second band of frequencies into a plurality of selectable subbands; initially assigning each of the plurality of subscribers to one of the plurality of selectable subbands, where more than one subscriber is assigned to any given selectable subband; transmitting the subband assignments to the plurality of subscribers in the first band; in response to an incoming call to a selected subscriber, re-assigning other subscribers that were initially assigned to the subband associated with the called selected subscriber to another selected subband; and modulating telephony signals from the called selected subscriber in the selected subband.

Claim 56

A method of operating a communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a tree-and-branch type broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: providing an interface for telephony signals from the telephony network to the headend; providing an interface for telephony signals from a subscriber to a subscriber terminal connected to the subscription network; providing a first band of frequencies for communicating signals to subscribers from the headend; modulating the telephony signals from the telephony network on the first band of the subscription network; providing a second band of frequencies for communicating signals to the headend from subscribers; subdividing the second band of frequencies into a plurality of selectable subbands; initially assigning each of the plurality of subscribers to one of the plurality of selectable subbands, where more than one subscriber is assigned to any given selectable subband; transmitting the subband assignments to the plurality of subscribers in the first band; in response to an incoming call to a selected subscriber, re-assigning other subscribers that were initially assigned to the subband associated with the called selected subscriber to another selected subband; and modulating telephony signals from the called selected subscriber in the selected subband.

Claim 57

A method of operating a bidirectional communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: assigning a plurality of subscribers to a particular subband in a reverse frequency band in the subscription system for communication of signals from the plurality of subscribers; receiving a multiplexed telephony signal containing a plurality of predetermined telephony signals in a plurality of telephony channels; demultiplexing the multiplexed telephony signal to obtain a selected telephony signal from a selected telephony channel; determining a selected subscriber for the selected telephony signal; communicating the selected telephony signal from the headend to the selected subscriber in a forward frequency band in the subscription system; in response to contention for use of the particular subband, reassigning other subscribers of the plurality of subscribers assigned to the particular subband in the reverse frequency band that included the selected subscriber to a different subband; communicating subscriber telephony signals from the selected subscriber to the headend in the particular subband; and coupling the subscriber telephony signals to the selected telephony channel.

Claim 58

A method of operating a bidirectional communication system to couple telephony signals to and from a telephony network and to and from a plurality of subscribers of a subscription system including a broadband subscription network extending from a headend to the subscribers, comprising the steps of: assigning a plurality of subscribers to a particular subband in a reverse frequency band in the subscription system for communication of signals from the plurality of subscribers; receiving a multiplexed telephony signal containing a plurality of predetermined telephony signals in a plurality of telephony channels; demultiplexing the multiplexed telephony signal to obtain a selected telephony signal from a selected telephony channel; determining a selected subscriber for the selected telephony signal; communicating the selected telephony signal from the headend to the selected subscriber in a forward frequency band in the subscription system; in response to contention for use of the particular subband, reassigning other subscribers of the plurality of subscribers assigned to the particular subband in the reverse frequency band that included the selected subscriber to a different subband; communicating subscriber telephony signals from the selected subscriber to the headend in the particular subband; and coupling the subscriber telephony signals to the selected telephony channel.