Patent ID: 9608730
Date: 2017-03-28
CPC Classifications: H04B,H04N

Claim:
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a node in a daisy chain of nodes in a communication network, a first aggregated signal from signals received from customer premise equipment serviced by the node; determining, by the node, when only a first input of a return transmitter/receiver is coupled to receive the first aggregated signal; when only the first input of the return transmitter/receiver is coupled to receive the first aggregated signal, disabling at least one other input of the return transmitter/receiver; determining, by the node, whether a first optical return signal is received from another node in the daisy chain; and when the first optical return signal is received from another node, sending the first optical return signal from the another node on a first channel of the return transmitter/receiver and sending a second optical return signal including the first aggregated signal on a second channel of the return transmitter/receiver.