Patent ID: 11877037
Assignee: ANTRONIX INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 11:
12. A method comprising:
a) at a first device, receiving, from a cable television (CATV) node, first downstream CATV RF signals, and converting the first downstream CATV RF signals to downstream optical signals;
b) at the first device, receiving upstream optical signals, and converting the upstream optical signals to first upstream CATV RF signals, wherein the downstream optical signals are distributed separately from the upstream optical signals by using at least one of different fiber optic cables or different wavelengths;
c) operably coupling a first micro distribution system and a second micro distribution system to the first device, each of the micro distribution systems comprising a micro node and at least one string of taps operably coupled to the micro node;
d) at the micro node, receiving the downstream optical signals, directly or indirectly, from the first device, and converting the downstream optical signals to second downstream CATV RF signals;
e) at the micro node, receiving second upstream CATV RF signals, and converting the second upstream CATV RF signals to the upstream optical signals received by the first device;
f) at the at least one string of taps:
i) receiving the second downstream CATV RF signals, directly or indirectly, from the micro node;
ii) passing the second upstream CATV RF signals, directly or indirectly, to the micro node; and
iii) receiving a powering signal;
iv) wherein each of the at least one string of taps comprises taps and is terminated at an end of the string by a low pass filter (LPF);

g) for each of the at least one string of taps:
i) passing the second downstream CATV RF signals from the micro node along the taps, the LPF blocking the second downstream CATV RF signals;
ii) passing the second upstream CATV RF signals along the taps to the micro node; and
iii) passing the powering signal passed along the taps and through the LPF;
iv) wherein the LPF of one of the strings of taps of the at least one string of taps of the first micro distribution system passes the powering signal to the second micro distribution system.