Patent ID: 7944848

Claim:
An apparatus for monitoring upstream signals, each of which includes a plurality of packets from a plurality of cable modems, in a CATV bi-directional network using a cable protocol, each cable modem having a unique MAC address, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of modules, each module comprising: a demodulator for receiving and demodulating the packets in one of the upstream signals; a controller for determining a modulation error ratio (MER) for each packet; an analog to digital converter clocked at a frequency at least two times the highest frequency of the upstream signal; a gain control device adjusted to match a known amplitude of a selected node to the analog to digital converter; and a down converter for selecting the upstream channel to demodulate and route to the demodulator; a main controller for controlling the plurality of controllers; and a backplane for electrically connecting the plurality of modules with the main controller; a graphical user interface for displaying the MER for each packet as a function of the received packet number; whereby problems with the CATV network and problems with individual cable modems are observable; wherein the controller also determines whether a predetermined percentage of MER values falls below a predetermined minimum value over a predetermined time period and generates a warning signal if the predetermined percentage of MER values fall below the predetermined minimum value.