Patent ID: 7995490

Claim:
A system that detects the presence of one or more Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Maintenance Termination Unit (MTU), or Central Office (CO) devices attached to a copper loop between a Central Office and Customer Premises, the devices being of unknown or unverified class, and identifies by class the devices attached, the system including: a test condition generator, adapted to be coupled to a copper loop between a Central Office and Customer Premises, including a signal generator and a test pattern generator, wherein the test pattern generator causes the signal generator to generate at least two generated signals of different amplitudes at successive times, and the two generated signals are selected to cause one or more devices attached to the copper loop to return intermodulation distortion signatures; and a test evaluator, also adapted to be coupled to the copper loop, including a spectrum analyzer and an intermodulation distortion signature analyzer, wherein the intermodulation distortion signature analyzer receives from the spectrum analyzer strength readings for at least one intermodulation distortion signal component responsive to each of the generated signals, and analyzes a pattern of successive strength readings of the intermodulation distortion signal component, relative to the generated signal amplitudes, to identify by class the one or more devices attached to the copper loop.