Patent ID: 8209726

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a satellite transponder switch (STS) to serve a plurality of set top boxes (STBs), the STS configured to: store a table in the STS that maps each of the STBs to a corresponding one of a plurality of carrier frequencies wherein each of the plurality of carrier frequencies is unique in the table to a particular STB of the plurality of STBs; receive a first contact signal from a first STB on a control channel upon power-up of the first STB, and in response to the first contact signal received from the first STB, assign a first carrier frequency to the first STB in the table stored in the STS; receive a second contact signal from a second STB on the control channel upon power-up of the second STB, and in response to the second contact signal received from the second STB, assign a second carrier frequency to the second STB in the table stored in the STS; in response to a first request from the first STB to access a first satellite feed and polarity carried by a first transponder band received at the STS, frequency shift the first transponder band to the first carrier frequency assigned to the first STB in the table to provide a frequency-shifted first transponder band; in response to a second request from the second STB to access a second satellite feed and polarity carried by a second transponder band received at the STS, frequency shift the second transponder band to the second carrier frequency assigned to the second STB in the table to provide a frequency-shifted second transponder band; and output to the first STB and the second STB a signal that comprises the frequency-shifted first transponder band and the frequency-shifted second transponder band.