Patent ID: 8346163

Claim:
A method for distributing radio frequency signals using a data cable system, comprising: receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal; identifying at least one unoccupied channel on the data cable system; identifying a passband of the data cable system, wherein the at least one unoccupied channel is selected within the passband; converting the RF signal to a frequency associated with the at least one unoccupied channel as a converted signal; inserting the converted signal into a cable of the data cable system; indicating the frequency of the converted signal, wherein indicating the frequency of the converted signal is performed by inserting a spread signal into the cable, the spread signal providing the channel identification data for the frequency associated with the at least on unoccupied channel on which the converted signal is placed, wherein the spread signal is spread across at least a portion of the passband; extracting, using the channel identification data in the spread signal, the converted signal from the cable as an extracted signal; converting the extracted signal to a transmission frequency as a transmission signal; and, transmitting the transmission signal at the transmission frequency.