Patent ID: 8139602

Claim:
An aggregation device adapted to be coupled to a plurality of twisted pairs, the aggregation device adapted to receive a plurality of downstream signals that originated from a common downstream signal, each of the plurality of downstream signals on a respective twisted pair of the plurality of twisted pairs, the aggregation device comprising: a separate channel to receive an upstream signal from the receiving destination and pass the upstream signal to a twisted pair of the plurality of twisted pairs, wherein the twisted pair only receives the upstream signal from the aggregation device and provides a downstream signal for other aggregation devices; a filter coupled to a first twisted pair of the plurality of twisted pairs, the filter adapted to filter out a spectrum comprising downstream signals on the first twisted pair; a plurality of analog-to-digital (A/D) converters for sampling the respective downstream signals, each A/D converter coupled to a respective twisted pair of the plurality of twisted pairs; a digital signal processor (DSP) adapted to receive an output from each of the A/D converters, the DSP adapted to combine respective downstream signals from each A/D converter into an aggregate downstream signal; a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter coupled to the DSP, the D/A converter adapted to receive the aggregate downstream signal; and a receiving destination drop channel coupled to the D/A converter and the filter, the receiving destination drop channel adapted to carry the aggregate downstream signal from the D/A converter to the receiving destination and to carry the upstream signal from the receiving destination to the filter, prior to the upstream signal being passed through the filter to the first twisted pair.